Waking up with a raging headache wasn’t that new to him, but unlike Mark, he didn’t get sick so easily.

Mark

The person he didn’t like, not one bit. He was attracted, and for him, there was a difference, a big one. Being attracted meant that he was more on fascinated, but not really liking the person.

Nothing made sense.

He sat up from bed, stretching his arms. He could hear someone playing basketball outside, who was probably Henry. He would probably join his best friend to get things off his mind for a while. He stood up and went inside the bathroom.

“Of course I want to be with you, Joey.”

Wait, wasn’t that Mark? He slipped his head through the slightly opened door. It seemed that the blonde haired boy was talking to his brother. He squinted his eyes, and saw another person from the screen. Was what the name of that guy again?

“You said you were coming home soon, Mark.” Joey whined. “Don’t you want to be with me?”

“Of course I want to, Joey. I really, really want to be with you.”

“Then, why don’t you come home?”

“Joey, you have to understand that Mark’s still studying there.” James said. He rolled his eyes. Playing prince charming, are we? “He’ll be here soon.”

It was time for his presence to be felt. He pushed the door a bit more so he could enter the room. He stood behind Mark.

“Hey, Joey” He said. “I’m Jackson, your brother’s friend.”

“What are you doing?”

“Trust me” He took the coin from the blonde’s table. “See this coin?”

Joey nodded, while James gave him a sceptical look. He placed it on his palm, balling his hand into a fist.

“Now, I will make the coin disappear.” He said. “All I need is a scratch. Mark, please scratch my hand.”

And, the blonde did what he was told. Like magic, he pulled out the coin from the back of Mark’s ear. He could see the siblings smile in awe, while the James guy seemed unimpressed. He didn’t care, really.

“Wow, how did you do that?”

“Sorry, kid, but a magician never reveals his secrets.”

“Please, tell me! I can keep secrets.”

He smiled. “Let’s make a deal. I will teach this to your brother, so you have to wait for him to come back. Would that be okay?”

“Of course!” Joey said. He couldn’t remember the last time he made someone happy. “I’ll be waiting, Mark!”

“We need to go, princess. I promised Joey that we’ll go to Disneyland today.”

He could see the change in interest from the kid. Well, how could he even compete with something like that?

“Thanks, James. I owe you big time.”

“Don’t worry, princess. I am very easy to please, a kiss would be enough.”

He rolled his eyes. What about him? Didn’t he at least deserve something as well?

“Maybe when I get back, James.” The blonde said in the most flirtatious way Jackson had ever seen. “Take care of my brother, okay?”

With that, the video chat ended. To say that he was disappointed was an understatement, he was beyond that. The only thing he wanted right now was to get out of the room. How could Mark be like that towards him? Did the blonde really dislike him?

“Jackson”

He stopped, but did not face the other. “Yeah?”

“Thank you”

Wait, was he hearing this right? He turned around and inched closer to the other. “What did you say?”

“I said, thank you.”

“What for?”

“For making my brother smile” The other said. “Only a few people could do that, really. It only meant that Joey liked you.”

“It was nothing, Mark.”

He gave Mark smile before retreating back to his room. He closed the door, and ‘til that time, he was still smiling. He wasn’t sure why, but seeing the blonde smile like that made him feel all bubbly inside.

There was a knock from the door. “Hey, man”

“What’s up?”

“You have to see this”

“See what?”

Henry dragged him to the other room. It seemed that his best friend was watching a video, but he wasn’t that interested really. His mind was clouded with Mark’s smile.

“Look, man, I’m not interested.”

“But, man, you have to hear this.”

He shook his head, pulling away f