What if?

Chapter 47: We were late because?

Michael

A while ago when we were in the club, I was really worried that maybe Nick would explore the school and get lost so I was in a hurry to do my things. I was able to finish it but John had some problems and I cannot just leave him. I know he will be mad and besides, it is not good to leave each other behind. Nick has been very patient with me so it will totally make me feel guilty if I leave him behind.

Flashback

“Yes! I am finished! Hey, let us go now. Nick might be waiting for us.” I said without looking at Nick. He is positioned at my back so we can’t see each other. I noticed that still didn’t reply back at me so I turned to look at him. When I got off of my seat I was about to jump on him but I saw that he was still doing something. 

“Oh no! Nick might be waiting there already.” I said to myself and then checked the time on my watch. Ugh! It is already 4:05 pm. Normally, we don’t get late but we really can’t leave the president of our club hanging and just leave him be. I know that he was struggling a lot with what he's doing so I asked John to help the president. John, on the other hand, also did what I told him. He was willing to help too and so we did. We then divided the work into three; the president of the club, John and me. The other members of the club don’t have that much sympathy as we John have so they just left the club and said their goodbye. We were left inside the club doing the thing that was only supposed to be done by the president. I am quite sure that I will be able to finish the task that was designated to me on time. But, I didn’t know that Nick would have a problem. I was too complacent that he will also be able to finish early and it is because this task is not a big problem for the both of us.

I was about to go back to my seat when I noticed that he kept on scratching his head. Normally, John is not like this. When he does things, he is very confident and just does things smoothly like me. “Hey, are you okay?” I asked John and he was startled. “Yeah yeah I am okay. I need to finish this early so we can go before Nick so we can be there and he doesn’t have to wait for the both of us.” John said, which surprised me. It has been 5 minutes already when our club members left the club but maybe he was not able to hear them saying their goodbyes.

“They left already.” I said to John. “What! Really? Oh but it is not yet time to go home.” He replied while still scratching his head and thinking. I am sure that he is being like this because he is pressuring himself to be earlier than the time that we have to go to Nick. This is not it. He shouldn’t be like this. This is the reason why he can’t do his tasks well because his mind is not on the thing that he needs to do but on something else. 

“Time is over. It has been 5 minutes late.” I said to John as I stopped his hand from scratching his head. “What?! He said and he looked at his watch to confirm if what I said was right. “Oh no! Nick must have been waiting there for a long time. You can go first.” John said to me as he pushed me away from him. “Hey! Do you think that leaving you will be better? I think you should not think of anything and just do the task. Don’t care about Nick that much he will understand.” I said to Nick to encourage him. “I don’t think so. You should go now.” He insisted which made me a little guilty because I put him in this situation. 

“No! I will not leave you, not until you finish your work. Now, please settle your mind on what you are designated, not other things okay?” I said softly. John did not do something and I can see that his eyes are saying that he is worried about Nick. “John, you can’t finish this if you are thinking so much and don’t hurry yourself, take your time. Besides you are really good when it comes to these things so trust yourself that you can finish it well and early now go and do it before Nick will turn out to be really angry.” I said to Nick while smiling to him so it will encourage him. “You are right. Okay! I will start again.” John said and started to do his task again.

After that, I took my phone out of my bag so I can just leave a message to Nick that we will be late so he can just wait a bit longer and not tour the school because I am afraid that he might get lost and we can’t find each other. When I opened my phone it wouldn't turn on. “Ugh! I forgot, my phone is out of battery. What a nice day!” I said to myself. My battery was out because I played a lot with my phone. Now, I don’t have a choice but to wait for John to finish. I need to prepare myself for Nick’s nagging and also for my replies to him. Of course I cannot say that it is because John was late and having a hard time focusing on his task. That will not be good for us. I was the one who started the problem though and I am quite immune of Nick’s nagging… a little. 

“I am finished!” I heard John shout so I immediately jumped off my seat and went in his direction. I looked at his work and it was okay. “Yes! See? You can do it well, by the way you are not being compared with me for nothing right?” I said to John cheerfully. We are actually compared by mostly the teachers and the students since we both excel in many fields. It is just that I am a little better than him but we never treated each other as enemies instead we became allies. 

“Ugh! I became stupid a while ago, I can’t believe it.” John said to himself while slapping himself with his own hands. “Hahaha. Stop it and let’s go to Nick.” I said to John and before we left the club we went to the president. 

“President! Here are the tasks, we will go first if it is okay because my brother is waiting with us.” I said to the president. “Oh of course. I am really sorry and truly grateful for your help. Have a safe trip and see you tomorrow.” The president said to the both of us. “You too.” I shouted to the president and went out of the club room.

“John, we need to run.” I said to John while smiling widely. I don’t know but this is quite exciting. “We have to.” John said to me while giggling. “Okay, at the count of three then.” I said to John. “Okay, I am waiting.” John replied shortly. I started my counting. “One… two… three! Run!” I shouted and we ran together as fast as we could. 

When we were near the place where Nick’s club is I saw him staring at Jake while walking away. I am not sure but I kind of have this feeling where I did not seem to like it. But, I am not sure. Maybe, it is only because he talked to Jake about us and badmouthed us or it must be really something else. As we drew nearer to Nick, I was actually feeling uneasy. 

“Nick! Sorry for waiting.” I said while running to his direction. Actually I just said that so it will not turn out to be awkward. Nick seemed not really in a good mood because we were late. He was asking a question and I was answering it but I couldn't think of what he said together with Jake. “Don’t tell me. Jake is in the same club as him?” I said to myself. That must have been the reason but it was really late when we arrived. “Did he wait together with Nick?” I asked myself. “No that is not possible, if he did he should have not left Nick even before we got to Nick.” I answered my own question. ”Wait. Why am I even overthinking this one? s**t!” I said to myself clueless because I can’t even understand myself. 

(End of Flashback)