Raindrops Are Tears

Secrets

The first duty of love is to listen.-Paul Tillich
A couple of weeks later, Aaron organises a surprise date for me. He picks me up at 8.00 from my house and blindfolds me. He leads me to his car and helps me to my seat. We drive for about 20 minutes and Aaron parks the car.

He tells me to stay in the car and that he'll be right back. After about 5 minutes, I feel Aaron's hand on mine and he helps me out of the car. As we are walking, I feel grass tickling my feet. I giggle. At first, I think Aaron is re-creating our first date in the park.

But when he takes the blindfold off my face, my breath is taken away. I look around the atmosphere, mouth wide open. I see the colourful city sparkling in the nighttime. I see that we are standing on hill with Aaron's red convertible parked next to us. Aaron stands before me hands in his pockets with a shy grin on his face. Jeez, this guy is good.

I run up to him and wrap my arms around his neck, embracing him. It felt slow motion. "Thank you. For changing my life into a movie. I love you....."I whisper as I rub my neck against his neck, warmly. He kisses my neck and then replies,"I love you too."

He said those three words with ease. No hesitation, no regret. He truly loves me. We walk over to his convertible and lie on the hood. My eyes gaze over the sky, looking for a face. Aaron's face. I feel Aaron's hand slip over mine. Our fingers intertwine. We both sigh in awe of each other.

A couple of minutes later, Aaron lets go of my hand. He turns and faces me, his brown eyes looking deep into mine. "Can I tell you a secret?" he asks. "Sure."

He turns back around, facing the sky. A tear rolls down his cheek and he quickly wipes it away. "Tell me,"I beg. I hate seeing him cry. "Well, when I was 15 years old, I was diagnosed with brain cancer. I have the second last stage now. I won't die but my body will deteriorate."

I look at him with tears in my eyes. I never expected it. He looks at me. I reach over to him and pull him into a hug. "I'll be with you all the way." He never returned the hug.

****************

That night, I couldn't sleep. All I could think about was Aaron. How could I make things better for him? With thoughts preventing me from sleeping, I got up and went downstairs to the kitchen. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and sat on one of the bar stools behind the bench.

"Can't sleep?" A voice says behind me. I turn my head and Joelle walks into the kitchen. "Yeh," I sigh. She gives me those 'what now' eyes and sits on the bar stool next to me. "Tell me your boyfriend problems,"she asks. "How'd you know I had a boyfriend?"I ask curiously. "Trust me. I know. When you look at your phone in the middle of dinner and start giggling, I know it's your boyfriend. I also went through teenage-hood as well."

I look at her, probably thinking that she is the funniest step-mom in the world. "Anyways, tell me,"she asks, this time seriously. "Well first, his name is Aaron. I met him about 5 months ago. 4 months ago, he asked me on a date. On that date, Cruz stabbed him because he was jealous. Then Aaron was in a coma for 3 months, as you already know. And now he is my boyfriend. Today, we had a date and he told me he had brain cancer. I don't know what else to do!" I finally spill out.

"Well what is there to think about? You just have to be a good girlfriend to him. That's all. You shouldn't leave someone just because they are different from everyone else. Take your father and I. He's in jail but I haven't left him for anyone else. I still love him as much as I did before he was in jail," Joelle says. "You understand?" "Yeh, I do. Thanks Joelle!" I reach over and hug her. "You always know what to say."

Joelle smiles at me, then gets up and leaves. After a few minutes, I also get up and go to my bedroom. I walk over to my bed and lie down. I picture Aaron in my head and smile. I close my eyes and smile until I fall asleep.

Author's Note:
I dedicate this chapter to my friend Joelle for being like 'Joelle' in the book. If anyone were to have a friend like you, they would be lucky, like me. Thanks for being a big sister when I needed it most. ❤️