And now she's 13…
Sorry for the wait
"Do I have Huntington's?" Remy asked.
"What?" Cameron spun around. Remy was wearing her black hoodie, which Cameron came to regard as her 'I'm in a bad mood' jacket.
"I know it's genetic. Were you ever going to tell me?" Remy said, looking somewhere between devastated and furious.
"I was going to tell you when you turned eighteen. I didn't think you were old enough to understand when you first came to live with me." Cameron answered, trying to stay calm. She could have said something around the lines of 'I told you in was genetic but not what genetic meant', but she thought would be a little too glib.
"Well, do I have it?" Remy asked.
"I don't know." Cameron said, not looking Remy in the eye.
"I want to get tested." Remy asserted.
"Remy, you're just thirteen. I think this is something you might want to wait on. Even if you have it, you have two decades before you see signs and by then there could be a cure." Cameron said.
"I deserve to know if I've lived a third of my lifespan." Remy said, her voice growing more irritated.
"Wait a week, if you still want to get tested we'll do it at your check up." Cameron said.
"It took me a week to be able to bring this up to you." Remy whined.
"This is something I want you to think about." Cameron said. Remy nodded and took a seat at the table. Cameron watched her put her head in her hands like she'd done so many times over the past two years.
Remy had grown about five inches, putting her just a head under Cameron, and just too big to be picked up. Which was a shame, because Cameron missed it, but Remy was growing up.
Cameron wanted to ask how Remy found out, but she knew it would come off sounding like she had tried to hide the information. Remy had her moody teen moments, but they had yet to actually get into a fight.
And this new topic was probably the most serious one they'd had to talk about in quite a while.
"Is there anything else you're hiding from me?" Remy muttered.
"The tooth fairy, she's not real." Cameron whispered. Remy just glared.
"I'm sorry, okay. I didn't want you to find out from some stranger or textbook or whatever. But, you've been through so much in the past two years, and I didn't think it was fair lumping this on top." Cameron explained.
"I see where you're coming from," Remy muttered. Cameron smiled, it was fairly evident that Remy had been in therapy for the past two years, "but it doesn't change anything,"
"Remy, in twenty years a lot will have changed," Cameron sighed.
"Or maybe nothing will have changed," Remy yelled in frustration, she stood up and walked back to her room. Cameron waited to hear a door slam, but it never came. This meant that Remy had moved into the sad stage of this topic.
"Remy, come back. It's almost dinner," Cameron yelled.
"I'm not hungry," Remy yelled back.
"Then sit with me," Cameron said, approaching her door,
"I have homework," Remy mumbled
"It can wait a half hour," Cameron argued, as she began putting together two plates.
"Fine," Remy grumbled, exiting her room and coming into the kitchen to sit at the table. Cameron put a plate in front of her, and then sat down next to her with a plate of her own.
"I told you I'm not hungry," Remy mumbled.
"Your body needs the fuel," Cameron said, sounding unamused.
"The human body can go about five weeks without food," Remy crossed her arms.
"You spend too much time with House," Cameron sighed. They were rubbing off on each other in unfortunate ways. House was becoming even more immature and Remy seemed to be becoming too smart for her won good.
"And sign one of starvation is irritability and lethargy," Cameron said, watching Remy hold her head in her hands and stare at her plate.
"I just found out I may be dying." Remy retorted.
"Everyone is dying, Rem. I'm dying. My cells are dying faster than they're being recreated, and who knows, maybe I'll get hit by a bus tomorrow. Why would you want to know about it beforehand? When it may not even mater by the time it becomes a problem. And that's only if you have it." Cameron said, finding herself quickly losing her appetite as well.
"Can I be excused?" Remy asked, not bothering to give Cameron a response.
"No, eat your dinner." Cameron said, hating herself for nagging.
"I'm not eating it." Remy said, pushing her plate forward for emphasis.
"You're such a teenager." Cameron shook her head.
"I know, I'm getting big." Remy said sarcastically.
"As you should be," Cameron said, not really sure what Remy was saying. Remy was by no means fat, in fact, she was just approaching normal. And as far as height went, she was about average. Cameron wondered if there was some unseen piece of Anne's wisdom still floating around in Remy's head.
Cameron figured she'd mention this to Remy's therapist. Or maybe it was completely normal. She would never admit it, but she'd read House's book cover to cover one night after freaking out when Remy came home from school crying and wouldn't say why. So, she knew it was typical for teenagers to fight, and rebel against rules, but this wasn't her usual Remy.
"So, how's school?" Cameron asked.
"Subtle," Remy glared.
"Would you prefer we stay on the subject of you not eating?" Cameron smirked back.
"I want to talk about the fact that I'm dying," Remy frowned. Cameron sighed.
"How do you feel about that, then?" Cameron asked.
"Terrified and overwhelmed and like I need a legitimate answer." Remy responded honestly.
"I'm not saying you can't have one. I'm just asking you to wait." Cameron said.
"I don't want to," Remy said.
"Well, I don't want you to know," Cameron responded, "So, we're compromising."
"I'll never see it your way," Remy said, putting her head back in her hands.
"Then in a week, you'll have your answers." Cameron said, pushing Remy's plate back in front of her.
"But, if I have it. This will be another week wasted." Remy whined.
"Do you really think you're going to live your life any differently?" Cameron asked.
"Yes," Remy cried.
"Then I suggest you always live like that. Forty years or one hundred years, life is short. Live it the way you want to." Cameron said.
With that Remy stood up and stomped back to her room.
"I guess you don't want to eat with me then," Cameron groaned and sunk back into her chair.