When we met...
JULY - 2010
"Third time! Third time I had to go down to the police station and get you out of the JDC!" my dad shouted angrily.
"Kyle, this isn't okay. You can't just go around spray painting overpasses," Mom explained softly. She's pretty gentle with me when I get in trouble while my dad is the complete opposite.
I rolled my eyes. "No one even goes under it anymore! It's not like I was doing any harm," I protested.
"You wrote profanities on it, son!" Dad bellowed, louder than before.
"I'm sorry!"
He crossed his arms above his chest and glared at me. "No. You're not."
I sighed heavily, leaning back on the chair and stretching my hand out on the table while the other dangled from the arm.
"So, what's the community service this time?" I asked boringly, rubbing my forehead.
"I've already set up your community service with the station and I'm sure the judge will be fascinated by the idea as well when I tell him you've already got something to do. You're going to help out serving with the meal ladies at Davidson Hospital until summer is over. You're also grounded. No TV and your curfew is t-."
"Wait, what? No! I'm not working at a hospital with sick and old people!"
"It isn't your choice."
"You guys are kidding, right?" I laughed humourlessly, turning to my mom.
She shook her head and huffed. "No, we aren't. You need to start thinking, Kyle. You're getting way out of control."
I shook my head. "This is so stupid."
"Go to your room, Kyle," my dad ordered, shaking his head in disappointment.
They had to be deluded. There was no way I was going to work at a hospital. So many things could go wrong.
I quickly stood up from my chair and marched from the kitchen. Going upstairs and entering my room, I slammed the door for my parent's benefit. What were they going to do that they already haven't done anyway? Kill me? I'm sure the stupid hospital will take care of that.
I sluggishly flopped onto my bed, feeling exhausted from the tiring day at the station and the seemingly endless lectures from my parents. I jumped, feeling the vibration of my cellphone in my pants. I quickly searched through my pocket and to my surprise saw that my brother was calling. I hesitated before answering. It'd be eleven o'clock in New York which is where my brother attends college. What if he butt dialed? I could only imagine what he's doing right now - which I'd rather not think about.
"Hello?"
"You're not in jail?" Kory gasped.
"Not anymore. Dad got me about an hour ago." I turned on my side and stared at my alarm clock.
"Wow. I was positive they'd take you in longer this time."
"Wait, how'd you know I was taken in?"
"Mom told me you did graffiti again." By the tone of his voice, I could tell he was probably rubbing the back of his neck in frustration.
I didn't answer Kory for a few minutes. He was the one who broke the silence.
"What's the punishment this time?" he asked, sounding vaguely like myself when I asked my father.
"Helping ladies at a stupid hospital, curfew, and I'm grounded. No TV."
"If this doesn't set you straight, I don't know what will."
"Shut up, Kory," I snapped.
"Look, Kyle, this stays on your record and stuff. You can't keep doing this if you want to get into college."
I rolled my eyes and pulled my hair. I should've known he'd bring up school.
"Kory, I'm not a straight-A perfect kid like you. I couldn't get into college even if I wanted to," I muttered.
"Hey! Yeah you can. Just stop doing this stupid graffiti stuff on buildings and bridges!"
I shook my head. He doesn't get it. I like doing graffiti. If I didn't, I'd stop. Besides, it's not like I'm doing that much of any harm. Graffiti makes buildings stand out. It was just an overpass down near the ghetto. It was barely used. Who cares?! It's art. Real art.
"Whatever. I'm tired. Bye." I ended the call before he could say anything else.
After a few seconds, I felt a bit guilty. I should've let him talk to me more. Ever since he's gone off to college, we've only seen him rarely since it's so far from here to New York. I did miss my brother, but all he'd do is nag me about my graffiti, which is a waste of time in my family's eyes. I'm just an artistic person. I draw, paint, and spray paint, obviously.
I was exhausted and tired of listening to my parents insult me more and more downstairs so I went to the restroom and brushed my teeth, then grabbed my iPod and headed off to bed.
...
"Get up!" my dad shouted from outside my bedroom.
I groaned, loud enough for him to hear.
"Now, Kyle!" he shouted again. I sighed heavily and sat up, rubbing my eyes before throwing my covers off of me. As I stood up to change, I brushed my teeth quickly then went to my closet to put on a t-shirt and a hoodie, then jeans and some converse sneakers. I also grabbed my phone before leaving my room.
"Kyle! Are you done?!" my father complained from the first level of the house.
I trudged downstairs, making it known that I was finished with getting up.
"Why are we going so early?" I whined, once I'd gotten to the last step.
"Oh right, you wake up at noon. Eight in the morning is when normal people have breakfast, son," he told me sarcastically.
No they don't.
"Whatever," I muttered.
I stuffed my hands in my hoodie pockets and left the house, my father trailing not far behind me. Once we reached his car, I swiftly got into the passenger side, then he started it up and we left. We didn't speak the whole way to the hospital. Granted, it was only a fifteen minute drive and he was talking on his phone for the majority.
When my dad and I got out of the car after he'd parked it, we slowly made our way to the entrance of Davidson Hospital.
My hands were still stuffed in my pockets while his were at his side. I glanced at him. My dad's face was unreadable and blank. I knew that face all too well. He was disappointed in me. Being a teenage boy, you normally think of your dad as a role model. In this case, my role model is Kory, whose footsteps I haven't exactly followed either. But my dad and I, we're so different. It sucks knowing that my dad doesn't think I'm a good kid.
"Good morning, Mr. Hastings," an older woman greeted my dad with a bored expression once we approached the front desk. Her face was wrinkled and she had some gray streaks in her hair. She wore thin glasses and had pinkish red lipstick on. "Your son is the one for community service, am I correct?" she asked.
"Kyle Hastings, yes," my father confirmed, pushing me towards the woman who stood up from her chair and came from behind the desk.
"Hello, Kyle. My name is Jeann. I'll show you where to go and where you'll learn to do your community service." She extended her hand out for me to shake.
"Wait, you're telling me that I have to be trained to help make food in a hospital?" I stifled a laugh. She lowered her hand and narrowed her eyes.
"There are some health policies you need to follow, whether you're here to make food or not." It was obvious I was officially on her bad side. "Follow me, please." She waved us towards her and turned down the hall.
"Please take this seriously. I'll pick you up later, Kyle," my dad told me.
"Yeah, whatever."
I turned to Jeann who was waiting impatiently. She suddenly spun around and I immediately followed her steps. She didn't look once to see and make sure I was still behind her. After a few confusing turns down the halls, we reached closed doors that had rectangular windows on the side of them.
"Here, is where you'll be helping out with the hospital staff. You listen to them, kid. If you don't, you're going to get sick and regret it." She opened the doors and we moved along into the kitchen area.
"Lorenna, Misty, there's a delinquent on your hands. Kyle Hastings. He's going to be helping you guys for quite a while. Please tell him what he's required to know," she ordered.
The woman I assumed to be Lorenna wore a hairnet above her brown curly hair. She was probably around the ages of forty and fifty. She had slightly wrinkled skin and was rather slim and skinny. Misty, I suppose, had white blond hair and seemed to be the same age as Lorenna. She had bright blue eyes and a larger figure.
They both nodded at Jeann and then made their way towards me.
"Kyle, is it?" Lorenna asked.
I nodded.
"Well, Kyle, listen up," she smiled. "You're going to just give them what they want. No cooking or anything, we handle that."
I was going to ask why they weren't going to let me do anything other than just give people what they want. If I'm doing this for the entire summer for community service, shouldn't it be a little harder? The thought certainly came to mind, but I wasn't going to mention anything. Something told me that Lorenna's dealt with boys like me and she feels that being friendly is the best way to go to get on my good side and get me to cooperate.
I nodded again.
"How long do you have to be here?" Misty questioned.
"All summer."
"Well, it'll fly by like you don't even know it," she waved me off, giving me a small pat on the shoulder.
By the time meals came around, I ended up doing exactly what Lorenna told me to do. It was boring and pointless most of the time.
"Hi, can you give me a-... Hey," a female voice spoke.
I looked up to see a girl probably about a year or two younger than me. She had light brown hair that seemed extremely thick. It fell down her shoulders in soft curls. Her eyebrows were thick, too, and her cheekbones stuck out. Her lips were full and pink. She was probably a visitor.
"I haven't seen you here before. Who are you?" The tips of her lips started to twitch into a small smile.
"Kyle." I looked away, picking up some more sandwiches.
"Kyle," she cooed. "Suits you well."
I glanced at her, not really sure why she's still talking to me.
"I'm Gwen," she proclaimed, shooting her hand over the counter for me to shake. I hesitantly did so, causing her to give me a genuine smile. She stood there for a moment and narrowed her eyes, the grin still on her face.
"You got in trouble, didn't you? Like, with the law."
My eyes widened in shock. "How'd you know?"
"I've been a patient here for years." So she is sick. "You're not any of the staff's kids, I know that for sure. Plus, the only time guys like you actually come to this hospital and help out and stuff is because you have to do community service. Since it's the summer, I assume it's not service for school to graduate and you don't look old enough either so I suppose you did something bad." She nodded in confidence.
I couldn't help but chuckle. She was spot on.
"I didn't do anything that bad."
She bit her lip, and then proceeded to walk past me and get her food.
"Take a break. You look bored." She nudged her head toward the tables.
I glanced behind me to see that everyone was at work and wouldn't see me slip away. I reluctantly followed Gwen and sat in a chair across from her.
"Shouldn't you be in, like, a wheel chair?" I asked.
"I'm usually here for check ups. Technically, I'm not sick enough to be required to have a wheel chair so," she shrugged, looking at her food on the tray.
"Why aren't you eating in your hospital room?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes at her whilst she ate her mashed potatoes.
"It gets lonely in there when they're taking tests. I like to get out of it once in a while. I'm not hooked up to anything either... yet anyway."
"Don't you, like, have parents?" It came out a lot ruder than I intended.
She laughed, giving me a weird look. "You ask a lot of questions."
I could feel a small blush appear on my cheeks.
"My parents work a lot, trying to pay the bills for my treatment." She lowered her eyes, her happy smile fading.
I didn't answer, I just watched her eat, which is probably weird so I should stop doing that. I looked away.
"So, Kyle, how old are you?" she politely covered her mouth while asking the question to hide the food she was chewing.
"Almost sixteen. What about you?"
"Fourteen," I smirked, once again. I was right, just one year younger.
Her happy personality came back, somehow managing to lighten my mood.
"So, mind telling me why you're here?" I asked, sending her another smirk.
"And why would I do that?" she smiled cheekily. "I barely know you."
I gave her a flat, playful look. "I told you why I was here."
"Actually, I guessed and you confirmed."
"C'mon. What's there to hide?"
She sighed lightly and scooped up some more mashed potatoes. She held the spoon in front of her and stared at it before speaking.
"I have Leukemia," she said, and then stuffed the food into her mouth, not making eye contact with me as if it were the simplest thing to be said.
My face was in pure shock and my mouth fell open. How could someone so interesting and happy be diagnosed with cancer? I couldn't speak. I closed my mouth and swallowed, realizing I was probably being rude.
"Woah... I'm really sorry."
My throat became dry and my stomach started to feel weird. That sucks.
She waved her hand off and shook her head. "It's not a big deal. I've accepted it. I've had it for a while."
I was quiet for a minute. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know how long. I mean, she seemed so fragile and delicate. Even though I'd just met her, I don't think I've ever felt so sad and helpless for a girl; then again, I've never met a girl with cancer.
"Um... For how long?" I asked her.
"I was diagnosed when I was ten. I was fine until a year ago when the symptoms started to get noticeable and a lot worse. I'm supposed to do chemotherapy in two months if things don't get better, which whenever cancer is related, nothing gets better." She heaved a sigh as if this were a difficult math question, not her life being torn apart and ruined over a life-threatening disease.
I knit my eyebrows together in confusion. "You act like it's not a big deal."
She glanced up at me and shrugged. "I've accepted it," she repeated.
"Aren't you angry? Aren't you, like, at least frustrated?"
"Well yeah, I'm frustrated. But I'm not angry. Having cancer isn't my fault. Nor is it anyone else's. It just happened. I can't change it. You can't change it. No one can change it. Why should I live my life being angry at something that'll never change? I'd rather enjoy life while I have it."
The tips of my lips formed a small smile. I liked her attitude. It was a big difference compared to mine. I didn't know many girls like this. Well, I didn't know many girls at all.
"Are you angry? I mean, there's a reason why you broke some kind of law, isn't there?" she asked me, interrupting my thoughts.
"I don't know. Sort of I guess." I looked away, hoping she wouldn't ask more.
"Why?" She lifted her water bottle and took a sip, keeping eye contact with me.
I scrambled for an answer. "Uh, life."
She studied me. "You're angry... at life..."
"Yeah." She could definitely tell I wasn't exactly saying the truth, but instead of pestering me, she raised her eyebrows.
"Hm."
"Hey, Kyle! Coming back any time soon?" I heard Misty say.
I turned and saw the woman standing behind the counter. Instead of looking angry at me, she had her arms crossed with a type of a smile I couldn't really name. It made me uncomfortable though.
"Yeah, I'll be right there, Misty," I said, waving my hand over.
I turned back to Gwen. "Well, I gotta get back to making crappy food. Duty calls," I smirked.
She laughed. I all of a sudden understood what she thought.
I stared at her, and then laughed, too. "You're gross."
She laughed harder, waving her hands up in surrender. "Hey, you're the one who said it."
I narrowed my eyes.
"I'll see you later," I muttered.
"Have fun."
"Yeah, like that's possible." I turned and walked back toward the counter.
Misty stared me down once I'd returned with protective gloves.
"What?" I snapped.
She nodded towards Gwen. "What was that over there?"
"Two people talking?"
She nudged me. "I was thinking more like flirting."
I stared at her. "No."
"She's a sweetheart Kyle. Don't hurt her."
I began to wrap a sandwich. "I'm not planning on doing anything with her. She's ill."
"You'll change your mind later if you keep talking to her."
I raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"She's a special girl, Kyle. It pains me why the Lord let her have what she has." She shook her head in disappointed. I tried not to feel anything. "But if you carry on talkin' to her, who knows, maybe you might even fall for her." she joked - or I hoped she was joking.
I scoffed. "I don't fall for people, Misty."
"You never know."
Misty turned back into the kitchen. I rolled my eyes and glanced to where Gwen was sitting. She wasn't there though. I looked around the cafeteria and saw her walking out to the halls. I smirked. I half hoped Misty was wrong. But also half hoped she was right. It'd be nice to know I'm not going to die alone.
Hours passed by. I'd helped Misty prepare some food for the patients' dinner. Again, it didn't look like it'd taste good at all and I was right. My dad came and picked me up from the hospital later that day at around eight.
"How was it?" he asked.
"Boring." I mumbled. I reached over and pulled the seat belt over me.
"You're doing this for a reason, Kyle," he reminded, putting the car into reverse and driving towards the highway.
We didn't say anything after that.
When I'd gotten home, dinner was already set and served. My mom stood over the oven mixing rice in a pot. I stopped at the doorway and leaned against it. My dad squeezed between the door and I, and strolled toward the island, throwing his keys on the marble top.
"How was it, Kyle?" Mom didn't turn as she continued to stir.
"What's there to say? It was stupid."
"Meet anyone?" She was obviously trying to lighten the mood. "Oh, Nathan, can you get the silverware out for us?"
She turned to my dad who nodded at her request.
"Uh, no, not really. Just the staff I guess."
My mom sighed and put her weight on her left leg while setting the wooden spoon she'd been stirring with down on a napkin next to the stove .
"Well, at least it's for the better," she breathed.
"Uh-huh."
"Now, let's eat!"
My father set down the forks, spoons, and knives as we sat down and started to set food onto our plates. Dinner was practically eaten in silence. A few times, my parents would try to make conversation amongst us all but ended up just talking to each other from my lack of socialization. I just wanted to eat and go to bed.
Believe it or not, I was actually pretty exhausted from talking to cranky hospital patients and smelling unappetizing food all day. I have to do this until school starts. Like my life can't possibly get any worse.
"You know, Kyle, Kory's coming to visit in about two weeks," my mom smiled.
I didn't look up from my food to speak to her. "And?"
"Well, I thought you'd want to spend time with your brother, Kyle. We haven't seen him since the Christmas."
"Well, glad to know he's coming," I muttered.
That was the end of it. My mom gave me some sad pleading looks but I ignored them. Yeah, sure, I was glad to see Kory, but he'll just be annoying: talk about college lectures when I'm fifteen and stuff.
After I finished my food, I headed up to the bathroom and took a shower. When I finished, I went to my room and went to bed. I didn't want to be tired tomorrow morning.
"Kyle," my dad made two knocks on my door before slightly opening it.
"What?" I asked, untangling my earphones.
"Your court date is August 4th. Around three, I forgot to tell you. I'll pick you up from the hospital, alright?"
"Yeah."
Then he left, and I was finally alone.
...
A/N
Please leave comments! Thank you. Kyle's picture on the side.
Dedicated to xxskater2girl16xx because she's my absolute favorite writer of all time on wattpad! Cannot wait for AER.