What is this weird illness?

Usually Alex is ravenous on her way home from school. She eats almost more than one full meal then. I wouldn't use the word hyper to describe her but she has a lot of energy. Today I was able to pick Alex up from school. My school is over but I am only working half days this week. When I got there, Alex was at her last class. People talk all about security in high schools, but I walked right in without anyone blinking at me. Alex's last class was right near the main office, and I leaned against the wall waiting for her.

She saw me, and touched her hair and looked at me meaningfully. She meant it wasn't up or back like usual, but was down and loose. Normally she never takes her hair out until after dinner. When the bell rang Alex came over, took my hand, and we walked out. I'd brought a snack for her, but she didn't say anything about being hungry, so I didn't offer. After a while I asked if Alex wanted a pocket present, and gave her a lollipop. When she took it, she told me she didn't eat lunch because it was gross.

While we were waiting for the train, Alex leaned against me. I reached up to pet her hair, and she jerked away from me, saying her ear hurt a lot. She didn't have any signs of an ear infection. I needed to stop at a couple of places and Alex leaned against me, a wall, or sat down every place possible. She even went to sit down on the street at one point. Eventually we were less than half a mile from home. Alex always wants to walk it. Always. This time she just stopped walking at the bus stop and when I looked back at her she had tears streaming down her face. "I need to take the bus."

It was very weird. We took the bus. It was rush hour and there were no seats. Al tugged my arm and said she wished I could carry her. When we got home, Alex dropped all her stuff at the front door, kicked off her shoes. I didn't say anything and just went to wash my hands. Then I went looking for her, and found Alex laying across my bed. She was hot, so I turned on the fan. We talked for a while, and then I offered to play cards with her. While we were playing, Alex said she was cold and I turned off the fan. When I went to start dinner, Alex said she would help. I told her to go wash her hands and then come back to make the vegetables. Walking back into the kitchen, Alex told me she was still cold. Jokingly, I told her to go back to bed and get under the covers.

Less than a minute later I went to find Alex, and she was under the blanket on Josh's side, like all tucked in. I put a second blanket over her and went to make dinner by myself. Alex slept through dinner, and woke up right at 8pm, two hours after laying down. Her face was totally bright red, and she told me she was hot. Flopping down next to me, Al pulled her shirt up and put my hand on her belly. Then she took my other hand and put it on her forehead. Told me she liked that my hands felt cold against her skin.

We watched tv for a little while before Alex told me she was hungry, and asked for pasta with butter. I made her some. Alex ate about a quarter of it. Before 9pm Alex asked if she could go back to bed. We all kind of looked at each other funny. I told her to take some Tylenol first and she shuffled off. Josh ate the rest of Al's pasta, then said he didn't think he'd heard her stop in the kitchen for medicine. None of us were sure, so Josh went to go check. I felt bad that he was doing what I should have been so I followed a minute later, only to bump into Josh in the hallway, carrying Alex like a sleeping princess from our bed to hers.

I don't know what the hell is wrong with her since it's not an ear infection, but it's very unsettling to have someone who's normally very bubbly and full of energy being totally lethargic and quiet. I hope in the morning she is magically better.