Winter raised an eyebrow. "Why are you asking about Rodger?"
"Umm…" Summer hesitated for a second before saying, "Isn't he your friend. I should be in touch with him, right? I should know about him, so I don't slip up. I am just following your words."
Winter did not buy her words for a second. He immediately warned her, "You! Stay away from him. He is my brother. So, he is your brother as well. Do you understand?"
Summer's face drooped, "Oh."
Seeing her being obedient, Winter was satisfied, and he said, "He is my good friend. He is the only son of the Nevins family. The responsibilities on his shoulders since his childhood have made him unable to enjoy the little things in his life. He doesn't like touching people or making friends. He forgot how to smile. The only friends he had around him were me and a couple more. I am sure you should have met those as well. That's all there is to him."
Summer's eyes brightened as she completely lost hope of getting Rodger's information from her brother just now.
Before she could thank her brother, she heard his voice again, "I am not telling this to you so you would get closer to him. He is my roommate. So if you behave differently in front of him, he would find it easily. I am telling you about him so you won't slip up in front of him. Do you understand?"
"Oh." Summer pouted her lips again. But when she recalled his words, her eyes brightened up once again. "You mean I am going to share a room with Brother Rodger?"
"..." Did all his words fly into space? Winter was dumfounded. "He is your brother." He gritted his teeth while he stressed the word 'Brother'.
"Didn't I call him Brother Rodger? What more do you want me to do?" Summer huffed.
She really called him Brother. But why did the brother he talked about and the brother she called sound very different?
Winter did not understand what the difference between them was.
He sighed to himself and decided to ignore this matter for now. He continued to talk about his other friends clearly, just like how he talked about Rodger.
"Can't we just tell them about our matter? I think it would be better, right? They are our friends after all. It could be helpful," Summer said once Winter was done explaining everything about his friends.
"NO!!!!" Winter almost screamed resolutely as soon as he heard her words. "Definitely not. Don't even think about it. I am telling you. Don't you dare make a squeak about this matter in front of those jerks. If they find that I am using a female body right now, it would already be a great miracle if they don't tease me for life. What help would they do? I am telling you. If any of those jerks finds out about us, don't ever think of calling me your brother. I will really die. Do you understand?"
"..." Summer blinked her eyes. So the reason to keep such a huge matter a secret is this? To not lose his face in front of his friends? She actually did not understand why they would tease him for this. But since her brother was very serious about keeping this matter a secret, she would do that for his sake. "Okay. I won't tell anyone. I will make sure to keep this matter a secret. Don't die again, brother."
She even sniffled at the end when she said those words.
She finally found that the brother she thought was dead wasn't actually dead. What would she do if he died again?
"..." He realized how sensitive his sister was. He was just trying to scare her so that she would keep her mouth shut. Why is she crying at every chance she gets?
The bigger problem is that she is crying using his body.
***
"Are you sure you want to go back to your dorm tomorrow? Are you really feeling okay?" Denise asked with worry.
Summer nodded her head, "Yes. I am really fine. I can go back to classes from tomorrow. My exams are nearing. If I don't attend my classes any longer, it would affect my scores, Mom."
She very badly wanted to call her 'Mommy', but her brother repeatedly told her not to and to address her as 'Mom' as long as she was using his body.
She also wants to spend more time with her Mommy now that she finally got a chance, but her brother told her to stick with his schedule. His scores couldn't be affected because of this mishap.
Then she realized that if she went back to university, she could share a room with Rodger. This thought pumped her back to life again.
"Fine, if that's what you want. But if you feel weak, don't try to stay strong. You should take a rest when you need to. Okay?" Denise said with a worried face.
"Okay, Mom. Don't worry about me. Instead of worrying about me, you should take care of yourself more. Look at yourself. Taking care of me for the past week made you so haggard. You should need the rest you are talking about. Not me." Summer sat beside her mother, held her hand, and said softly.
Denise smiled. She caressed her son's face, "When did our Winter grow up so much? He cares about his mother now, doesn't he?"
"Hehe. I am eighteen now. I am a grownup," Summer grinned.
Denise chuckled. She slapped his back, "Grownup? Look at you. Okay, go back to your room to sleep now. You have to leave early in the morning to go back."
She got up and was ready to leave when she felt her son tugging at her hand suddenly. She looked at him to find him pouting. She had never seen her son do that before.
"What happened?" She asked gently.
Summer did not want to leave her mommy at all.