Photographs (Luke Hemmings)

Chapter 29

We pulled into my driveway and Luke turned to me, "I'm going to pick you guys up to come hangout at Ashton's at 4:30 right?" he asked.

Luke, Calum, Michael, and Ashton had been playing around on their instruments since I got out of the hospital. They decided to make a band just for the hell of it. The funny thing was, they were actually pretty good. Casey and I always hung out with the boys at Ashtons while they messed around, trying to cover different songs.

"Of course, have a good practice," I said quickly kissing him before climbing out of the car.

I put the key in the lock and pulled open the front door to my house before throwing my backpack onto the couch.

"Are you hungry?" I asked Casey while making my way into the kitchen.

"Starving," she said sitting down on my couch. I figured that, we were always hungry after school.

"Chicken nuggets? They're dinosaur shaped!" I yelled to her.

"Yep only because they're dinosaurs," she said and I could hear her laugh.

I put our nuggets in the oven and set a timer before joining Casey on the couch. I turned on the last Big Brother episode we had missed from the previous night. We were discussing our favorites on the show and the people we wanted to leave when the oven beeped.

I went into the kitchen, putting an equal amount of nuggets on each plate.

"FOOD," I yelled, and Casey came running in.

I laughed because she wasn't the sporty type, but if food was involved, she would run miles. I grabbed two gatorades from my refrigerator and handed one to her.

After watching Big Brother, we both shared the stories of our first day back at school. Neither were very eventful, but we got to discuss all the people we were stuck with in our classes.

"How are you feeling?" Casey asked once it got quiet.

"Good," I said shrugging. I felt as if I had been asked that question a million times since I got out of the hospital.

"No not just good, tell me more." Casey said. She was very motherly and always wanted to know the details.

"I mean, I feel physically good but I feel like my days are numbered and it doesn't feel fair. I'm just trying to be positive about it because I'm lucky I got a second chance to extend my time with you," I said looking down at my food. I was too awkward to look people in the eyes when I became soft.

This was all hard on me, but I was trying to look on the bright side. I also felt like no one could possibly understand. They all had a life to live for a long time, where as I didn't. I couldn't put into words how jealous I was that my days were numbered and they had a lot to look forward to. I just wanted to be distracted from it all.

I looked at Casey who was nodding understandingly and before she had the chance to speak my phone began to ring. I looked down to see Luke's name on my screen. I clicked the answer button while looking at the clock realizing the afternoon had flew by, it was already 4:30.

"Hey," I smiled putting my phone up to my ear.

"Hey are you guys ready?" Luke asked.

"Yep."

"I should be there soon," he said and we exchanged our goodbyes before my phone beeped to signal the call had ended.

Five minutes later, Luke pulled into my driveway. Casey and I made our way out the door and into his car.

"Hi," Casey and I said in unison, which happened often. We both lightly chuckled.

"How was practice?" I asked meeting Luke's eyes. Just seeing him made me smile.