Our Broship [on hold]

Chapter Nine

Nine is my favourite number, so I'm making this chapter extra special. :)

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June 17th, 2003

"Tate!" I cheered, "go on! You can do it!" I raised my arms in the air and hollered some more.

I saw a thirteen year old Tate running alongside his competitors, his face serious and sweaty, his thick, shaggy hair brushed out the way with a hairband and his feet too fast for my eyes to keep up with.

"Go on, Tate!" I yelled again.

He halted at he finish line and rested his hands on his knees, bending over and looking a little green in the face, it wasn't long until the puke was all over the ground.

I rushed through the stands and stood up him with a bottle of water in hand, Tate silently thanked me and took the bottle of water and gulped it all down. Mrs Olliston met up with us as we got inside the nurse's office, she shoved me out the way as if I were a pesky fly and locked her son up in a bear hug.

"Are you feeling okay? What happened?" She asked all panicky.

"I'm fine, mum." Tate groaned and chugged down some more water before pushing his mum away a little and throwing up more inside a bucket.

"What's wrong? Did you eat something bad? Was it that protein meal I made?" Mrs Olliston asked. I just stood there, glaring at her.

"I think so." Tate replied and sighed. "You know I can't eat a lot." He whispered that last part, probably hoping I wouldn't hear it.

"I know, I just thought it would help you in your race." She said and stroked his hair soothingly. Usually, when Tate has a headache or a flu, I'd be right next to him and making sure he's well looked after. Instead, she was doing it.

"Mum can I talk to Kay alone, please?" He asked. His mother nodded and turned on her heels, shooting me a scowl before walking out the room, her very expensive heels clacking against the tiles.

"How are you?" I asked and sat on the bed next to him. It wasn't a very big bed but we were both skinny and could just about fit on it.

"I'm alright, now that you're here." He said and drank some more water. "I could feel myself getting ill the second the whistle blew to shoot if off."

"What protein meal was your mum talking about?" I asked wearily and combed my fingers through his hair.

"She just made a really filling meal. It was too much for me to eat but I scoffed it down anyway." He muttered and lay his head down on the pillow.

"Did she force you to eat it?"

"N-no.. She just kept guilt tripping me by saying she made it especially for me."

"I don't think you really know who your mum is." I gulped.

"What are you on about?" He said with a confused complexion and almost resembled a cute puppy.

"I- well- she's mean, Tay." I turned away from him, I didn't want to see his face right after telling him that.

"She's not mean, she just knows what she wants." I heard him say. "She just wants what's best for me, Kay."

"She thinks what's best for you is pulling us apart." I could feel tears prickling at my eye. I couldn't imagine being separated from Tate. I didn't hear anything from him afterwards, so I decided that I could finally turn to face him. He looked deep on thought, he even had a finger to his chin. "What are you thinking about?"

"She said something about it, very vaguely. She said that normal boys aren't as close as we are." He shrugged. "I think she knows that you don't like girls."