Chapter 8

His statement left me speechless. Why would he even think that....

He smirked at the expression on my face.

"Cats has gotten the pretty girl's tongue"

Pretty? The word echoed in my head.

Was he trying to play mind games with me?

If yes,it was definitely working.

"If you brought me out here to play mind games then I'm afraid you'll have to take me back to my apartment"I said with folded arms and stopped in my tracks.

He laughed. A laughter that was rich and like pleasant music to the ears.

"Krystabel Andez stop thinking about his laughter" I chided myself.

"I don't play mind games hazel but if it will get you to stop hating me then I'll definitely try"he smiled.

It was time to change the topic.

"Well we've been walking and we haven't gotten to our destination yet"I frowned

He walked and I followed. We got to a place with a fall built with vines. He shifted the vines aside and I was disappointed. I had thought I would see something out of a Disney production but instead I saw a circle with a star in the middle and a bench. How lovely is that? Note the sarcasm.

"And this place is?"I asked not seeing the relevance of him bringing me here

"This is my safe zone"he answered with a distant smile on his lips.

This place meant something to him?

"Safe zone?"I asked with an arched eyebrow

"Yeah,I come here when I need to think"he answered with a shrug.

"Okay so I'm going back now"I told him

"Hazel" he called

"Yes"

"The circle, it is a wishing circle"he stated

"I never asked" I said and rolled my eyes

"If you stand on the star and say your wish it comes true" he continued, ignoring my comment.

I sighed

"What do you want from me?"I asked

"Make a wish" he whispered.

"It won't take long"he added.

"That sounds childish"I told him

"We're allowed to be children sometimes"

I wish I was allowed to be a child.

I stood on the star and made my wish. To have an abundance of chocolate and ice cream. Don't ask me why I wished for that.

"Your turn"I told him almost cheerfully.

Almost.

"No thanks"he said with a shrug

"You have to. If you do maybe I'll like you a little"I smiled

He walked up to the star and made a wish

"You like me now?"he asked

"Nope,I still hate you" I told him with a smile and we sat on the bench.

"Had Meredith been here before?"I bluttered out and instantly regretted it.

"No,apart from you and I, I don't think anyone knows"

"Can I ask you a question?"I asked facing him

"You just did" he replied with a smile that captivated me and tugged at the strings attached to my heart.

"Where's your mom?"

He hesitated before answering.

"In the hospital"he answered vaguely and I decided to press further

"For what reason?"I asked

I knew I wasn't meant to pry but I wanted to know.

"She's sick,sick people go to the hospital" he seemed irritated

"She's sick with what?" I pressed further and the expression on his face told me he didn't like my inquisitive side one bit.

"She has cancer" he said with a sigh.

"I'm ready to go home"he announced.

"What type, what stage" I asked ignoring his attempt to discard the topic.

"Hazel let's go home" he groaned.

"Please answer" I begged.

"Breast cancer,stage three. Now let's go home" he said and started walking and I had no choice but to follow him. I didn't want to get lost.

In no time we were in front of our apartments. He had been silent throughout the whole walk back home.

"St Clair"I called and he hummed in response.

"She'll be alright"I told him, feeling the need to console him.

"I don't need false hope. The doctors say that everytime and it changes nothing"he said with an angered expression.

"Cancer can be treated"I tried to reassure him

"It can but she's on stage three hazel. There's a chance she won't survive" he stated almost yelling.

"72 percent of women survive stage three cancer" I argued.

"The remaining 28 percent died" he yelled

"She's going to survive"I told him

"Mind your business. I don't need false hope from anyone and especially not you. You hate me so why do you even care?. Stay away from me and my problems"he yelled and stomped into his apartment.

I was shocked.

Did he just yell at me?

Did he think he was the only one with problems?

His mother has cancer but women are strong and she'll fight through it.

She'll recover. She's fighting Cancer and she's going to win. I hoped so.

~~~~~

I tossed and turned not because I couldn't sleep but because I was avoiding sleep. Sleep and I aren't friends. Sleep brings back a lot of memories hidden in my subconscious.

Memories that were better off buried. I didn't pity St Clair because by the looks of it he didn't need my pity. Maybe all he needed was my friendship and for a reason I couldn't pinpoint I was willing to befriend him. Maybe it was because I knew how it felt to watch your mother suffer and you wouldn't be able to do anything to help her. I went to the kitchen to make myself coffee so I could stay awake.

After a while I decided to visit Etienné. I mean the worst he could do at this moment was yell at me and tell me he didn't need the false hope he thought I was giving him.

I took in a few deep breaths and knocked. I heard shuffling from the other side of the door and I assumed he was making his way to the door.

The door opened.

The guy standing in front of me was shirtless. He was shirtless again. For a moment I forget why I was here.

"Huh?"I asked when I realized he was talking to me.

"Were you ogling me?"he asked.

"Who knows?"I shrugged with a faint shade of red coating my cheeks.

"I said I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier. I shouldn't have yelled" he apologized.

"No problem"I said and nodded.

"Thank you"he said.

Silence.

Silence.

"What do you need?"he asked

"Nothing really. I didn't want to sleep"I answered truthfully.

He seemed to think about my statement but he said nothing about it.

"I was about to hop into the shower...."he said. His playful nature returning.

"I was hoping you could join me"

And for the second time today my jaw dropped.