Below The Surface

Tragic News

On Monday, Caroline woke up and went on the bus to get to school. When she got to school, she couldn't stop thinking about Taylor. As she was walking through the halls, she saw the guy that was talking to Alex before they went out for pizza. He was also the one that gave her the shots of vodka and marijuana. She remembered that party and remember that the police came and was wondering if Alex got into any trouble. Because of this, she walked up to the guy as he was leaning on the wall while texting someone.

"Um hi" said Caroline. When she said that, the guy took his eyes off of his phone and looked up at her. "Oh hey," he said "I remember you. You were at Alex's party. My name's Ethan by the way." "Yep that's me" said Caroline. "I never got your name though" he said. "Oh well my name is Caroline" said Caroline. When she said that, Ethan looked at her with extreme interest. "So you're the one Alex has been talking about" he said. When Ethan said that, Caroline was surprised. "He talks about me?" she asked. "Yeah all the time," said Ethan "he really likes you. I can tell. I've known Alex since we were four. So I know when he likes someone." "Wow I never would've guessed," she said "so do you know where he is? I know the police came to his house during the party. Is he okay?" "Yeah he's perfectly fine," said Ethan "he's here at school today. I saw him earlier." "Oh that's great," she said "do you know where exactly he is right now?" "Actually no I don't" Ethan said. "Oh okay," she said "I'll go look for him." "Alright then," said Ethan "see you around." "Okay bye" she said.

As Caroline walked through the school looking for Alex, she saw Taylor at her locker. When she looked closer, Caroline could see that Taylor was crying. "Hey Taylor" she said. "Oh hi Caroline" said Taylor. "I heard you went to chemo on Saturday," she said "is everything okay?" When she asked that, tears continued to flood out of Taylor's eyes. Then, Taylor slammed her locker closed and looked at Caroline. "Three weeks" said Taylor. "What do you mean three weeks?" Caroline asked with extreme fear in her voice. "My doctor said that only have three weeks left to live" said Taylor. "What," said Caroline "no. You can't be serious." "Its true" Taylor said with tears still rolling down her face. "We have to find Jessica and the others" said Caroline. "They know," said Taylor "but if you still want to look for them, they're in the band room. "Okay then," said Caroline "well come on let's go."

As Caroline and Taylor entered the band room, they saw Michelle, Naomi, and Jessica crying. Also, they looked at Ron, who was just sitting down in his chair, and looking out the window. When he heard the two of them enter, Ron turned his head to face them. "Hi Caroline" he said. "Hi Ron" said Caroline. "I'm so sorry Taylor," he said "this isn't right. This shouldn't be happening." After he said that, he gave Taylor a hug. "Ron," said Taylor "I'm scared." "Don't be afraid to die," he said "we all have to go through it. Everything will be okay. I promise." After he said that, Taylor and Caroline walked towards their friends who were still crying. When they were next to them, with tears coming from all of their eyes, they all hugged Taylor at once. "We're going to make these final three weeks the best of your life" said Naomi. "That's right." said Michelle. With that, they all left the band room. As they left, Taylor looked back at Ron, who was fighting back tears with all of his strength. "Thank you for everything Ron" she said. "You're welcome," Ron said "but hey, that's what family is for."

As Caroline was leaving the school while she was still crying, she ran into Ms. Hughes. "Hey Caroline come here" she said. "Hi Ms. Hughes" Caroline said as she was walking towards her. "I heard about Taylor," Ms. Hughes said as she handed Caroline a tissue "I'm really sorry." "Why did this have to turn out this way?" asked Caroline. "I don't know sweetheart," Ms. Hughes said "Taylor is a great girl. But when it comes to luck, I guess she was just dealt a bad hand."

After that, Caroline went home. As soon as she entered the house, she ran up the stairs straight into her bedroom and cried herself to sleep.

TO BE CONTINUED........