A Ticket Out of Life

Chapter Five

It was a day before school started, and I had an appointment with Dr. Bryn late in the afternoon but I wanted to look into something first. I headed over to the library to study a certain topic; that topic being medicine. I pushed open the doors to the library and headed straight to the back tables to dump out my bag. I pulled out a few notebooks before walking over to ask one of the librarians to guide me to the section of science and medicine. Once I got to the section, I quickly skimmed the shelves before plucking out a few books and returning to my seat. I was determined to know more about diseases, and what exactly some did to the body and if the immune system could help serve as a shield of some sorts. My attack at the party, according to Dr. Bryn, could've easily broken a rib with the tensing my muscles did to compensate for the pain. My body was becoming more and more fragile, and I wanted to know how and why. Medicine had become a new hobby for me, and it gave me something to do while Aunt Maggie and Jack were away on business. I would be seeing Jack today since he was in charge of coming to pick me up from the library to take me to the hospital. After flipping through some of the pages and jotting down a few key points, I returned to the isle and started browsing for another book. I was determined to find out as much as I could. If I was going to die from a disease, I wanted to know a little bit more about it. Maybe something I could find would give me hope. However, even I knew how big that 'maybe' was.

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"Dude, Lance, you should've came to my party! We had so much fun, and these college girls came and..." Lance rolled his eyes and tuned out his friends as they continued to blab about the party they had when he was attending his fathers' ball. They were making him feel guilty for missing it, even though partying was never his thing. He could easily pick up girls without going out of his way to meet one. He knew girls didn't turn him down when he asked for something and his popularity with the girls gave him a slight advantage. He wasn't worried about attending parties where men went to just pick up girls. As he and his friends walked down the sidewalk, his phone vibrated deep within the pockets of his blue jeans. Taking his phone out nonchalantly, he read the message from his dad, and he grunted irritably.

"Mind if we stop by the library? I have to look up something for my dad. Business related." His friends casted a sideways glance at him before smiling.

"Sure thing bro. Maybe we can hit on the nerds in there!" Smiling at his friends' eagerness, they turned down the street leading them to the library. Walking in, he was greeted by the receptionist but he paid no attention to her as he strutted by. I just want the information I need and then I'm gone. He walked over to the computers and logged on to a visitor account. Out of the corner of his eye, Lance watched as his two best friends, Tyler and Jake, make their way to the back of the library. Lance couldn't help but laugh at them under his breath as they walked to a table full of girls. He turned his attention back to the computer and looked up different banks around the outskirts of town. Lance's dad was about to purchase a bank, so it was Lance's job to find the best bank in the area. Getting up, he walked down some of the isles until he found a banking book which gave specific information on the history of banks, dating since the founding of the town.

Lance looked up and his eyes widened as a girl passed by his isle, her pigtails flowing behind her. I've seen her before, he thought as he walked over. He peeked down another isle and watched as the girl was looking up and down on the shelves, her pointer finger gently tapping her mouth. The Reynolds girl, if I'm not mistaken. Lance watched as she looked around, her eyebrows furrowing with irritation. She got on her tiptoes, trying to reach a book on the top shelf. Lance chuckled as her fingers didn't come close to the shelf itself. Seeing his chance to aggravate her further, he walked over there and gently reached over her, grabbing the book. He brought it down as the girl whipped around, her eyes wide. Her mouth dropped open slightly, and Lance couldn't help but laugh at her priceless expression.