wattys longlist 2018 | MEET ELLA. She's drowning, literally. Ella has lung cancer, causing her lungs to fill with liquid that needs to be drained daily. Every breath she takes feeds her life, but also takes it.
MEET JAKE. Resident smoker and bad boy...
I always wondered what the in side of a rehabilitation centre would like. If there would be half naked people running around screaming...
I was wrong.
As I stood in front of a group of about 20 kids, their calm faces blinking at me.
It was unnerving. No one spoke, or moved.
Then I saw him.
Reading in the back, flipping through the pages of a book so small, it didn't even cover his hand. His head was down, messy black hair spilling forward, inking together with his black clothes. I instantly found my eyes drawn to the tattoos peaking out of his half rolled sleaves.
"Well... How about you introduce yourself a little bit Ella?" The nurse urged me. Her eyes pleading as they bored into my head. I shivered. I hated being put under the spotlight. I liked to be in the back row.
"Well, ummm..." I scratched my face, hoping it would somehow help.
It didn't. I stared down at my feet.
"I'm Ella, you already know that though... ummmm... I'm 17, and I have a cat called chuck?" A few blank faces raised their eyebrows. "It's... It's umm a long story." I stood there is silence until one of the nurse placed her hand on my back and started leading me to a chair.
"Thank you very much Ella for that. Now..." But I didn't hear the rest of what she said, because as I was finding a seat, the boy with the book, was surprisingly staring at me.
I froze.
He was gorgeous. A face formed of harsh lines, a slightly off-set nose which indicated that it's been broken, maybe a few times. His hair was once again spilling in front of his eyes, yet I could still see their bright green colour piercing out as they looked at me. I forgot that I was supposed to be finding a seat until frowned, light glaring off his septum piercing just as he was glaring at me.
Before I could react, he put his head down, reading yet again.
What had seemed like forever had been only a few seconds, yet I was intrigued by Mr. Frowny Pants. I mean, what did I do to him to deserve that reaction?
Then again, I couldn't blame him. I probably look like a mess. And by the looks of it I was interrupting his reading time by being the cause of this meeting. I would be pissed if someone interrupted me.
Finally finding a seat at the end of a row, I sat down pulling my oxygen up beside me. Tuning in and out of the nurses I stared at the stark walls dreaming of another life.
One where I could breathe.
A live in which I lived.
___
I lost track of the meeting somewhere along the line slipping into my mind, and only noticed when half of the others had already left for lunch.
I felt a hand tap my shoulder. Turning around I found a girl smiling a big, toothy smile at me. Her teeth were blindingly white. I wonder what she uses?
"Hi!" She said excitedly. "I'm Madaline, but everyone calls me Mads. You seem like a pretty cool girl so I'm going to give you a once and a lifetime opportunity to come sit with me. If you answer my questions, then your accepted." She said as a matter of fact.
"Umm..." I chewed my lip confused and surprised by her audacity. "Accepted for what?"
"Why to be my other best friend of course. Now come on let's go Jake's probably beat me to the table for once."
"Who's Jake?" I asked standing up.
"Oh you'll meet him in a minute. He's my only best friend right now, so you better answer right girl. I mean Jake's great! Just.... How do I put this? Quiet. Brooding. And most of the time just a downright ass." She said pulling me out the door and down the hall.
"He sounds great?" I said more to myself than Mads.
"Aha." She pushed open the door to the cafeteria. Kid's were spread out amongst tables. "Oh bugger. He beat me. Damn. Well. Let's go Ella" She grabbed my arm again pulling me to a table in the middle of the room.
No. Oh no.
"Hi Jake. Look who I brought for you too meet. Be nice, she's going to be our best friend I think." Mads she questioningly.
I wasn't listening as I looked at the boy sitting at the table.
Well, well. If it isn't Mr. Frowny Pants.
_______
Ooooh... It's getting juicy.
WOWOW THANKS SO MUCH FOR 100 reads!
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