After buying the pads Mum has asked for, I ran back home. I ran like a lion catching its prey. I ran because I was too excited to message Lilian. The pledge I made was acting up on me and I couldn't seem to get rid of it.

Once I was at the front door, I constantly rang the doorbell impatiently for the door to be opened. My thirteen year old sister, Thea, opened the door. As I was trying to get through her, that little devil blocked my way.

"Bloody hell, Thea!" I cussed as I pushed passed her and went inside. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. She shut the door and walked to the living room with no words out of her mouth. Thea has been sick for the past few days and stayed at home ever since. This was complete nonsense. She hasn't been sick but too lazy to go to school. Because Mum was always busy, she never notices and with only one glance at her well played daughter, she lets her off the hook. Looks like an angel but is a devil, that's what they say.

Putting my bag at the side, I walked towards the living room to find Thea on the sofa watching something on Disney Channel and my brother Alex sitting next to her on the iPad. Typical children.

"Where's Mum?" I asked as I stood next to the sofa, eying at them. There was no response. I rolled my eyes and sighed before repeating, quite loudly this time, "Where's Mum?"

"Out," Alex said, not even having eye contact with me.

"Could you be more specific?" I asked, feeling a bit annoyed and losing my patience. Of course, I honestly didn't really care about my family at this moment since I wanted to head to Lilian. But something about how my siblings were acting made me want to actually spend some time with them. I guess they didn't feel the same way. I proceeded to leave.

"She went back to the hospital," Thea answered as she started to twirl her long, blonde hair in a side braid. Like Alex, she didn't look at me. They both sounded like dead robots. "Lunch is in the microwave."

As I walked into the kitchen, I thought of Mum. She has been so strong and brave that she's working super hard to help with the family. I used to work at a local doughnut shop but stopped for a while. I will return once I've finished with my exams. But Mum was always busy. The only day where she would actually spend some time at home is Saturday. On the other days, she'll be at the hospital from eight to ten. Sometimes, she does come back home on lunch breaks but that's only when she has forgotten to make us food or she has left something at home or she just needed to change. My mum is a nurse for newborn babies. Despite having more of her own babies, she'd prefer to look after other people's children everyday. This was fine by me since deep inside, I really am not a fan for newborn babies. They're just so fragile.

But on the other hand, when Mum wasn't at home, I'm in charge. That doesn't change anything since my siblings: a thirteen year old and an eleven year old don't listen to me whatsoever. As long as they don't do anything that would kill us all, I don't mind them.

I opened the microwave and there was a half eaten sandwich. Sighing and not in the mood to cause any trouble, I took it out and begin to eat it as I sat on the kitchen counter. Suddenly, Alex came in. He didn't look at me when he was taking something out of the fridge. I decided to leave him alone, at last finishing the sandwich.

"Oh, yeah," Alex said when he closed the fridge and grinned at me, "I ate your sandwich." I stuck my tongue at him and got down the counter. Alex stood just above my shoulder. Soon, this child would be taller than me. I ruffled his light brown hair as he made a whining sound. I laughed and tackled him more. We were both then on the ground, laughing.

I looked at Alex, who was still laughing. His cheeks went pink and I sighed. "Please don't grow anymore."

"Even if I'm a giant, I'll still be your little brother." Alex smiled, even though I knew that he was being sarcastic. There's no way that my brother can become nice even for a day. "Besides, it's not my fault you followed Mum."

I hit his thighs as he laughed again. Alex looked and acted a lot like Dad which did make me feel a bit jealous. This was one of the reasons why Alex believes that I was supposed to be a girl when I was born. But stuff got mixed up and I grew boy organs.

Thea then came to the kitchen when she gasped as she looked at her brothers laughing on the kitchen floor lying next to each other. Alex and I stopped laughing and smirked at her reaction.

"Join us, Thea..." I said, reaching my arm out for her.

"This is why I wish I had a sister," she responded, rolling her eyes at us.

Alex then pointed his finger at me and said, "Simon can be a girl sometimes."

After dealing with my siblings, I went up to my room to get changed. But I was too lazy and decided against it. I sat at the edge of my bed, looking down at my phone. It's time for me to follow my pledge. I opened WhatsApp and saw that Lilian was online about five minutes ago. So if I send a message now, she will definitely see it. But God knows whether she will reply or not.

I thought for a while to what to say. I tried several attempts but none of them seemed romantic or less creepy enough. That was when I decided to write them down and pick the reasonable one to say. So much to do for one girl. She damn must reply so I could feel appreciated.

Hey, is this Lilian?
Hey, this is Simon. I found your number and decided to text you.
My friend told me to say hi but I don't even know you!
Lilian? I'm Simon and I've been loving you for such a long time but you don't know I exist okay bye.

Crossing all of them stupid conversation starters out, I gave up. Maybe I should start with a simple greet like 'Hey' but then she might reply with 'Who is this?' then I might as well give up with 'Nvm wrong number.'

I groaned and fell onto the bed. I've never felt so frustrated in my entire life. Tossing my phone aside, I started to massage my temples and close my eyes. The clock ticked by and my eyes awoken. I stared at the ceiling for another few minutes and decided to call Gabriel.

On a few rings, he finally picked up but then I decided to hang back down since I could hear him and Millie eating each other out. I wanted to call Nick but decided against it since he doesn't really know about my feelings towards Lilian. If he does, he might take advantage. That's the least I want to see: my best friend dating the girl of my life.

"Simon?" It was Thea. Quickly, I hid my phone underneath my pillow and acted natural. But my acting natural is me striking the most unnatural pose ever. Thea looked weirdly at me. "Okay... I was wondering if you're sick."

I scoffed as I sat up straight from my bed, "Why would I be sick?"

"For starters, Alex and I could hear you banging your head on the bed from downstairs." Immediately, I blushed and covered my face with the nearest pillow. I could imagine Thea's grin towards me and how she's probably thinking about a bunch of girl advices she's willing to say to me in her head right now. I don't know how but girls would always know when guys start to have feelings for other girls and they'll do this whole talking/black magic to make the guys admit that they need their help. In the end, who knows whether it works or not, she's going to be my new helper.

The room just got quiet and tense that I'm suffocating from underneath the pillow. When I faced Thea again, she said that my face was even redder than before. I decided to get help from a thirteen year old girl. "I need advice to swoop a Disney fan off her feet."

Thea gasped and started to squeal as she was jumping and clapping and I just sat there staring because it freaked me out. I let out a fake smile and nodded my head as if I trusted this girl. Thea grabbed my hand and sat next to me on the bed. "I knew you weren't gay!"

"Oh, thanks," I sarcastically said as I rolled my eyes and looked away from her.

"Simon, I didn't mean it like that. It's just-" She stopped smiling when I turned and glared at her, signaling her to just shut up. "So you have trouble talking to a girl who likes Disney?"

I didn't want to argue with her so I took out my phone from underneath the pillow and handed it carelessly to Thea. Being the nervous wreck I am, I fell back down in bed.

"If you walk the footsteps of a stranger," Thea read out Lilian's status, "you would learn things you never knew." There was silence before she shouted, "This is from Pocahontas!"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. Of course I knew it was from Pocahontas. But like this was going to show me anything to take a step further. Before I could question her, Thea went onto my profile and changed my name to 'Your Disney Prince.' She looked up and grinned at me. This doesn't seem like a good idea anymore. She then changed my profile picture to a bunch of Disney princes.

"All you have to do now is pretend she's Pocahontas," she said as she handed me my phone back. I was left there speechless and in confusion.

"She's now definitely going to question my creepy stalking," I commented as I stupidly typed in what she told me to.

Your Disney Prince: Poca?

Now click send, Simon. Stop being a complete wuss.

I looked back at Thea and she gave me a supporting smile. With a deep breath and eyes shut, I clicked send before closing the app and tossing my phone away. I lied back down in bed.

"Well, that is a progress." Thea laughed as she patted me on the back and hopped off bed. She smiled at me again and gave me a thumbs up before closing the door, leaving me alone in the waiting room. I heard her yelling at Alex for being a Patrick because he doesn't know something and that explains the whole 'He lives under a rock' thing. However, all my focus was on the phone. Has she read it? What if she's too creeped out to reply?

I got out of bed and tried to take my mind off that. I went into the bathroom to wash off my face before checking on my phone again. Nothing. Well, at least she hasn't read it yet. I took off my school shirt and wore a random T-shirt in my drawer. I checked my phone and there was nothing. I was being too dramatic and paranoid. Maybe Lilian's busy. Maybe her phone battery died. Maybe she misplaced her phone somewhere. Maybe somebody else has her phone. Just maybe she-

Ding!

I was interrupted by my phone giving me a notification. With slow and calm breaths, I walked steadily to my bed and reached for my phone. It was a new message on WhatsApp. My heart beat a thousand times faster when I read.

Lilian: John?