The Badboy Got Out Of Wattpad

44. Sicker than Imagined

"Just be a boss-bitch!" Lia jumps out of the couch, resting her hands on her hips. "Wear your hottest outfit and take a picture to post it on Instagram." I giggle as I watch her demonstrating how to pose with arching hips and pouty lips.

Lia and I have been binging 'Mean Girls' since the whole day of yesterday, to change my mind and to forget about Erden. Especially to show me the sassiness and confidence I need to confront him, according to Lia. We even skipped classes for that.

"Oh, I got a better idea!" My bestfriend hops excitedly in front of me. I squint my eyes at her. "Why don't you pretend to date a hot guy to make him regret that he lost a gem like you?!"

"My god Lia." Rolling my eyes, I recline back on the couch, which makes her immediately whines like a kid. "Why should I care? I want to erase him from my mind. Doing things on purpose to trigger him will not help."

Though how much my heart aches, I don't want even to hear about him anymore. I just want to stop caring like he never did, get rid of all the memories from my mind, just like they were meaningless to him.

"Girl, you will have all the time to forget him after you've settled in his head." Lia retorts surely, tapping slightly her index on the side of her head as she is standing in front of me.

I blow out heavily. Even if I agree with her, it feels fatiguing to be decisive. "Would you do that if Thomas ever breaks your heart?" I can't help but to ask.

Her lips part a little on hearing me. She stares at me for a few seconds, blinking repeatedly. "I-I can't imagine what you're going through."

As she was about to take a seat by my side, my phone suddenly rings. Taking the device from the tea table, my heartbeat accelerates on seeing the contact name.

Mom❤

For the first time in my life, I'm scared to pick up my mother's call. Usually, teens pass through this phase, scared of being scolded by mom after being caught for having done something inappropriate.

Sucking in a breath of courage, I answer. Before I can pronounce anything, she tears up. "Hazel! Where are you?"

My eyes narrow, concernedly. "Mom? What happe-"

"There are terrible news. Come home urgently!" She rumbles anxiously before immediately cutting off.

Worried, I rapidly wake up from the sofa. My hand slides down slowly from my ear, totally lost in fog. Wh-what happened more?

I snap out of my thought when Lia snaps her fingers in front of my face. In fright, I look at her. She is gazing at me with wide eyes. "What's wrong?"

My lips tremble. "So-something bad happened."

As fast as we could, Lia and I went to my house. Upon entering there, a cold shiver runs down my back on seeing my mom, Leon and Lexi sitting in a straight manner on the couch, seeming totally devastated. They don't even take a glance at us. Lia and I exchange a quizzical look.

"W-what's going on?" I utter hesitantly, praying that it's not something more related to me.

My mom finally gazes at us, the lines on her forehead creasing in worry. God, what happened here?

"Hazel." Her voice sounds distressed. I gulp in fright at what she is going to say. "T-the results of the checkup that Lexi did in Singapore came this morning. She was pretending, but it turned out that she is really sick."

My eyes go out of their sockets.

"She has kidney failure."

"What?!" Lia bursts out in shocked.

Tears swamp my eyes. For a moment, everything that had happened between Lexi and I have paused. I can't help but to think of her as my sister who just learned that she got a serious disease. Family comes first; Sickness before clashes, healing before indifference. And that how it suddenly feels. A close family that I need to support, no matter if she wouldn't have done so in my place or not. Compassion is something human, something you don't need to think twice.

I take a look at her. She is there on the couch, her eyes fixated on the floor, like she can't hear us. For the first time since I know her, she is defeated. The girl, whose mind has always been calculative, has now blacked out.

"People with early kidney disease may not have any symptoms." My mom explains seeing us voiceless. "Symptoms usually show up late in the progression of the disease. That's why Lexi started to experience lower abdominal pain. The results also showed that she has a low blood count."

"T-thank god, she was pretending." Leon finally voices out, pulling his grey beard repeatedly. He looks perturbed, like a storm just passed on him. "Otherwise she would have never done a checkup, and we would have never know."

As my mom was about to say something, there is a sudden knock at the door. Lia immediately goes to open it, and a gasp escapes everyone's lips on seeing Erden.

What the hell is he doing here?!

A wave of fury envelopes my soul at the sight of him. His gaze meets mine, his eyes gleaming with guilt. They are red, dark circles underlying his eyelids. As if he has cried too much or didn't sleep last night. Is our breakup responsible for his state?

"How can you come here, bastard!" Leon promptly blasts off from the couch and rages towards the door, followed by the rest of us.

To our astonishment, Erden confidently crosses the door frame before someone can shut the door on him.

"Woo, dude. You're going to be in trouble." Lia comments to the brunet as she steps to the side, at a distance from the upcoming fuss.

Ignoring her, Erden stands tall in front of Leon as he reaches him. "Mister Leon, you can curse me or insult me, but just listen to me once. I was waiting for all of you to be together. I saw Hazel and Lia entering here, so I knew it's the right moment. I'm not here to defend myself, but to justify Hazel." His eyes lay on me, soft and remorseful. "What was done to her was serious unfairness, and you should all know the truth."

(ó﹏ò｡)