A Day in My Life

Not Quitting, Ever

DYLAN POV:

The next day, the boys and I got to school early and met up with Taylor.

"There you are!" she said, and quickly pulled me in for a peck on the lips.

Before I had time to say anything, Taylor went into a rant about all of the things she had planned.

"Okay, so I spoke with the principal yesterday and told him everything and he's allowing us to hold an assembly after lunch, telling everyone about Dakota's... situation and how everyone can help! And don't worry, I'll do the talking, you guys just have to stand up there with me. And I have a collection box set up and I made posters and flyers and I brought a big card in case everyone wants to sign it for Dakota saying like get well soon or something I don't know—"

"Taylor," I cut her off.

She looked up at me, wide-eyed. "Am I missing something? I thought I had everything..." she mumbled, furrowing her eyebrows and looking down angrily.

"No. I just wanted to say thank you. You did so much in so little time. This means so much to me."

The guys said their thank you's too and she began to blush.

"Oh," she said shyly, looking down. "Well it's no problem."

—

As soon as lunch ended, I headed to the auditorium with the rest of the student body. I pushed through the herds of people, and inched my way to the front of the crowd.

"There you are," Taylor scolded, yanking me onto the stage where Nick and Talen were already standing.

Distracted, I stumbled onto the stage and turned around to face the quickly filling auditorium.

"Shit," I thought, my eyes widening. That was a lot of people.

"Don't worry," Taylor whispered. "I'll do the talking." She must have seen it on my face.

Teachers began to hush the students, and the room filled with silence.

The principal said a few words and then let Taylor have the floor.

She stood up proudly and walked to the podium at the center of the stage with no fear. I heard a guy a couple rows from the front whistle and I growled, but smiled hearing the guy next to him remind him she was taken. By ME. 

She coughed into her hand and then began speaking from her heart, and explained what had happened to Dakota.

The kids in the room gasped. Some people started whispering, probably people who knew her.

Know her. 

Taylor went on to explain how expensive the surgery was and how she planned to get everyone at school to chip in to help pay, if they wanted to help.

Talen went around collecting whatever spare change and dollar bills people were willing to give in the moment as Taylor announced that there would be booths set up where people could contribute throughout the week as well as a gofundme page.

A boy towards the front raised his hand to ask a question. "How long do we have to raise money?"

"The operation needs to be performed by the end of this week."

The same kid raised his hand again.

"And how much are we hoping to raise by then?" he asked.

Shit this kid was smart.

"Uh, around... $40,000?" Taylor said weakly.

"40,000!!" the kid repeated. "In one week? There's no way!"

I glanced nervously at Taylor as murmurs began to spread throughout the auditorium. She glanced back equally as nervous and handed me the mic, not knowing what to say. I grabbed it and turned towards the audience in time to see Chris getting up and slipping through the doors to leave. Where was he going?

"So he'll listen to Taylor but not me", I thought  frustratedly. I realized that hearing this was probably too much for him to bear and it had nothing to do with me, so I decided to cut him a break.

I moved my arm in downward motions in an attempt to hush the crowd. "That's why—" I began, but the crowd was still talking. I cleared my throat loudly and stood straighter. I was a Hastings, and I wore that title proudly, bringing the attention back to me. I cleared my throat once more and they finally began to quiet down. "That's why we encourage you to get other people involved. Tell your parents, tell them to tell their friends, tell your grandparents, anyone. Please, my sister's life might depend on it."

I sighed and handed the microphone over the principal.

He looked down at me worriedly before thanking the student body and dismissing them for their next class.

As I wound up the cord to the microphone, the principal came back over to me. Placing a hand on my shoulder he said, "I know this is very hard for you Dylan, and maybe you have all the support you need, but my office is always right around the corner if you need an additional person with which to talk."

"Thank you Principal Duncan," I said, not letting my eyes meet his gaze. It was weird. Normally the only times I talked to him were when I was in trouble for getting in a stupid fight or falling asleep in class. I can't tell you how many detention sentences I've received from this guy. But here he was, still treating me like a good kid instead of the troublemaker jock that other people saw me as.

"Here's twenty dollars," he said, bringing me back to the present. "I know it's not much, but it's all I have on me right now. Consider it a little kickstarter for right now, and I'll get on that gofundme straight after school."

I looked down at my hand where he had placed the money. I wanted to tell him how thankful I was and how sorry I was for always pegging him as a bad guy when really I was the dumb kid goofing off during school, not him. Unable to find my voice, I hugged him instead. I know, it sounds lame, but it felt right.

"Alright," he said, patting my back lightly. "Now go try and enjoy your lunch break and get your mind off it. Don't be late, I don't want to have to give you another detention," he joked.

Cracking a smile and rolling my eyes, I ran after Taylor and my brothers in the distance.

I slid up and wrapped an arm around my girl. 

"Now how much do we have so far for our baby?" I asked, chucking in the twenty and leaning over the collection box.