Survival Of The Fittest

Sarah seemed to react, though she acted a bit confused. She whimpered something that sounded like Chinese or something, but soon enough, she seemed to figure out what was going on, and started apologizing and thanking. Sarah seemed a little embarrassed, but soon enough, she reached into her bag and grabbed a water bottle.

So wait. She had water this entire time?, Aileen thought, lifting her hand off Sarah's shoulder and placing it to her forehead, which was by now becoming her trademark gesture. And they made all that fuss over water for nothing... well, at least she had some.

Aaron had started laughing, and then explained the situation to her. Eventually, he ended it with saying that she did not really miss anything, anyways.

As she lifted her palm away from her forehead, Aileen said "Yes, other than a dehydration crisis."

At least Sarah was alright, though.

Glancing at Sarah, she added to Allen's question "Have you been getting enough sleep? I mean, there's testing and all..."

Oh man. Aileen just realized that Ericka was going to come back any minute, and realize that Sarah did not need water. It was kind of humorous, in a way.

Sarah raised an eyebrow when Aaron descended into madness. Or an unexpected fit of laughter anyhow. And Aileen seemed... exasperated. She couldn't help but smile a little crookedly, Aaron's laughter was pretty infectious. The explanation that followed wiped that expression off her face though. She appreciated that Ericka had been concerned enough to get her some water but, well, it made her feel guilty to think that her little nap had inconvenienced someone. She tried to smile at Aileen's dehydration crisis comment but couldn't quite manage it, instead she muttered a short "Sorry about that."

Allen had spoken up now, and before she could reply Aileen had added a tail to his question. The truth was she hadn't really slept regularly for years and it'd long ago become a habit. That said, the exams had only exacerbated that, not to mention all the time she'd been spending with Reiko. She thought it might be better to go with the small-talk abridged version than explain all that though. "Uh, not really I guess. I'm fine though."

"Oh, and thanks for the concern." Now that she thought about it, her vision was a bit blurry in her left eye, but after a moment she realised she'd just left a fingerprint on the lens of her glasses when she'd woken up. She took them off and started cleaning them with the hem of her shirt. She was starting to feel a lot more awake now, and remembered that Ericka had apparently gone to get her some water. "Uhh, how long ago did Ericka leave?" She took a token glance around her shoulder even though her vision long-distance wasn't exactly perfect. A lot better than close-up of course, but not great. "Maybe I can catch up with her."

Sarah seemed fine. Well, that was good. She also seemed a little bit embarrassed, but that was only right given the circumstances. After all, she had worried all of them, had sent Ericka off on a pointless (if amusing) mission. It was like a story, in a way, an old fairy tale or fable. You go searching the world for something, when actually it's right at home the whole time. But wait, no, that couldn't be quite right, since Ericka would presumably be returning with water in the end. So then, you went questing for something rare and valuable only to discover it was common and available everywhere? Something like that.

Aileen asked if Sarah had been sleeping well. The answer was no. Small surprise there; half the school was staying up late for finals. Aaron wasn't bothering. He was smart enough to breeze through most of them. Even if they were a bit unfair, and his grades dropped, it was senior year anyways, right? That was expected. Nobody could be a perfect academic machine, resisting the siren call of actual fun as the high school experience drew to a close.

Sarah asked how long ago Ericka had gone, with the intent of catching up. Aaron shrugged, looked around, and said, "I don't know, really. It's been a couple minutes, and I have no idea which vending machine she was going to, so I'd say the odds of catching her are fairly slim."

Besides, it would be so much more interesting seeing how the situation played out if it was left as it was. Would Ericka react poorly? Would Sarah try to wiggle out of it? Hmm... That got his problem-solving side involved, and then he had found a solution.

"You could always hide your water bottle and just act grateful," Aaron suggested. Sure, it wasn't honest, but it was easy and would keep the peace.

((Aaron Hughes continued in V4))

Allen nodded when he heard that Sarah hadn't been getting much sleep. Neither had he, not with all the cramming he'd been doing over the past couple of weeks. Most days he'd return home, walk into his room and promptly pass out on his bed, waking up a few hours later for dinner and then do more revision until the early hours. 'I'll be so glad when this is all over and I can get a good night's sleep at last, without having to worry about these exams.'

It reminded him that he really needed to go cram for his physics final, and a part of him wanted to leave the small group and head off to the quiet and tranquillity of the library. The other part wanted to stay behind and socialise for a while longer, at least until Ericka returned. It seemed impolite to just get up and wander off to do other things while she was still away.

'And just how would Ericka react to finding out that her time had been effectively wasted anyway?' Allen thought. 'Would she be angry, embarrassed, or would she just laugh it off?' Allen would have done the latter if he was in Ericka's place, but if Sarah took Aaron's advice about hiding the bottle before the other girl got back, there probably would be no chance of an altercation in the first place.

'But still, it is kind of dishonest in a way.'

"I think it's better to be honest about what happened here," Allen spoke. "Just explain to Ericka that there's been a mix-up, I'm sure she'll understand, and possibly see the funny side of it."

'At least I hope she would,' he thought afterwards.

"What happened?" Ericka asked as she returned, "Is something wrong?"

Before anyone could answer she noticed it; she had left her library book there on the ground. As she bent down to pick it up, she noticed two things: First, that Sarah was just fine, thank goodness, and Second, that she already had water.

"Oh, Sarah, you're okay! Thank goodness!" She exclaimed, "And since you don't need this I'm guessing that it's mine." she held up the water bottle and shook it for emphasis.

Sarah apparently hadn't sleep that well in recent history. To this, Aileen frowned. Ah, the typical cramming that people did before major tests and such. She was all too familiar with that. Pretty much everyone seemed to do it. Hell, despite reading being one of her hobbies, Aileen did it from time to time, too. It was an easy trap to fall into, to be honest. Everyone wanted to pass, after all. Okay, actually, there were those students who didn't give a care in the world about their grades, and expected to not work for their future, only to end up on the streets or unable to contribute to society.

"Sarah, make sure you get enough sleep tonight, okay?" Aileen said, and if one listened closely, there was a tinge of concern to her voice.

And with that, the topic turned to Ericka. They were suggesting hiding it, and just accepting the thing that Ericka brought back. Before Aileen could add her contribution to the conversation, Ericka appeared, with a bottle of water.

Okay, let's see what happens.

Ericka immediately shouted in glee that Sarah was okay, and that she guessed that she didn't need the water bottle after all.

"Well, that turned out nicely", Aileen noted.

What time was it, anyways? They had been here for a while, so she guessed that it was coming up on the end of lunch. Even if it wasn't, Aileen still had business to attend to elsewhere. Maybe she should go?

"Uh... if you guys don't mind... I think I'll get going. I think there is things I need to do before class starts", she said, and so, she lifted herself off the ground, and started brushing off her skirt. Taking a quick glance at Sarah, she asked "Are you sure you're alright? If you need anything... you can come talk to us, alright? I genuinely mean it."

Nodding towards Aaron, she then said "I'd love to play Dungeons and Dragons someday. Sounds interesting."

Aileen scooped down to grab her things, and so stepped away. Turning around, she smiled and waved to the others.

Well, that wasn't so bad. But was Sarah alright? She prayed to god she was.

But, that turned out better than she expected.

((Aileen Borden continued in v4))