Today's the day (Will be rewritten soon)

Chapter 7

- 3 weeks later

I can still remember our kiss vividly. Ever since that night Ben and I got a lot closer. Almost all of our free time was spent together. We visited a lot of beautiful places in Paris, but unfortunately, we're going back home tomorrow. This means I can celebrate my birthday, which is in 5 days, at home. I'll be celebrating my seventeenth birthday, which will probably be my last birthday. I just hope everybody will be there on my birthday because I feel like it'll be a goodbye-party instead of a birthday party. But, I still have time, so I won't be sulking about it. I'm gonna make the best of the time I have left. 

- The next morning

"Wake up!!!! We have a plane to catch and we already overslept." is being screamed through the apartment by Megan. It takes me ten minutes to even start getting out of bed, which is too long apparently because Megan, James and Ben enter my room. Megan points to the left side of my mattress, Ben and James go to stand on the left side of the bed, they place their hands underneath the mattress and lift it, which makes me fall on the floor with a hard thud. Afterward, they all casually leave the room as if nothing happened. I push myself up and put on some clothes, on the slowest speed possible. After 30 minutes I'm done, my suitcase is at the door, I had breakfast and I look presentable. "Let's get to the airport, we can't miss this flight. Otherwise, the last thing on the list will fail. So, move people!" Says Megan while shooing us all out of the apartment. 

- 2 hours later on the plane

"What is the last thing on the list again?" I ask Megan. She opens one eye and says: "You'll see when we land," then she goes back to sleep. Well, the only thing left for me to do is sleeping too. So, I close my eyes and let myself drift to sleep.

- A lot of hours later, back home

I walk through the entrance hall and spot my parents and sister at the end. I start running towards them and when I reach them I wrap them in a tight hug. "I missed you guys so much," I say, and they answer in unison: "We missed you too." I break the hug when the rest arrives. Everybody is hugging each other, which gives me another reassurance that when I'm gone they'll be there for each other, always. 

Then Megan turns to me, takes my suitcase and points to the front entrance of the airport, "Go outside to find the last thing on our bucket list." I stare at her for a second before she pushes me in the direction of the entrance. Everybody follows me and when I reach the entrance my mouth falls open. 

There is a beautiful, black,  dodge charger '69 parked on the sidewalk. I walk to the car slowly and run my fingers across the side of the car. This is my dream car and I'm about to sit in it. 

The owner of the car steps out and extends his hand to me: "Hello, my name is Luca, nice to meet you. I'm gonna be driving you around today." I shake his hand and say: "Nice to meet you too, my name is Jane," I say, "Thank you for doing this for me." "Of course, I lost my mom to the same disease last year and if I can make you happy for one day, then I'll be glad to do it." I wave goodbye to everyone, walk over to the passenger side and step in the car. Luca steps in the car a second later, starts the car and drives away. 

His first question comes very unexpectedly: "How long do you have?" I swallow hard and say: "A couple of weeks at most. That's why we're doing this bucket list, my friend, Megan, wanted to make as many memories as possible with the time left." "You have amazing friends, you know that right? They made sure to use their time with you wisely, I wish I had used my time with my mom better. I barely visited her because I couldn't handle seeing her slowly dying in that hospital bed." "I'm very grateful for my friends. I hope that my upcoming birthday will be that final memory they need to remember me by, to remember the real me, not the one that I'll become when I spent my last days in a hospital bed." He doesn't answer that statement and just starts telling me things about the car, but I can see that he is struggling to keep the tears from falling. 

- 2 days later

I've been feeling a bit sick these last days, so Ben decided it was a good idea to take me out. Just to take my mind of everything and to help me relax. I pick my favorite dress, put it on, do my hair and when I'm almost finished, I run to the bathroom for the second time today to throw up. No worries, I probably just ate something wrong, but again after I throw up the headache starts. I decide to ignore it. 

Ben is already waiting for me downstairs, he has a bouquet of beautiful roses. He offers them to me when I come downstairs. I walk to the kitchen and put them in a vase. Then my pounding headache becomes worse in less than a second. I grip the countertop till it passes, luckily it only takes about twenty seconds to pass. 

I return to Ben, I try to smile but he sees right through me. "What's wrong? If you're not feeling well we can stay at home and watch a movie or something." He says, but I immediately counter: "I'm fine, nothing a bit of fresh air won't fix."

- 2 hours later

"Thank you for tonight, Ben. I really needed this." I say, after finishing dessert. "Don't thank me. You needed this and as your boyfriend, I want to make you happy. So I have one last surprise." He rises from his seat and helps me up before we go to pay the bill. Halfway there I feel myself get nauseous and my headache is getting worse again. I let go of Ben's hand and say: "You go pay the bill, I need to use the restroom." He gives me a once-over, not sure if he can leave me in this state, but after I give him an encouraging nod, he swallows and leaves me. I regret it a second later. My legs start to feel numb, my vision starts to darken around the edges and the headache only gets worse. I won't be able to stand for much longer. I try to call out to Ben, but I only bring out a faint whisper. Then my vision goes completely dark. The last thing I feel is my body hitting the floor and Ben calling my name.