In A 100 Days

The one with a bucket list

I gulp nervously as everyone's  eyes are on me. Well, everyone except Keisha who was mostly focusing on the strawberry frosted donut she was eating.

I hate being the center of attention, but I suppose I'd brought this on myself. 

I'd texted into the group chat saying that I had to talk to them all about something important and invited them to my house. Surprisingly, nobody protested, and they all willingly came. Except Lee who Val had to drag here from the public library, but still.

So here we were, in my living room. Diego and Caleb on one of the couches, Keisha cross- legged on the carpet, Valentina beside me on the sofa, Ethan sitting on my armrest, and Damien laying on a grumpy Lee's lap. All of them staring at me expectantly.

I try to form a sentence that won't have any of them fainting in shock, but then again, there isn't really an easy way to explain to someone that you only have a few months left to live.

I ponder silently at how to drop this unexpected bomb on them and decide to break it to them gently.

"I'm dying" I blurt out.

"Yeah, me too" Lee grumbles, glaring down at a relaxed Damien.

No one else seems to be fazed by what I just said, except Caleb who drops his eyes to the carpet.  They all continue to stare silently at me for a few moments before Keisha laughs awkwardly.

Lee focuses his attention on her, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. "Why are you laughing?".

"No one else laughed at Lily's joke. I felt bad" She explains, shrugging and taking another bite of her donut.

I sigh. I knew this would happen. Just like Caleb thought I was joking too. His brown eyes meet my own green ones before dropping down to the floor again, and wonder if he's thinking about last night too. When I told him that I was dying, and he thought I was joking. I push back the memory of the look on his face when he realized I was being serious.

I take out the letter from the hospital that I have in my pocket, stating that I had to return to the hospital for a checkup, and to discuss medication on May 16th, and hand it to Val. Her face displays shock and disbelief as she reads through it, and she hands the letter to Keisha. The paper is passed around the group and handed back to me after everyone has read it, all their faces showing the same emotions. I pocket the letter and wait patiently for someone to say something, which takes a long while.

"Is that why you've been avoiding us?" Keisha asks me, her voice trembling. I nod, my heart aching at the sight of her glistening eyes.

"I didn't want to burden you with the news. So I thought that distancing myself from all of you would make you guys back off, not wanting to be my friends anymore. But that didn't work as well as I'd hoped" I sigh, remembering all their notes and threats and messages and pleas.

Val suddenly my flicks my forehead with her forefinger. "You hermosa idiota Lily Carter! You were crazy then, and you're crazy now for thinking that we wouldn't chase after you no matter how far you try to run away."

"Oh, I'm definitely gonna borrow Val's mother's slippers now" Keisha says, glaring at me. I giggle nervously, hoping that she'll forget before she can ask.

Diego walks over to me, and ruffles my hair. "You're our friend Lily. It'll take more than that to get us to stay away from you" He tells me fondly. Ethan wraps an arm around my shoulders, and Damien throws a pillow at me from the couch he's laying on.

"Yeah Lily" He says, sassily rolling his eyes like he'd known about my plan for a long time. Caleb just smiles softly at me, and that causes more of a reaction than anyone else's words.