TIME: Mark Tuan edition

Chapter 17

11:00 PM ~ Tuesday night

"Are you sure, Christine?" Jen asks me and I sigh closing my eyes nodding quickly.

"Don't make me think about it more. I might change my mind again. I've probably changed it a million times already," I tell her not looking at what she's about to do.

"If you ever want to change your mind in the middle I totally support you. I'll help you all the way okay? Everyone will be there to help you," she tells me as I hear here tapping her phone to make a call. The dial tone blares through the speakers and my eyes open to the sound. I sigh and bite my lip.

"Hello?"

"She made a decision, Mark," she tells me glancing at me to see if I had changed my mind again.

"Really? Is she going to go? Chris? Are you there? Are you going to go with everyone?" He throws questions here and there. I can hear his excitement and bite my lip harder already knowing what my answer will do to him. She holds my hand comfortingly before answering.

"Mark, she said no," she answers. The line went silent for a while. "Mark?"

"Is that really her final answer?" He asks sadly.

"Mhm," she hums to me. I look away from the phone as if I were looking at his gloomy face.

"Is she there?" He then asks. I shake my head.

"No," she lies for me.

"Can- can you tell her to at least go to the airport to say goodbye? I want to see her before I go," he begs pitifully.

"I think that might be hard for her to do, Mark-"

"I have to see her, Jen. Please get her to at least go to the airport. I haven't said goodbye to her and- and I really just want to see her." I look down at the phone as my lips tremble.

"We'll see. No promises though so don't expect her to be there," she tells him sadly. "I have to go now and finish packing. See you tomorrow, Mark."

"Alright. Yeah. Thanks for telling me. I'll see you," he fades out and we wait for him to hang up. After a couple of seconds he does after a sigh.

"Will you go?" She asks me.

"It was hard to say goodbye the first time. I don't know if I'll be able to do it a second," I tell her honestly. She nods understanding and offers a sad smile. I give one back and sigh. We were at her house sitting on the floor of her room.

"You'll be okay by yourself here?" She asks thinking ahead.

"Yeah, I'm almost done with school and I'll really start my job. Don't worry about me. Just don't forget about me okay? And make sure I see you guys in music videos and performances. I'll keep an eye out for all of you," I tell her smiling feeling excited to have more friends making it big.

"We could never forget you, Christine." We hug and smile at each other more cheerfully. "Come on, I have to finish packing and you have to help me out."

"I'm not even moving and I have to pack," I joke and she sticks her tongue out. We laugh but keep quiet as we glance at the sleeping figure on the bed. "He sleeps well."

"He does. It's because he knows he's in good hands," she tells me. I smile in gratitude towards her comment. "Grab the other suitcase and help me fold my clothes into here."

I did exactly that. That was how the night went. We finished around 2:00 AM and finally crashed on the makeshift bed we created on the floor.

The next morning I woke up to see Jen running in and out of the room. I sit up and glance at Miguel who was sitting up and playing on my phone.