My name is Karkat Vantas. I am sixteen years old. I am in perfect health, and my brother, Kankri, and I get along perfectly, and I get on just fine with my sisters, Meulin and Nepeta, too. I go to the school nearby, and my grades are decent. Alright... There are a few lies there. I don't go to school. Okay, maybe there are only two things I've said so far that were true:
My name is Karkat Vantas.
I am sixteen years old.
Let me correct myself:
My brother, Kankri, and get along like shit. My relationships with my sisters could be better if I saw Nepeta on a regular basis (she's always online in her bedroom, and I mainly only see her at dinner), and if Meulin wasn't deaf. I've been too busy Having Cancer to learn sign language.
My dad thinks I'm depressed, so he takes me to this support group that he runs. And I might be, but that's a side effect of dying. Depression, I mean. Everything I do seems to be a side effect of dying.
So, here I am, at the Support Group, with a bunch of other dying teenagers. My dad used to be a priest, but then my mom came, and that wasn't the case anymore. And I get it; it's been hard on him, as a father. But the only reason I was born was because they thought that Kankri wasn't going to make it. He had about a .3 chance of survival. But the guy will never cease to amaze you, and with treatment, all the cancer was drained from his body. Not mine, though. I have a terminal cancer in my lungs. If you want the medical term, it's 'pulmonary carcinoma'. I have to carry an oxygen tank wherever I go, now, and have these little plastic tubes called cannula in my nose all the time. Damn, it's annoying! You know what else is annoying? My star sign is actually Cancer. What the fuck, God? You gave me the worst possible star sign I can possible have! You know what else is annoying? I can't stand up for long amounts of time. Stairs are also difficult, but not impossible. I just need to rest when I get to the top or bottom of them.
Anyways... Support Group. There's a new kid there, sitting beside a boy named Dave Strider, who has this rare eye cancer called 'Intraoculat melanoma', and he wears these huge, dark shades to hide his one missing eye. Dave has blond hair that he slicked in a way he deems 'cool' (I wouldn't be too sure of that), and he wears a white shirt with red sleeves with a scratched disk or something on it. I've never really talked to him with words, but he usually sits beside me, and nudges me, or makes a movement that would signify 'rolling his eyes', if only anyone could see the one he still has. The boy sitting next to Dave is kind of cute, I guess, if you want one word for it. He has black hair that looks kind of messy, but is also tame. He wears these glasses that look a bit dorky, but he, like I said before, makes them look cute. He also has buck teeth. He wears a white T-shirt with a ghost from Ghostbusters or something. His eyes are ocean blue, and even seem to have the waves, and these amazing blue eyes are staring right at me.
I'm about to call (more likely cuss) him out for staring, but my dad decides right then to start the thing. God, Dad... We all stand up, and recite the prayers. I notice the boy stumbling over his words, because he doesn't know them, and people laughing lightly. He laughs with them, because there is no hiding the fact that the idiot doesn't know what he's doing (what he's doing was being extremely cute). Pull yourself together, Karkat! my mind yells at me. You haven't even talked to him! You don't even know his name! And Dad finishes the prayer.
"Today," he continues, "we have someone new joining us. He's a survivor of osteosarcoma, and his name is John Egbert. John, would you care to share your story? Only if it's alright with you."
"It's fine with me," he says, with a bit of a grin. "I was diagnosed when I was ten, then I got an amputation in my mid-thy. And I'd like to say that I was strong, and laughing when I came out of surgery, but, honestly, I may as well have been dead. By the way people were reacting, just endless tears... And I found out that my twin sister Jane... Wasn't as lucky as me... I swear to God, though! The doctors flipped a coin over I guess I'm lucky that my younger siblings, Jade and Jake, are free of cancer." Dad nods.
"How are you feeling?" he asks.
"I'm feeling alright," he answers. "Maybe a little bit hot, but, that's probably just me, being my first time and all. And I'm only here for Dave."
"Thank you for being honest," the ex-priest thanks. "Dave, since he's here for you, why don't you go next?"
"Hey, my name is Dave Strider," he announces. "I have this rare eye cancer whose name I never bothered to remember, and it costed me an eye, and now it's costing me my other eye, too. Yeah, a quick surgery and I'll be blind. Great... I feel somewhat disappointed, but other than that, fine." He finishes with a dismissive tone. Oh, crap. My dad (and everyone else) can plainly see that I'm sitting next to Dave, and the only other person sitting next to Dave is John, and John already spoke.
"Kar-" he begins, but I cut him off.
"Yeah, yeah," I sigh, rolling my eyes. "I'm Karkat Vantas, I have pulmonary carcinoma, and I feel like fuck you."
"Karkat, we are in the literal heart of Jesus," my dad begins, and I clap both of my hands over my face. I knew that was going to happen, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it... And yet... Why?
"Dad, we're going to run out of time," I remind him, growling.
"Right, we'll continue this later," he states, and continues on through the next few people. I look over, and notice John staring at me, again. Not only does this make me feel incredibly self-conscious (not that I'd ever say that out loud), but it also angers me a little bit. So I stare back. Dave is the little judge of our staring contest.
John blinks, and I sit back in my seat with a smirk, as my dad rambles on about whatever he's saying. The only person who looks like they're paying attention is a girl with surprisingly long hair, deep blue eyes, and always wears a blue Ravenclaw hoodie from, what she always cares to remind us, Harry Potter. She had osteosarcoma, and since she's still alive today, I assume it healed. It makes sense that she pays attention, because my dad and brother are so much alike, and she's dating my brother. She's nice, I guess. We don't really talk much, because she's normally in my brother's room, doing whatever it is a nineteen-year-old and a seventeen-year-old do when they're alone. You're so very welcome for the pictures. But my brother is clearly very comfortable with her; he doesn't allow even the slightest touch, even by accident, but they hold hands. Speaking of her hands, she has one. She only has her left hand, because the cancer targeted her right. And she was legitimately depressed when she came here the first time, because she couldn't play the piano anymore. From there, Kankri became her right hand.
"Aradia," Dad calls, and a girl with shoulder-length (that's considered 'long' in the cancer community) hair stands up. She wears a black, yet elegant, T-shirt with the Aries symbol on it in rust red, and a grey, tattered skirt. I don't remember what she has. I don't think it's humanely possible to remember the cancer diagnoses of about twenty people. "Can you finish this session?" We all stand up, and all hold hands, because my dad insists. I'm holding hands with Dave and this kid named Sollux, who has leukemia. I remember his diagnosis because he's pretty much my best friend, other than this kid named Gamzee, but I haven't talked to him in forever. Half because I've been busy Having Cancer, and half because he has a boyfriend, named Tavros. Tavros actually sits across from me, and he rolls around in a wheelchair, because cancer took his legs away. But he's fine, otherwise.
"Of course, Signless," she answers sweetly. She's new, so she doesn't understand why everyone calls him the Signless, but the reason is because of both his sons having cancer, he never got the chance to learn sign language, either. A wave of pity suddenly washes over me as I wonder who in our family has learned sign language. Chances are that Kankri taught himself at one point, but I don't know for sure. Aradia begins the prayer she had to memorize in a week (it's a long prayer we all drone through), and after that, we all grab our things and head outside.
I can't help but notice there is romance everywhere. Kankri had been waiting for his girlfriend (I forgot to mention that her name is Aureli), who seems to teleport to his side as soon as she sees him. She gives him a small kiss on the forehead, and he blushes bright red, and starts a lecture, to which she rolls her eyes and smiles, as they walk towards her car. Against the church wall (in plain sight, I might add), Sollux and Aradia are making out, murmuring 'Always' between gasps. He begins to grope her boob, and that's when I look away, to see John Egbert standing next to me, gazing in the same direction I was.
"I wonder if she can still feel her boob," he says, grinning lightly, laughing at his own joke. I roll my eyes. "And what's with 'always'?"
"They'll 'always' love each other," I answer. "Their love is for 'always'. Yeah, right." I turn to look back at him, and he's staring at me again. "Why do you keep staring at me like that?"
He smiles, revealing all his teeth. "You're beautiful." There's a pause, as the words register in both our minds. It's easy for me to deny this; I'm practically a walking bobble-head, but with a little bit of a smaller head, or maybe just a bit of a bigger body. I'm also incredibly pale, as I'm half-albino. The only thing that doesn't put me in the category is my hair, which is black. It's messy, but also dead. "Okay, that's a bad word to describe a dude. But, seriously. I'm not a homosexual, but even I can tell that you're pretty cute." A blush rises to my face, and smile grows wider, and he ruffles my hair.
"C-Can you... not?" I stutter, looking away, fiddling with the rim of my sweater nervously.
"Sure," he answers. "All you had to do was ask." Another pause. "Do you like movies?"
"Movies?" I repeat, thinking about my favourites (my sisters tell me that they're girl movies, but they're not! Movies aren't gender-specific), in the romantic comedy genre.
"Yeah," he answers. "My little brother Jake has, like, all of them, and maybe you can come over to my house, and we can watch a few, or something. Or just one. Whatever."
"You could be a murderer," I tell him, an eyebrow raised. "You seek out kids like me, make them feel special, then bash their heads in with a hammer."
"I could be," he agrees. "But, what does it matter? You're dying, anyways."
"True..." I notice my dad walking out of the building, and him gesturing for me to go over to him. Oh, shit... I'd have to face his lecture of doom... Even if John is a murderer, that's better than listening to the males of my family's lectures. "I'M GOING HOME WITH JOHN!" I yell, turning to him, pushing him along in the opposite direction. "Where's your car?"
"It's the white one covered in stickers," he answers. "Just so you know, my dad's lingering in the car... He brought newspaper."
"Whatever..." I mutter, looking back at my dad, who I saw climb into our silver van.
We approach a car that's according to John's description, and he holds the door open for me, and I get into the backseat. He puts my oxygen machine next to me. He opens the door on the other side, and gets in there.
"Dad, this is my friend, Karkat Vantas," he introduces me. "Karkat Vantas, that's my dad." His dad is a pale, slender man with white-as-snow hair. He's an albino, like my brother (and my dad). His suit is also completely white, making his skin tone look lighter than it actually is. He puts down a newspaper, and turns to look at me.
"Nice to meet you, Karkat," his dad says, and reaches out a hand, which I take.
"Yeah," I agree. I don't know how to respond to comments like that...! Or greetings, or whatever. So, I force out, "You too."
It's a silent ride to John's house. His dad gives off such an official aura, I'm afraid to say anything. And so is John. And his dad is focused on driving. But, as it turns out, John's house is right down the street from mine; it's not even a far walk. Even I can probably make it. When we get there, we're immediately greeted by a smaller version of John with deep green eyes and tidier hair, and a female version of that John, with impossibly lighter green eyes. They look to be about ten. Too young to really know about homosexuality; to really know anything other than the classic guy-gets-girl ending.
"Jake, can we borrow one of your movies?" John asks. Jake's face lights up, and his eyes look as though someone had replaced the irises with little green lights. He looks me over.
"Romcoms!" he decides, and I look at him strangely. What the fuck is this kid going on about? "Am I right?"
"About what?" I ask, a bit tiredly. I never really have to deal with kids, and they're not really my thing, anyways.
"Your movie genre!" he answers. "The genre that can keep you silent until the ending credits roll! The genre you hate, but you love so much. Am I right?"
I blush lightly, and make a microscopic nod. The girl (I think her name is Jane or something) runs off to grab a movie. She comes back with the movie 'The Fault in Our Stars'. I realize that the situation I've fallen into is extremely similar to the one Hazel Grace's (yes, I've seen the movie). We both even have lung cancer. Whoa. Why am I only noticing this now?
"Thanks, Jade," the older brother thanks, hugging his sister lightly, before gesturing me towards the basement.