Miranda

"Simply amazing."

I had been absorbed in my painting for pretty much the entire hour, so the voice behind me startled me. I turned around to see my art teacher, Mrs. Kim.

"Have you ever had any other lessons before?" she asked.

"No, actually I took a few classes in middle school, but I wasn't very good. My pineapple looked like a skunk. To tell you the truth, I only took this class to fullfill my art requirement for this year."

"It is common for talent not to develop until later on in life. You truly have raw talent, and you should really think about going into art."

"Thank you," I replied, and she walked to another student.

I tried adding a few more flourishes here and there where I thought that they were needed, but another voice interrupted me from behind.

"You know, it's true. You really are amazing at art."

I turned around to see Danny Kessler standing behind me.

"Thanks."

He sat down in the stool next to me.

"I'm really sorry, truly."

"What brought that on?" I asked.

"I'm just sorry for the way we left things."

"I think I remember me beating Gordo up. You don't need to be sorry."

Danny laughed at my sarcasm.

"I'm still sorry."

"You're just sorry because now I am a pregnant loser."

Danny looked away nervously.

"I just wanted to ask if you needed any help or anything."

"Really?"

"I still care about you."

I looked away from my painting, and into Danny's eyes. The look in his eyes was truly genuine, as if he truly wanted to help.

"I still care about you too," I blurted out, not thinking about what I was saying.

His face immediately brightened up.

"Really?"

"I do, but I don't think that you want anything to do with me."

"I really do, Miranda. And I am sorry that I broke up with you."

"You had good reason."

Danny looked down at his fingers, twiddling his thumbs.

"The truth is that...I think I might still love you."

He still looked down, as I immediately looked over at him.

"You what?"

"Ever since we broke up, I can't stop thinking about you. If you are alright. If you need help. I know that you really don't need a relationship with me right now, and I respect that. I just had to tell you how I felt."

"Wow."

"I know."

"It's not just that," I said.

"What?"

"I think I still love you, too," I said, grinning ear to ear.

"Really?"

"Really really."

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LIZZIE

"I KNEW IT!!! HE STILL CARED ABOOUT HER!!!"

I cheered all around my room. I could still remember how perfect the two of them were when they were going out, and I was so happy that they were getting back together.

"What's all the commotion in here?" Lauren asked, poking her head inside the door.

"Miranda and Danny are back together! Did you have anything to do with this?"

Lauren shook her head.

"Some things like that are natural, and they are destined to happen."

"So Miranda and Danny are soulmates?"

Lauren nodded yes.

"So they are in that book?"

Another nod yes.

"Why wouldn't you let me see it?"

"I didn't want to ruin the surprise for you," Lauren joked, and I picked up one of my pillows and threw it at her.

"No really, why?"

"The subject of soulmates just bums me out, that's why."

"Why?"

"Well, I was married to my soulmate, and I won't see him for a very long time."

"I see."

I flipped through the channels again, until I came to Matt's channel. Ever since Donovan had entered the hospital, I had almost been glued to this channel.

"I hope he doesn't die."

Lauren sighed.

"You never know. It's hard to explain. Sometimes death is destined, but sometimes...it is not."

I continued to watch the channel as Matt and Victoria stayed at my house.

"Matt and Victoria really do love each other, don't they?" I asked.

"They are so lucky."

"I know. They are almost so close that it is scary. Like last night, they completely acted like they had known each other their whole lives, but it's only been a few months."

"I wish I still had that."

"I wish that I could of had that with Gordo."

With our statements of lost love, pensive and wistful silence filled the room. And in this silence, we heard and saw the machine hooked up to Donovan emit one single line, and one long single beep.

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Suddenly Victoria snapped to attention.

"I have to go visit my brother, Matt. Something happened."

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Mrs. Smith sobbed as the doctors frantically tried to revive her son.

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Donovan Smith

I opened my eyes, and saw a plain soccer field. Where am I? Could this be heaven? It smelled like the smell of chocolate chip cookies, the ones that my mom made from scratch. Before I got sick.

Sick. I died from cancer. No matter how much I think about, just saying those words in that order, make me sick to my stomach.

But strangely, I actually feel pretty good. The best that I have felt since I was diagnosed. I was vibrant and full of energy, and I felt good enough to even play a soccer game.

I wandered to the goalpost, where some unfamiliar people were standing. I opened my mouth to talk to them, but I was grabbed by the arm.

A young, blonde girl pulled me in front of her.

"Donovan Smith?"

"Yeah, that would be me," I replied, brushing off my arm. I hoped that I would not bruise from this encounter. I quickly scanned my arms, and they were completely bruise-free. There was not even one of my leukemia bruises.

Another girl stepped forward, but this one had dark brown, and looked like the carbon copy of my twin sister.

"Hello, my name is Victoria Smith," she said in a British accent. If she had not spoken, I would have been completely weirded out by this.

"You look exactly like my sister, Victoria."

"I am your great, great, something or other, great aunt. I died on the Titanic."

I studied her face for a moment, and then I remembered the stories that my mom used to tell us when we were young, about our relative who died trying to save a third class toddler on the Titanic.

"You saved that kid's life!" I exclaimed, finding myself in the presence of this hero.

She blushed modestly, and opened her mouth to tell me something else, but was interrupted by the blonde.

"No more small talk. Donovan, you have to go back."

"I don't really want to go back that much. I feel good for once."

"You have to go back. For your sister," she argued.

"How do you know my sister?"

"Do you know Matt? He is my brother."

I looked at her, and remembered about Matt's sister, Lizzie, who died in a hit-and-run accident.

"Why should I go back?" I said back. "I would still be sick."

"Don't you want to live, though? Keep fighting!" she exclaimed, exasperated.

"I want to live, but not as a sick person."

"If you keep fighting, you will overcome it. Listen to me, please. My brother felt like dying, my mother committed suicide, and my best friend tried. Don't do that to your family."

I looked in Lizzie's pleading eyes, and saw that she cared genuinely.

"I guess you would know. Hey, once Matt and Victoria get married, you and I would be related."

She smiled.

"Yeah. You better hurry, though. Your time is almost up."

I thought about my decision one more time.

"What do I do?"

"Just think about how much you want to live. And before you leave, if you see my brother, tell him that I love him."

I shut my eyes tightly, and thought about everything. Victoria. My parents. School. I opened my eyes to tell Lizzie that it wasn't working, but I found myself laying in a hospital bed.

A nurse hovered over me, and she immediately began to scream, drawing my parents and doctors to my bedside.

"He's awake!"

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Matt and Victoria burst into the room. With the amount of people hovering over Donovan, and the fact that they were all crying, Victoria immediately assumed the worst. She herself burst into tears, and rushed to her brother's bedside.

But instead of seeing what she expected, she saw her brother sitting in his bed.

"Your brother woke up, and he is fine! It's a miracle!" her mother exclaimed through her tears of joy.

"You scared us for a second," their father said, patting Donovan on the back.

Victoria wrapped her arms around him.

"How are you feeling?"

"I am actually feeling pretty good."

He looked around the room, and saw Matt slouched against a wall, with his hands in his pockets.

"Matt...your sister told me to tell you that she loved you."

Everyone in the room gave Matt a strange look.

"My sister?" Matt asked, bewildered.

"Yeah. I saw her, and I saw our great aunt lady who was on the Titanic."

"My namesake?" Victoria asked. "You starting to sound a little Wizard of Oz on me, bro."

"I swear I saw her. Just drop it. I'm glad to be back."

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