Playing His Little Game

17 - Joking

You guys have been really good with the comments/vote lately, wow. keep it up!

Here's some Noah because this story has been lacking him and everyone needs a little break from all things Sam because he's in this way too much, haha

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The only contact I had with Noah for the next few days was to tell him that Sam was taking Ty and I to school and to say I was busy with homework whenever he wanted to hang out. I knew he was going to start getting suspicious soon, but I hoped by then it would be long enough for Emma to be off her period or whatever else is making her act like she has a knife stuck up her ass.

The only thing different about today was that I was going to go with Holly to help her pick out a dress. She originally asked her mom to come, but she ended up having to go on a business trip the day Holly was given leave from the hospital, so she asked me. I was happy to help her since this mainly courtesy of me for getting her to be able to go to the dance. I visited her since then, and she said that Aaron was excited about going.

Today when I walked in, she looked ecstatic. Her usually death pale face was flushed and her eyes shone in happiness. “Melody!” She grinned and wiggled out of the nurses grasp as soon as she pulled out the IV. The young teenager came and gave me a huge hug, her frail arms wrapping around my waist. “Thank you so much for coming!”

I laughed and patted her back. “It’s fine, Holl. I’m excited! Are you ready to go?”

She nodded, “We just have to wait for Noah to get here—“

“Wait, he’s coming?”

She nodded in confusion at my sudden panic. “Yeah… A family member has to be with me at all times. I figured it would be fine since you’re talking again. Am I missing something?”

I didn’t want to ruin her excitement so I put on a fake smile and patted her hat covered head. She didn’t like the baldness that her treatment provided her, so she wore hats almost every time she went out to avoid the weird looks as much as possible. People did still stare and talked, she obviously looked sick, but this lightened them. “Of course not,” I told her. “We’ll have a ton of fun.”

We waited for ten minutes until Noah came in, a bright smile on his face when he saw me. “Mel! You’re here!” He crossed over and gave me a hug. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages!”

I gave him a shaky laugh and Holly regarded me in confusion. Noah finally pulled away and turned to his sister. “You ready, Holls?”

Whatever she was thinking of me was now gone as her face lit up. “Yes!”

Noah signed Holly out at the front desk, promising to be back before visiting hours ended, and then we set to his car. Holly was in front, Noah driving, and I was huffing in back by myself. This whole ignoring Noah thing isn’t really working out today. He’ll probably tell Emma all about it too, and she’ll lash it out on me.

When Noah parked in front of the mall Holly practically jumped out. She yelled at us to hurry as she ran off to the mall by herself. Noah tried making eye contact with me but I ignored it and followed after his sister. Inside Holly was standing there with wide eyes, taking in all the stores. I was confused at first, but then I realized that it must’ve been months, if not years, since she’s been in a mall. Having going through mainly living in the hospital and forced inside at home, I suspect that she didn’t get out much.

“Where to first, Holly?” Noah asked, looking down at his little sister with a gaze that I’ve only seen him give her. It was filled with admiration, love, and hope. Hope that she’d get better. Hope for everyone because even though she’s drastically ill, she’s able to keep a happy face.