"Cassidy! Clemintine! You're here, now we can start." Mrs. Hawthorne says. I sit down on the floor next to Megan. Jess and Emma aren't down here though.
Megan leans over. "Where are Emma and Jess?" she whispers. I shrug.
"They were acting weird at Pies and Prejudice this morning." Becca says. "I think somethings wrong. Maybe between Jess and Darcy. Who knows but somethings up."
"I haven't noticed it but I've barely seen them the past 3-4 ish weeks. Let's just see how this goes. No need to get worried about something that could be nothing." I say, trying to be optimistic. They both nod and I watch Jess and Emma enter the room. Darcy is behind them and he grabs Jess's hand. She stops and Emma comes and sits down next to me. I watch Darcy say something to Jess and quickly kiss her cheek. They never kiss in public. They barely hug or hold hands in front of us. Maybe something is going on.
We talk about the last chapters we read of the book, but I'm barely paying attention. Jess hasn't said a word, neither has Emma. "So we'll have our family party next week on Saturday. Sounds good?" Mrs. Wong announces.
Jess's head shoots up faster than the wind. She has a look of panic on her face. "The Delaney family might not make it." Mrs. Delaney says.
"Why Shannon, if you would have said something then we would have moved it to a different day." My mom says.
Mrs. Delaney looks at Jess. "Ummm… I have something to tell you guys." Jess says, head down.
"Wait, Mrs. Delaney isn't moving back to New York right?" Megan asks urgently.
Jess shakes her head. "We can't come because I'm having brain surgery 2 days before." My mouth drops open. Wait what? "I have a brain tumor, which is the result of AML. Stage 4 borderline terminal acute myeloid leukemia. Cancer." I feel the air rush out of my lungs. I look at mom to see if she knew but her face mirrors mine. I feel tears gather in my eyes. I look at Mrs. Wong: it's obvious she didn't know either. Mrs Hawthorne is covering her mouth and tears are streaming down her cheeks. She puts her arm around Mrs. Delaney who's crying. I mean, who wouldn't cry when your child has cancer? Mrs. Chadwick rests her hand on Becca's shoulder who's starting to cry too. So is Megan. Emma takes Jess's hand. You can tell she's trying to be strong, but she's wanting to cry.
Megan, Becca, and I hug Jess. We're all crying at this point, so are the moms. Mr. Hawthorne walks in with Darcy. "Uh… is this normally what happens at book club?" Mr Hawthorne says. Darcy glances at Jess and I see her nod slightly. Darcy turns to his dad, no doubt telling him the news. Mr. Hawthorne covers his mouth as he gasps. Jess stands up, crying. Mr. Hawthorne holds out his arms and hugs Jess. It doesn't surprise me, she's practically a daughter.
They break away and Jess wipes her tears from under her eyes with her sleeve. Darcy rubs her back, trying to comfort her.
"Do you know what though girls, and moms, and Nick, and Darcy… this isn't ideal or good. But we'll all get through this. Jess will be okay, whether it be here on earth or up in heaven. No I'd die if Jess left us, but she'd be in a better place. All we can do is be there for her. Okay guys?" Mrs. Hawthorne says through her tears. We nod. We all wait in shock for 30 minutes, crying and/or in utter shock.
I look at Jess. I can tell she doesn't feel good. I see Darcy's arm supporting her and I know she can't stand up right. Either that or she's tired. Maybe a mix of both. I see her eyes droop. Darcy notices too because he looks at Mrs. Delaney and she nods. He scoops her up in his arms and takes her through the kitchen door, no doubt upstairs for her to sleep.
The thought of losing her scares me. But she has to fight. She will. I won't lose her.