Marie has adjusted to life here in Clover Green. Over the last few weeks, her friendship with the girls has truly blossomed. They behave as if they have been friends forever. Millie has become her first best friend. The two share a special unspoken bond that has grown strong. They've talked nonstop since Millie's hearing aids came in. Marie loves the other girls just as much as Millie but the two spend more time together. Marie and Millie have become joined at the hip. While Cleo and Keandre volunteer after school together occasionally. They have been close since they joined the Orphanage around the same time. Cassandra has been spending more time with her mom since she got out of rehab. If things continue to go well she might live with her again. The group gets together to watch a movie once a week.

As for Marie's relationship with Kaden, they have also gotten closer over the last couple of weeks. Their project presentation went great and they continued to hang out after school to do homework occasionally. They would laugh and joke and when they didn't feel like studying anymore Kaden would take her to the track to race her. He always let her win and she only pretended to gloat. During lunch, she and her friends would join his table. The two groups never really mixed before because Kaden and his friends are a tight-knit bunch. They opened up to the girls quickly though. Cleo and Cassandra jump into conversations easily with everyone and Keandre chimes in to make fun of the stupid things coming out of Dennis' mouth.

The combining of groups had to do partly with Kaden and Marie being friends but also because Millie and Darius started dating. They had become good friends since being partners. They even asked to switch seats in history class to sit next to each other. They became closer much faster than Kaden and Marie. Then the day after Darius' birthday last week he asked her out. They have been inseparable since. You couldn't slice between them with a butter knife.

~

Marie and the girls are on their way to school in the van. There is a test today in English class she has been studying for, all weekend. Marie is nervous but she always is before something important. However, today feels a bit different from her usual nerves. Marie wonders if she should have studied more. They step out of the van when it pulls up to the school and head to the front doors. Darius is waiting for his girlfriend Millie at the front with Kaden standing next to him. When Kaden sees Marie he breaks out in his signature smile and hugs her.

"Ready for this test?" Kaden puts his arm around Marie's shoulders and they walk down the hall to her locker.

"Yes. I feel pretty confident. What about you?" She feels butterflies in her chest. She would get hot in the face when he first started to do that. She hadn't gotten this much physical contact with a boy before. She is more used to it now but it still makes her feel a little odd.

"I am definitely passing. You know if you are only feeling pretty confident I wouldn't mind tutoring you." Kaden teases as they reach her locker.

"If you want to spend more time with me just say that." Marie laughs and moves from under his arm to get her stuff out of her locker. Unbeknownst to her that comment made Kaden's heart beat quicker. Marie closes her locker and takes a whiff of the air. She turns to Kaden and says "I think they are serving sloppy joe today."

Kaden looks at her confused. "Why do you say that?"

"I don't know it just smells like sloppy joe day, I guess. We should get to class it's almost time." Marie walks towards the direction of her class, which is near Kaden's first class. Kaden is even more perplexed by her response. He follows after her but his mind is not on his next class. How did she also smell that, the kitchen was far away. He pushes the thought aside and walks her to class. When they reach her door he pats her head and says bye before going into his.

~

Marie is sitting down in gym class instead of playing kickball with everyone else. Her head feels heavy, dizzy, and warm. Her friends are worried about her condition and they talk to the teacher about Marie. The gym teacher walks over to Marie and puts the back of her hand on her forehead.

"Marie you are burning up. Go to the nurse." She watches Marie try to get up but it takes exceptional effort before she is standing. "Do you need someone to go with you?" All Marie can do is nod her head after exhausting so much energy. "Cleo, take Marie to the nurse's office please" she yells out.

Cleo runs over to Marie and helps her walk out of the gym. They make their slow trek to the nurse's office and Cleo knocks on the door. The school nurse opens the door and moves aside to let them in. "Hello, Mrs. Walsh Marie isn't doing well. Ms. Bufford asked me to take her to you." She walks Marie over to a bed and helps her lay down.

"Thank you, Ms. Finner. You may go back to class." Mrs. Walsh touches Marie's forehead and pulls a thermometer from her pocket.

"I will see you later Marie. Feel better." Cleo squeezes her hand and then walks out to head back to the gym.

When the thermometer beeps Mrs. Walsh pulls it from Marie's mouth. "Marie your temperature is 103 degrees Fahrenheit." She walks over to the trash to dispose of the protective covering on the thermometer. She grabs a notepad off of her cluttered desk and walks back to Marie's cot. "What else is upsetting you?"

Marie weakly says "I feel dizzy and my body feels like lead." Marie's mouth is dry and Mrs. Walsh hands her a cup of water. After she drinks it Marie leans back.

"Okay, sweetheart. I will call Mrs. Walters to come pick you up. You don't look so good. Why don't you get some rest." She walks to her desk and gives Mrs. Leane a call. Marie takes her advice and closes her eyes. She is partially asleep when Mrs. Leane picks up Marie to take her back to the orphanage. Mrs. Leane takes her to her room to rest and gives her medicine. She goes back to work but checks on Marie throughout the day.

~

It has been two days and Marie hasn't gotten any better. Mrs. Leane is worried about her condition getting worse instead of better. Marie has been stuck in bed and can only get up to use the bathroom with help. She barely eats anything and when she does eat it's a mystery if she will keep it down. Mrs. Leane calls Doctor Chester Phram to check on her. Dr. Phram sometimes comes in to check on the girls at the orphanage if they are too sick to come into his clinic. His clinic is close by and the girls come to his clinic for help or checkups. He arrives at the orphanage in the afternoon and Mrs. Leane greets him at the door. She leads him to Marie's room and the poor girl is suffering. Mrs. Leane watches him examine Marie. After his examination, he asks Mrs. Leane a few questions about Marie's symptoms.

"So if I am clear this all started happening two days ago, with no warning?" Dr. Phram asks trying to get clarification. Something seems odd about Marie's symptoms.

"Yes, no warning. I was told she was fine all day in school until gym where the symptoms began." Mrs. Leane replied. Up until she got the call she had seen no signs anything was wrong with Marie. Mrs. Leane is worried this is a hereditary illness from her parents that the system didn't know about. Or maybe there is a virus going around that affected Marie first.

"Does she have any past instances like this in her records?" Mrs. Leane shakes her head, that was the first thing she checked after there was no improvement the first day.

"No, I called Lillith and asked her myself. Nothing like this has happened with Marie. This is not normal for her." Dr. Phram jots the information down in his notes. The more he learns the more confusing her symptoms become. Dr. Phram needs more details to rule out any possibilities.

"Does she have friends here and can I talk to them?" Mrs. Leane looked at him confused but nodded her head.

"Yeah, I can gather them in my office but why do you want to talk with them?" She is unsure what they could tell him that she hadn't.

"They will have a better idea of how she was behaving leading up to when she got sick." Mrs. Leane begins to understand him better. "Whatever is ailing Marie it is best to get all the details first before I make a diagnosis."

"Oh, that makes sense. You can wait in my office while I gather the girls." Mrs. Leane walks out to gather Marie's friends. They are all in the study room, occupying time and worrying about their friend. She brings all four of the girls to her office where Dr. Phram is waiting for their arrival. The girls stand together and Mrs. Leane and Dr. Phram are stood on the other side of the room.

"Hello girls, are you all friends of Marie?" They nod their heads yes. "Great, I just want to ask you a few questions about her condition leading up to falling ill." The girls are relieved Marie is finally getting extra help. Watching her deteriorate has been heartbreaking.

"We will tell you anything if it helps" Cleo responds.

"First has she seemed off recently?" Dr. Phram asks the group. They all share the same perplexed expression at his question.

"No, she was perfectly fine. She didn't look or say she was feeling sick at all." Cassandra answers.

"Are you guys positive nothing was different about her? It doesn't have to be her feeling sick but just any change at all. Something that you thought was odd but wasn't an obvious call for concern." Mrs. Leane is also perplexed by his questioning but stays quiet. The girls look at each other as they try to remember anything that seems odd.

Millie looked up to the ceiling recalling something that happened over the weekend. She turns to Cassandra and signs. 'Remember on Saturday when Marie knew Mrs. Leane was coming into the rec room before she even reached there. And when we asked her how she shrugged and said she could smell her perfume.' Cassandra's eyes widen in recollection and she translates for Dr. Phram and Mrs. Leane.

"Did she say what my perfume smelled like?" Mrs. Leane urges after hearing that tidbit.

"No, she didn't say, sorry" Cleo answers dejected she couldn't provide more to help her friend.

"But she usually says you smell like coconut, bagels, and shea butter. If that helps." Keandre adds. The girls nod their heads in agreement and look at the adults. They always wondered how she got the smell of bagels but never questioned it.

Mrs. Leane and Dr. Phram share a look. "Thank you, girls, you were a huge help." Dr. Phram says looking over the notes he took earlier.

"Yes, thank you, girls, you may head back to your rooms. I will let you know if her condition changes." Mrs. Leane dismisses them seeing that Dr. Phram doesn't have any more questions. The girls head out of the office after saying their goodbyes to the doctor. Once the door is closed Mrs. Leane turns to Dr. Phram. Marie's condition sounds more confusing than Mrs. Leane originally thought and she is no closer to figuring it out.

"Mrs. Leane, how old is Marie again?" Dr. Phram asks when he looks up from his notepad.

"She is 15, almost 16 why?"

"We need to talk."