You Will Always be Our Little Girl

☆ fifteen ☆

Emiko's POV

-a week later-

I walk out of the house to see Mason, waiting, "hi." He smiles lightly and waves, "hi.." he clears his throat, but the smile never left his face.

It seems like after he told me, I treasure every day, and everything he says. Although he doesn't speak a lot now, due to the tumor giving him some speech impediments, when he does, I note it down. Remembering it.

"H-Hey..Em?" He says quietly. I look over, "yeah?"

"I have good news for you." I furrow my eyebrows, suspicious of what this "good news?"

I hoped it would be his tumor was gone. It was a mistake and he never actually had it. But that just doesn't happen, you know? He has a cancer in his brain and it's only going to consume him more and more every following day.

He smiles, "U-Uhm..yeah...in about 10 months, I-I'll be able to get surgery."

"What?" He nods, "M-Mabel's dad quit his job-" he clears his throat, "and his income was so big he thought it'd be nice to give a portion of it to me. A-And it turns out that it covers the surgery fund."

"W-What about your chemo and therapy?" I stop walking and he turns around, smiling lightly, "don't worry about that now, Emi." He said this a little louder, without a stutter. It sounded like Mason, and not a sickly version of him.

"The doctors already started a fund for all that. It's half done." We look at each other and I hug him, barely on the verge of crying, "don't cry, please."

"H-How did Mabel's parents do that..? D-Did you tell Mabel yet?" He shakes his head, "no..but I've told her dad." He grabs my hand as we start walking again, "but how did they not tell her-?" He chuckles, "I'm k-kind of like their second child, Em...they know what I want to tell Mabel, a-and what I don't." He clears his throat.

Sometimes I forget that Mabel and Mason have been friends for their whole lives. I've only been in the same class as a two since middle school, and they were always so close.

Mason was approachable, and I'll say that I used to have a small puppy crush on him in middle school too. But I always had a feeling he was in love with Mabel. Even if it was just friendly. He'd always protect her, solve her problems, and even help her with her secrets.

There was this one time when a friend of mine was making fun of her for having gay dads, and Mason practically tore my friend apart with his words. He left her speechless, partly because he used long words she couldn't understand. But I could. He was one of the smartest people in our class, and he wasn't afraid to stick up for his best friend. And I think that's what I admired about him.

"Y-You okay?" I snap out of my thoughts and look at him, "I'm great." I kiss his cheek before we turn the corner and walk onto school grounds.

"Mason?!" We turn around to see Mabel running from her group.

"A-Ah- Mabel." He clears his throat, letting go of my hand, "you haven't answers your phone in like a week!"

"I-I haven't?"

"Yeah! Where have you been?"

"Uhm..I-I've been sick lately." I look up at him as he blinks quickly, harshly. His vision blurred. I looked up the tumor he had, and whenever he blinked harshly, he probably couldn't see.

Symptom 3: Blurriness or inability to see.

he often has symptom five also.

Symptom 5: inability to speak, or small changes in speech (slurred speech, stuttering, etc.)