"Grace, what's going on with your mom?" Luke asked one afternoon after school in the biology closet.
"What do you mean?" Grace asked in return.
"Well, she hasn't been at your house when I come over lately and you haven't talked about her much," he replied.
"So," was all she said.
"So, I want to know if everything is okay," Luke insisted.
"Dude, it's fine," she snapped.
"No it's not Grace. What is it?" he said firmly.
"She's in rehab," Grace mumbled.
"That's good, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Luke asked, confused.
"Didn't feel like mentioning it," she shrugged.
"Graceā¦" Luke started.
"She's got cancer, okay!" Grace finally admitted, clearly upset.
Luke just did exactly what he had done when she first told him about her mother. He just hugged her not knowing what to say.
She didn't pull away either, she hugged him back.
"I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to make a big deal of it," she explained a few minutes later.
"I wouldn't make a big deal of it. I just want to be sure you're alright," he assured her.
"The doctors say she'll be okay if she quits drinking because they found it early on," she said.
Luke remained silent and put an arm around her shoulder.
