Here'ds Chapter 29 I'm sorry that I haven't updated in ages! its just school has been so busy since i started back there x year 11, an important year x thats what they keep saying x but its not gonna stop me from writing because this is my escape x xx Thank you to everyone who is following this story and to all my weekly reviewers x you guys are great. I hope you are enjoying it xx let me know xx R&R xxxx
Thalia's Tree x x x
Claire's POV
I did the finishing touches to my lip gloss and checked that my hair looked okay. Tonight was the first time I'd be going out properly since I started treatment. It was Sunday, so I'd had two days off from radiotherapy. Don't get me wrong, I still felt like crap, but not as bad as I do during the week. I looked at my reflection that was staring back at me. I had bags under my eyes that I'd failed to completely cover up with concealer, and my skin was pale, but I looked better with a bit of make up on and my hair freshly washed and down in loose brown curls.
Michael was doing a charity gig tonight, so we were all going to support him. I had refused at first, but Eve, Shane and Michael had insisted that it would be good to get out and that I would enjoy it. Michael hadn't said what charity it was for, though he'd reassured me I would know of it. It better not be a brain cancer one. I thought to myself. That would be mean.
Shane came in then, dressed in jeans and a nice, red checkered shirt. It matched my simple red dress. He had shaved, which made him look five years younger and used gel in his hair to spike it up a bit. He scrubs up well when he makes an effort. His after shave make him smell nice, though it was so over-powering it made me feel sick. I didn't tell him that.
"Hey. You look gorgeous." He said as he came over to me.
"Thanks. But I know I don't." I told him. "I look a total mess."
Shane laughed and pulled me to him and we kissed. "To me, you'll never look like a mess. Your beautiful Claire, inside and out." Was I blushing?
"Come on, lets get going, before we make Mike late for his own gig." I nodded and grabbed my bag, following him out of the room. Before I could walk down the stairs Shane suddenly picked me up bridal style.
"What are you doing?" I screamed, hitting him with my bag like an old lady. I was laughing though.
"I can't have my princess getting tired before she's even had the chance to dance with me." Shane said, carrying me down the stairs. I continued to hit him but I wasn't angry. This was so fun!
"That's not Claire laughing is it?" I heard Eve's voice say from the bottom of the stairs. "I've kinda forgotten what that sounds like."
"Yep, I am guilty of having fun!" I exclaimed.
"That's my girl." My best friend said hugging me once Shane had finally put me down.
"I'm gonna help Michael put the rest of the stuff in the car. Don't forget um, what ever it is you girl bring to these things." Shane said, clearly not knowing much about girls.
"What, you mean tampons?" Eve asked innocently, batting her eyelashes.
Shane covered his ears with his hands and turned around. "I'm not listening. La la la!" Shane walked out the front door to where Michael was trying to fit everything in the car, and failing. It wasn't too dark out yet, but I'm sure it will be pretty soon. Apparently the venue is outside in a grassy park area, so its just as well the weather is clear for it, else there wouldn't be much of a crowd.
"You okay?" Eve asked. "How you feeling?" I turned back to look at her. Sometimes I forget that Eve is actually quite a bit taller than me. We spend so much time together that you kind of forget. But now I felt like I was looking up at her.
I nodded. "I think I'll be okay tonight. I don't feel amazing." I told her truthfully. "But better than I have to last two weeks." Eve smiled sadly but she suddenly seemed to become very small.
"What about you?" I asked, looking her in the eyes.
"I'm fine." She said, a little too cheerfully. "Please don't start fussing."
"Eve, what you found out the other day is a big thing. Its bound to hurt." I insisted, worried. If by what I used to act like was anything to go by, Eve was in denial, and pretending to be okay with it all. Though secretly we aren't. "You haven't had long to accept it yet."
"Seriously Claire, I am okay. There's nothing to talk about, everything is normal." But her eyes suggested something else. I decided to just be straight with her.
"Tell me what you are feeling." Eve seemed a little surprised at this question. Its more direct that I think she's used to anyone being with her. At first it looked like she was going to argue, but then her shoulders slummed and she let out a sigh.
"I think I'm angry more than anything." She said. "I mean, all I can remember thinking when I was younger is that I didn't care what I did with my life, where I would live, what job I would have, as long as I had children. It just always felt like I was supposed to be a mother, like it was my purpose." My best friend looked down to the floor.
Gently I took her hand, making her look back at me. "It may still happen Eve. You can't give up hope."
She nodded. "I know." Then she smiled, shaking off her sadness like it was nothing. "But lets make it tomorrows problem. Tonight, lets just enjoy ourselves.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Michael drove us to the venue. He nattered to us nervously about the songs he was planning on playing, asking repeatedly if we thought they would be okay.
"Michael, calm down." Eve, who was sat in shotgun, leaned across the small space between her and her husband and squeezed his hand. "Why are you so nervous? Its not the first time you've done this."
"I know, I know." He replied, staring straight ahead. "But tonight's kind of a big deal, you know?"
No, I don't. I thoughts silently, but I didn't say it out loud.
"You are gonna be amazing babe." Eve told him. Looking away from the road briefly, Michael smiled lovingly at wife. Ever since Eve had told him about not being able to have children, he's been wonderful. I know she was worried about how he would react, but he has honestly been nothing but supportive. Not that she needed support, according to Eve.
We drove in silence. It was becoming quite dark outside, and I could only really make out the shapes of the trees passing by. I hope that wherever we were going had outside lights or I don't think Michael will have anything to be worried about.
A few more minutes passed in silence before the car slowed down to a stop. "Here we are." Michael got out the car first, shortly followed by Eve as they went to get the equipment out of the boot of the car.
"Ready CB?" Shane asked, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of his side of the car.
"As always." I giggled. Shane pulled me to him once we were out of the car and we kissed in the dark.
"You're beautiful." He whispered.
"How do you know? You can hardly see me." I joked.
Shane laughed. I loved to hear that sound. "Fine, you tasted beautiful. Better?"
"Yep." I agreed. "As much as I would like to hear more of this sexy talk, we have to help the guys with the heavy stuff."
Even in the dark I knew that Shane was pouting. I tugged at his arm. "Come on. And try not to walk into that tree . ."
oxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
They didn't let me pick up the heavy things, so I was currently carrying a not-so-heavy microphone stand. We approached the entrance of the park-like venue. There was a big banner at the entrance with bright fairy lights. This meant that we could all now see where we were going. I could see that there were more lights in there, so many that it almost looked like daytime.
I read the banner at the entrance and stopped dead at what it said. It wasn't anything to do with brain cancer. It was incredible.
It read: * Cystic Fibrosis Fundraiser 2013! *
"Good surprise?" Shane asked as everyone looked up at the sign with me.
"How could I not have known about this?" I exclaimed in dismay. Was I really that ignorant?
"Well, considering you haven't really stepped outside the front door the last two week CB." Eve reasoned grabbing my hand and pulling me forward, "Come on I can hear music!"
"I thought I was the music." Michael joked as he and Shane followed us with the equipment. As we entered the park I was taken back at how beautiful it all looked. There was a giant gazebo covering half of the grass, and opposite was a stage. Blue fairy lights hung around everywhere. There was tables and chairs inside and outside the gazebo, each one decorated to make look pretty. Already a lot of the tables were filled and I wondered if we had one saved for us. I suppose we were kind of VIP, with Michael and all . . .
"This way!" Eve shouted, leading us towards the front by the stage. I looked behind me to make sure that the boys we following still. Shane was directly behind me and he smiled when I looked at him. Smiling back I tried not to trip over as Eve continue to pull me.
We reached the front and stopped at a table already half occupied. Catching my breath I suddenly realised that I knew the people at the table.
"Aria!" I smiled, extending my arms.
"Hey! I was so looking forward to seeing you!" She replied excitedly as she slowing stood up from her seat to hug me. She was wearing a shortish purple dress with sparkles on, accompanied by a silver headband.
I hugged her back, feeling immediately how skinny she had gotten. Maybe that's how I felt to Shane when he hugged me. Aria still had her trach in, which probably wasn't a good thing but she'd already told me that it was going to stay there until she got her new lungs. I looked over her shoulder and saw the oxygen tank along with several backpacks that were placed next to her brother, Chace. I smiled at him over his sister's shoulder and he winked back at me. Cheeky.
"How are you? Did you organize this? How come you didn't tell me?" I asked her all at once. She laughed and, with the help of Chace, sat back down, motioning for me to sit in the vacant seat next to her. Eve sat next to me and there were two seats left, but the boys had gone off to set some things up.
"Hey there Aria." Eve greeted. "Don't mind Claire, she hasn't been getting out enough, and I'm not just using that saying for no reason."
Giggling, Aria replied. "Hiya Eve. Not to worry, hopefully she'll enjoy herself tonight. It was great last year, and the year before that."
"I've never heard of it before tonight though." I said. Ari nodded in response.
"Its mainly for family and friends of people with CF. Being on the border of Morganville, the founder doesn't mind it if visitors come into the town just for tonight, as long as they leave in the morning."
A waiter came to the table and asked if we would like anything to drink. Eve and I ordered our drinks and two beers for the guys.
"So," I began. "this is a fundraiser?"
"Can you not read? That is the name of this event." Chace said sarcastically. Aria hit him.
"Don't mind him." She said, giving her brother an evil stare. "He gets sarcastic when he's had a few to drink."
"At least he doesn't get slutty." I muttered, but Eve heard.
"Okay, don't bring that up, I don't think Aria's old enough to hear about it."
"She was there." I shot back with a smug smile.
"Oh."
"Anyway," Ari interrupted. "Yeah, all money made tonight goes to the CF research charity. We do raise a lot, surprisingly.
Our drinks came just as Shane came, looking completely handsome and sat down at the table. "Hey Aria, nice to see you." He said politely. "And . . ." He exteneded his hand out to Chace, who was looking pretty hot tonight too.
"Chace." He introduced, shaking my fiancee's hand in a manly manner. "Your worst nightmare." The sparkle in his eye showed that he was joking.
I don't think Shane saw it though. "Um . . . okay well Michael's pretty much ready to start. How did you know he was a musician ?" He asked our small friend.
"I think Claire mentioned it when we were in hospital together. Because it was my dad that started this event years ago, our family always pretty much organizes it each year. So when we needed a singer, Michael was the first person that came into mind."
From the stage, Michael's voice rose loud and clear above the chattering crowds. I looked around, seeing how busy it actually was. I wasn't sure Michael had ever played in a crowd this big before. If he was nervous, it didn't really show.
"Hello everyone. My name's Michael Glass and I will be playing here for you all tonight. Before we get started, a special little someone is going to come up to the stage a say a few words to you all." Michael stepped back from the microphone and took a seat at the back of the stage. At this point, Aria and Chace stood up from there own seats and began to walk to the front. It wasn't until she stood up that I saw next to Aria's chair was a small wheelchair, probably for if she got too tired to walk.
I watched as my friend let go of her older brothers arm and walked up the steps and onto the stage.
"Hey everyone." She greeted. "Its so good to see so many familiar faces her tonight." She paused to wave at a few people, friends obviously, who she recognized. Clearing her throat she continued. "For those of you who don't know me, my name is Aria Maye and I'm 15, nearly 16 years old. We've been holding these fundraisers for 4 years now and each year we raise more and more money. So thank you so much for everything you've all donated!" She giggled nervously as everyone clapped. Continuing she said, "I would now normally say something dramatic about myself to make y'all cry but I won't 'cause i like you and I'm not that mean." That earnt a laugh.
"But what I will say is thank you. Thank you for everyone's support. Thank you to all the doctors and researchers here tonight." She smiled down at Chace who was stood at the side. "Thank you to my brother for not getting fed up about the amount of time he wastes tending to my needs." She looked down at me. "Thank you to my new friends Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael. I've never really had friends before so it means so much to me that you are willing to be friends with me." She really was a sweet girl.
Finally she looked back at the whole crowds and said, "My friend Claire isn't very well at the moment, which makes me very sad because she is such a good, kind person who doesn't deserve the disease sh'e been given." I felt tears form in my eyes. "We met in hospital and she's been like a big sister to me, looking out for me, loving me. Shes . . . she's like my guardian angel who has been sent to me. If there's one thing that I truly believe, its that God doesn't put you in a tough situation without giving you someone to help you through it." A tear rolled down the small girls face. "I think that's what God has done for me. He's given me my brother, my dad and my friends. So, I ask tonight that not only do you help beat cystic fibrosis, but could you please pray for Claire. Pray that she will be able to get better and live the life she has always dreamed of." Sounding slightly wheezing from crying Aria wiped the tears from her face and said. "Thank you, and God bless."
Before I could register what I was doing, I stood up and joined her on the stage. Briefly I saw all the people before me but I wasn't nervous. I just kept walking over to Aria and pulled her into a tight hug. I began to cry silently too. It was all very emotional, but they were tears of happiness more than sadness.
Moving her blonde hair away from her ear, I whispered. "I love you brave girl. And thank you." My friend leaned on me heavily, clearly exhausted. I rubbed her back and kissed her forehead before taking the microphone out of her tight grip and placing it back on the holder her. I paused, looking at everyone, lots of people were smiling and, despite what Aria said, some were crying.
"Enjoy the show!" I said smiling back at them. Then I linked arms with my friend who had now stopped crying and was laughing at the funny faces her brother was pulling front the side. She waves at everyone and, with the help of Chace, we all made our way back to our table.
Despite the knowledge that there was something inside my brain that was slowly killing me, in a painful way, I knew that for tonight, I was going to be able to forget about it for a while.
"Let everything happen to you
Beauty and terror
Just keep going
No feeling is final"
-Rainer Maria Rilke
Okay so I'm kinda rushed for time so I will continue writing about the gig and post it all in the next chapter x I had planned to do it all in one chapter but i really wanted to update tonight and i knew that i wouldn't be able to finish it tonight. So yeah, there will be more soon . . . Bye!
