Chapter one

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I glance to the right to see a boy with brown curly hair and bright blue eyes. He has cute little freckles on his nose and cheeks. When he notices me looking at him, he smiles and turns back to Wu.

Who is that?

***
Lloyd and I take the lift back up to the entrance. As we get up there, the boy from earlier and Harumi, Lloyd's girlfriend, are waiting by the door.

"Lloyd," Harumi runs over, pushes Lloyd against the wall and kisses him.

He kisses back and I turn to the boy. He's opening a packet of cigarettes.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

The boy pulls out a cigarette and puts it in his mouth, not lighting it. I raise an eyebrow and he looks down at me.

"What are you doing?" I repeat. "It can kill you-"

"It's a metaphor, see: you put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing," he replies, putting the packet away.  "What's your name?"

"Nya. And yours?"

"Jason...although everyone calls me Jay."

I nod and stare out into the city, trying to block out the sounds of Lloyd and Harumi's make-out session. Out of the corner of my eyes, I spot Jay grimace, clearly trying to do the same thing as me.

"Always," I hear Lloyd say.

"Always," Harumi repeats.

"Always?" Jay asks.

"It's their thing. Like saying they're always gonna be there for each other," I reply.

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Hey, this can be our thing. Always is their thing and okay can be ours," Jay exclaims with a cute little smile on his face.

Wait cute? Nya you've just met him. Stop thinking like that! Although...he is really cute.

There's a click next to my ear. I blink and look up at Jay, who is clicking his fingers next to my ear. Jay looks down at me.

"You zoned out there. You okay?" He sounds so concerned, even though he's just met me.

"Yes, I'm okay."

"That's good. That your mom?" He gestures to my mom who is watching us.

"Yeah...I better go," I go to walk away and he gently grabs my arm.

"Maybe we can hang out for a little bit."

He smiles nervously. I can't help but smile back.

"I'll go and ask my mom."

As I walk towards the car, I spot a hopeful look in Jay's eyes, meaning he wants to hang out with me. But why?

"Mom...erm...can I maybe...hang out with Jay for a while?" I ask, secretly crossing my fingers behind my back.

"Is Jay the cute boy you were talking to?"

"Mom!" I can feel myself blushing.

My mom giggles and nods, saying I can go with him. I thank her, hug her and run back to Jay. As I get closer, I notice something off about his right leg.

"Jay...is...did something happen to your leg?" I weakly gesture to it, struggling to put it into a sentence without offending him.

"Yeah...I have osteosarcoma," he explains. "It's a type of bone cancer that grows in the cells which form bones. It's more common in long bones, hence why it grew in my leg and not anywhere else."

"So...did you have to have an amputation?"

Jay nods and rolls up part of his pant leg so I can see the metal replacement. Jay pulls his pant leg down as Lloyd walks over.

"I'm gonna head to town with 'Rumi. I'll call you later Nya?"

I nod and hug him. I feel him hug back. When we pull away he has a bright smile on his face and his glass eye is twitching.

Lloyd has something called retinoblastoma. Retinoblastoma is an eye cancer that begins in the retina, the sensitive lining on the inside of your eye. He got one of his eyes removed when he was younger and he's getting his second one removed next week.

Lloyd grabs Harumi's hand and leads her towards the direction of the town centre. I sigh quietly and turn to Jay.

"He doesn't deserve someone like her," I say quietly.

"You don't like her?" Jay asks, taking the unlit cigarette out of his mouth and putting it in his pocket.

"No...do you?"

He shakes his head and pulls out a set of car keys. He leads me to a blue ford and opens the passenger door. He lifts my tank in as I climb in. I shut the door as he runs around and climbs into the driver's seat. We buckle up and Jay sets off.

Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know I said I'd carry this on when I'd finished ItP but I have no motivation for it so...This chapter took a little longer as I also had to research a couple of things. Hope you're all staying safe and well.

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