I Live by the Woods [On Hold]

Chapter 12: "I'm tired."

"What do you think of the book, Isabella?" my English teacher, Mr. Jones, asked after collecting each copy of The Fault In Our Stars. I glanced up from grabbing my notebook.

"I loved, it, Sir. Although, I admit that the ending was not what I expected."

"Would you mind explaining why, Miss Whittaker?"

"Of course." I took a deep breath, choosing my words. "I don't understand how Gus could go through writing that speech when he knew he wasn't going to make it. I mean, if it were me, I would have simply told Hazel that I wasn't going to be at her funeral. If I loved someone as much as he loved Hazel, I would not hesitate to tell them we had little time left with each other."

Mr. Jones was smiling now, his brown eyes bright. "I see. Does anyone counter with her opinion?" He looked around the room.

In the back, a hand hesitantly rose.

"Mr. Pendleton. It's nice to see you participating. Go on."

Enoch's confident voice spoke as he held eye contact with me. "I can see where Gus is coming from. If you loved somebody that much, you wouldn't want to see them hurt. You wouldn't want to make them lose hope."

I glared him down, he was shooting down my argument too quickly.

He matched my glare with one of his own.

"Gus wrote that speech because he promised Hazel. He loved her too much to not go through with it. He even sent it to the author of their favorite book to make it perfect. Just for her."

Enoch paused, his eyes softening slightly. "He'd do anything to make her happy."

I continued arguing, "Exactly. When the love of your life dies, your heart shatters and you lose any hope or chance of being happy. Especially when they die so quickly and you couldn't spend enough time with them." Tears began to form in my eyes, and I realized this was going slightly off topic in my mind. I blinked back the tears and glared again, continuing. "If Gus had simply told Hazel sooner, they would have been able to squeeze in time to be together. Hazel could have taken it better if she could be with him and embrace the fact that he was leaving and couldn't make it to her own funeral."

Enoch countered again, "He did tell her, but it was slightly later. They still spent lots of time together after that."

"But not enough. Hazel could have been able to-"

"Hazel this, Hazel that. She wouldn't have accepted it any easier if she had more time to find reasons on why she'd miss him!"

The entire class was silent, watching our encounter with curiosity. They clearly didn't take much interest in the book.

I glanced once at the teacher before speaking up, my voice slow and steady.

"Hazel already knew him inside and out. There was nothing left for her to discover and miss."

Enoch's glare vanished as he realized this was no longer about the book. My glare had left me at Enoch's second argument, so I was pretty sure I looked somewhat like a broken person.

Or a crazy person feeling way too deeply for fictional characters.

The latter was false; I was thinking about my mother.

I might not have been able to help her, or save her from her death, but I could at least attempt to help others with their relatable situations.

Even if I began at fictional characters.