To The Hospital

MATTHEW'S POV

The cashier tilted his head at our reaction, then he cringed. "M-My apologies... you guys must not be a couple... Well, based on your reactions."

"Y-Yeah." I managed to cough out. Samantha was facing away from me, but I could see her ears were red.

"Then, I'll leave you guys alone." The cashier said. "Again, I'm sorry for assuming such things."

He left to the kitchen. Samantha and I were shuffling on our feet, still not over at what the man had said. Inhaling deeply, I forced myself to talk. "So, d-do you want pastries? Coffee? Or, um, both?"

Catching up on my attempt to get rid of the awkward atmosphere, Samantha played along. "I think I'll g-get the strawberry refresher a-and a slice o-of salted caramel cake."

"Oh, good choice." I approved. "Hm, a cake does sound good for celebrating." I thought about it since I won the race in gym class.

I decided to get a chocolate mocha with caramel drizzle instead of chocolate on top and a salted caramel cake as well. The man came back and asked for our orders, which we gave and I offered to pay for them.

The thing was... Samantha didn't like that.

"Why can't I p-pay?" The girl huffed.

"Come on, it'll be my treat!" I snapped my fingers. "The victor always pays to show the fruit of their hard work."

"I..." Samantha's eyes looked around, trying to argue back. She then thought of one. "W-Well, you bought me a strawberry smoothie t-the last time! It's only fair if I pay for t-today."

I screamed inwardly. 'She still remembered that?'

My eyes darted sidewards, trying to find something to argue back. I sighed defeatedly and tried my last resort. "Just let me pay..."

I made my gaze softer and attacked with a smile so gentle. "... Please?"

The blonde flinched at my tactic. Her face turned to a flustered one. After recovering from it quicker than I thought, she returned a smile of her own. At this, I obtained a bit of hope.

That same hope was shattered when the words left her lips. "No."

I blinked. My shoulder slumped in dismay at the way my plan had failed.

I could only stand and watch as Samantha took out her wallet to pay for the food.

"Great! May I ask for a name?"

"Samantha."

"Please, take a seat. We will call your name when your orders are ready."

The cashier gave Samantha a receipt as proof she paid for the orders already. While they talked, I walked over to an empty table near the entrance. I sat down and looked up as Samantha took a seat at the other side of the table.

The two of us stared in silence, not knowing what to say. I had to avert my eyes when I felt my cheeks getting warm. Noticing my actions, the girl lowered her head and I saw a tint of pink creeping up her ears. I needed to break this awkward tension, or else there would be no progress between us.

I took a deep breath to calm down. "So... I realize I don't know you very well..."

"Ah, r-right."

"Why don't you tell me about yourself?" I froze at my tone. Why did I sound like I'm on a date? Or am I overthinking things? Please don't let Samantha be uncomfortable.

"Hmmm... I'll start a-at the beginning then." She straightened her posture. "Hi, my name's Samantha a-and I'm fifteen years old. I'll b-be turning sixteen on October 10, t-though. My f-favorite color is purple and I l-like strawberries. I like s-sweet things in general. Also, I-" She paused midway and frantically apologized. "S-Sorry! I didn't mean to b-bore you. Gosh, I'm so embarrassed..." She buried her head in her hands.

My hands turned into fists as I tried to contain myself from squealing.

'How can someone be this cute?!'

"It's fine." I was surprised my voice was steady given I was practically dying inside because of her charms. "Tell me more. I like listening to you."

I noticed, with Samantha, I was like this. I didn't know how I should feel, but making her happy and feel good about herself seemed to be my goal in life right now.

I got what I wanted. I received a bashful smile from her and she continued, this time more relaxed around me. The sound of her voice was soothing to my ears, and in contrast to what she said that she didn't mean to bore me, I was actually interested in every word spoken. I was interested in foods she liked, I was interested in games she played, I was interested in the hobbies she does, I was...

Interested in her.

Everything around me blurred, and I could only see Samantha. It's like it was only the two of us here in this place. The warm, fuzzy feeling tickled my chest, causing my heart to beat faster. There were also these flutters in my stomach - what was this?

It didn't matter, I was focused on Samantha.

"... And that's a-all about me." She finished with a laugh. "It's your t-turn!"

I leaned back on my chair and prepared for my introduction.

"I guess I'll start from the top too." I cleared my throat. "Hey, my name's Matthew Martinez - if you wanna know my full name, it's Matthew Alexandre Martinez. I'm seventeen and my birthday was four months ago, on March 25." I hummed to think up more information I could share.

Before I could continue, the cashier called out Samantha's name.

"O-Oh. That must b-be ours." The girl stood up. "I'll get it!"

She made her way to the counter. I propped my elbow on the table and smiled gleefully as I waited for her to come back. A little while later, I heard the bell that was used to signal a customer had entered.

I had my back on the door, so I couldn't see who came in. Until I heard a familiar voice.

"Is that you, Matthew?"

At the mention of my name, I turned around to see who it was. I almost fell out of my chair when I made contact with a pair of green eyes.

"S-Sasha." I stood up. "What are you doing here?"

The redhead tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I was just going to get my take-out..." She lifted the plastic bag in her hand. "I didn't expect to see you."

"Uh, yeah, well..." I exhaled sharply. "I'm just hanging out with a friend today, sooo..."

"A friend? Who?"

"Matthew?"

I peeked over Sasha's shoulder and saw Samantha standing behind her. The green-eyed girl followed my line of sight and took a step back when she faced the blonde elite.

"Samantha!"

"Oh, I didn't know you were with an elite." Sasha bowed courteously. "Nice to meet you! I hope I wasn't interrupting something important. I really didn't mean to."

Samantha walked past her and placed the tray with our orders on top of the table, the salted caramel cake and the drinks made my mouth water. Then, she put her hand up. "I-It's fine, you don't have to b-bow."

Sasha smiled and regained her posture. "You're Samantha, right? Wow, I can't believe I'm with not one, but two elites!" She exclaimed. "It's such an honor!"

I forgot the elites had quite the reputation with normal students.

"I'm flattered t-that you know me, b-but..." Samantha fiddled with her fingers. "Who a-are you?"

"Oh my gosh, how rude of me." Sasha apologized before resuming. "My name's Sasha Kalgera! I'm a friend and a classmate of Matthew's before he was moved to the elite building."

"A-A friend?" Samantha eyed me. I blinked at Sasha, an undistinguished emotion bubbling in my chest.

"You... still think of me as a friend?" I asked, my voice was barely a whisper.

Sasha looked perplexed at first. A second later, she got what I meant. "I'll be honest, Matthew. I am also hurt that you lied to us. Although, that doesn't mean I want to end things with you."

She kept going. "And Elijah didn't want to, either."

My eyes widened at the information. Before I could question further, Samantha piped up. "Who's Elijah?"

"He's a friend of ours-" Sasha paused. "He was a friend of Matthew's."

My heart seemed to stop beating when she changed the tenses. I caught a glimpse of Samantha arching an eyebrow. She was clueless about all of this.

Uncomfortable with the subject, I quickly diverted it into a new one. "Anyway, are you here alone? Where is he?"

The redhead frowned deeply, her eyes glistening and lips trembling. I was taken aback. "We're not hanging out today. I made plans to go to the hospital today. The nurses said they're accepting visitors."

My stomach dropped as I remembered Stacey, who still hadn't woken up from the coma yet. It kept bugging my mind that Sasha didn't update me on the reason why she was even in a coma in the first place.

"The doctors can't find anything wrong." Sasha clenched her hands into fists. "However... they did discover something odd."

The green-eyed girl closed her eyes. "It's a black spot forming at the center of her abdomen."

I felt a shiver down my spine and a sting on my lower back. My breaths became ragged as I tried not to faint.

"W-What?" I choked, my ears refused to believe the words that Sasha had uttered.

"That's all there is to it." Her hand clutched the plastic bag tighter. "It's still unknown what that black thing is, but I am starting to worry. I think it has a part on why she's in a coma."

My head was spinning as I couldn't focus because of the throbbing pain in my back. I gritted my teeth, wishing for it to go away.

"You said the hospital is allowing visitors?" The redhead nodded in affirmation.

"Then-" I was about to grab my stuff. I flinched when I spotted Samantha staring at me.

Damn! This was supposed to be a hangout between Samantha and me. But... I can't just dismiss this opportunity to see Stacey again.

Seeing the guilt in my eyes, Samantha spoke in a quiet tone. "It's okay, Matthew. I c-can finish up here and make a-a take-out for you."

"Wait, no..." I stepped closer to the elite. "I can't let you do that. I'm the one who invited you, it's not right if I just leave you."

The blonde shook her head. "It's fine. From w-what I heard, you sound l-like you want to see her, Matthew." Samantha gently pushed me forward. "Go a-ahead."

This feeling in my chest tightened and sliced my heart into two. One was pleading to see how Stacey was doing, the latter told me to stay with Samantha. In the end, I was the one who had to make a decision. And let me add - every minute that flew by, I grew more and more ashamed.

Hugging Samantha, I buried my face on her golden hair. "I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you next time."

Samantha didn't hug me back. "Okay."

Saying sorry once more, I exited the cafe with Sasha. I couldn't bear to look back at the blonde-haired girl, afraid to see a sad look in her eyes, or worse, tears falling down her cheeks. The thought of Samantha crying delivered a blow to my gut.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. I was being such a jerk right now.

Samuel's gonna kill me once he finds out I left his sister alone.

I bit my lip. Maybe I deserve it, though.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sasha snapped me back to my senses and showed a taxi was already parked in front of us, ready to take us to our destination.

"Uh, yeah."

Sasha opened the door and said, "Mahel Hospital, please."

The girl scooted over so I could fit on the backseat as well. Once I slammed the car door shut, the engine revved and the driver began to move towards the direction of the hospital.

The taxi was a bit small, causing me to tense up at how close I was to the redhead. It's been a while since I last saw Sasha. Weirdly enough, I felt... Nothing, unlike the times when I first met her.

No one moved a muscle. The silence in the car was becoming unbearable. I felt the gaze of the taxi driver on us, his eyes that were reflected on the rearview mirror shone with curiosity and confusion. I glanced at Sasha and flinched. She was looking at me, unblinking.

I needed to speak up, or else I'll break down from the intensity of the quietness and the heat of their stares.

"So, Sasha," I said. "How are you feeling?"

I could hear her sigh in relief, the awkward atmosphere vanished. "Honestly, I am nervous. I really want my sister to wake up." The green-eyed girl bowed her head, disheartened. "I don't know what I'd do if she doesn't."

"Don't think that way." I placed a hand on her shoulder. "I may have known your sister for only a short amount of time, but she wouldn't leave you that easy. She won't give up without a fight."

I was talking to her, I was saying these words so she wouldn't bear such a heavy weight on her shoulders. But why does it sound like I'm only comforting myself that Stacey would be okay?

"Thanks, Matthew." She gave me a sad smile. "I'm lucky to have you and Elijah by my side."

Hearing his name, I suddenly went rigid. Sasha noticed this and rubbed circles on my back. "He was blinded by anger, Matthew. He really didn't mean any of it."

"Then why didn't we talk it out before he decided to end it all with me?" I grumbled and turned away. 

The uneasy air returned, suffocating even the driver who had no idea what we were talking about. Though, he muttered. "End it all with him? An ex-lover?"

I almost sprung off my seat to inflict just a bit of cuts and bruises on him, the ache on my lower back cheered for me to do so. For the sake of our safety, I held back.

I had nothing against the LGBTQ community, I was already in a bad mood and someone getting the wrong idea about me irritated me more.

"We were friends, Sasha." I emphasized the word and glared at the man. "I apologized too!"

The girl pursed her lips in a thin line, her aura was unreadable. "We thought we were friends as well. But you went ahead and lied to us anyway."

The gleeful tone in her voice was replaced by hurt. I opened my mouth to speak, but the harsh truth was strangling me. It strained my voice, preventing me from reasoning out.

The girl sighed and shook her head. She looked out the window, watching the buildings and other cars whizz by. I thought this was the end of our conversation. I was wrong.

"He cried too." Sasha whispered slowly and begrudgingly as if she shouldn't be telling me this. "I saw how much he regretted everything... How he wanted to take it all back. Still, he can't bring himself to do it."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"One, he thought you already hated him. Two, he said it wasn't fair if he forgave you just like that. I still think he shouldn't have gone that far."

I paused to think about it. Laughing emptily, I gripped the hem of my clothes as tight as I could. "No, he's right. I went to all that trouble hiding the truth from you guys. To put an effort in lying... I'm a bad person, aren't I?"

My tone wavered, my eyes were starting to water, and my lips were slightly quivering. Why am I like this to people close to me? Why can't I just do anything right?! Why... do I always end up hurting them?

The redhead beside me was surprised. She moved closer to me and patted my shoulder. "It's not too late to explain why you did that, Matthew. I'm willing to listen."

I slowly faced Sasha, a spark of hope ignited in me. I breathed deeply. "Really?"

She nodded.

I know I wasn't supposed to tell normal people about the elites... But this was my chance to patch things up with them. I'll just leave the information about the soul protectors and ventifios out of this.

I was about to start my side of the story.

"Miss, sir, we have arrived at the hospital."