I was walking to school with my best friend Clara, just like every day. We have bonded over 7th grade, and now are going into 8th. We have never disagreed on our differences, even helped her raise the panromantic flag during pride month(Despite me being bisexual)! All those memories with her were awesome! But I have another certain someone on my mind...
"Let me guess, Jake." Clara snapped me out of my trance. She always knew what I was thinking about, no matter what I think about. She gave me the "I know I am correct, so don't lie to me." look. I loved her, as a friend of course. I could never lie to Clara, even if I tried.
"Fine, you got me." I laughed. My throat started to hurt all of a sudden, but I thought nothing of it. I mean it happens regularly, and it is not that bad overall. Clara gave me a tight-lipped smile and we continued our walk.
...
After that 10-minute walk, we finally arrived at school. We both parted our ways, me going to art and her going to history. The one thing I love the most about art is that Jake is there, sitting RIGHT. NEXT. TO. ME. Even though it was like that all year, I can't help turning myself into a tomato.
"Hi, Ella!" Jake's lovely voice spoke. Me being the simp I was, only returned a shy wave. The pain in my throat returned, but much harder. It got to the point where I was coughing into my hoodie. when I stopped, I found 2 odd things on my sleeve; blood, and cherry blossom flower petals. I almost screamed but tried to stay calm. I rolled up my sleeves and tried not to panic.
The next class I had with Clara, biology. In biology, we were talking about flowers. Like, EVERY. FLOWER. EXISTING. I was about to scream, but then I felt a tap on my shoulder, Clara was holding a note, giving it to me. I opened it up, there was the messy-but readable handwriting of Clara. My favorite flower is cherry blossom, it's so pretty! What's yours?
I looked at her and whispered, "Roses." She nodded, showing me that she heard me. I smiled, it's almost like she could read my mind! Then, my throat started hurting again. Afraid that I was going to cough up blood again, I asked the teacher if I could go to the bathroom. Thankfully she said yes.
...
The next thing I knew, I was coughing up petals and blood into the sink. Tears started streaming down my eyes, was I going to die? I snatched my phone from my pocket and opened up a new tab. Then, I searched up: Why am I coughing up blood and flowers?
Only 1 answer appeared,
Hanikini
YOU ARE READING
The Flowers in My Lungs
Short StoryElla, a 13-year-old discovers one day that she has a rare disease called Hanikini. She thinks it's for Jake, the popular boy in school. She tries hard to get him to love her. But things are not what they seem...
