Welcome back. Thank-you to TayLullabyLove, BelieveInDream, and TheSunWillRise2340 for reviewing! I'm at home sick right now and figured I should update since I can't tomorrow. Reveiws are my medicine!
Chapter 3- Worried Sick
What could I have possibly done wrong? My mind swims in a sea of ideas, things that I might have done wrong to get myself in trouble. I said no the beer at Cato's graduation party, could they really be getting mad at me for not leaving a party with alcohol that happened almost a year ago?
"Delly, you're not in trouble so stop holding your breath." Dad says. I almost faint but I keep my balance. "The phone call we recieved today was from a nursing home, my mother has fallen into a relapse of cancer, we're going to need to fly out to Florida right away." My face falls. Sure, I've never really met Peeta's grandmother but anyone going back into cancer after thinking they were done is sad. "Don't worry, the doctors predict she'll live and will most likely be able to make it to Peeta's wedding as well. They just need someone watching over her while she's in the hospital getting treated. We're telling you because you'll be staying with someone else while we're gone."
"Oh." I say suddenly feeling much better. "How long are you guys gonna be away?"
"Until July at least." Mother says.
"Okay." I say. "Should I tell Rue I'll be staying at her house?"
"Delly, that's the thing..." Mother trails off. "Do you remember the Hawthornes?" I try to rack my brain for something.
"Umm, I remember I used to babysit their two youngest sons. Vick and Rory, right?" I ask. Mom nods her head.
"So you remember Hazelle and Jacob?" I nod. "Well, a few years ago Jacob got into a car accident. Now Hazelle is a widow, her oldest son Gale enlisted in the army and is returning home for the last time."
"Gale? I don't really remember him." I think out loud.
"He went to your school. Gale's about twenty, twenty-one now." Mom continues. That means he was a senior when I was a freshman. I think. It was around the time that Peeta introduced me to his friends, I joined The Red Cross at school, began doing stage crew for plays and musicals, around the time that Peeta started talking about Katniss...
"Oh, I saw him once or twice. Is he Katniss' cousin or something? They always hung out a lot." I say.
"No, the Everdeens and Hawthornes were just close friends." Mother says. "Anyways, you know that it's hard for soldiers to adapt to life after returning from such a horrible experience, so Hazelle wanted someone to help Gale adjust. He went through something out there, Hazelle won't even tell me what it was, but she thinks that you can help him."
"Me?" I ask blankly. I count on my fingers in math and Hazelle Hawthorne- who I haven't seen in almost five years- thinks that I can help her lost and potentially deranged son who's returning from a war. Where was he fighting? Pakistan? Iraq? Afghanistan? What's Gale's rank? Do I remember what he looks like, let alone what kind of person he was?
"Delly, you're perfect to help Gale. You're the most giving person I know." Mother says.
"It's true." Christian adds. "You're in about every volunteer group at your school. I don't know anyone else more fit for the job."
"Dad, sending out care packages for soldiers at Christmas is one thing, interacting with one who's been through a traumatizing event is another. He might be old enough to drink. He's just going to see me as a dorky high schooler." I say, still not able to say Gale out loud for some reason. Christian waves my mother away, signaling he wants to talk to me in private.
"Gale might be older than you by, what? Four years? You turn seventeen in June, right?" Christian asks. I nod. "So he's older than you, and God knows what he's been through on that battlefield... But Delilah Lilly, you've got something that is very rare and hard to find. I don't have it, your mother doesn't have it, Peeta doesn't have it, and I don't think I've ever met anyone else who has it." I stare at him blankly. "You have hope Delly. Unconditional hope in every situation. No matter what, you put a positive spin on something. You're a listener and you always know what to say. You are the first spring dandelion, a sign to an end, a light at the end of a tunnel.
"The term, 'canary in a coal mine' comes to mind. If things get dangerous, you're the first to know and you put a stop it it. I think that's why Hazelle asked you to help Gale. Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear." He says. "You're free to go." I exit the room slowly and trudge upstairs to my room. I flop on my bed and stare up at the patch of ceiling that isn't covered by a poster or picture.
Canary in a coal mine. I think. Peeta used to call me that. But he was referencing to the fact that whenever a virus goes around I'm the first one to catch it. Then everyone around me would bulk up on the multivitamins and hand sanitizer. I've been told time and time again that I'm hopelessly optimistic but is that why Hazelle chose me? Out of all the people in the world she's picked me. And from what it sounds like Gale won't be seeing any shrinks. What if he hates me? Almost everyone hates a Mary-Sue. Am I a Mary-Sue? No. I have flaws. Tons of them. I'm needy, dependant, others fuel me. But I'm not someone who needs compliments 24/7 like Glimmer. I could be independent if I tried. Maybe... What happened to Gale out there? Why is it so bad that Hazelle won't tell my mom? I'm about to get sent into uncharted territory. How am I supposed to prepare? I have no clue what this guy's been through. He could be amputated. Depressed. Suicidal. He could be on life support for all I know. Did someone get killed? Was he almost killed? Held hostage? I don't remember the name Gale Hawthrone in the news, but you never know. So many people die without you knowing. I'm going to miss the wedding planning. I'll be in a bipolar situation. One minute I'll be chatting it up with future family, trying wedding cake samples, going to dress fittings and then I'll be helping... I don't even know what. Gale Hawthorne. I let out what must be the longest, loudest sigh ever.
"What's gonna happen to me?" I ask the ceiling.
Alarm clock. Half-hearted toothbrush jamming to a Hot n' Cold encore. Casual brown dress with little pink flowers. I think I might've worn this on Valentine's Day once...
"Yaddah, yaddah, yaddah, good-bye fams'." I half shout. Everything's halfly done today. I walk onto the bus and sit next to Rue.
"Hey Dells!" She says. "I'm going to be Little Red Riding Hood. You?"
"Rue, Halloween isn't for a while last time I checked." I say.
"No! For Clove's play! What part did you get?" She asks. Just when I thought it wasn't possible, Rue's big brown eyes get even bigger.
"Oh. The play. Right." I pull out my iPhone. I find a message from Clove. "Alice. From Alice in Wonderland." I get a little excited but then zone out.
"That's great Delly! You're going to be awesome. Glimmer tweeted that she's going to be Sleeping Beauty and Clove added that she'll play Snow White." Rue says smiling. I curl the corners of my mouth. Clove will be a perfect Snow White.
"So what's the play about?" I ask.
"You really didn't check the email last night?" Rue asks. I shake my head. "It's called Faireality Tales. Different fairy tale characters are in a therapy session being elvatuated for their problems and disorders. Clove said that it would mostly be improv and ad lib, but there are a few things we need to stick with." I check the email again.
"Clove wants Alice to be a drug addict." I say. "What's messed up with your character?"
"Red is schizophrenic. She keeps seeing a wolf that's going to eat her and her dead grandmother." Rue says. This, I can smile at.
"This is so Clove." I say. "She always wondered if Lewis Carrol was high when he wrote Alice in Wonderland." I zone out again.
"Delly." Rue says snapping her fingers. "Something's going on with you and don't just say no because I know you better than my left hand." I don't hestitate to spill my guts.
"Peeta's grandmother has cancer again so my parents are going to help her with treatment in Florida. They're making me stay here until they get back in July but instead of staying with someone I know, I'm staying with this widow I haven't seen since I was twelve. And she wants me to help her son Gale- he went to our school but I don't really remember him- who's a soldier returning for the final time. I have no idea what he's been through because Hazelle won't tell my mom and- gosh Rue I'm just so scared." My voice escalates getting more frantic and worried as I go on.
"Calm the heck down." Rue says. "I don't see what you're worried about."
"He could be amputated!" I practically shout.
"Delly, you're going to be fine." Rue says. "No matter what he's been through I know that you're the only one who can help him."
"That's what my parents are saying."
"Well look, it's not going to be that bad." She says. "You'll be going to rehearsals and wedding stuff so you'll be able to talk to me and Peeta about it."
"You're right." I say. "I won't be alone. I'm sure that Hazelle is ging to help too. And Gale's younger brothers. I was just being dramatic."
"So you're good now?" Rue asks. I nod. "Good."
"Tonight," I say. "I'm going to find out as much as I can about him."