Battle Scars

Chapter 1

CAMERON'S POV

I guess one of the things that makes me forget about my life for a little bit is reading. I guess I love reading so much because it takes me to another world. I can read about someone much braver, smarter, and inspiring than I. Whether it's a detective solving a crime, a little boy or girl who finds themselves in a magical world, or two kids who fall in love.

It's all inspiring to me. I would love to be a detective who solves crimes, and is a real life hero. I would be overjoyed to wake up and find myself in a magical world where fairy tales do exist. Heck I would love to fall in love with someone, and no matter what we go through we always have each other.

The closest thing I can get to that is reading about it.

I use this app called Wattpad because, well I can't really buy books. I normally stick to fiction books, but for whatever reason a non-fiction caught my eye. It was called Seventeen Wishes. At first I didn't know what it was, so I decided to check it out.

I figured out it was a book about a girl a year older than me who was battling cancer. I don't know why I read it. It's not like I was looking for some inspiring story. Anyways I read it. People commented on how inspiring it was.

She seemed so strong, and fearless. Hannah, the girls name, wasn't even bitter about everything that was taken from her. She just talked about how she had plans for the future, her seventeen wishes, but things don't always work out how you expect them to.

She wrote about how you aren't guaranteed tomorrow, and how she was never as close to her family as she is now. I didn't understand how she could be so positive. Why wasn't she angry? How can someone be so fearless? I decided to ask her. I went to her account and to private message.

Cameron: Hi. I read your book. How can you be so at peace with everything that happened to you?

I sat my phone down and waited for her to respond. I stretched out across my bed. I decided to plug in my ear buds and listen to music while I waited for her to respond. Music is also one of those things that helps me disconnect from the world.

I like to listen to music I can relate to. Where it seems as if the lyrics were written specifically for me. It might seem dumb, but it's true. I close my eyes and drift off into the music.

~A couple hours later~

I feel my phone vibrate and I open my eyes to see the notification. I realize Hannah had finally responded and I quickly logged onto Wattpad.

Hannah: Hi! Honestly, when I was first diagnosed I was a mess. It took me a while to accept that I might die. I guess if I'm being honest living for me isn't what it used to be. Death almost seems... easier. Sorry if that's not what you want to hear. That's just how I feel.

Cameron: Woah. That's dark. You never mentioned that in your book.

Hannah: Didn't seem very inspirational.

Cameron: It's not. Why tell me then?

Hannah: I don't know. I guess I just needed to tell someone how I felt. I guess you're the lucky winner.

Cameron: I guess so. What about the inspirational crap you talked about? Was that all a lie?

Hannah: No. Everything I wrote about is what I've experienced.

Cameron: So why did you write it?

Hannah: If I'm going to die I thought someone should know my story. I've always wanted to do something with my life. I guess I thought maybe someone would be inspired by what I had to say.

Cameron: Someone was.

Hannah: I'm glad. So I told you my story, what's yours?

Cameron: Sorry but I'm not very good at opening up to people.

Hannah: What've you got to lose? Think about it. We're strangers. I'm dying. There's really no risk involved.

Cameron: That's one way to look at it I guess.

Hannah: That's the only way you have to look at it.

Cameron: Alright. I'm depressed. A pretty common thing these days. Happy? Do you feel "accomplished" now?

Hannah: Not really. That's only a piece of the puzzle. I can't see the whole picture yet. Keep talking.

Cameron: I guess I have to tell someone eventually... When I was thirteen years old my parents got in a car wreck on their way home from dinner. Drunk driver. My siblings and I were at home. I had two sisters and one brother. Jane one of my sisters, was the oldest. Then Carter, then me, and then Amy. No one wanted four kids so we were separated. We didn't have any family to take care of us anyways. I got thrown into the system house to house the works. I've never heard or seen my siblings since. I have no friends and I hate my life. Got the full picture now?

Hannah: There's a few pieces missing, but I've got a pretty good idea. Didn't that feel good? I would say I'm sorry, but that's not going to help. What helps is talking about it. You can't deny that.

Cameron: Okay. It felt pretty good. Why are you letting me dump all my crap on you anyways? You have enough to deal with.

Hannah: I'm letting you vent because I wish I had someone who would listen to me. Sure writing about it felt pretty good, but not as good as actually telling someone who would listen to me. Who wouldn't judge me or betray my trust. I wish I had that. That's why I urged you to let it out. You can't bottle this stuff up.

Cameron: That's deep.

Hannah: I guess. Well you know my name, what's yours?

Cameron: Cameron.

Hannah: Nice to meet you Cameron. I think there's some people you should meet.