I Don't Know

(Day 154: Saturday Night)

"Last Biology assignment of the year finished," Carlos lets out a relaxing breath, before the textbook falls shut.

Aziz smiles, "Do you know what you're taking next year?"

"Engineering," he frowns.

"You know that has a lot of advanced math," he informs.

"Yeah," Carlos eyes down, before he shakes his head. "But Jay doesn't care."

"Jay?" Aziz's smile slips.

"Yeah," he irritably responds. "Took it just because he knows I was. Wants to reconnect or some crap like that."

"Are you two—" He hesitates before whispering, "Do you hate each other again?"

"No," he shakes his head. "He thinks we should hang out or whatever, be friends again, I guess. But I…" He meets Aziz's dark brown eyes, "I can't do that."

"Have you told him you don't want him taking the class?" he inquires.

"Yeah," Carlos mumbles. "He doesn't care… and I'm too much of a pushover."

"How about I join you?" Aziz immediately responds. "I could take the class and cockblock him for you."

He nearly smiles, "You would do that for me?"

Aziz shrugs, "You could use a friend in that class. Projects tend to be in pairs."

"A friend?" Carlos repeats.

"Yeah," Aziz smiles. "A friend."

"Are we?" he unsurely questions.

"What else would we be?" Aziz counters, before he tosses an eraser at him, Carlos grins in disbelief, and he laughs; however, his smile suddenly fades.

Carlos frowns in concern, "What's wrong?"

Aziz attempts to smile again, "It's nothing." as he shakes his head. "Really."

"You let me talk about my problems," he points out. "You can tell me yours."

Aziz glances down before eyeing back up, "My dad thinks I'm ill."

Carlos hesitates, "Are you?"

He looks down in thought, "In a way." before he meets his blue eyes. "But not in the way he thinks." Carlos waits for him to explain, and he takes a breath, "I, uh…" He faces him, "There is something wrong with me, but I'm finding that there's no cure for it."

"A cure?" Carlos quietly comments. "Is it serious?"

Aziz pauses, "For me, it is."

"And your parents don't know about it?"

He shakes his head, "No." before he runs a hand through his black hair. "It would only hurt them. They would probably try to come up with some solution, maybe even bring God into it, but…" He looks at Carlos, as it gets harder to speak, "I've tried, but I'm starting to think even God can't help, and…" He uneasily breathes, "If He can't, I don't know if I'll be able to fight it, and if I can't—"

He breaks into sobs, and Carlos takes his hand, "Hey."

Aziz takes his hand back, shutting his eyes before whispering, "Sorry."

"It's fine," he frowns.

He looks up at him, "You know. You're the only person I've told." Carlos tries to think of something to say, but before he can come up with anything Aziz asks, "Do you think sick people get into Heaven?" He gulps, "Do you think I'll be pure enough to make it there?"

It takes a minute for Carlos to quietly answer, "I don't know."

Aziz shakes his head, before he whispers, "I don't want to die."

Carlos continues to frown, "How long do you have?"

He shakily breathes, "I don't know." before he meets his eyes again and Carlos can see the glistening fear. "I don't know."

- Next Up: Mal and Ben, and Ben's family dinner.

- Only 12 more chapters. If you want to leave a comment, now's probably a good time to do it.