Anna wasn't a germaphobe, and she certainly wasn't careful about staying healthy. When one of her friends was sick, she didn't bother being close to them, sharing food or drinks, studying from a few inches away, or hugging them. This had obviously boosted her immune defenses since she was little, but by February, her antibodies were exhausted, and by that time, everyone had something from a simple sore throat to bronchitis.
She had been studying in the house of a friend of her at the beginning of what was about to become a terrible flu, with her blows starting to thicken, consonants starting to sound nasal, and coughs that were starting to become less dry and more wet. After getting at least one sneeze and a couple of coughs in her face and sharing a cup of tea, Anna returned home and had just enough time to feel a slight sore throat before falling asleep.
The past three days had been the descent into hell of the worst flu she'd had in years. By day 1, she had to buy a generous supply of tissues; by day 2, she'd stopped breathing through her nose and her cough had firmly settled into her chest; and now it was day 3, and she was heading to the library to study for a big exam.
To call her completely blocked would be an understatement: it was 9:30, and as soon as she woke up, she'd immediately tried to blow her nose, but nothing had moved, neither in her nose nor in her chest, which felt really heavy today. But as she rode her bike, the rush of air unblocked both her nostrils, or rather loosened the compactness of her snot, and now she had to fight with all her strength to keep it from running down her face.
Entering the building, she was met with the extremely hot air inside, which immediately blocked her nose again, a welcome sight. She climbed the stairs and took up her usual spot, next to the radiator. She removed her books and a half-empty tissue pack from her backpack. She looked around and noticed used tissues on every table, red noses, and scarves around necks: the healthy were in the minority, she thought with a smile, and began to study.
About forty minutes had passed when she decided to go get a tea from the vending machine to warm up. She saw her reflection in the glass: bags under her eyes, greasy hair, chapped lips from breathing only through her mouth. At least her big nose was feeling a little better today, having not tortured it yet. She sat back down, sipping her tea, and held the warm cup to her chest to try to ease some of the congestion.
She was afraid of triggering a cough, which had been terrible the day before, but the heaviness in her lungs was too uncomfortable; she knew they must be really full. A friend of hers arrived with a tissue in her hand and red nostrils. "Hey, Adda, how's studyihg goihg?" She tried to speak and realized it was her first sentence of the day, and what came out was so hoarse and low that she couldn't understand anything. She cleared her throat loudly, but the phlegm that had accumulated all night remained. Embarrassed, she nodded yes with a thumbs-up, giving up on speaking for the moment. Her friend laughed: "Dod't worry, we're all feelihg worse. I thihk I've filled a whole basket with tissues sidce I've beed here."
Her friend left, and Anna tried to clear her throat, and with that cough, she managed to stir up some phlegm in her chest with a wet rattle that made several people turn around. Anna blushed; it sounded worse than she thought; there was so much phlegm that the coughing had further clogged her throat. She ran to the bathroom, holding back her cough, and once inside, she let out two crunchy, productive coughs that brought a thick mass of slime into her mouth. She spat it out disgusted into the sink and saw that it was greenish and sticky like her snot. "All the stuff I have in my nose, I also have here in my chest," she thought, and turned on the water to wash away the mush. As she sat back down, she noticed a boy who had been in the same place the day before, watching her, trying not to be seen.
He was cute, and she worried about the terrible state she was in, definitely the opposite of what an attractive girl supposedly should be: definitely not full of snot like she was. She felt she couldn't help but blow her nose anymore, and tried to do it as quietly as possible: with the first blow, a disgusting sound of gurgling slime came out. Now she was redder than ever, yet the day before, she thought, it hadn't been this disgusting, and she had to stop because that side of the tissue was already full. She folded it, feeling all the warm mass sticking inside, and saw for a moment that the boy was agitated. "That's embarrassing, now I'm going to disgust him." She wanted to stop blowing her nose, but it had just started to empty, and the sensation was too pleasant. She blew again with the other nostril, and now the tissue was warm and damp in her hands. She passed it under her snotty nose and then placed it on the table. She sniffed wetly and let out a slight cough, but it was pure phlegm. She still couldn't breathe through one nostril, but she felt much lighter. She got up to throw away the tissue and other waste paper and found a nearby trash can where she threw it all. She sat back down, and less than 30 seconds later, the guy stood up and walked toward the trash can, which was covered by a shelf.
"No, impossible," she thought, but she got up to follow him. She saw him go to a hidden corner and in his hand... yes, it was her used tissue. She reached him and cleared her throat to try to speak. He jumped and almost fell to the ground. "Why did you take by tissue?"
The guy blushed but didn't answer. "It's full of sdot." "I know... I heard you." Anna was confused, she coughed into her elbow, another disgustingly wet sound, and again that look in the guy's eyes. "Are you sobe kihd of fetishist?" The guy nodded, worried. "That's weird, what do you waht to do with by tissue?" And he: "Look inside..." "Oped it theh, if you waht." He opened it with two fingers, and inside immediately appeared the thick mass that Anna had just poured into it. It was unthinkable that all that gunk was inside her nose. The guy was astonished. Anna: Is it beautiful? He: I've never seen so much snot in a tissue. She: welcobe to by curreht life... SDRKK and she sniffed loudly to emphasize her point. He: Sorry, I don't mean to scare you, really. Anna: Doh't worry, I've seed a lot of weird stuff arouhd, ahd you're dot the worst. So you were lookihg at be because I'b a free sdot factory? And he immediately: No! You're very beautiful, and in my opinion, there's nothing more flattering than a red nose and eyebags on a pretty girl. She: Ab I attractive like that... SDRGK... sdotty? He: Very, and I love your nose.
They were definitely the most absurd compliments she'd ever received, but it made her feel strangely good to know she was appreciated despite her terrible appearance. "Thahk you...?" He: You're welcome. Anna: Adyway, by dabe is Adda, ahd you cad keep that if you waht. I cad give you bore... SNNRKK... And he: that would be fantastic.
