Battling the Invisible

Axi slowly opened his eyes. His throat was on fire, and his head felt like two boulders were currently using his brain as a sumo wrestling mat. He rolled—literally rolled—out of bed and searched in the dim light for his hoodie. He shivered madly, even after he put it on, and wrote a hurried note to Drake.
Yo Roomie,
It’s two in the morning. I feel like shit. Went to the nurse.
Peace, Axi
He put the note on top of his roommate’s laptop and shuffled down to see the matron. This wasn’t his favorite course of action, seeing as the Whitewyn Hall nurse had all the tenderness and caring of a pissed of rhino. It took him about ten minutes to go down two flights of stairs. He kept getting dizzy and almost throwing up. Finally, he saw the door he needed. He knocked and stood back, trying to look as pathetic as possible. It wasn’t hard.
“What’s the trouble?” Matron Lee asked, opening the door. Her face softened a bit when she saw him. Meaning, she still looked like the newest edition of Mount Rushmore, but at least she looked slightly concerned.
“Feel…crappy,” Axi panted. Even going down the stairs had taken a lot out of him.
“Come with me,” she said, unlocking the infirmary. She led him to a bed and nodded at it.
Lying down, he nearly passed out. “What’s wrong with me?” he whispered as she rummaged in a nearby cabinet.
“Probably just a cold. You magical kids are better off though….”
“Bull.”
She chuckled, which was a bit terrifying. “You lot are normally immune to the kiddie disease floating around grade school, but put you together in college and it all just falls to shit. You’ll want to die for about a day, and then you’ll be fine. In fact, for the first 48 hours after you get better, you’re going to feel invincible. Stay in the infirmary today, and I’ll email your teachers. I’ll leave your medicine on the table, and a note with when you have to take it. Sleep tight.”
Glad to know he wasn’t about to die, and that he had permission to sleep, Axi closed his eyes.
*
“He looks like shit,” a deep voice said.
“I’m going to kill him for walking down here by himself,” Drake whispered. “Matron Lee said she was surprised he didn’t pass out on the stairs.”
“Guys, I’ve got a permanent marker in my bag,” Jackson cackled. “We could draw—“
“Do it, and I kill you,” the deep voice said.
Axi opened his eyes, happy that his headache was receding. “I’d kill him first,” he muttered.
“Ah! He’s awake,” Jackson said. “Try not to die in the middle of the night again.”
“How are you feeling?” the deep voice asked.
Axi turned his head. It was Argo. “I’m fine,” he said, trying to look brave. “Just a cold. You win your game?”
“Hell yeah, you know it. You’ll be better in time for yours, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“We’ll let you sleep,” Drake said. “Want me to bring your books?”
“Please and thanks.”
*
“Invincible” was an understatement. Axi felt like he could strangle a mountain ox. He hurled another lightning bolt at Drake, who dodged, turned invisible, and nearly killed him with a particularly large ball of fire.
“Enough!” Drake yelled. “Shit man, I wanna get sick if this is what happens.”
“It’ll go away. We should stop though. I don’t want to kill myself before the game.”
“You nervous?”
“No. Just want to get this thing started! This season’s going to be beast!”
“Okay, you’re high as hell. I’m going to hit the showers while no one’s around.”
“Did you call Jen yet?”
“What the fu--? Where did that come from?”
“Just wondering. The Halloween party was badass, and it looked like you had fun. What’s going on?”
“I didn’t think she could handle…all my baggage.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
“No, but I didn’t want to risk anything right off the bat.”
Axi shrugged. “It’s all good, man. Just wondering.”
“See you later.”
*
The lacrosse match was a stunning success, mostly because half of the team was on the same post-sickness high as Axi. Axi came off the field in a great mood, made even greater by the sight of someone waiting for him. “Hey Argo, what’s up?”
“Just watching JV kick ass and take names,” Argo said, jumping down from the bleachers. “How’s it feel?”
“Winning? Awesome. But I have a feeling it was lucky.”
Argo laughed. “Want to go grab something to eat?”
“Uh…yeah. I’m kind of…gross.”
“Run through some soap and water real quick. I’m parked next to Beehaven Hall.”
*
Drake looked up from his computer when Axi came in. “Where have you been?”
“On a date,” Axi said morosely.
“You…don’t sound like it went well.”
“I got the ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ talk.”
“Ouch.”
“No shit.”
“You heard about these disappearing champions?” Drake asked.
“Yeah. My older brother stopped competing when his friend disappeared. I don’t know the whole story though.”
“It’s weird, right.”
“Yeah. Let’s go over and ask.”
“He lives in Beehaven right?”
“Yeah. I’ve just got to dodge Argo.”
The two boys grabbed their jackets and walked across the lawn to the other boys’ dormitory. They went in the side door and up the stairs to the sixth floor. Music was playing in room 68, so they had to knock a few times.
“What’s up?” Sebastian asked.
“We wanted to ask you about your friend. Max.”
Sebastian let out a deep breath and looked up and down the hall. “Fine. Get in here.” He clicked the stereo off with the remote and flopped into the chair by the window. “I don’t know much. Just that he won all four years, and then just disappeared. Couldn’t get a hold of him or his family. It happens to all of the champions. No one talks about it.”
“Why not?” Drake asked.
“No one cares. The benefits outweigh the risks to most people.”
“So what? People just figure they’ll deal with it when they win?”
“Pretty much. Now get out, I have to study. Nice to meet you, Drake.”
“You too, man.”
The headed back down the stairs of Beehaven. “My brother’s a weird bird,” Axi said, smiling.
Drake laughed. “It’s all good.”
“Let’s go train.”