Jet Lag

Chapter Seventeen

"Do they know?" I asked, worried as I waited outside the hospital entrance. I didn't want to go in but I knew Wes was going to force me to. I tried spending the past hour and a half convincing him I could get through this on my own. He denied every attempt I made though.

"I didn't want to be the one to tell them, Lil, " Wes said, placing his hand over mine as we sat in the waiting chairs. 

"I don't want anyone to know," I stated, feeling ashamed. I couldn't stand the fact of having my parent's worry over me. They had enough stress in their life. They didn't need to know their daughter was sick. Tears filled my eyes as I looked at the boy sitting next to me. 

A silence filled us, and I looked away to make sure Wes didn't see the sudden tears I hadn't been anticipating. 

"Lily?" Wes asked, as he heard a sniffle coming from my direction. 

"I didn't want you to know, Wes!" I cried, "It's not fair the doctors told you. I didn't want them to. I don't want anyone to see me like this, especially you." 

Wes was quiet before answering, "Why does it matter, Lily? I want to help you." 

"It matters because I know what you're thinking. I know you're thinking I told you so. You told me I wasn't good enough and I was trying to prove you wrong." 

"Lily, I knew you were good enough. You're the most beautiful girl I know, and you think I really doubted that you wouldn't get signed a modeling contract? I was sure you would." 

"But...when we were kids....you told me I wasn't facing reality. You said it would never happen," I accused of him, flashing back to the night on the porch of his house when we were so young.

"You really think I wanted the girl I loved to move to New York, get famous and rich, and forget about me for some other famous guy? I didn't want you to go, and I was what, seventeen maybe. That was the only thing I could think of to say for you to not go and pursue what you wanted." 

"Really?" 

He nodded simply, "Lily, I'm nothing but a farmboy. My life isn't going to get any more exciting then that, nor am I probably ever going to get more than thirty miles away from my smalltown home in Alabama. I honestly thought we were gonna get married." 

The southern twang in his voice made my heart melt, "Why didn't you tell me that years ago? I would  have stayed if I would have heard that." 

He shrugged, "Like I said, seventeen years old and a lot of pride." 

I laughed, "Yeah, pride. The same thing that made me want to prove you wrong." 

He laughed along with me, "We're both too stubborn for our own good. That's why we'd never work out." 

"Yeah," I agreed, but it hurt to hear him say that. Wes was being nice today, but he didn't want to get back together. I was slowly having to face the facts that it was never going to happen. 

Wes stood up from his chair, "I'm going to go see what's taking them so long to get you checked in." 

"Okay," I said, watching him make his way over to the front desk. 

I realized deep down I was still the same teenage girl in Alabama who wrote "I love Wes Anderson" in my school books. He would always be that dream guy that every girl wanted. He was popular, awesome, and friendly. 

But it wasn't going to happen. Wes and I had seperate lives. Like he said, we were too stubborn for each other. 

Wes came back a few minutes later, "They're ready for you," he said, as he leaned down to pick up my suitcase.