The Story of a Dying Girl

Hey! How have you been?

So, probably only one chapter and then an epilogue after this one.

It's actually made me sad to think about, and I'm sure I'll include some long ass author's note at the end.

Thank you for the continued support! Those of you who continue to read and review and all that have really just made my school year so much better, really.

I also wanted to mention the passing of Glenn Frey, Alan Rickman, and David Bowie. I know I'm a bit late, but I just wanted to say that they had a large impact in my life, especially David Bowie, and they will be greatly missed.

Here you go.

Chapter 31:

It was the very last week of school.

I should have been happy with that, laughing and burning old papers, and smiling like crazy the whole time, but I couldn't when I thought more about it.

It was so very final, you know?

And it was strange because it felt like my whole life was me rushing to get here, get right here, to the moment when I was becoming a grown up, and now I just want to go back.

I want to go back to summer days when I was 10 with Cook, and that fair with Emily, and all the times I went camping with my parents.

I had rushed to get here, pretending to be a grown up since I was a preteen, and now that I'm here, I'm not sure how much I'm excited for it.

But I guess that's life.

Emily had started to get better. I don't mean rapidly and immediately, one day dying, one day not. But I mean slowly, the way most things happen.

She seemed to have more energy at times, and I couldn't stop wanting to hug her, and kiss her all over.

And I didn't stop myself most of the times.

Kisses on her forehead and kisses on her cheeks. Kisses on her lips (those were my favorite).

I kissed her until my lips ached and begged me to stop, and I kissed her until tears streamed down my face because she was safe.

Her health would improve, and so would the mood, and she would be fine again.

It felt so fucking good.

I could cry every second of every minute of every day of every, well you get the point, because I was so fucking happy when it came to her.

I sat watching her sleep like some kind of weirdo.

Or just a person in love.

I think those two might just be the same.

I saw as Emily started to slowly wake, eyes fluttering open gently, arms moving a bit.

"Shhh…"

"Naomi?" Her sleepy voice could have melted anyone's heart.

"Just go back to sleep, darling."

"Naomi?"

"Shhh… you need rest."

She moved around a bit, like she was actually trying to fight sleep off.

"I'm awake, I'm… awake," she said, but her tone told me otherwise.

I kissed her forehead gently.

"Ems, it's okay. I'll still be here when you wake up."

"Promise?" She was already half asleep by now.

"Promise."

And with that her head hit the pillow and she was a slumbering picture of absolute beauty.

I could have lost her.

I really could have.

I could have lost this girl, sleeping before me. And our story would have ended right there.

The end, printed in bold letters, and I would have been lost.

I would have lost and never found, wondering around like an empty shell of a human, hollow and numb.

I watched as her chest rose and fell, and with anyone else I would have said, "cool, that just means they're alive…." But with her all I can see is how beautiful it is. All her actions are beautiful.

How have I not spent my entire life with her?

How have I could have gone all these years without her by my side? How has it not occurred to me that this was the girl for me?

It doesn't seem possible that this girl was right in front of my eyes, and yet, she was always Emily Fitch- a friend, and not Emily Fitch- girl I'm madly in love with.

How could that possibly be?

My thoughts are interrupted by a slight snore drifting from her mouth.

That's my girl.

That's my girl, on her hospital bed, with the IV hooked up to her.

That's her.

Mr. Dirken drank quietly from his coffee cup, and for once it seemed like her didn't have anything to say.

He cleared his throat after a bit.

"How many of you have Mrs. Incart?" He asked finally.

He smoothed down his thinning hair with his hands, and straightened his tie a bit.

A few of us looked around and finally raised our hands.

"Very well, um. Well, you see… do you think she likes roses?"

And for the first time, I saw vulnerability in his eyes, and the way he scratched his goatee, and maybe he wasn't the cold-hearted man who yelled at us about grammar.

"Roses? Why does it matter?" Some kid asked.

"Well, um, you see, I would like to… well, she's quiet a beautiful woman isn't she?" He said is almost shyly, like he had made an observation and he wasn't sure if the others had made the same one, but there was a finality to his tone that made it seem like a fact: this woman was beautiful in his eyes.

And he wanted to take her on a date.

And maybe he should.

She deserved someone nice, and maybe he could be that someone, that guy who would treat her right.

Not that she needed to have someone. But I think she'd quite like to have someone who loves her, and only her in that way.

So I cleared my throat in return.

"I remember her saying something about violets, sir."

"Violets?" He reached for a pen, casually writing this down.

"Yes sir."

And for the first time ever, he gave me a large smile.

"Violets it is," he said, more to himself than anyone else.

The next day there was a vase of violets on Mrs. Incart's desk, and a large smile on her face.

"Does Mr. Dirken like steak? Do any of you know? Because I know this nice place that has great steaks…." She trailed off uncertainly, staring back at the flowers happily.

"I believe that he mentioned a great love for steak," I said, and watched her smile bloom like the flowers.

The clock's hands were waving wildly, passing quickly, but somehow much too slow.

It always was that way when you were trying to count down the time left.

30 seconds.

The last day of school, all that would be left was graduation and then we were done.

22 seconds.

And I couldn't believe that it was finally happening.

The school year was really over.

13 seconds.

I looked over to Cook, who kept his eyes on the clock, not wavering, but reached out with right hand and took my left one, gripping it tightly.

5 seconds.

4 seconds.

3 seconds.

2 seconds.

1 second.

"No more school!" Someone shouted.

And the kids went wild, throwing up papers as Cook grabbed a hold of me, wrapping me in a tight embrace while the chaos around us started.

Yelling and chanting and moving and shaking and beautiful, well deserved chaos.

And we stood there hugging each other, and things finally felt final.

Graduation later today and we were done.

"I love you, Naomi," he said, and as he did, I thought about all the times he had said it before.

"I love you too, James," I said in return, and I felt little again, and I didn't try to fight the feeling.

And a bit later, we found Katie, standing in the halls, a smile on her face.

"Are you two losers done? Let's go."

I didn't have to ask her where we were going- I already knew.

The walk to the hospital was loud at first, laughing and smiling and chanting, and by the end, it had sloped into a kind of peaceful quiet.

And we walked into her room, and she was awake, waiting with that beautiful smile.

"So, just graduation tonight then?" Emily asked, even though she already knew.

"And then it's over."

She gave me a beautiful smile.

And all I could do was smile back.

Ehh?

Yes, no? Maybe so?

So, next chapter will be up on… you guessed it, Sunday! Probably. Maybe not. I might wanna take a bit more time to write it since it's one of the last chapters. So probably Sunday, but maybe not.

On a different note, I'm working on a new story, so the first chapter of that will be posted soon. If you guys like it, I'll continue. If it sucks and it makes you wish you didn't have eyes so you didn't read it, we'll leave it alone….

Anyways, I'm gonna go to sleep.

Night.

And also, let me know what you thought!

But seriously, good night.