in his arms

Chapter 4

I felt myself freezing up again, but I swallowed it. Or, choked on it, rather. I wouldn’t let myself do that again.
“Me?” I murmured.
“Yeah. I wanted to apologize.” He was still smiling.
“Apologize for what?” I asked, slightly surprised.
“For whatever I did that made you so afraid of me.”
I shrugged my entire body and rolled my eyes. “No, look, I wasn’t afraid of you. I’m just…” I trailed off, not knowing what else to say.
“What?”
“I don’t talk to guys.”
“Why not?”
“Because that always happens,” I admitted, smiling.
He grinned back at me. “Really? So like, you’ve never had a boyfriend before?”
I shook my head, slightly embarrassed.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m socially awkward. I guess I’m just not girlfriend material.”
He snorted. “It’s funny how the pretty girls are always the most insecure.”
My head snapped back, startled. Did he just call me pretty?
Before I could ask, he changed the subject. “What are you in for?”
“Uh…” I stammered, still dwelling on his last comment. “Leukemia.”
His brow furrowed. “Really?” he breathed, astounded.
I bobbed my head. “Yeah.”
He pursed his lips. “I mean, I’m so sorry.”
I shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. I mean, if I die, there aren’t many people that are gunna be affected.”
His eyes grew hard. “Don’t say that.”
“I’m serious,” I persisted. “Just my nurses, my sister and her fiancée. I don’t have any other friends.”
“Grandparents? Aunts? Uncles?”
“My mom’s an only child and my grandparents are all dead.”
“You have to have friends at school.”
“Not a single one.” He bowed his head. I decided to change the subject. “What about you?”
He smiled grimly, knocking his head. “Brain tumor.”
I gasped slightly. “They treat you with chemo for that?”
He nodded his head. “Yeah. The success rates are really low for it, though. I’m probably gunna need surgery. The thing is, the surgery’s really risky.”
“When’d you come here?”
“Transferred yesterday. I had chemo treatments at another hospital in Boston. But we had to move because rent got too expensive, and we ended up here.”
“Who’s ‘we?’” I asked, trying to flirt and keep the conversation going. I’d never done this before, so I hoped I was doing it right.
“Me and my mom,” he told me, and I found something else we had in common. “Speaking of my mother, I promised I’d call her. So, maybe I’ll catch you later. Kaitlyn, right?” He flashed a grin at me.
I nodded. “Yeah, later.” I couldn’t hold my smile back.
“Alright, bye,” he said, skipping down the hallway.
I pranced back to my room, feeling so much better about myself. I pulled out my list, and with my black ballpoint pen, I dragged a line across a bullet.
~~4. Face a fear, and maybe overcome it.~~

My night consisted of flirting with cute boys. 2, actually.
I shouldn't even be on Witty because it's 8:30 and I haven't started my homework but I love you guys so yeah.
Repay me with feedback.
*I don't notify, please don't ask.*

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