Last of Summer

Chapter 5: Goodbye

                                                    Aubrey

It started with fire. There was a fire blazing and burning so bright that I wondered what could be fueling it. I moved closer, shielding the light from my eyes with one hand. As I moved near, the fire seemed to dim a bit. I was able to get a glimpse of what was inside it, and my eyes landed on the envelope, burning at the edges. It was the envelope that contained every last dollar of my savings. Burning there in the fire was every last ounce of my hopes and dreams, of our hopes and dreams. I panicked and reached into the fire to save the envelope but flinched and pulled away from the intensity of the heat.

And then I woke up. I was barely aware of the sunlight pouring in my window as I scrambled out of bed. I pulled out the the bottom drawer and completely removed it. There lay the book, my favorite book. I grabbed it and opened to the last page where the envelope was still safely tucked. Relief washed over me, and I could finally feel myself breathing normally again. I had to sit there for a minute, holding the book to help me calm down. When I had finally accepted that it was safe, I slipped it into my packed suitcase and placed the drawer back in properly. I got up from where I had been sitting on the floor and saw that it was eleven in the morning. And that was when I remembered what day it was.

After days of extensive planning and stress, it was finally the day. It was the day that would change everything, and there was no going back now that we were here. Today was the day that Elizabeth and I were leaving for Los Angeles. It was all part of the plan she had revealed to me the day I told her about my diagnosis. We would spend these last few days traveling the world and doing everything on our best friend bucketlist. Our bags were packed, we had gotten credit cards, and were ready to board the plane in an hour. 

There was a knock at my door, and my mom peeked her head in.

"Oh, Aubrey! You're already awake," she said, "Well, that means that you better get dressed. One hour until your flight departs!"

She tried to sound enthusiastic, but I could tell that something was off in her voice. I gave her a smile anyway.

"Thanks, Mom," I said and turned to my closet. I was relieved that I had already planned my outfit for today. It was just another thing I didn't have to worry about, and that made me want to cry. Elizabeth had taken matters into her hands and planned everything. She had made it so easy for me, and I couldn't thank her enough for that. I took a deep breath and decided that I couldn't cry because today was a new start for me, and it wasn't going to start with tears.

An hour later, I was standing in the airport with a group of people whose hearts I had to break today. As I looked around at all the familiar faces, I still couldn't believe that Elizabeth had managed to gather all our friends there. They didn't know about the disease that was killing me slowly. They didn't know that it was the reason why we had suddenly decided to go all out this summer, and I knew that the time to tell them was drawing near with every second. They were all smiles now, wishing us well and saying how much we would be missed.

"Alright, everyone. There's something that we need to tell you," Elizabeth said. She took my hand and squeezed it. She turned to me, as if asking if I was ready or not. I nodded to her, and she turned back to the group of our friends.

I stared intently at them all, wanting to memorize their faces. They looked so happy. Grace, Hannah, Kat, Rose, Bernadette, Parker, Calvin, and last of all, Jase. Jase, who I had been in love with since freshmen year. Jase, who had always had feelings for Elizabeth. Jase, who had never known about my feelings for him.

Time just seemed to stop as Elizabeth announced to everyone. I watched her lips moving but heard nothing. I knew that she was telling them about me, about how I would be gone. It was a weird way to do it, right before we left, but face-to-face was the right way. I was in my own world, watching in slow motion as everyone else reacted. Instead of watching my friends, I watched the people around me, the people whose lives were demanding them rush from here to there. These people knew where they were going. They knew why they were going there, and they knew what they wanted to do. Me? I knew nothing. We were going to LA, but what did I know about what was going to happen there? I didn't know what we were going to do. I didn't know how long we would stay there. Most of all, I didn't know how much long I would be living.