The next morning, I woke up extra early to help Declan's mother with breakfast. I wanted Declan to receive a whole-hearted breakfast since they tend to affect your test scores, or at least that's what I read before.

His mother prepared eggs, slices of ham, and piles of crispy potatoes. My primary focus was on slicing the fresh fruits — kiwis, oranges, and grapefruit. After all of that was handled, I toasted one piece of bread and spread avocado on it while decorating it with tomato like cake decorations.  

I remember him mentioning this was his favorite snack in the early morning to his mother last week. Sam came to help set the table and our fathers later joined with their fresh mug of coffee. The aroma of ham and eggs swirling around me, forcing an unearthly sound to release from my stomach.

Sorry, Declan, but I can't wait any longer to eat.

"Declan is late," his mother said, a worried tone laced with it.

"Don't tell me that he isn't going to show up to the interview," his father sighed, pushing back his glasses drooping down his nose.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he knows how you feel about this," my father reassured.

"Declan can be very stubborn sometimes," his father added.

Before the conversation continued, Declan strolled into the room as quiet for a pin to drop and still be heard. Why are his footsteps light? Am I the only one who walked and sounded like a crowd of elephants?

"Good morning." his mother grinned, her left dimple making an appearance. "Your lunch is all packed on the counter."

"Thanks, mo-." he was interrupted by a rough cough escaping from his lungs.

"What's wrong?" his father asked with concern threaded in his voice.

"Nothing, I just feel warm and have a pounding headache. Maybe I contracted a cold," Declan responded, rubbing his temples.

"On this important day," his father gasped, instantly becoming worried.

"Should we make some soup?" His mother asked.

"N-o-."

"Isn't soup for a sore throat?" my father burst from his chair.

"I'll search for medicine," I commented, punching a fist in the area with determination.

"I'm going to start going," Declan said, with a tired expression written all over him.

"What about breakfast?" she questioned.

"I don't have an appetite," he answered, grabbing the avocado toast I made with all my love. "This should be enough."

Quickly, I opened the medicine cabinet finding the first one that offered relief with symptoms such as coughing and headaches. Luckily, after glancing at three of them, I found a pill that should help with every symptom.

"Wait, Declan," I called out, rushing over to his side. "Take this, it worked for me before."

Surprisingly he took my word for it and swallowed the pill with the glass of water on the table.

"I feel much better about the situation." his father exhaled in relief.

"I forgot to ask but this doesn't make me drowsy, right?" Declan asked, snagging the bottle from my grip. Instantly, he sighed and frustratedly raked his finger through his gelled hair which was so attractive but this wasn't the time.

On the left of the bottle was a large message printed reading 'Don't use when driving heavy machinery."

"Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god! What are we going to do." his father paced around in panic.

"We need to get rid of that pill," his mother suggested.

Rolling his eyes, Declan yelled, "Enough! I'm leaving."

We all watched as he slammed the door on his way out. Please good luck charm bring Declan buckets of exceptional luck so everything could work out in his favor. I'm not sure what I'll do if something goes wrong to affect this significant moment in his life.

Usually, when I'm anxious I tend to organize anything in my sight. Today, I managed to rearrange my clothes, plushies, and kitchen cabinet. The amount of expired food I found was enough to feed a homeless shelter.

While I was brewing a fresh pot of coffee, the bright green letters coming from the alarm clock stole my attention. Declan should be on his way home if everything went correctly. I tried keeping myself sane and focused on the boiling coffee. I poured three mugs for his parents and myself as we waited in the living room for his arrival.

Suddenly, the door opened and we all instantly bumped from our chairs rushing towards the door. My heart twisted and sunk with panic nerves as I took in his current state. Declan struggled in the house with his crutches under his armpits. On his beautiful skin was a tainted mark covered by a bandage right under his eye.

"What in the world happened?" his mother asked concern laced in her voice.

"I fell," he bluntly responded.

"You look awful," his father commented.

"My charm didn't work," I added, my lips curving down to a frown.

He slammed his crutches against the wall and slipped his shoes right off. Declan slowly turned in my direction, his eyes narrowed with a deep sense of resentment.

"Trust me, it worked." he huffed.

Scratching the back of my neck, I stated, "I'm confused."

He shook his head. "Nevermind, I'm heading to bed," he groaned, limping on his right leg as he held onto the railing ascending upstairs.

Like usually I was utterly confused with his statement. He claimed my charm worked and apparently brought good luck to him but everything pointed to a lie. The poor boy was in pain with a dreadful scar on his cheek. Maybe it occurred after his interview and he somehow happened to score an acceptance letter.

All night I could only focus on how everything possibly went wrong but somehow achieved what was needed. As I'm strolling down the hallway with Meadow, two girls were leaning against their aged green lockers.

"I wrecked my interview! My only luck is getting into private University," one of the girls sighed, beginning to walk past us.

Apparently, the universe wanted to consistently remind me how much yesterday meant to Declan and his parents. My stomach had an uneasy queasy feeling which was odd since I haven't eaten since last night. Meadow noticed my gloomy expression and wrapped her arms over my shoulder.

"Don't worry about Declan. He's a genius who aces everything in his path," Meadow consoled.

"I'm not sure about it this time," I exhaled.

"Lana! Meadow! Did you hear the news," Catalina shouted, running over to us and latching herself onto my shoulders, frantically shaking me. "Declan got into Columbia."

"Oh my god! Really! How do you know that?" I asked, my eyes widening at the amazing news.

"I was walking by the teachers' lounge; they talked really loud there. Anyway, apparently, he earned a full-ride academic scholarship," Catalina explained.

"He's the definition of a genius," Meadow added.

Abruptly, my eyes glimmered with watery tears and it took ten seconds of not breathing to stop the tears from releasing. A sense of relief rushed through my veins and was replaced with excitement.

"What's wrong, Lana?" Meadow asked, her concerned eyes burning into mine.

"Nothing, I'm just happy. I'm going to go congratulate him." I smiled, dramatically jumping into the air like if I was a part of the end credits in a movie.

Smiling, I skipped my way down the hall almost getting distracted with outstanding paintings from students in our grade. Imagine being that talented, couldn't be me. Shaking my head, I went back to my mission and kept skipping until I got distracted once again with my thoughts.

Imagine how incredible it would feel for Declan to thank me for my lucky charm and flash his charming bright smile at me. My heart was exploding with joy when I envision him leaning down to kiss me.

"Hey! Watch out!" A shouting voice brought me back to reality.

"Oh, aren't you in Declan's class?" I asked, pointing at him.

He was one of the soccer boys who sat with Declan those two times he attended lunch; Nate Most of the athletic teams tend to be from the higher classes since anyone from my class was barely passing. One of Yvon high's policies was for anyone trying out for a sport had to have a three-point seven GPA.

Nate ran a nervous hand through his shaggy blonde hair, his bicep flexing from the motion. Like Declan, the boy turned on his heel rushing away like I was a disease. Immediately, my legs reacted and I followed after the blue-eyed boy.

"Excuse me? What's going on? Am I the plague or something?" I nervously giggled causing the boy to roughly halt.

"Sorry, but I rather not stand next to someone who oozes out bad luck," he stated, placing his hands up as a defense.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Bad luck?"

"Didn't Declan tell you?" he questioned, his eyebrows scrunched together.

"Tell me what?" I laughed, nervous overloading in my veins.

"It was a disaster! I've never seen Declan like that all because of this charm he had," he clarified.

"Charm..." I drawed out.

"Oh, dammit," he cursed. He widened his eyes like he was caught revealing something he shouldn't have. Resuming our mouse and cat chase, I rushed behind him and leaped onto his back. My arms were clinging to his neck and shifted forward to fasten my legs around his torso not giving him a chance to run.

His hand latched onto the railing which was the only reason why we didn't land on the bottom of the stairs.

"Please tell me!" I pleaded, tightening my slipping hold on his neck.

"Okay, okay! Dear God, you really are the grim reaper," he joked, rubbing his throat the second I leaped off.

Not only was I the plague but now I'm the grim reaper just because he almost fell down the stairs. It's not my fault he's pretty clumsy.

"Now we can laugh about it but on that day thanks to the charm so many unfortunate things happened like Declan tripping down the stairs and getting smacked in the face with someone's briefcase making him fall again. He spent an hour waiting for a doctor and missed the interview for NYU," he revealed.

So, it was because of me. Every single thing went wrong because of me because I made a cursed charm. I'm starting to realize how much trouble I've caused him since entering his life. All I wanted was to know he had someone who supported him instead I ruined everything. A burning sensation came from my eyes and with a blink, a tear poured down to the ground.

"Don't worry, he managed to schedule another interview tomorrow probably because he has the highest grade in the state." Nate smiled, before running off.

Late after dinner when everyone was getting ready to sleep, I sneaked into the kitchen and worked on my famous red velvet cupcakes. After tying my teddy bear apron around myself before getting to work. First I preheated the oven and mixed dry and wet ingredients in two separate bowls.

Yesterday, I found heart-covered wrappers and lined them in the cupcake tray along with butter.

I wished Declan would get accepted into NYU so that his whole family would be just as happy as my father and I were.

My batter was enough for twelve cupcakes and I placed them into the oven to bake. I worked on the buttercream which came out more curled than I would like. It was already my third try making the icing and I decided to make do. After covering the cupcakes with my crimson red frosting, I wrote 'Congrats on getting accepted to NYU' on all of them.

Anything is possible if you send good vibes into the world. I know it's too early, but I like being prepared because I know he will be accepted. Any school would be crazy to turn down a bright mind like his. Who knew maybe there was a shooting star again today.

In the morning, everyone was watching Declan go off to his interview once again. It was almost Deja vu from last time but this time I planned to follow him. Nothing can get past a ninja like me. Still, I had to act casual and not let him know my true intentions.

"You all don't have to come and say goodbye," Declan said.

"I know we're just worried," his mother's expression softened.

"Should I drive you?" his father offered.

"No, it was only a sprain; it's all better now. I'm going." Declan tilted his head and opened the door.

"Please be careful," his mother exclaimed.

Once the door closed I confessed, "I'm going to watch Declan until he arrives at NYU. I'm too worried to just stand back. Goodbye!" I dashed outside to catch up to Declan.

Carefully, I kept switching between bushes and trees to hide behind. However, one bad decision I made was to wear heeled boots that clicked with every step. I kept my pace fast sufficient enough to keep up without making a sound. Suddenly, I misplaced my step and tumbled down to the ground.

Dang, it.

"It's so obvious that you're following me." he shook his head with a smug smile on his face.

Quickly, I jolted upwards and wiped the dust off my skirt.

"I wanted to make sure you made it to NYU safe and sound," I admitted, my cheeks burning hot.

"I can already feel the bad luck pouring from you," he muttered, continuing forward.

As I caught up with him a burning pain sensation emerged in my abdomen. With every step, the pain grew worse and worse. I put my hand against my stomach hoping that maybe if I placed enough pressure it would lessen the discomfort.

The university was buzzing with hundreds of people who appeared way smarter than I am. It was a bit intimidating; good thing I'm not attending here. It seemed the perfect place for someone as smart as Declan, it was his calling.

"Why are you walking funny?" Declan asked, pulling my attention away from the surrounding.

"Am I? I thought I was walking normal," I lied, hiding behind my smile.

"Your face looks green," he mentioned.

"No, I'm just nervous." I giggled, squinting my eyes when the pain shot through me.

"Why are you nervous? I'm the one who's being interviewed," he stated, probably internally rolling his eyes.

The second he turned around, I placed pressure against the agonizing pain. It was so intense, never in my life had I experienced his pain in my stomach. Did I eat something wrong? Were my intestines burning from the acid in my stomach? My pace slowed but I couldn't stop until I saw him enter that building. He doesn't need to worry about me, not right now.

Finally, the extensive building decorated with a million windows appeared. The peach and crimson-colored paint were outdated for our society but somehow everyone wanted to attend here. Victory, now all I need to do is watch him enter the building and maybe find a hospital.

My face was contorted with a discomfort expression but I kept trying to hide behind my smile.

"Hey, are you really okay?" Declan raised a questionable eyebrow.

"Huh? Oh, of course! Good luck with your interview," I beamed, dramatically punching my hands into the air.

"Okay... Thanks," he said, walking towards the entrance.

Suddenly, the pain intensified becoming more severe than earlier. Everything started becoming hazy, and my head pounded as if it was getting smacked over and over with a hammer. It was as if my heart abruptly stopped beating and all the blood had run down my boots. I staggered backward, my breaths shallow until I fell like a sack of onions onto the ground.

"Anyone! A girl just collapsed!"

"Oh, my god, is she okay? Someone call the ambulance."

"Excuse me! Lana, are you okay?" his voice raspy with concern

Everything was black from there.

Our poor Lana just fainted :(!!! Of course, her good luck charm would work in reverse right! Do you guys think Declan dropped everything to come help her?

Thank you guys for reading and I'm so excited to read your comments today <3333