Alex Carter: A Red Band Society Fanfiction

It's All an Act

To anyone else, Kara was getting lunch. But instead of mulling over food options, she was replaying the moments from this morning. She couldn't believe her and Hunter would be over before they even had a chance to start. She was too lost in thought to hear footsteps approach her from behind. "Hey, Kara," came an all too familiar voice from behind her. This could not be happening. 

"One sec," she said, playing it cool. She was determined to act as if she didn't care, as if she wasn't beginning to feel her first heartbreak. "Yo, hairnet, do we have any fruit that isn't disgusting, these bananas are as brown as my roots." All this earned her was a tired look from a cafeteria assistant who clearly wasn't in the mood. "You know what? Screw it, I'm not even hungry." 

As she stalked away, ignoring Hunter, he followed after her. "Kara," 

"Oh hey, what's up," she responded, committing to her act. 

"Can we talk for a second?" 

"What about?"

"You know I don't actually want to leave, right?" Those words alone were enough to stop Kara in her tracks, wanting to hear him out, and that's what she did. "I'd much rather stay here and spend however many days I have left making stupid rotten banana jokes with you, but my mom," 

"Oh my gosh, please don't get all Nicholas Sparks on me, this is so not a conversation we need to have." She loved hearing him say he wanted to stay here, with her, but it didn't change the fact that he wasn't. So, she turned to leave. 

He grabbed her arm, and her skin seemed to burn where he touched her. "I wanna have it," he stated, staring her dead in the eyes. She looked away quickly, ignoring the way her heart fluttered at his words. 

"I don't," she said forcefully. And she really didn't. It wouldn't change anything. 

"I get that you're angry," Hunter started. 

But Kara wouldn't let him finish. Him being sweet and caring wasn't helping, it was only going to make it worse for her when he left. "No, I'm not angry," she said with mock incredulousness. "In order to be angry, I'd have to care." She watched the light begin to die in his eyes, and she knew what she had to say to make him stop. "And no offense, but I don't even really know you. This was just a hang." 

He saw that this wasn't going to go anywhere, so he gave up. "Okay, cool."

"Cool, have a nice life, Hunter Cole." 

She stalked away, not waiting to hear him mutter a 'you too' towards her retreating figure. 

***

Emma took a deep breath subtly before leading the way back into her house. As soon as she opened the door, her younger sister came hurtling at her. She was probably the one person she'd missed the most. She'd felt guilty going into the hospital and leaving her sister. She knew her disease affected others, and her sister was left confused and sad. "Finn, am I crazy or did you get taller?" 

Her sister beamed up at her proudly. "Only half an inch. But I'm on the volleyball team now." 

"That's so cool!" Emma forced a smile. 

Her dad finally came in the house, and set down Emma's bag saying, "Well I guess two months is a long time." 

"Felt more like two years!" Finn said. She was clearly incredibly excited to have her sister back home. To her it meant that Emma was healthy and happy, even if in actuality Emma was neither.  

"There's so much I have to catch you up on," Finn pronounced, holding Emma's hands her own. 

"Finn, honey, give your sister a chance to breathe." 

Emma looked towards the direction where the timid voice came from and saw her mother standing in the kitchen doorway. She finally acknowledged her presence warily. Emma knew that if there was one thing she believed her disease destroyed, it was her relationship with her mother. "Hi, mom." 

"Hey, honey," her mom said warmly, wrapping Emma up in a hug that ignored the fact that she didn't once come visit her. 

She released her and looked at her daughter. "Oh, look at your hair, it's so long." 

If this was the light topic of conversation her mother chose to go with, Emma would play along. "Oh, yeah, I've been growing it out. I probably need to get it cut." 

"Oh, well, I like it this way." 

Emma was thankful for Finn's interruption. "You have to come check out my room, I've gotten a ton of new posters. Come on," she said pulling her older sister towards the stairs by her hand. 

As she walked up the stairs she ignored her mother's comments. "She still looks very thin," she whispered worriedly to Emma's dad. 

"She's always been thin," her dad replied simply, reassuring her mother.