Our fight lasted for an hour or two before his doctor decided we stayed the night. Stuart didn't want to; he even argued to his doctor, saying spews of lies about having deadlines for homework and such.

Heck, I didn't want to either. I had a lot of things to do at home, but the doctor insisted. And it was for Stuart so I agreed.

Stuart had gotten more stubborn than ever. He wouldn't listen to me anymore.

I spent the whole night walking from the hospital bed to the toilet and back. Stuart had been vomiting more and eating less; he said he wasn't hungry but his stomach screamed otherwise. Pale and weak, he didn't even have the energy to argue with me about the show we watched on the television.

It hurt me to hear Stuart groan in pain; he did so from dusk to dawn. I couldn't do anything but to assist him and do what his doctor asked.

My poor baby brother. If only I could take away his pain, I would.

Sitting on a chair beside him, I watched him sleep. Anytime now he would wake up and vomit nothing but saliva since he hasn't been eating. I had been keeping track, and it wasn't hard to notice the stains on my dress. Combing his hair, I left a kiss on his forehead.

I placed a white pale under his bed in case he wouldn't make it to the toilet.

Sighing, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I found myself smiling when I saw Zac's name on the screen. "How's Stuart?"

I was about to reply when he called me shortly after. Stuart was sleeping soundly, probably too tired from his prior trips to the toilet. I didn't want to wake him up.

Tiptoeing outside our room, I answered.

"Zac, hi," I said, tucking my hair behind my ear. I didn't realize my smile had already grown bigger. 

"Hey. How's your brother?"

"He's getting better, I think."

"Great. You think he would be alright by himself tomorrow?" he asked, eagerness trailed in his voice.

My brows arched upon the suggestion. "What do you mean? Where are we going?"

"Well, I have a game tomorrow and I want you to watch me play."

"Um," I clicked my tongue, hesitating to answer, "Sorry, Zac. I'm busy."

"If you're worried about Stuart, I'm sure Dr. Thompson would take care of him."

"Please?"

Taking a deep breath, I replied, "Alright. But no promises."

Our conversation ended. Hearing his voice restored my energy from a rather tiring night.

The incident with my brother made me forget the incredible night I had with Zac earlier today.

                                     *****

When morning had risen, the doctor finally released him. We could go home. Yes. I could resume giving Stuart a taste of his own medicine.

I wish I could take a break just once.

The nurses removed the dextrose from Stuart's hands. He said he was feeling better now.

"Doc," I held my breath, scared to look into her eyes, "I can't begin to thank you for taking care of Stuart."

My eyes watered when I started telling the reason I didn't pick up the phone the first few times when the school called.

It was hard for me to admit that. The look on her face was not a pretty sight.

"We already talked about this," Dr. Kelly said to me, her eyes faced sharply to me.

I nodded. "I need to be more responsible."

"What if it were a real emergency? What could you have done then?"

Clearing my throat, I kept on nodding until she stopped talking.

"Come on, my car's in the garage," she said.

Dr. Kelly offered us a ride home.

Shaking my head, I replied, "No—it's alright, Dr. Kelly. We can manage from here." I declined right away out of embarrassment.

Without saying a word, she gave me that usual, condescending smirk every time I made a wrong choice, which she did most of the time.

It was already embarrassing enough to get the call from her. I didn't want to bother her with a petty argument about this.

"Okay, Doc. We're coming with you. Thanks for the offer."

On the way to the garage, four floors down, Stuart and I didn't speak to each other. His eyes looked sharp, gritting his teeth with his mouth closed, and jaws moving.

Just wait till we get home.

As we got into the car, Dr. Kelly thought it would be nice to hear something out of Stuart's mouth.

"So, Stuart, how's school doing?" she asked, facing the mirror and looking at him.

"Fine," he replied stoic, looking outside through the car window.

I hit his elbow and signaled him to make conversation with her. But he did not react, not even flinch.

"He's doing quite well, Doc," I laughed awkwardly, "I've been keeping an eye at him." I glared at Stuart who showed he didn't care about anything we said.

When we got to our street, I thanked Dr. Kelly.

got my old fashioned sermon. He wasn't talking to me since the hospital. By the time we arrived home, I could tell he was desperate to slice my tongue open so I wouldn't be able to speak again.

Well, I would say he deserved every word.

"Sit. Eat. Now," I said firmly, putting the take-out food on the table.

"I'm tired, I wanna sleep," was his reply.

Off he went straight to his room, without any regard to the food.

"Stuar—" I enforced my authority.

"Do you know how embarrassing it is for Dr. Kelly?! She's a busy woman, Stuart. She gets patients like crazy," I spat, "You could've called me first."

"Just forget it. I get it. I messed up." He walked up the stairs straight to his room.

"And Stuart—" I called him, "No more skipping meals and no more saving money unless it's for you."

He nodded.

"I mean it, boy, don't make me ground you."

Stuart continued to make way to the stairs, unbothered.

                                    *****

Immediately I started writing off my checklist as I finished the chores. With no rest, I did them like a working machine. My back started to ache again.

Dr. Kelly told me to get a few students' files from the clinic at Wilford State College. And I was happy when I read that message.

It meant I had an excuse to see him. I didn't understand my feeling. Whenever I thought of him, I felt free but at the same time tensed.

After my shift at the clinic, I decided to watch him play, as I promised.

The same crowd of people I had last seen were here, at least that was how I remembered. There was momentum on the football field.

Then I saw Zac running like the wind; his opponents ran as fast as they could to get the ball but they could never beat him.

Go, Zac.

"Mary?" Someone called me from the bleachers.

I turned my back and faced a squad of fancy cheerleaders. "Yeah?" I greeted cheerfully.

A posh-looking brat came up to me and introduced herself. She was wearing a dark shade of maroon on her lips and light blush on her cheeks.

"Hi, I'm Veronica," she said with gum to the side of her mouth.

I knew girls like these. Befriending them never ended well for both of you.

"Are you and Zac together?" she asked casually. Who was this chick anyway?

"What?" I was taken aback by the question but didn't want to appear like it. "No."

"Oh, good," she sighed then chewed the gun in her mouth, "I knew you weren't the flirty type."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing, you just seem like a simple, genuine type of girl. Nothing like Zac would date," she told me.

Her fellow cheerleaders called her. "Veronica! They won!"

"Look, gotta go, uh, nice to meet you, Mary," Veronica smiled before she turned away and said, "Just so you know I'm onto him."

As my eyes returned to the field, they were already jumping up and down. Zac was carried by his teammates on their shoulders.

He was the king of the field.

And I was just a nobody.

Gazing at him, along with his friends cheering him on, the look on his face told me we were and will never be meant to be together.

My newly-met friend, Veronica, and a bunch of her friends ran to his team and grabbed as many boys as they could get for themselves.

Veronica chose him, as she confidently told me a minute ago.

She put his long, skinny arms around Zac's neck and kissed his cheek.

Then I turned away. I couldn't afford to see what happened next.

I was right.