Zac’s Resolve

During one Sunday afternoon, Zac was visiting his mother at Novis Hospital like he did every weekend.

He had been deeply depressed ever since he stopped hanging out with Dante and the girls—and seeing his sick mother only made his feelings more prominent.

Still, that didn't stop him from getting the bouquet of flowers he bought for her every visit.

Before entering the room, he straightened his back and softly slapped his face, wanting to put up a happy front for his mother before seeing her.

"Hey, mom…" he said with a smile but with a sad tone that contradicted it.

She had the same light-red hair color as Zac, with a pale and skinny complexion that was clearly an effect of her illness.

Hearing the voice of her son, the woman weakly opened her eyes with a slight smile on her face, turning her pupils to gaze at Zac.

"I brought you some flowers…" he continued, replacing the dead flowers in the vase with the new ones.

As he sat next to her bed, the silent woman raised a finger, prompting Zac to hold his mother's hand, who kept looking at him with a smile that made him feel guilty.

He looked down apprehensively, and the mother could tell that something was wrong with her son, using all of her energy to tighten the grip of her finger.

"Sorry, mom… I managed to make friends like you wanted," Zac muttered, his voice breaking the more he spoke.

"But I-... I don't think I can see them anymore," he continued, tears rolling down his face as he gripped his mother's hand tightly with both palms.

"Just when I thought about introducing you to him," Zac sobbed, feeling the weak grip of her mother getting a bit tighter.

When he looked up, he saw her smile had been replaced by a frown, as the woman couldn't handle seeing her son suffering.

*Tch!* 'I'm so pathetic…' he thought, gritting his teeth.

Remembering his childhood living in Dewmore, Zac never had any friends—not because he didn't try to be friendly, but because his interests never lined up with the people around him.

To Zac, his mother was the most important person in the world, as she would always comfort him after not being able to make friends and getting bullied on the streets.

"Zac, one day you'll find a friend who will turn your world upside-down. But we must fight to keep what's precious to us…" he remembered his mother muttering.

It was a saying that she would repeat to him constantly, and one that he thought would never happen the more he grew up.

He didn't mind living in poverty as long as he and his mother were happy, but one night, she didn't return home from work.

When the authorities notified him, they told him they found his mother unconscious in an abandoned warehouse.

Ever since then, Zac's mother couldn't speak, and the only parts of her body she could barely move were her eyes and index fingers.

Zac was never planning on going to college, believing that he was smart enough to get a job to help his mother pay the bills, but after she was taken to the hospital, he realized he would need a lot of money to treat her.

That's when he decided to take the scholarship test for Novis University, which he aced, making the college pay for the care of his mother.

'Man, I really am pathetic… Can I not even make my own mother happy!?' he thought with frustration, gazing back at the ill woman.

'No. Who says I can't? Turner? Fuck that guy!' he continued.

His tears stopped rolling down, and after he wiped his face with his sleeve, he looked back at his mother with confidence.

"My new friend… His name is Dante," Zac spoke up, catching the attention of the woman.

"Heh, can you believe this guy approached me saying he had never played a single video game in his life?" continued Zac, enthusiastically talking about his shenanigans with Dante.

"I even met the most beautiful girl I've seen thanks to him—Ah, but we are not dating or anything. She is just my friend!" the redhead clarified while blushing.

"I know, I know. You are going to say that I fell in love with her—but honestly, that might be true!"

The more he spoke about his experience with Dante and the girls, the more excited he got, making him lose track of time.

When he gazed back at his mother during a brief pause, she had the biggest smile she had shown ever since she fell sick.

'If it will make my mother smile like this… I will absolutely fight for my friends!' he thought, determined never to make her worry about him again.

"I promise to bring them one day. I think you would love them, too," he said.

After his mother fell back asleep, Zac looked up at the ceiling and let out a tired sigh.

He knew that there could be repercussions if he hung out with Dante again, as he had heard the rumors about Turner being affiliated with a criminal gang. Nevertheless, he was determined to keep his friendship, no matter what.

"Better to live the life my mom wanted for me instead of being depressed…" he muttered to himself before he picked up his things.

"See you later, mom…" he said, leaving the room as his mother slept peacefully with a smile on her face.