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Lydia was acting strangely lately.
She had no appetite, and she was having trouble sleeping so she was always tired. When she did eat she would usually end up nauseous depending on how much she ate.
Arven and the others asked her what was wrong, and Arven even asked her to test the Sweet Herba in hopes of getting her appetite back(it worked, but only for a little while), but she just said not to worry.
On the other hand, she seemed more focused and able to pay attention longer. She was doing better in class because she was paying a bit more attention.
But sometimes she reverted to daydreaming, staring into space for extended periods.
“Come on, Lydia! Something is up, you gotta tell us!” Nemona tugged on the smaller girl's arm theatrically.
“I’m fine!” Lydia smiled weakly.
“No, you’re not! You can’t even snack without feeling sick!” Nemona pouted. “You’re my best friend. Please tell me what’s wrong.”
Lydia looked away as if she were… ashamed almost.
“It’s… bad.”
“Come on,” Arven reassured, Penny looking like she knew something. “It can’t be that bad.”
Lydia looked at the floor.
“I got a new medication. They say I have ADHD.”
“Medication?” Nemona looked surprised as if this was something she’d never seen coming.
“Yeah. That’s what’s making me sick when I eat. Whenever I feel like eating.”
“And making it so you can’t sleep well?”
“Yeah.” She still wasn’t looking at them.
“Is that all?” Arven laughed a little. “You’re acting like it’s the end of the world.”
“What do you mean ‘that’s all’? I’m… weird.”
“If you’re weird, then I’m weird,” Penny spoke up. “I’m on medication too.”
“Huh?” As one the other three looked at her.
“I have depression. I’m on pills too.”
“Really?” Lydia couldn’t believe it, but then again, she supposed it made sense.
Being bullied as badly as she had been probably exacerbated it.
“Yeah. Just because the bullying stopped, doesn’t mean it went away.”
That made sense.
“Oh.” Lydia looked down again.
“So you see? It’s not bad. You aren’t weird.” Penny came over and gently patted Lydia on the head.
Lydia looked up with a watery smile and tears in her eyes. “The doctor seemed so disappointed in me though.”
“Well, doctors are dumb sometimes.” Penny frowned. Seemed she had experience with this.
“Yeah,” Arven patted Lydia’s shoulder. “There’s nothing wrong with it. Doctors can be dumb, too.”
Lydia laughed, Nemona suddenly hugging her. “It’s OK, Lydia. You aren’t weird.”
Lydia hugged back with a stronger smile.
“Now, you come with me. We gotta let dad know you’re OK. He was worried.” Arven shooed Nemona, who stuck her tongue out at him, and helped Lydia up. “Let’s go.”
He patted her shoulder again, relieved that it was nothing as bad as he’d imagined, like her moving away or something.
Lydia was still Lydia, and the world was still intact.
That was all he could ask for.