She wasn't really sure how everyone at school figured out. She didn't tell them. The only people who knew were her mom and Dad, but somehow, everyone had found out. So there she was, standing at the hallway at school, Random people who she'd never spoken to, giving her sad looks or telling her how sorry they were or treating her like she was already dead. She just wanted to scream. Which she used to justify her yelling at Ryder when he walked over to her.
"Just stop!" Kitty yelled.
"Stop what?" Ryder asked, "I didn't say anything."
"I'm sorry…" she mumbled.
"What's wrong, kitty?"
"Why is everyone being so nice?"
"Well, you're dying. Of course people are going to be nicer…"
"I don't need people being nice to me."
"What do you need?"
"I don't know…" She sighed, "I just don't want to be treated like I'm…Artie or something. I want everything to be like it was last week."
"It's kind of hard to act like nothing's wrong." He replied, "Stuff like this usually doesn't happen around here."
"Yeah, whatever."
He sighed, "Do you want to sit with me during lunch?"
"Sure." She smiled slightly as they started walking down the hallway.
She had only just figured out about the cancer the Friday before. She'd been feeling Sick for a couple days, so on Tuesday; her mom took her to the doctors office. They ran a bunch of tests, and the following Friday the doctor asked them to come back, saying he had some 'important' news. They drove out to the hospital just find out that the 'Important' news was actually horrible news.
Kitty had Stage Three Lymphoma.
Her mom cried, a lot. But, she didn't. The thought of Dying really didn't scare her all that much. She just sat next to her mom, not sure what to say, or think.
After a long conversation about Treatment options and how long she would live without the Chemo, they drove home in complete silence. When she told her dad, he was upset, she could tell, but he didn't say anything. He stood up and walked to his room. Kitty spent the most of the weekend locked in her bedroom. By the following Monday morning, everyone knew.
"Kitty?" Ryder called.
She looked up from the table. "Yeah?"
"You're not eating?"
"I'm not really that hungry."
"You can't not eat." He replied.
"I'm not hungry, okay." She snapped.
He sighed, "What are you going to do about the Cheerios?"
"I don't know…mom said I should probably just quit now. Before I start getting sicker." She shrugged.
"What about glee?" he asked, "You're not going to quit that too…are you?"
"No, I don't want to quit glee." She shook her head, looking back down at the table.
"So, what are you going to do?"
"About what?"
"The…cancer." He replied, not really wanting to say the second word.
"Oh..i don't know." She sighed, "I mean, what can I do? I go through with the chemo, and I might die, I don't go through with it, and I'm going to die anyway."
"Kitty, you shouldn't talk like that."
"Why not? It's the truth." Kitty shrugged, "That's what the doctor has said…several times."
"I don't care.. you shouldn't." He replied, "You're only eighteen, kitty. You can't…you can't die at eighteen."
"People die at younger ages than that all the time." She shook her head, "What makes me any different than them?"
"You're not other people." He Answered, "You're my friend."
"Either way, Lynn." She said, "It's not a matter of If…just When. It's just a matter of time."
"You're not giving up."
She shrugged, "Maybe I am."
"You can't just give up, kitty." He replied, "You have to fight…or you're already dead."
"Whats the point in fighting?" Kitty asked, "The chances of surviving is like..42%. One in four people. One in four people survive, Ryder."
"You're the one." He sighed, "You can make it…"
"Whatever.."
"You're not even a little upset about it?"
"Of course I am, but bitching about it isn't going to fix anything."
"But, isn't there still a lot you want to do?"
"Of course there is…" She nodded, "But I cant do all of it…not in this amount of time."
"Why not?" Ryder asked.
"What?"
"Why. Not."
"Because...i just can't." She shook her head.
"I have an Idea." Ryder said, after a long pause, "What if you could do it?"
"Do what?" Kitty sighed.
"Everything you want to do before you…before you die." He replied, "Everything on your bucket list." He nodded.
"There's no way."
Ryder sighed, standing up and climbing on the table.
"What are you doing, Lynn?"
He crossed his arms, starring down at her.
"Will you get down?" Kitty said, "People are starring…"
"Not until you agree to listen to what I'm going to say..."
"Fine! Just get down!"
Ryder sat back down next to kitty, "So, you'll at least listen?"
"yeah…"
"Okay." He said, "I'll help you."
"With?"
"Your bucket list." He replied, with a smile, "I'll help you do everything on it, and all you have to do is write it down."
"No." she shook her head.
Ryder stood up, about to stand on the table again.
"Okay, okay, okay!" kitty said quickly. "Fine."
He smiles, moving away from the table. "Okay, cool." He paused, "Um.. Drive you home after school?"
"Why?" She asked, "Usually my mom just picks me up after school…
"Well…today, I'll drive you" He smiles, "See you at PE." He walked away, leaving Kitty sitting at the table, with a slightly confused look on her face.
Throughout the rest of Kittys classes leading up to PE, she would add a couple things to her bucket list.
"What's that?" Marley asked during history class, pointing to her paper.
"It's a bucket list…My bucket list."
"Oh…" Marley hadn't really thought about the possibility of Kitty dying. She knew cancer was bad, but she was sure Kitty was too stubborn to die. Or at least she hoped she wouldn't die. "What kind of stuff are you putting on it?"
"Just some stuff I really, really want to do before I die." She replied, "Ryder said he would help me do everything on my list." She smiled slightly.
"That's cool, kitty." Marley smiled back.
During PE, kitty sat on the bench, where the Coach had her sit out because he didn't feel like she should participate 'in her condition'. So, she spent her class time working on her bucket list. She stood up and walked into the hallway. Jake followed her out. She was looking at her book.
"Hey." He said.
She looked up from her book. "Hi."
He leaned up against the wall, next to her, "Are you okay?"
She laughed quietly, "What do you think?"
He shook his head, "I don't think so…"
"Real perceptive, Jake."
"Sorry…" He laughed, "Do you want to talk?"
"Not really." She replied, covering her eyes.
"Kitty, don't cry…" He put his arm around her. She buried her face in his shirt. "It's going to be okay.."
She pulled away, "You should go back to PE.."
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"I'm just going to hang around in here until after school…"
"Okay…" he nodded, walking back into the gym.
After PE, Ryder walked into the hall, looking for Kitty.
"Hey." He smiled when he caught up with her.
"Hey."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Oh yeah..." she nodded, "I love having to sit out of class because everyone thinks I'm incapable to do anything."
"Glad to see the cancer hasn't taken away your sarcasm."
Kitty rolled her eyes, hitting his arm.
"Are you ready to go?"
"Hell yes."
They stood up, walking down the hall.
"So, have you thought about what you want to put on your bucket list?" Ryder asked as they reached his truck.
"Yeah, I've been working on it for the most of the day."
"Can I see?"
"Not while you're driving." She replied, "I'd prefer not dying in a car accident."
"Oh, C'mon." Ryder said, "I'm an awesome driver. I could drive with my eyes closed. "
"I don't think now is the best time to test that theory."
He laughed, "I'm just kidding, Kitty."
Ryder drove up to Kittys house, noticing there were no cars in the driveway. "Where are your parents?"
"They're working today." She replied, getting out of the truck, "Mom wanted to stay home today, and keep me home, but I didn't want to…So they won't be home for a couple hours."
"Okay.." he nodded, following Kitty inside.
They sat on the couch.
"Can I see your list now?"
"Yeah." Kitty replied, handing him her notebook. He looked over it for a couple minutes, reading everything on it.
"Wow..this is…wow."
"Is that good or bad?"
"No, no. it's good." Ryder replied. "I just have one quick question."
"What is it?"
"Where do you want to start?" He smiles.
A/N
So, there's the first chapter.. I'm not entirely sure if I'm going to continue this or not. I thought of this in the middle the night, and I really liked it. And I hope you do too. :) If you do, leave a review and favourite :)