"ACHOO!!!"
Hey guys ACHOO!!!!! As you can see, your adorable Kate Roberts ACHOO!-Is sick....*Blows off nose sound effects* the bad thing is it feels like sh*t ACHOO!!! But the good thing is I get to eat a huge load of ice cream, what can be possibly be better? ACHOO!!!! ACHOO!!! ACHOO!!!!
*Sniff* *Sniff*
Oh damn!
"Kate?" Mom said as she entered my room "OH GOD DEAR!! How did you get such a bad flu?"
".....I don't know-ACHOO!!!"
Yes, I don't wanna tell mom that I was bullied, I don't want her to worry. I'm a 15 years old grown up, I can handle a flu-
ACHOOOOOOOOOOO!!
This time the snot landed on mom's skirt. She took a tissue and cleaned it.
"Okay dear, your sister has left for school and your dad has gone to the hotel, and I'm going to the hospital, call me if you need anything." Mom said as she cleaned her skirt and threw the tissue in the dustbin.
"Mom...I'm fi-ACHOO!!"
"Yes, I can see that, see ya."
Didn't I tell you? My mom's a nurse, dad's a CHEF in a five star hotel, lucky me, huh? At least I got good parents if not a nice SIBLING!
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Tick tock tick tock tick tock
AH JEEZ!!! AFTER MOM LEFT, ALL I CAN HEAR IS THE CLOCK'S VOICE.
...I'm bored.…
"Harry Louverne, do you have any idea what you've done??!!" Brandon said while walking on the street. He was talking to Harry Louverne on his phone.
"Dude, I'm sorry. I totally forgot that he's Anna Robert's brother. I'm still in shock, trust me." Harry said.
"DON'T SCREW WITH ME!!! I CAN TELL FROM YOUR VOICE THAT YOU'RE SMILING!! YOU'RE TOTALLY ENJOYING IT, AREN'T YOU??!!!"
"So...what's the battle plan?" Harry said.
"Lemme tell you, first of all- go to Boston and KILL HARRY LOUVERNE!!"
"....Okay, lemme think of something...IDEA!!"
"WHAT IS IT??!!"
"Why don't you go to his house at school hours? Ditch school for today. You won't find anyone except him in his house if you go there at school hours. His parents would be at work and his sister would be at school."
"....HARRY YOU'RE A GENIUS!!!"
"Hey, anytime dude."
"There won't won't be anyone there...? I'm suddenly feeling excited...."
"Huh?"
"Nothing, enjoy your holiday." Brandon said "I'm hanging up now."
Brandon kept his phone in his pocket and ran in the opposite direction, towards Kate's house.
"Huff huff huff...never thought I'd ever be back here." Brandon said to himself as he stood in front of Kate's house.
Brandon took a deep breath and paced towards the door.
"....Oh god! I'm so nervous!" Brandon said as he turned the other way and did a facepalm "Okay, MAN UP BRANDON JOHNSON!!" he said to himself and pressed the door bell.
He waited for sometime but no one answered. So, he pressed it one more time but again there was no response.
"....Is no one home?" He said to himself.
Then he went towards the backyard of the house "As I thought, the back door is always open. Man...I wonder, if I'm caught, how long will I go in for? 'cause this is definitely trespassing' he said to himself.
"This is nostalgic!" Brandon said as he entered the hallways.
Then he climbed up the stairs and reached the first floor's hallway.
"Okay, this is Anna's room, so, this must be Kate's room, man I suddenly feel nervous again." Brandon said "What the f#*k is this?? I've never felt this nervous even during my first kiss!"
"Okay *cough* Kate?" Brandon said as he knocked on the door. There was no response again. Brandon slowly opened the door and went near Kate's bed.
Kate was sleeping.
"Oh man! You sure are carefree." Brandon said as he looked at Kate. He pressed his hand on Kate's forehead "Damn! You're burning!" He said "Just wait a moment!" Brandon said and rushed outside the room.
After a while he brought a wet towel and gently kept it on Kate's face.
"Feels better?" Brandon said. He got up but Kate held his finger. Brandon turned to look at Kate. He was still asleep while holding Brandon's finger.
Brandon looked at him for sometime and sat beside him.
Kate slowly opened his eyes and got up.
"Oh, you're up? Here eat up, you must be hungry." Brandon said holding a bowl of porridge rice.
"....What are you doing here?" Kate said in a daze. His face was still red and he had a mild fever.
"Currently, nursing my bias, here." Brandon said as he brought the spoon in front of Kate's mouth.
"....You made this?" Kate said as he looked at the porridge rice.
"Yes."
"So, you can even cook, huh?"
"Yes, I can, I can cook anything you want."
"Jeez, you're really a prince." Kate said as he ate the porridge from the spoon.
Brandon continued feeding him.
'Good, he's eating. And here I thought that he might not eat it because I've made it. He's more cute when he's sick.' Brandon thought.
"....Brandon" Kate said.
"Yes" Brandon replied with a smile.
"...Why do you like me?"
"Do I need a reason for liking someone?" Brandon said.
"....Then, let me change the question....why did you dump my sister?"
Upon hearing this, Brandon chuckled nervously and said "Nowadays everyone is curious about that. Even my sister asked the same question the other day, but I turned it down with a laugh."
"....So, you're not tellin' me?" Kate said.
"No, I'll have to tell you someday. Why not today?" Brandon said while feeding another spoon of porridge rice to Kate.
"Y'know what, when I first transferred to this school, it was not that difficult to get popular here. All these people care about is your face and your talents. It doesn't matter what's on the inside. And luckily I had both, so it was as easy as killing an ant. Soon, after I was given the title of the 'Prince of Kerlin County High School', your sister confessed to me.
Don't you find it weird? She only confessed to me only after I got the title, not before that...why do you think she did that? Because her feelings for me got stronger? Nope, not at all. She can fool others but not the 'prince'. She was after my status. She just wanted to use me as a ladder to climb at the top of the social hierarchy of the school.
But, I wanted to kill some time, so I said yes. I thought, maybe I can fall for her, she was doable. I kept waiting for that one thing she'll do to make me fall for her, but all she ever talked about was herself. How did her hair look, or if her lipstick was matching her complexion or stuff like that. Honestly, I couldn't care less, but I still decided to put up with her, until I met you.
The first time I saw you was when you were being bullied by some football guys. This was a usual thing for me to see, so I just decided to stand and watch. You seemed weak and skinny, but your words were like lightning. Wherever they fall, they'll demolish anything, without exceptions. I still remember what you said to them....
"You look like a piece of crap." the bully said.
All the other bullies started laughing at this.
"In order to insult me, I must value your opinion...Nice try though." Kate said.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME, YOU GEEK!" the bully said.
"Are you deaf, you jock?" Kate said.
"Looks like you want a piece of me!" the bully said.
"Oh please, I'm getting late, let's do this some other day. I'm getting late for class." Kate said as he moved away.
"HUH? Running away, are we?" The bully said.
"Running away? Oh! Of course not. What do you do when you step on sh*t? It makes you dirty, doesn't it? I'm just stepping aside to clean it." Kate said as Brandon stood behind him.
"DAMN YOU!! I'LL SEE YOU LATER!!" The bully said.
"Okay but, you'll have to stand in a long line." Kate said. Then he turned and walked past Brandon.
"That day...you were so brave, honestly I thought, that you were so cool!" Brandon said as he kept the bowl aside.
"...Well, that's just me and my sharp tongue." Kate said.
"But, seriously, this is something not everyone can do. If I were bullied, I could definitely not stand up for myself like you. You were brave and free, not afraid of making enemies. After that, I met you quite frequently, in the football field, in the hallways, in the library, almost everywhere. And there came a time where I would only think about you with your sister complaining about her life in the background.
But there's one thing that bothered me, you were always alone, no matter where I saw you.
I got more curious, so I asked Harry about you. Surprisingly enough, he recognized you the moment I described you. He told me your name and that you were my girlfriend's twin brother...
....I must say, that was a shock. I felt like someone had thrown a huge stone of a metric tonne on my head.
That was a period in my life when I got really concerned about my sexuality. I was attracted to you, and I hated myself for that. Because I had always dated girls, so why was I feeling these desires to touch a guy.
I became really confused. So, I made one mistake, I discussed about it with your sister. I told her that I felt attracted towards a guy, and you won't believe what was her reaction.
She started laughing and making fun of me. I literally couldn't believe her. I was serious over here. This wasn't a joke!! This wasn't a matter of laughing, but she was harsh. She told me to forget about it because I had the hottest girl of the school as my girlfriend.
So, I decided to believe her, and I started to maintain my distance from you. But I couldn't. I thought of seeking advice about this from Harry, but I was scared that he would laugh like Anna and drop the topic. I was disgusted with myself.
I started fighting myself, and my "in name" girlfriend, Anna Roberts, didn't miss a single chance to make my life even more miserable. Whenever I'd talk to a guy, she would accuse me of liking him. I couldn't even talk to Harry for one month because of that. I was forced to hang out with her all the time, with her friends.
Seriously, I was tired. I was really tired. I thought everyone hated me from inside. I just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up again. But everyday the sun would rise, and I had to go to school. I started faking a smile for the first time in my life because of your sister 'cause she thought that, if I look gloomy, it might affect her reputation.
Everyone, even my girlfriend, were satisfied with my fake smile. But, Harry was different. He finally asked what was wrong. He asked me if I was okay, because I didn't look very well for the past few months. I couldn't believe he noticed even though I hadn't told him anything and my girlfriend, with whom I shared every secret of my life, acted all normal, as if I was completely fine.
That day, I realized, the people who truly care about you, can hear you, even when you're silent.
And Harry was the only person, who was able to notice the pain in my eyes rather the smile on my lips. I finally broke down and started crying.
I told him that I loved someone else and not my girlfriend. I didn't tell him that I was in love with a guy, I just told him I loved someone else.
And what he said after hearing me for like thirty minutes, were golden words....he said,
"Brandon, don't let the chains that have been forced on you control your fate. Don't let the chains of false love compel you to stay with someone, and don't let lies weave a web of chains to hold you to another."
Those words hit me hard.
I knew what I wanted to do.
All the confusion in my brain washed off as if it never existed.
I wish that I had told him sooner, then, I won't have to suffer so much.
The next evening, I told your sister to come out to the cafe near our school. And I told her that I can't "tolerate" her anymore and that I was leaving her. I told her to give up on me because I didn't like her. I'd never liked her.
"Why did you date me if you didn't like me?" she shouted.
"Didn't you do the same thing? This is something I should ask you." I said.
I couldn't believe I said that. In the past...I would have never said that, I would have never stood up for myself.
She started crying and asked me the real reason for leaving her and I told her-
"I like your brother more than you."
I didn't care what she thought of me. I loved you and I told her.
After that...she simply ran back home.
That's all." Brandon said as he looked at Kate.
"...And here I thought that you lived an easy and perfect life." Kate said with a gentle smile. His face was hot and red due to the rising fever.
"Kate...." Brandon said as he held Kate's hand and gazed into his eyes, "I may not be the best guy for you, but I just want to let you know, that you are the first person I've ever been so serious about. It's okay if I'm not the favorite chapter you've written...but I hope you sometimes smile when you flip back to the pages I was still a part of."
Kate looked at Brandon with a dreamy gaze and said "...Brandon.…have you ever kissed anyone you've truly loved?"
"Nope, never...Do you wanna gimme a chance?" Brandon said with a smile.
Kate looked at Brandon for sometime and then nodded slowly. Brandon was shocked as he didn't expect this answer.
He slowly moved towards Kate and pushed him on the bed slowly. Kate looked at Brandon and wrapped his hands around Brandon's neck.
Brandon slowly brought his lips near Kate's and-
ACHOO!!!!
"Sorry." Kate said.
Brandon wiped his face with a tissue and said "It's okay, I deserved it for jumping on a sick person."
BEEP BEEP CLACK!!!
"I'm back!!! KATE!!!" Anna shouted as she got inside the house.
Brandon moved away from Kate and sat on the floor.
She quickly rushed towards Kate's room and opened the door "LOOK WHAT I BROUGHT FOR- She abruptly stopped as soon as she saw Brandon.
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.
.
"Why are you here?" she said with a hateful gaze.
-To be continued