You are the one

Chapter 4

Alex Miller looked at Sam, his little brother, wondering what to do next. Sam had caught a sudden fever yesterday and was huddled in bed. Alex had made him soup and given him medicines and Sam was sleeping now. It was times like these he desperately wished he had a normal life. Sam was all he had and Alex would give up his life for him in a heartbeat. But Sam had fever now and Alex had no idea what to do. No idea whom to ask for help. It’s not like they had parents who looked after them. They were all each other had. ‘ Did I make the wrong decision? ‘ he questioned himself. It was too late now though. What happened could not be changed.

Addison Brown looked at her phone. It was 4 p.m. . She still had time. She could go to the library to finish her homework before going home. School had just ended and Addison was hurriedly walking . It was just drizzling now and rain these days were unpredictable.

“ Addison. Hey" She heard someone yell her name making her look back. It was the hazel eyed boy. Alex hadn’t come to school today and Addison wondered what he was doing standing there out of the school quarters . He was now walking towards her and stopped at a respectful distance.

“ I’m sorry about your book. I had an emergency at home and couldn’t make it to school. “ He handed her the Calculus notebook.

“ Oh. That’s okay.” Just as Addison said that the rain drops became bigger and it was suddenly pouring cats and dogs. What can we say? The weather in M city was unreliable.

“ This way". Alex pointed towards a building and the both of them ran towards it. Addison was half soaked and was shivering.

“ Are you okay?” Alex asked.

“ Yeah.” Addison mumbled.

Addison looked at Alex. He was wearing a faded blue hoodie and jeans today. His hair was tousled like he had been running his hand through them all day. He had dark circles under his eyes and was bouncing his legs looking left and right like he couldn’t wait to leave .

“ Is everything okay back at home? You look a little strained. ” Addison said. Someone had to fill the awkward silence.

“ What? Oh yeah. My brother got sick yesterday and is home alone. That’s all.” There. That sounded totally normal. Alex Miller applauded himself. What he said happened to normal kids in their normal lives.

“ Oh. I hope he gets well soon. Would he be alright alone though? When will your parents get back home?”

Addison never would have imagined that Alex was the type of brother who took care of his little brother when he was sick. He seemed more like the type to never even know the fact that his sibling had a fever. His ‘ I don’t care’ attitude gave that vibe. He didn’t do it in a cocky and arrogant way. That’s truly who he was. ‘Guess we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover after all’ Addison thought.

“ Yeah. They won’t be back home for a while. He should be alright. We are used to it.” Alex said.

Addison stared at him. What he said sounded normal but a layer of pain hid behind his words. Like there was so much more he wanted to say but settled with what she wanted to hear. Addison really looked at him this time. Why did the boy standing beside her seem like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders? Addison always thought Alex didn’t care about anything around him but was it possible that he had so much to carry that it blinded his eyes to everything else around him?

Addison would never know why she did what she did next. Maybe she did it because she always wanted someone else to do it for her. For someone to see the lie behind her words when she said she was fine. Maybe she did it because she knew what it felt like to carry on with each day waiting and hoping for things to become better. Or maybe the words she said were the ones she so desperately needed someone to say to her.

Addy looked into his eyes, “ It’s okay Alex. He’ll be okay. You are doing great and it will get better. Believe me. “

To a passer-by, those words would have been just them. Words said to someone whose little brother was sick and alone at home. Only Addison and Alex knew that it was so much more. Her words meant so much more and only the both of them knew why.