Luke...
The loud echo of sirens fill the area. Large crowds of people begin to surround the scene and chatter erupts.
"We completely ruined this night" Ashton mumbles.
He's right. We're complete idiots, and can't mind our own business. I thought we were helping someone. Guess I was wrong about it. But there's still something wrong in this situation. Selena didn't seem okay, the way she bled and passed out.
"Luke we gotta go, police are here" Micheal nudges me and I can't move.
I watch as the paramedics lift Selena and her brother onto the gurney, taking them away. I feel a shove, but I don't move. Then I feel two hands wrap around my arm and pull me away from the circle around them.
"Luke come on!" Calum says.
My mind tells me to stay. It's my fault this is happening anyways. I'm guilty, so I should suck it up and tell the truth. But my legs begin to move and follow the other lads. Running away from our mistake. We mix in with the large crowd and find the exits. Ashton unlocks the doors and we quickly speed off after.
"Fuck! What did we do?" I groan.
"Well we're idiots and jumped to conclusions to damn quick. And for what, a girl we don't even know" Michael says.
"Hey, it doesn't matter if we don't talk to her or anything. If she was getting abused we wouldn't just sit and do nothing" I defend her instantly.
"What's gotten into you?" Michael questions, looking back at me.
He's right. Just jumping to a stupid conclusion has me defending someone who's not even my friend. But we pick on her so much, why would it be so hard to try and defend her for once in the first place. All I feel is guilt though, I'm not sure what has changed me in the past few days.
"I-I don't know" I speak slowly.
He shakes his head at me and looks forward again. Now with the car silent, I'm back to thinking again. What is wrong with here though? Should I check on her? Apologize? Should I explain to her the situation?
"What are we gonna do when she comes back to school?"
"Deny anything she says, don't speak to her, do even acknowledge her." Michael tells us.
"Why?"
"We're not getting in trouble for this, you shouldn't care about what she thinks or says anyways. You haven't before" He replies.
I stay silent again and we arrive to Ashton's home. For the rest of the night we don't speak about the situation we caused tonight. But I wonder if they thought about her as I did. Wanting to know if she's okay, but I don't speak my thoughts to them.
___
I wake up early the Saturday morning and my mind quickly begins to think of the previous night. I'm curious and eager to find out what happened. Everyone is still sleeping.
Quietly I go to the restrooms, brushing my teeth with the spare I have and washing my face. I make my way upstairs from the basement and grab my shoes. I slip them on and without making a sound, open the front door to leave.
"Lucas, leaving so soon?"
I slowly turn around and press my lips together. Damn it.
"Yes Anne, not feeling to well. I'm just gonna head home" I lie.
"Oh well I can wake up Ashton to give you a ride"
"No, Um no thank you Anne I'm fine really"
She gives me a questioning stare, but doesn't push the subject any further. She gives me a smile and waves me goodbye.
When I'm out side, I type in Hospitals near me. I click on the one closest to the school and begin to walk.
I arrive about an hour and a half later, But I don't mind it at all. I enter and walk up to the front desks.
"Yes can I help you?" The kind woman speaks.
"Yes I was wondering if you could tell me if a patient was brought her, Last name Gomez, first Selena"
She begins to type on her computer and looks back up to me.
"What is your relationship with Ms.Gomez?"
"I um, We go to school together. Just wanting to check up on her"
"I'm gonna need you to sign in"
She hands me a paper and I fill out a few things before she hands me a sticker that says 'visiter'. She tells me the floor and room number and I head up. God I hope she doesn't hate me or flip on me for being here.
The elevator dings and the doors open. My eyes scan the numbers on the wall and I now stand in front of her door which is slightly cracked open. She's alone. I take a deep breath before slowly entering.
"S-Selena"
Selena...
My eyes open and bright lights are in my face. The familiar coldness and white walls. Hospital. Slowly I sit up and come face to face with my doctor again.
"Jen, What happened?" I ask. "Where's Derek"
I begin to panic as I remember the suppose to be wonderful night turned into a nightmare. Why would they do that to him? They don't even know him. My mind is still running with confusion as to what made them think to hurt my brother.
"He's in very critical conditions, but he'll be alright" She tells me.
"Can I see him?"
"He's not awake at the moment" She replies. "Your parents came to see you guys, but they had an emergency at work"
Of course. My parents aren't my mine priority at the moment. I couldn't care less if they showed.
"Selena, We do need to talk about a few things while you are here"
Oh no. What happened this time. How can this possibly get any worse.
"When you were here the other day, you remember the X-Rays we took?"
I nod my head in agreement. What did she find.
"Well we did notice the cancer has gotten a little bit worse" She trails off.
"Come on, what else was there. I can take it" I urge her to continue.
"We noticed a small unusual dot, in your head"
I can't move because of the pure shock I'm in.
"I'm sorry Selena, but there's a tumor growing in your head. But it's still small enough to get rid of quickly" She tells me, a bit of hope in her eyes that I'll have to make disappear.
"No, I'm okay"
"Selena I don't think this okay for you, Leukemia is one thing, you're putting a brain tumor right on top of all of that"
"If this can help put me out of my misery quicker, then let it be"
She shakes her head in disappointment and leaves the room. After she's gone, a sudden rush of emotions goes through me.
Tears begin to stream down my face. I'm crying so hard, hiccups and headaches coming along with my breakdown.
"Why?" I cry quietly.
My body shakes and my vision is blurry. I never thought i'd be one to die so young and in such a painful way. Since a young age I had dreams and goals, but the world clearly couldn't let that happen.
My breathing slows down and is heavy, my eyes puffy and cheeks stained with tears. Then I head a slight creek. A few footsteps. I look over.
"S-Selena" He speaks.
"What do you want?" I try to sound as if I haven't been crying and look the other way.
"Please just let me explain to you what happened"
"Why should I listen to anything that you have to say. You put my brother in the hospital and ruined my night" I say harshly.
"I know there's no excuse for what we did, but I thought that we were helping you"
Is he serious? Is he stupid? How can one help someone by beating their brother almost to death.
"We thought you were getting abused" He says.
"What makes you think that? And why do you care anyways?" I scoff.
"Yes I know we picked on you and I truly am sorry for that. They were suppose to be just harmless pranks, We're idiot boys" He admits. "This is gonna sound creepy, but we followed you, and when we saw your brother caring you with a bloody nose we assumed he hit you, and then you always have bruises, and your socially awkward-"
I cut him off.
"Okay first off, That is very creepy, and I am not socially awkward"
"You really are though, but besides that I know something isn't right with you though. The others may not care, but I don't know why I've been thinking about this all night" He rambles on to me.
"Luke, just leave. I'm not going to say anything" I tell him.
"I'm serious, What happened last night wasn't normal. What's wrong with you?"
Does he actually want to know? Does he even deserve to know?
"Selena please, Can we like start over? I swear I won't tell anyone" He begs.
I barley know this boy, this boy who has picked on me for the past year and has put my brother in the hospital. But he wants to know my secret? What do I have to lose?
"I'm dying" I slightly laugh.
He gives me a questioning look. As if he doesn't really believe me.
"What do you mean?"
"Stage two Leukemia, and I just today found out I have a small brain tumor" The words carelessly come out.
He stands up and turns around. He walks back and forth for a minute.
"You've got to be joking? Are you doing this to get back at me? Listen I know we fucked up, but that's not something to joke about"
"What do I got to lose Luke? Believe it or not it's the hard truth. You've been picking on a girl with cancer."
"This can't be real" He mumbles.
I don't know what's gotten into me, but I want him to feel bad. Feel the guilt of what he's put me through.
"Wanna know the best part?"
He looks at me as if I'm crazy. What can be good about having cancer?
"I haven't been taking chemo for the past year"
That does it for him and he sits down in the chair across from me with his head in his hands. We're both silent for the next ten minutes and I wonder what he's thinking of. Finally he stands up and sits on the bed by my legs.
"I'd like to start over" He says with his hand out.
"Are you serious? After everything I just told you?" I question him.
"My names Luke Hemmings, and it's now my jobs to make sure you have the best last moments of your life" His hand still reaching out for mind.
I'm scared to shake his hand. Feeling as if it'll be one big joke again. Slowly I reach my hand out to his and grab it.
"Selena Gomez, Your friend? That wants to die" I joke.
He gives me a serious look and I pull my hand away and shake my head. This is going to be interesting.
___
Published June 17, 2017
My hand always falls asleep when I write on my phone.
Word Count: 1903