"Back to school Alyssa! Get up!" Alyssa's mom called out and Alyssa sighed as she got up and then got dressed. She wore her fathers grey navy sweatshirt with jeans and converse. She wasn't ready to go back to school. Especially when no one there really liked you.
She walked into school and met up with her best friend Sadie. The two chatted and when they heard everyone gather around the football team, Alyssa knew it was because Jayden walked in. Alyssa rolled her eyes and sighed as she walked past them but was pushed to the ground by a few of the cheerleaders. This is what happens when you go back to school towards the end of football season. It attracts a lot of attention. "Look at what trash decided to come back." The cheerleader said and Alyssa rolled her eyes. Sadie became upset beyond compare and looked at her. If only they knew what happened. If only they knew Alyssa was sick.
Jayden saw the the commotion and walked over in confusion. When he saw what had happened he stepped in between the cheerleader that just so happened to be his girlfriend and Alyssa. "Hey, what has gotten into you?" He asks his girlfriend as he helped Alyssa up to her feet as he gave Angela a glare. He didn't know who Alyssa was really but he didn't like how rude people were being when he was sure no one knew who she was and she just seemed like an easy target. "Are you alright?" He asks Alyssa as everyone else quieted down to witness what just happened between Angela and Jayden.
Alyssa rolled her eyes as she patted off the dust and looked up at Jayden. "Peachy." She said then walked off. She wasn't putting up with this crap. She didn't want to be here but she didn't want to be at the hospital anymore. It took a lot of begging to let her finally leave but now she was starting regret it.
Once bell rang, Alyssa walked to PE but she just sat in the bleachers like always. She had her excuse and the gym teacher knew. Alyssa used to play sports Freshman year before her Cancer came into the picture. She sat there and put in her headphones as she began to draw. She drew a window and a girl looking out of it with tears in her eyes.
Jayden became upset after he realized just how upset Alyssa became. He didn't blame her, what happened was extremely uncalled for. For now he let her go but when he saw her again on the bleachers while he was helping the coach clean for the game. He looked to her curiously but only looked to her when she wasn't paying attention.
Alyssa sat one the bleachers the entire time PE was going on and she would sneak a few glances at Jayden. He was different then others and that made her happy. She was looking when Jayden looked at her and her head quickly dropped to look back at her drawing.
When Jayden spotted her looking he smiled lightly and waved in greeting but his smile faded with how fast she looked away from him. For now he shook it off and went back to what he was doing.
Sadie walked over to Alyssa and the two talked until Alyssa began to cough and cough. She began to wheeze and Sadie immediately called 911. This wasn't something to play around with. Alyssa dropped her art book under the bleachers but Sadie wasn't going to go and retrieve it. Sadie held her best friend close as things became to much for Alyssa. Soon the paramedics came and the rumors began to spread which only ticked Sadie off even more.
When this happened Jayden had already left the gym. However, when Angela later came to tell him the rumors for some reason it didn't take him long to become irritated. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear around here."
Sadie looked at Jayden and Angela and cringed her face. "Honestly Angela just stop already. You know what's wrong with her." Sadie said. Sadie, Angela and Alyssa were the best of friends back in freshman year but when Alyssa got sick, things changed.
Jayden looked between the two girls confused. "What do you mean? What's wrong with her?" Jayden asked curiously. He felt bad Angela was causing all this trouble.
Sadie looked at Jayden and then Angela and laughed. "I'm surprised Angela hasn't opened her mouth already." Sadie said and then walked off. Angela looked at her boyfriend then at everyone around. "Just drop it." Angela said.
"Don't tell me what to do Jayden." Angela said as she looked at him. "If you really want to know then fine. She's going to be on her death bed soon." She said then walked off.
Weeks after Alyssa didn't return to school and Sadie only went in the mornings. One morning, Sadie was to tired to even comprehend everything and on her way out, she bumped into Jayden. Sadie looked at him and sighed. "I'm so sorry." She said with a yawn.
"It's alright." It took him s minute to recognize who she was and by the time he did she was already walking out. "Hey!" He calls after her and caught up to her as she stopped. "I think this belongs to your friend. I found it behind the bleachers I didn't look in it I just saw her drawing in it." Pulling it out of his bag he handed it over to Sadie who looked like she was trying not to cry. There was an awkward silence before he asked. "Are you alright? Is she okay I mean?" He was still clueless as to what was going on but with how upset it obviously made her he wasn't going to ask.
Sadie sighed and she looked at Alyssa drawing journal and shook her head. "She's far from okay. She's.... She's dying." Sadie said as she cried and wiped away her tears. "Hey Jayden, have this. I know she would have wanted you too." Sadie whispered and handed it back to him. Inside were drawings Alyssa kept to herself but majority had Jayden in them. "She's had stage 4 lung cancer. They're doing all they can to help her but her parents don't have the money for her treatments." She added and sighed.
Jayden looked at the drawings in shock but it was even more of a shock when he heard What Sadie had just told him. It made his stomach churn and his heart drop. I'm do sorry, u didn't know." He says in an embarrassed whisper. Sudden anger for Angela flares with in him. How could she treat anyone the way she did let alone someone she knew was sick. "I'm sorry about Angela too if I would have known."
"It's not your fault. Angela can make her own decisions. We all used to be the best of friends but then Alyssa got sick and things changed. I should really get back to my best friend. I'll see you around Jayden." Sadie said with a weak smiled as she walked off. Her best friend was dying. How could anyone cope knowing that? Alyssa knew she was going to die to. She embraced her death.
The sight of Sadie leaving in almost tears left an unsettling feeling in Jayden'x stomach. He felt horrible and when he saw Angela it only made things worse. She walked over and kissed him with s smile snd usually that meant she wanted something. "What do you want?" He asks bitterly pushing past her to head for his locker.
"I just want to spend time with my boyfriend, is that a crime?" Angela asked as she followed him then saw the journal. She took it from him and looked at him. "Jayden where did you get this?" She asked with a hint of anger in her voice.
Jayden looked at her with hostility before he took the journal back from her. "What the hell is wrong with you Angela? Treating your friend the way you do and she's dying?! Who in their right mind would think that's okay?"
"You wouldn't understand Jayden!" Angela exclaimed as she looked at him. She had her reasoning. "You think I'm not effected by her dying?! Jayden I love her so much you wouldn't understand but when she got sick, things changed. I became the popular cheerleader and she was just easy prey for the squad. I just.... Jayden she likes you. She always has.... Please visit her before she dies, please." Angela pleaded.