When we all got the good news...
DECEMBER 2010 - JANUARY 2011
Kory will be leaving in two days, the day before New Years. He'd told Mom and Dad that he really wanted to see the ball drop this time in Times Square, since the last two Christmases he had New Years with us. I knew he was up; he's a morning person, which always pissed me off for some reason.
I wore a Hollister sweatshirt, the same one I wore the first day of my community service. The day I met Gwen.
Oh, god.
I sound like some lovesick teenager that's whipped. I guess I was close to being whipped, but man, I didn't know it'd get this far. It's weird having feelings for somebody. I mean, I've never exactly had feelings for anyone in my life, and I knew it'd happen someday, but... I don't know.
I walked out of my bedroom after checking myself in the mirror if I looked alright.
Get a grip, Kyle.
I headed to Kory's room and opened the door. He was sitting against his bed and looked like he was packing some stuff up. He turned to me as the door creaked, notifying my presence.
"Oh, hey Ky."
"Hey. Packing already?"
"Yeah, I'll never get it done if I don't start now."
"Does that mean you don't wanna come with me to see Gwen?"
"You wanna go now?"
I nodded and stuffed my hands into the pockets of my sweatshirt feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Sure, let's go."
We got into the car a few minutes after signaling my parents we'd be leaving. He pulled out of the drive way.
"Do you think she's eaten?" Kory abruptly asked.
I pulled out my phone and realized it was a bit before lunch time for Gwen.
"Probably not."
"What's her favorite fast-food place?" he questioned.
"Arby's." I answered without hesitation.
"Arby's it is."
Once we'd gotten two junior roast beefs and a curly fry, we headed to the hospital. I wasn't exactly sure if she'd be able to eat the food because of her condition, but I had seen her eat other normal foods.
We got to the hospital in less than thirty minutes. Kory and I headed to her room and knocked on the door.
Talk about awkward when Denise opened the door. She sucked in a quick breath before saying, "Oh, Kyle." I could tell she tried to sound light-hearted. "And Kory."
"Really?" I heard Gwen beam, and my stomach suddenly felt queasy. My hands began to get a bit sweaty, and I swear my heart sped up a little too. I don't know if that's possible but it seriously felt like it. The feelings I have for Gwen are just getting bigger and bigger.
Definitely whipped.
"Hey." I said, walking into the room completely with Kory behind me.
"Oh my god, is that what I think it is?" Her eyes widened as she caught a glimpse of the bag I held in my left hand.
"Yeah." I smiled, starting to feel more comfortable near her.
She held out her hands as I gave her the bag. She took a whiff of the appetizing smell and quickly snatched one of the sandwiches to eat.
"So you're here early." she pointed out the obvious. "Why?"
I shrugged. "Wanted to spend time with you." I aimed for her parents' attention, which was definitely caught.
I touched her hand unintentionally as I leaned against her bed, tingles shooting up my arm as I felt her warm skin against mine. The action going unnoticed by George in the corner of my eye. Gwen let a small smile slip, and lowered her eyes. She then lifted the sandwich and took a big bite. We all kind of just sat there in silence while Gwen ate her sandwich.
....
"Flight 538, Class A is lining. Class A, please step in line." a female voice spoke out from the monitor. People started to walk towards the terminal, lining up with suit cases and luggage.
"I'm really gonna miss you, bro." I said to Kory.
My brother playfully gasped, placing his hand on his chest in fake astonishment. "You? My brother? Miss me?"
"Shut up." I shoved him, which caused a chuckle to fall from his lips.
"Kory, you sure you don't want to stay? We can cancel the flight or-"
"Mom, I'm serious. I really want to go to New York this time." he insisted.
She sighed. "Alright."
"Be good out there, son. And keep those grades up." My dad patted him on the shoulder.
Kory smirked. "Like always."
My mom gave Kory what looked like a bone wrenching hug before my dad did the same, and then lastly me.
"Ask out Gwen." he whispered to me.
I gave him a flat look. "I plan on it." I told him sarcastically.
"Flight 538, Class B is lining. Class B, please step in line." the monitor spoke out.
Kory released me and started walking towards the line and pointed at me.
"I'm serious, Kyle. Soon!" he shouted.
"Stay out of, Kory!" I yelled back.
He smiled, and then turned to step in line. He handed the woman his ticket, waited for the signal to go on board, and then turned to wave back at us.
"Bye Kory!" my mom screamed. "I love you, baby! Be safe!"
He turned back around and waved once more before walking out of our sight. My parents and I waited for the plane to fly away before we left the airport. I pretty much already missed my brother - as annoying as he is.
...
"Well, overall, Gwen's been doing great! She's getting her nutrients, her vitamins; the nurses are doing well. I'm glad to say that by this rate, you'll be leaving by this month." Gwen's doctor, Dr. Harris explained.
We all gaped at him.
"Really?!" Gwen exclaimed.
Leigh-Ann stood next to him, nodding her head.
"Well, that's great!" Denise said. "So, we just keep up with the pace and she gets to come home?"
Dr. Harris nodded, "Of course, she'll still need her checkups and all, but yep, you'll get to stay home, Gwen." He patted the side of her pillow, gazing down at her as she smiled up at him.
I grinned also.
"So, any questions?"
"Uh y-" I started, but stopped.
Everyone turned to me. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks. Gwen was encouraging me to say what I'd obviously left unspoken.
"Nevermind." I shook my head.
"Alright, well, let's give Gwen her space. Looks like you need some rest, sweetheart."
"Thanks, Dr. Harris."
He looked through some papers on his clipboard before muttering a few things to Leigh-Ann before leaving the room.
...
I kept my head down as I continued walking through the halls. It was the first day back from Christmas break and I dreaded every minute of the day. I hadn't talked to Gwen for a while. I didn't visit her yesterday or the day before. Surely, she'd be okay with it since I normally don't visit her every day.
Suddenly, I ran into somebody, causing their books to fall on the ground. I looked down to see one of the girls from my English class.
"God, I'm sorry!" I said frustratedly, kneeling down next to her and retrieving the items I'd unintentionally knocked out of her arms.
"I-it's okay." she stuttered.
"Hey, um, you're in my class with Mr. Turner. Alice, right?"
She finally locked gazes with me. I'd realized they were a nice shade of blue.
"Y-yeah."
I slowly lifted a few more books.
"I'm sorry again for knocking your books out of your hands. I wasn't paying attention."
"It's okay. I don't wanna be back at school either," she laughed half-heartedly. It was hard to know if it was forced or not.
We both stood up and I gave her her books back. She reached out for them and I realized she seemed a bit jittery. Her hands were slightly shaking and she looked really nervous.
"Are you okay?"
"Me? Oh, yeah, course, why wouldn't I be?" she shook her head.
"You seem a little nervous."
She shut her eyes. "No, I-, I'm just..."
I stared at her strangely, wondering why she was struggling so hard to find the answer she was looking for. I let a small smile appear on my lips. Her shy personality and innocent look made an unusual feeling seep inside of me. I could tell she found it a little nervous to be around me and because of that, I tried to make her feel at least a little more comfortable. She was about to say something but the bell rang, telling us all that we need to be in class pronto.
"Um, yeah, th-thanks for, uh, helping me." She quickly strolled off but seemed to trip on my foot.
I caught her by the waist before she could tumble to the floor again.
"Woah, you okay?"
She regained her balance and looked up at me. "Y-yeah, sorry."
Then she turned and hugged her books to her chest before scampering down the hall way. She looked back with a smile plastered on her face. Once she'd noticed I was still looking at her as well, she jerked her head back around, almost running into another person.
"Hey! Watch it!"
"Sorry, sorry!" she rambled.
I let out a small chuckle before turning and heading towards my class.
...
"Mr. Hastings, would you like to answer the question?" my Maths teacher, Mrs. Jensen suggested.
I sighed. "Um, is it 63.2?"
"I think you have an arithmetic error?"
Great.
"Sean?"
"Negative 72.2." he answered with confidence.
At least I got the tenths place right.
"Do you see what you did wrong there, Kyle?"
"Not really."
She frowned before carrying on to the next problem. I hated maths. Like, I hated mathematics. I couldn't do it, couldn't look at it, couldn't do anything involving it. I was that bad.
"Alright everyone, partner up with one of your neighbors and do problems in your book 213-216." she ordered.
I shook my head in agitation.
Do we have to?
I looked over to my left only to see the girl had partnered up with the person on her left. I then turned to my right to see he chose somebody else as well.
Then I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"Hey, Hastings."
I turned around to see a familiar blonde boy. I furrowed my eyebrows. "Ryan?"
"Yeah. Partners?"
I hesitated. There's no one else left, might as well. "Why not?"
He smirked and I rearranged my seat.
"You don't really got any friends, do ya?"
I glanced at him then shook my head.
"Well consider yourself my bro."
"What?"
He raised his eyebrows as if this were a casual conversation. "You heard me."
"I- No."
"Why not?"
"You don't need to be friends with me just cause I don't have anybody."
That's a lie. I have Gwen.
"I'm not having you as a friend because you got nobody, I want you to be my friend because you're cool. Or so I assume."
"You shouldn't assume things."
"You don't think you're cool?"
"I know for sure I'm cool. I'm just saying in general that you shouldn't assume things."
He laughed. "Yeah well I assumed right, didn't I?"
"Yeah."
"Then we're bros."
I shrugged. What could possibly go wrong?
"Whatever."
Ryan was surprisingly smart when it came to maths. He explained to me what I did wrong on the question Mrs. Jenson asked me and with his help, I could finally understood a good chunk of the section we were doing. After class ended, I headed out without saying a word to anybody. Ryan had ended up chatting with some other guy in class. I walked down the halls with my books in one hand and my other in my pant pocket.
"Hey man!" I felt an arm pat me on the shoulder.
I knew it was Ryan from the start. Who else would talk to me?
"Sup."
"Sit with us at lunch, yeah?"
"Who's 'us'?"
"Just a few guys on the football and baseball team."
"I think I'll pass."
"Nah, man, seriously. Nothin' bad's gonna happen."
"In case you haven't noticed, Ryan, I don't fit in with them, alright?"
"C'mon-"
"Ryan, I'm the loser here."
"Those girls don't seem to think so." Ryan pointed to a small clique to our left.
I turned to see giggling sophomores staring at us then turning as if we hadn't seen them.
"They're looking over here because of you." I pointed out, rolling my eyes at his stupidity.
Wasn't he smart?
"I saw that one looking at you. The small one."
I turned back around to see Alice, the girl I'd walked into earlier this morning and a small smile etched my face.
"Alice?"
"Is that her name?"
"Yeah, she's in my English class with Mr. Turner."
She glanced at me before blushing and looking down at her feet as if they'd suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world.
"No, I don't think so." I shook my head.
"Dude, it's obvious." he replied, giving me a flat look.
"Well even if it is, I don't see it."
"How could you not?"
"She's not my type."
"Excuses, excuses..." Ryan smirked.
He slung his arm around my shoulder and tugged me down the hall. "C'mon. Let's have some lunch. I'm starving."
-- Dedicated to kadzbookaholic because she left amazing comments throughout the entire book and voted some. Thank you so much, sweetie! I loved reading your words! Xxxx