One Last Breath

Chapter 1: Theo

Chapter 1: Theo

I glance around the classroom. Vanessa, my girlfriend, gives me a sweet smile. I try to grin back at her, but I'm just not feeling it. She pouts and mouths, "What's wrong baby?"

I shake my head and answer, "Nothing."

I force a smile to please her.

A shiver runs up my spine and I feel sweat building up on my palms. My curly brown hair falls just above my eyes; I brush it away.

I look up again, but this time I see someone different; Sam. She turns her head, hiding her face in her hair. I can tell she is smiling because her skinny cheeks reveal her perfect freckles and her cheekbones.

She has on a pair of baggy black sweat pants that cuff at her ankles. Her white v-neck tee shapes her fragile figure and even though she is wearing something so unfashionable, she looks so adorable.

A Sperry stabs at my ankle, and I swear out loud. That's going to leave a mark.

My dad is going to kill me; I had promised him no bruises. He made me quit all my sports too just because of cancer. Lacrosse, basketball, football, all gone. I was pretty pissed off, but I didn't argue. He was right after all. Cancer and sports just didn't go together.

My friends (Ryan, Luke, etc.) kept on asking me about it, but I told them it was because I had too much homework and my dad said that sports were getting in the way. I really don't like talking about cancer with them because I don't want attention; I want to live a normal life. I knew they would believe me and they did; my dad is super strict about grades because believe it or not, I am the one of smart ones out of our little friend group.

--

I swivel around to face whoever kicked me. Vanessa glares at me. Her expression reveals her not-so-happy face and I'm pretty sure she caught me staring at Sam. I feel my face heating up. I try to stutter an excuse, "I..I wasn't...I swear..."

Vanessa gathers her stuff, stands up, and exits the classroom. My teacher gapes after her, calling her name in a bossy tone, but Vanessa continues to strut out of the room.

I sigh and roll my eyes. Sometimes that girl is a pain in the butt. She always complains about everything I do that doesn't involve her. Like this one time I had to leave the state to for a treatment session and I had totally forgotten to warn her about my absence. She freaked out. No joke. She even temporarily broke up with me. I didn't care much. I don't really like her; I just date her because if I die, she wouldn't care. Plus I need something to get my mind off cancer. See? It's a win-win for both of us. I'm starting to think though that dealing with my cancer is easier that dealing with her...

I get up and follow her out of the room. As I look over my shoulder I see something that disturbs me a lot; Sam looks like she is about to cry. I try to shake off her cold, helpless stare, but when someone that fragile and kind gives you a look like that, it's kind of hard to forget it.

I search the deserted halls for Vanessa.

--

I return only in the middle of the day. I didn't spend all that time looking for Vanessa. After like ten minutes I gave up, hoping that she just left, so I could hang out with Sam in peace for the rest of the day. I went out to the nearest basketball courts and took some shots.

I remember once I had asked Sam why she was so skinny. She had stuttered and mumbled, "I got to um go...I'll talk to you later..."

I always ask her things like this because I'm trying to figure out if she has cancer, like me. Life would be much easier if there was someone going through the same things I am. Ever since I first saw her, I had thought that she was diagnosed, but I never had the chance to ask her. I mean... There really is no way to ask a girl if she has cancer. And if she does have cancer what am I supposed to say? Even worse, what do I do if she doesn't? That would be even more awkward.

I'm pretty sure she has been dealing with cancer for a lot longer than I have. I only found out that I was diagnosed about a month ago and it wasn't exactly the best thing. I kind of had a of meltdown. I mean, I had kind of guessed that all the problems were caused by cancer. That's what the internet said.

I always felt sick, and was constantly getting bruised. My arms and legs always felt sore. So when my mom took me to the doctor, it wasn't a surprise when he said, "Theo...I'm so sorry, but you have cancer."

At the time, I had refused to believe it. I hoped, prayed, for it to not be true.

I went home and cried. This was the first time I had cried in years. My heart ached; what was I going to do with my life now? Was there a point to anything I did anymore?

After that day, I noticed for the first time, that Sam was unnaturally skinny; that her thick brown curls disappeared more and more everyday; that she was not healthy.

I don't know if this makes me sound like a total jerk or not, but I hope she does have cancer. I just don't want to be alone.