Chapter 2
I woke up to my alarm feeling rumpled and grumpy, and for a second I couldn't remember why my head felt stuffy and congested. Then I remembered, and the weight of it crushed my chest.
Cancer.
The word felt like a ton of rocks, or a small elephant sitting on my chest. I heard my mom clattering around the kitchen and slipped my legs out of bed. My toes curled on rag rug that my grandmother had sent me after they had moved to Georgia. It was the color of the sand beaches that surrounded their house where we had spent morning after morning walking and collecting treasures to take home. I looked up at the map that hung above my desk, marked with a handful of pins for the places I had been, and even more for the places I wanted to go. It was a block of blue and green on a sea of red. I had convinced my mom to let me paint my walls a bright poppy red informing her that it was a motivating sort of color. Now it just looked like blood.
I pulled on my school uniform and shoved all of my school things into my bag, ignoring the fact that besides the small amount of math that I had gotten done before my parents came home, all of my homework was incomplete.
The wood of the hallway felt cold on my feet as I made my way towards the noise in the kitchen. My mom was already dressed and ready for the day. She turned around as I came in.
"Dad and I have another Doctors appointment this morning, and then we are flying to Huston to see a specialist. Tory will be staying with you, and we will be back on Friday." She came over and pulled be into her arms..
"You don't have to go to school today if you don't want to." She said, "I can call the school"
"No, its alright. I need to go."
This wasn't necessarily true. I just couldn't stand the idea of sitting at home doing nothing.
"Alright, but if you change your mind, call me."
I nodded against her shoulder.
"Do the boys know?" I asked.
"No. We should have a plan by the time we get home on Friday, and the boys will be back Saturday morning. We will tell them then."
I held onto her, and we both ignored the chime of the toaster. Finally I let my arms drop.
"Do you want some breakfast?" She asked as she moved to retrieve her toast.
I shook my head, my appetite usually small in the morning was nonexistent. But at a warning look from my mom, I grabbed an orange from the bowl on the counter. The clock in the hallway chimed and my mom gave me a quick squeeze as we both left the kitchen.
"I love you." she said kissing the top of my head.
"Love you too."
I got to school late, going straight to class having already missed Morning Prayer. The school day went by in a blur. I turned in what homework I had done, then stared out the windows through the remainder of the classes. It wasn't until after lunch that Kadee cornered me in our Art class.
"What is up with you?" She asked.
"Nothing, I didn't sleep well last night."
"Did you have fun shopping with your mom?"
"We didn't go. My mom and dad didn't get home till later." I lied shrugging my shoulders. I had forgotten about shopping, our plans felt a life time away.
"Hmmm." She said, and her questioning was cut off by the blaring of Jazz music, which signaled the start of class.
Unable to talk over the raging piano, we got our projects out. I stared at my painting. I liked art because as long as you got your projects finished on time, and didn't bother the other students, Professor Willow didn't mind how we spent our time in her class. She often encouraged what she termed "Personal Time" with our projects, so I didn't bother to look very productive, knowing that I would be left alone. At the end of class Nick met her outside the door and we walked back to the main part of the campus. Kadee didn't bug me while Nick was around, but she shot me a worried look as we separated to finish the day. The rest of the school was a daze. I left right after the bell rang, not even bothering to go to my locker.
Later that night the door bell chimed. I ignored the noise, thinking that Tory would grab it. But as it rang again, I rolled off my bed and went to answer it. I opened the door to find Kadee her arms full of a pillow and her over night bag.
"Where are you going?"
"I am spending the night." She stated firmly. "You shouldn't be alone"
"I'm not alone." I replied
"I love Tory," she said, "But sometimes you just need your best friend."
"Wait,"I said, my foggy brain trying to catch up. "How did you..."
"My dad told me when he got home." She said as she pulled me into a hug.
Kadee's dad had been our family's doctor as long as I could remember. The twins had idolized him ever sense he had given them their casts. I stood aside as she came in, and closed the door behind us. We made our way to the Play Room where we had spent most of our days playing and building blanket forts, although the boxes of toys had sense been replaced with a TV and comfortable couches. As we sat, I grabbed a pillow and hugged it to my chest.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Kadee asked sounding hurt.
"I didn't know what to say." I said to the pillow in my lap. "I still don't."
