THE MAN WO CAN'T BE MINE

Chapter 5

Jack

I'm planning to talk to Cheska, but it looks like she's avoiding me. Did I do something wrong? And since when did she and Jacob become close? I'm her best friend, you know? I'll get to the bottom of this.

I know she has a problem, and I'm used to her not wanting to talk to anyone when she's like this. But I didn't know that it was okay for her to talk to Jacob.

"Are you two fighting?" Tyler asked when he noticed my frown as the two of them passed in front of me.

"I don't know," I said truthfully.

"You guys are complicated. Just court her already, so you won't be in this limbo where you don't know where you stand." He patted my back before turning to Coleen again and inviting her to lunch. Cheska is just a childhood friend to me, and I know she feels the same way.

Time had passed, and finally, it was dismissal time. I went out first because I knew Cheska would try to avoid me. Just as I thought, she was walking in a hurry, but before she could get far, I grabbed her arm. I pulled her away from the crowd of students and took her back to our room.

"Let's talk," I said seriously.

"We are talking," she said philosophically.

I felt my patience running thin because of her attitude towards me. She's not usually like this, so I know something's really wrong.

"I'm trying to be nice here."

"Try harder," she teased.

I smiled at her and slowly moved closer to her, making her suddenly nervous. In her nervousness, she didn't realize that she was backing up against the wall. She was startled when I trapped her between my arms.

"Stop playing, Jack!" she said angrily.

"I'm not... Are you still mad at me?" I asked calmly.

"Why would I be mad at you?" she asked more calmly.

"You're ignoring me. Just because you're close to your ex-crush, you're treating me like this. Fake friend," I joked, making her smile slightly.

"Stupid. I was just having a hard time earlier, but I'm okay now." She smiled, but I knew she wasn't happy.

"Let's get some grilled street food?" I suggested suddenly, surprising her, but she eventually agreed.

"Thank you, okay?" she said suddenly as we walked towards my motorcycle.

"No problem. Anything for you."

She was quiet until we arrived at the grilled street food stall we always ate at, so I put my arm around her shoulder to make her feel that I was there for her as a friend.

"Why is your friend so oblivious?" she suddenly asked.

"Tyler?" I confirmed, and when she nodded, I sighed. "He's not oblivious, he just really has no idea about your feelings. Tyler is smart, and he probably notices, but he probably ignores it because he thinks you only see him as a friend," I explained, and when I looked at her, she was wiping her cheeks.

"It's unfair."

"Life is unfair."

"You know, if he doesn't like me, then he doesn't. He's not the only guy in the world," she said grumpily. I just smiled at her words.

"Just finish that, maybe you're just tired. I'll take you home afterward." She ignored me and just ate her grilled food. I took my handkerchief from my pocket and wiped the corner of her lips. "Tsk! You're so messy when you eat." She just smiled and seemed not to care about what I said.

"Better than being prim and proper just to get boys' attention."

I carefully took her home that night. I didn't go home and went straight to Tyler's place because he said there was a get-together. I was planning to bring Cheska, but she wasn't in the condition to go to something like that right now.

"Oh, P're, Cheska's not with you?" Tyler asked, his eyes looking behind me.

"She's not feeling well, so I didn't bring her," I reasoned.

"Ows?" He narrowed his eyes at me and seemed not to believe me, so I flicked his forehead.

"Ouch, huh? You guys probably had a lovers' quarrel, right? You're too slow. Someone else might get to her first." He looked around, but I knew who he was referring to.

"You talk too much. Where's the food?" I changed the subject.

"Over there on the table inside. You're getting fat, you know." He shook his head as if he couldn't believe me.

"And this one, what's he doing here?" I asked.

"He's waiting for Trina, so leave him alone." Tyler laughed and only stopped when Jacob glared at him.

"Hi, guys!" I was surprised by the girl who suddenly arrived, and I thought it was someone else. It was just Francine. She's also my best friend, but she's more often in Dubai, so we don't see each other much.

"You look gorgeous," I complimented her.

"Oh, yeah? By the way, I'd like to introduce you to someone... Mike, come here. This is my boyfriend, guys."

Mike shook hands with us. He seemed okay, but I had a strange feeling about him. I told him to take care of Francine, or we'd beat him up.

Jacob

I'm starting to look like an i***t waiting for Trina here, and it looks like she's not coming. I talked to her yesterday, and she said she'd come today so we could talk, but it looks like she prioritized something more important than clarifying our relationship.

"She's not coming," I concluded. Waiting for her is like waiting for snow in the desert. It's impossible.

I just mingled with the other guests who were our schoolmates, so I wouldn't look like a loner here on the side. I was surprised to see Coleen here. Tyler probably invited her. But why didn't he even tell Cheska? No wonder she felt that way earlier.

"I need to go. Please tell Tyler. Emergency." My attention was diverted from Coleen and Tyler when Jack suddenly talked to me.

"Why?" I don't know why, but I suddenly felt worried.

"Cheska was rushed to the hospital." That's all he said, and he walked away, and I followed him.

"Jacob, where are you going?" I stopped when Trina met us.

"Emergency, sorry." I gently pulled my hand from her grip, so I could follow Jack.

"I thought we were going to talk?" Her face showed confusion, but I needed to follow Jack.

"Later. I'm really sorry." That's all I said, and I turned my back on her.

What the hell happened? She was okay earlier, right?

Jack drove his motorcycle so fast that we arrived at the hospital quickly, and we immediately went to Cheska's room. We even met her mother, who was anxious and didn't know what to do.

"Tita, what happened?" Jack asked worriedly.

"She suddenly lost consciousness while we were going to the kitchen to have dinner. She was fine, and we were even laughing, but she suddenly held her temple and lost consciousness." Cheska's mother seemed like she was about to cry as she told us what had happened.

"Are you Cheska's mother?" The doctor came out to talk to her mother. "These past few days, did you notice Ms. Aquino having headaches or always looking tired? Fatigued?"

Cheska's mother couldn't answer immediately, but I was itching to intervene in their conversation.

"She—"

I cut her off. "She's always tired. That's what I've noticed about her. She also often rubs the sides of her head," I said, stating the things I noticed about Cheska.

"Once the results come out, we will know. But as of now, Ms. Cheska needs to rest. There's a possibility that she has anemia."

~To be continued...