Hold On Till May

"I like your shirt," a random young girl had told me once during the county's fair. "Thanks," I replied. I had actually got quite a few compliments on my shirt that night. When the fair was over and I was on my way home, I received a text message. "Hey." I replied also with "hey." I received another message. "Do you know who this is?" "No." I said. "It's Summer." From that point on, the conversation had continued for the rest of the night.

The next day at school, my friend Brayden told me he had given my number to Summer because she asked for it. I'd see her walking in the halls a couple of times and she'd wave at me. I waved back. We hardly ever had conversations in person because we were both too shy. It turned out that I had actually known her older sister. She was in my art class during my freshman year of high school. Her sister messaged me one day after school was out. She explained to me that I better not start like - liking Summer because I was too old for her. I told Autumn, Summer's older sister, that I only liked Summer as a friend and that I was already seeing someone.

I received a text message from a friend named Brandon one day. He told me how Summer had told him she liked me more than a friend. I didn't really think much of it. I continued talking with her as I had been since I first met her. I stopped talking with Ashley, the girl I had been seeing. There was another girl who I was a little interested in. She was actually the step-sister of one of my friends named Aaron. I thought it'd be cool to date a friend's sister. I was carried over to her one day in the library by two other friends. Being the shy person I was, I got up and walked back to my seat without conversing with her.

That very next weekend, I messaged her and asked if she wanted to hang out and go for a walk after I got off work. She said yes. On our walk I found out new things about her. Her favorite band was also my favorite too. Although I had known her for about three days, I thought I liked her. She told me how she's never had a boyfriend before. On our way back to her house, I looked at her and asked, "Do- Do you want to go out with me?" "Yes," she replied. I felt excited and a little overwhelmed because I hadn't been rejected. As soon as Summer had seen the relationship status of mine change from "single" to "in a relationship" on facebook, she was mad and a little upset. I got the impression that she thought I was starting to like her more than a friend, which upset her so much. We talked less and less.

After about a week or two of not speaking, I saw her standing outside after school waiting to get picked up. "Hey," I said. "Hey," she replied. I was going to give her a friendly hug, but she still seemed upset so I left. After almost three months of being in a relationship with my friend's sister, she told me she only wanted to be friends. I haven't talked to her since that moment.

At least two to three weeks had passed and I started noticing this one girl more and more. She was one of Summer's best friends. Me and Summer became pretty close friends again. "Can you find out if she likes me or not?" I asked Summer. "Yeah sure," she replied. "Thanks." I think she was just happy that we were close friends again. She began to like this boy who was one of my close friends. After talking for two to three months with Summer's best friend, Kaylee, we began dating. Summer had also been dating my close friend by that time.

It was another day after school. I walked over and sat on the bench next to Summer to wait for my bus, as I usually did. She was crying. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Nothing," she replied. "Are you sure?" "No." She began sobbing more and leaned her head on my shoulder and began to speak. "I went to the doctor yesterday. I have a rare illness. The doctor said I'd only live until halfway through April." "No. You can't die!" I implied.

I was texting Summer one night. She explained to me how people upset her by making fun of the things that had happened in her past. I managed to cheer her up. I told her how I thought of her as my little sister. I've never had a real sister, so she was the closest to a sister that I had. We were close enough that we'd tell each other everything. That's why she told me about her illness.

It was about halfway through April already. Summer was in the emergency room. I first bought some flowers and then went to visit her. She looked pale. You could really tell she was sick by the way she looked today. After two days of being in the ER, Summer was sent home because she had been feeling better and was able to walk and still be active. "Looks like the doctor had been wrong," I said. "It's halfway through April and here you still are." She smiled.

During the first week if May, Summer had been sent to the ER again. The doctors did everything they could. She began making a full recovery over the next few days. Her illness had been completely cured.

"Let's go for a walk," I told Summer, about two days after she had been back home. "Okay," she replied. First we stopped and got some food to eat. The we--

I found this story in Archie's bag the night the accident happened. He wasn't able to finish it so I, Summer, decided if anyone should finish the story, it should be me.

Then we-- Then we began on our walk. At least an hour or two had already passed. We were walking along the side of the road. While we were talking, he noticed the sound of a vehicle coming fast and recklessly. The vehicle began to come straight for us. By the time he pushed me out of the way, the vehicle was right in front and he took on the entire impact of it. The driver rushed out. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" "What have I done?" I rushed over to him and lifted him up enough to rest his head on my lap. "Wake up!" "Wake up!" I shouted. He began to speak. "It- It's okay, at least you held on till May." After that had been said, he managed to put one last smile on his face before he died in my arms. An ambulance had arrived seconds after his death. The driver must've called them. They lifted him on a stretcher and loaded him into the ambulance. That was the last I saw of him. I- I. Fighting back tears to finish this. I regret to say, that they weren't able to revive him. I saw his corpse lie in the coffin at his funeral. He hardly looked any different. Tears began streaming down my face. And I never got a chance to truly say goodbye.