A TALE OF TWO LOVERS

HIS THOUGHTS

MAX'S P.O.V

I tightened my gloves as my mind wandered to the girl who smelled like chocolate. A smile carved my face as I thought of how she blatantly compared the picture on her phone with the real deal before hiding her phone behind her back. The confusion in her hazel eyes cleared as she realized that I had just caught her in possession of my picture. Heart-shaped lips carved in to a smile as she tried to break the ice between us. Creamy skin with brunette hair tied to a messy bun that made a few strands hug her angelic face. I knew her from school but I had never been so close, nor had we ever conversed. A look in her bag revealed a packet of chocolate and I smiled at the image before zipping her bag shut. She shivered slightly as I came close and a minty smell from her nape wafted in the small space between us and all my dumbass did was whisper my name.

I reached for the bottle of water on my motorcycle before taking a swing and Blake ran from the other side of the arena. He stopped in front of me, taking the bottle from my hand and finishing it.

“Ready?” Blake asked, throwing the bottle in the bin. He was a dark brown-haired guy with light blue eyes and a straight nose. My closest friend and someone I considered a brother.

I bent down, tying my shoes well when a hand plopped on my head. “My subject...” he started, and I hit his hand away, cutting him off as I stood up.

“Blake” I warned, and he put his hands up in mock surrender.

“This book I’m reading has got me feeling like some royal” he explained, placing an elbow on my shoulder.

“You don’t have to become the character every time you read a book” I said as the motorcycles lined up, the race minutes away.

Last week, he was a prodigy who never missed with his bow and arrow. Last month, an animal trainer and he continues assuming the position of characters he found interesting or cool.

“Not my fault the author gets all my features right. A handsome guy with a cool anything” he said.

The assumption of a character was a nice touch to the type of guy Blake was and it helped him gain a bunch of skills he pulled me to. Despite my obvious lack of time, he dragged me to all his adventures, and we were now holders of the black belt in taekwondo.

“Amanda made me pay a price for treating her like my subject” he said.

“Amanda?” I asked.

“Yeah. Fiona’s best friend. The brunette?” he said and I finally got her name “She demanded a packet of chocolates like she always does” he said with a head scratch.

“Ten minutes till we start” the microphone sounded, and we made our way towards my motorcycle.

Blake checked the motorcycle and threw up an okay sign. We moved towards the benches as more people made their way towards the tracks.

“Any plans for this weekend?” I asked as we sat.

“Yeah. Amanda’s sister has an appointment with the tower” he answered.

I was learning a lot about this girl in one day and I was getting curious about the girl with a sweet scent.

“You have any plans? I was planning on dragging you along” he said and I nodded slowly, expecting him to do just that.

“We are visiting your sister after this right?” he asked.

“Yeah, did you buy the tea?” I asked and he hummed.

She had just woken up from a three-month coma and the doctor had suggested we buy her a certain type of tea. The heavy feeling that had clouded my chest for the past five months had finally gone and I could hold my motorcycle without the trembling of my hand. I was grateful for Blake’s presence in my life and as we waited, I realised that I might have never been able to pull through were it not for Blake. The girl on the microphone called once more, the familiar voice making the crowd move towards the tracks.

“Win this and you qualify for the big match in three months” Blake reminded as I sat on the motorcycle.

The match in three months would set me up for the next year. My sister’s medicines were expensive, and college always seemed like a luxury but with the money that would come out of the match, I would be able to save up just enough for my first year. I haven’t been able to partake in any extracurricular and with my nearly perfect grades, a scholarship wasn’t even a consideration. I started the machine, the sound of others starting filled the air as I regarded Marco to my right.

"How is your sister doing?" he asked, his full eyebrows furrowed in slight worry.

"A lot better. Thanks for asking", I answered, and he visibly relaxed.

"Any complications from the coma?" he inquired and I shook my head.

"Everything seems fine, only her attitude" I said and he answered with a short nod before the call to get ready sounded.

Marco had already qualified for the match, and I had only one other chance if I messed this one up. His black eyes twinkled with mischief, and he gripped the motorcycle, ten seconds on the time. He was a dark brown-haired dude with an immense love for motorcycles and I met him two years ago in a park. It was the leisurely days when I didn’t have a thing to worry about, a free 16-year-old. The whistle sounded and the race began. I loved the feeling of the wind as it hit my face and the feel of the glove on the motorcycle as the tires skid on the track.

The scent of sweet cake wafted through the air as I passed the local bakery set up by one of the girls who often joins us in races. The image of Amanda hit my head at the scent as I rounded the last corner and Marco appeared to my left. I narrowed my eyes behind the helmet as the finish line came to view and I realised I hadn’t paid much attention to the scenery. I wanted to meet her again and my weekend would be filled if I didn’t win this race. For the first time in about 6 months, I wanted to be selfish and think about more than my sister since she had woken up. The doctors said that she was fine and that all that she needed were medicines and food to regain the lost energy. Adulthood was introduced to me abruptly and I had to get myself together without a second thought. When I was seventeen, my sister started nose bleeding and having headaches. It was a weird time with my parents acting as though nothing was wrong, but I felt it, the shift in the atmosphere and the subtle looks that passed around whenever we were all in the same room. Her sickness seemed sudden to me, but my parents weren’t as spooked as I was. I felt left out and as much as they tried, I could feel that there was something amiss. She changed, from a careful and loving sister to a nonchalant one who seemed angry at the world. I watched over her, buying whatever she needed but I felt a chill run down my spine every time my parents were in the room. Our conversations were normal, and she wasn’t trying hard to have fun with me nor did her attitude change. She was the same person, at least that was what she wanted me to believe but I knew that she was changing.

The subtle smirks as if she was being sarcastic and the slight tremble whenever mother looked at her didn’t go unnoticed, but I pretended. I pretended not to know, I acted like some dependable little brother as if I wasn’t ignoring most of what was happening. It was time for me to be the brother she needed but I chose to become the one she wanted so I kept quiet as I just watched. Without asking, without showing a hint of curiosity and always just sitting there to be of some use. We were short of money and her treatment blew through our savings after she went into a coma since the medicines were expensive. I allowed my college savings to be used in her treatment and I have been saving up since the beginning of the year.

“Focus” Blake’s voice sounded, and I smirked.

I must have zoned out and judging by the two people in front, Blake must have realised. Using the microphone during a match was allowed and I appreciated his attentiveness. The was one more round and yet the vision of the finish line had come too early, and I once again felt the absence of Eliot and his friends. They made the competition fierce, and I never lost concentration while they were on the track. It was a slow day and a Thursday while they mostly competed on Fridays. I had an assignment to complete the day after and so I decided to attend the competition but what mostly drove my day dreaming was the slight pain that was returning in my sister’s arm. I accelerated, passing one person as I focused on the last half. The white shirt in front fared in the wind as the distance between us lessened until I could see Marco’s smirk. He was surely making fun of Blake’s interference and we were finally head-to-head. He accelerated moving sideways as a screech sounded and I followed suit. We were approaching the finish line fast and as we circled one another, we constantly leaned near the ground with an effort to overtake. It was getting fun, the adrenaline pumping my body as the smile curved up my lips and we passed the finish line.

Blake jogged towards me, his eyes narrowed, and I cracked a smile. He delivered a blow on my back, and I grunted as I leaned.

“Daydreaming while on a motorcycle?” he asked, sounding like a mom.

“You need to fix that behaviour. That’s dangerous” he lectured as I tried to reach the spot he had just hit.

I was apologetic, understanding the scare that must have given him, but it was probably going to happen again. He breathed out, in exasperation and with a head shake, handed me a bottle of water. I won the race, the happiness showing on my face and I wondered whether I should take a chance at love. I had never put myself first and was always expected to be there whenever anyone needed me. After a high five from Blake, we made our way to the snack bar where there were a variety of snacks.

"We need to leave in twenty minutes if we want to get to the hospital on time" he voiced.

"She'll still reprimand us for being right on time" I answered, taking a bit of a sneaker bar.

She was irritable. A trait that appeared less than a year ago and she had become entitled for some reason, demanding things and causing a ruckus if her unreasonable demands were not met. I drank a mango juice and carried another sneaker bar before we made our way towards the motorcycles. The ride took twenty-five minutes since the arena was far from the city and as we made our way into the hospital, the familiar smell of spirits and medicine made me nauseous

She would always say 'I'm alright' whenever I asked what was wrong and she would ignore any other questions. Her relationship with our parents worsens and they would always argue, but the house would go quiet whenever I'd enter and it was infuriating. She would close herself up in her room for days, expecting me to bring her food and when I didn't, she'd act like I was a big disappointment. She expected an ally out of me, one ignorant to what was going on and I refused to continue after two months of being kept in the dark. She would faint a lot, have severe migraines and her appetite would vanish at times and yet we all acted like nothing was going on. Our parents asked her to 'grow up and deal with it' whenever she complained and blamed them for whatever was going on. It was like they didn't care, but they did at the same time. What I thought was life threatening seemed like a hiccup to them and four months ago, everything came crashing down when she was in a car accident. Marco found her strangely in the passenger seat of her car, alone, and he called me up. We still do not know who was in the driver's seat and my menace of a sister won't reveal it.

We walked up to the reception and the nurse looked up, instantly recognizing me.

"I almost thought you weren't coming today. Your parents left like two minutes ago" she shared.

" How is she doing?" I asked and she offered a small smile.

She was a black-haired lady, presumably in her late twenties and she wore the blue and white nurses' uniform. She fished from her files and handed me my sister's file.

"She is doing great. For someone who woke from a coma three weeks ago, she seems better."

I looked at the file, not understanding much of it, and immediately returned it to her. We took the stairs to the first floor, searching the halls until we got to her room. An eery feeling made the hair on my back stand straight as I opened the door. With every inch of opening, a bit of her was revealed. Her legs were covered by a white hospital blanket while she sat up straight, the curls in her hair making an appearance as it cascaded down to her hip where the blanket folded. We stepped in, making her look at us and the slight tinge of anger in her eyes made me want to go back. She got angry if even the slightest thing wasn't done right and I had enough. She stared and I stared right back, unbothered and unwilling to be the slightly intimidated boy I was a year ago. I crossed my hands in front of me, daring her to release her frustration on me. If my parents visited, then that meant that they had gotten into another argument and, as always, she seemed ready to let it all out on me.

Blake set the fruits he was holding on the table, used to the cold war that always made a presence whenever our parents visited. He took a seat and started peeling an apple. She glanced at him before looking back at me with the same glare. The door was slowly sliding shut and she pushed a strand behind her ear before looking down at her hands.

" You are late" she said, and the door slammed shut.