DISCLAIMER: This article may not be good for anybody who hates stories involving vomiting.

If my immune system was a baseball player, it'd be the kind of player that'd end up grounding into a triple play in the clutch with nobody out and the bases loaded. 

Colorful imagery aside, it's true. It seems that I always have a tendency to get sick when I sincerely don't want to be sick. It could happen before a big project is due and I'm actually ready to present it (never the other way around), my birthday (this happened twice), about to embark on the last week of an internship (now), or in front of my fellow classmates.

That last one is especially awful. I ended up being "the nerdy girl who puked in front of class." (In my defense, it was during silent reading and it was during a beheading scene). 

These all pale in comparison to the time between Good Friday through the first week of April when the flu bug decided to pay a visit to my immune system and cause all my best laid plans to go up in flames. While the story ends up turning out happy in the end, there was that brief period of time where I was legitimately worried. 

At this time, I had finally decided that I was going to ask "Josh" to Prom. I came to this conclusion shortly after a pseudo party that was held at my friend "Tom's" house.

While I already recognized that I had feelings for Josh, I was kind of dilly-dallying about the whole Prom thing. Partly because I wasn't too fond of the whole Prom thing and partly because I was the worst when it came to confessing my feelings. (Hell, I still am the worst at it.)

My plan was that I was going to ask him the Monday we got back to school. I was going to wait until midweek, but once Lori told me she was intending on asking Josh to Prom, I knew I had to act fast.

She had "sudddenly" developed feelings for Josh again, which at the time I thought was her trying to do some sort of jealousy power play thing on me. Josh and I had gotten pretty close in the past few months and I have a feeling she didn't like it at all. Especially since it could seem like it was being done maliciously.

Anyway, I had a deadline to work with and I had support from my friend "Scott" who was sick of my dilly-dallying and told me if I didn't ask him by the end of that Monday, he'd intervene.

At the same time, there was a flu bug was that was going around the school. My friend "Nina" had fallen victim to it and made the mistake of coming back to school a little too early. Not that I blamed her since we did have testing that week. I just hoped that I wouldn't end up catching it. 

That Thursday night, I was spending the night at my friend "Raven's" house and we were having a fun time for the most part. Around late night, my stomach began to churn. I figured that maybe it was just the eating of too many sweets. I didn't think much of it, I just tried to get to sleep.

But it just wouldn't go away. Next thing I know, I'm starting to heave. Thankfully, there was a trash barrel nearby and I basically let it all out. Raven woke up and asked me if I wanted her to drive me home, which I declined. It was around 3 a.m. after all. I went to sleep eventually and woke up feeling like I had been hit by a bus. 

What followed the next week was a grueling week deal with the Zombie Death Flu, as one of my friends likes to eloquently put it. I was like death warmed over. It hurt to move, my head was pounding and my throat was shredded. I tried to go back that Monday, but that was a terrible decision. I was in terrible shape. In fact, I remember my pediatrician telling me how dumb of an idea that was.

I lamented my possible defeat between the popsicles, chicken soup and cartoons that helped pass the time. Knowing Lori, she probably had jumped on it as soon as possible and asked Josh. And knowing Josh as being a polite guy, he probably would've agreed to go with her. And if he didn't, then it's probably because he wasn't interested in going in the first place. It's not like he'd make an exception just for me. Why would he do something silly like that?

Of course, this was my terrible self-confidence talking at the time. I called "Nina" every day after school, mostly to get my homework assignments but also to secretly see if anything happened on the Josh front. I never told her that part, but I think she kind of knew.

Everyday, without fail, she'd then chime in about how Josh would come up to her and ask her where I was and if I was feeling alright. Everyday. She was talking to me about how good of a friend he seems to be, as if she was hinting at me to ask him to Prom.

I didn't want to tell her that I was intending to, since I knew she'd end up trying to push me to do it worse than Scott was.

Finally, I'm cleared to go back to school that Monday. I was still a little sick, but it wasn't anything that I couldn't handle. That Monday would be when all the Prom shenanigans would go down, which I've already discussed in length. 

I would come to find out later on that Lori had asked Josh to Prom that week and Josh had turned her down. Another girl in my grade had asked him too, whom he also politely turned down. There's something kind of flattering about someone turning down two girls before saying yes to you. Maybe it's a little jerkish on his part, but he was a year younger than us and he was taken by surprise over me asking him. 

The point of this story is to not assume the worst and that things will work themselves out in due time. You can't let a Zombie Death Flu throw you by the wayside. Or any other obstacles. Oh, and the other point is that being sick sucks. A lot.

Currently, I'm feeling under the weather myself. I think I caught some kind of flu but I can't be entirely certain. I've been on Sambucol from the first sign of sickness and it has done a hell of a job keeping my immune system under control. I recommend it to anybody who wants some flu / cold relief. Granted it doesn't make it completely go away, but it at least helps keep the symptoms under control.

Hopefully those of you with the flu or a cold end up feeling better soon. And if you're not sick, I'd probably go get a flu shot, especially if you work with children or go to school. Nip it in the bud before your timing falls victim to the Zombie Death Flu like mine had.

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