All Better?

Paige

I heard the doorbell ring. "I'll get it." Brooke said. She ram downstairs. "I wonder who is here now." Chloe said. We had all the girls over hanging out, the only person we were waiting for was Kendall. "It's probably Kendall dummy." Nia said. Everyone laughed but Maddie. I knew what was wrong, and soon everyone else will to. She was staring off into the wall. I discreetly reached over and grabbed her hand.

"Hey. What's up?" Kendall says enthusiastically. "So, I wanted to talk to you guys about something. Paige and Brooke already know, Kendall knows something is up, and the rest of you will know something is up by tomorrow to. Basically, Mackenzie is not here, which is pretty obvious. That is because she is..." Maddie's voice trailed off. I was still holding her hand, so I squeezed it very hard. She looked at me and I smiled. It was like we were having a telepathic conversation, and she nodded. "Mackenzie is in the hospital. She got diagnosed with cancer. Leukemia." I said quietly. The girls instantly started hugging Maddie. I felt bad, I couldn't imagine if I was in Maddie's situation, Brooke in Mackenzie's. I felt horrible.

After an awkward silence, I decided to try and cheer everyone up. I got up and walked over to my desk. "How about we make Kenzie cards?" I say as I pull out paper and markers. "She would love that." Maddie said through tears. I decided to draw a koala on mine. One time on the way to a competition I was sitting with her and she was drawing a koala. She they were her favorite animals, so I decided to draw it for her.

"Bye, see you guys tomorrow!" I yell as Chloe, Kendall, and Nia all walk down the driveway and into Holly's car. I go back upstairs to where the six cards were. I start looking through them. Since Maddie was in the bathroom, I quickly looked at hers. She wrote about how she could never live without Mackenzie, how she would blame herself if something had ever happened. I realized just how serious this was. I put the card back into the pile and left my room. I slowly knocked on Brooke's door and opened it. She looked up from her computer and I just hugged her. "What are you doing?" She asked. "I'm being grateful." I mumbled. She hugged me tight.

After a few minutes I left and went back to my room. I got in and saw Maddie crying in the corner of the room. I knew what was wrong, she was scared. I just sat over there and hugged her. "Do you think she'll be okay?" She asked. "Of course. She's strong." I said. "You ready for dance tomorrow?" I asked. "I don't know if I'll be able to focus. It'll be so weird with Kenzie not there." Maddie said. Mackenzie was the only thing she could think about. "Yeah. Yeah it will."