Star Crossed

Chapter 1

4 Years Ago...

When I was 16, I fell in love. It was as simple as that. Love. Not to brag or anything, but our love was unfathomable. It was the type of love where the other person just completed you. They made you feel like you were the best prize and that nothing could stop you. That was him and I, we thought we were unstoppable. Despite what life threw at us , we had each other and that was all that mattered.

It all started a few months before my seventeenth birthday. I was in the hospital getting my chemo treatments for my illness and I had been so groggy and moody. My cancer had made me practically live at the hospital and I was never a social butterfly. Although the children on the cancer ward at the Children's Hospital had always tried to play with me, I would spend most of my time staring out the window, in my own little world. I didn't say much and I tried not to complain either. It didn't seem very fair to since all the younger kids were so much more spirited and my mom always told me to be a "role model". I just accepted my fate as part of my pessimistic view of how life was unfair and how my time was just limited.

My parents saw me as their shining little angel who could "get through it" with a lot of love and support. Ha. I on the other hand saw it as life being totally unfair. Then again, cancer and angst-y teen years just do not mesh well. Think about all those teen hormones running amuck with the most depressing thoughts on how other kids didn't have any of the problems you had. That's what my life felt like. A lot of feeling sorry for myself and bottling up my emotions. Just a sorry case of yet another cancer kid's life.

That was until I met him. Elliot Thompson. The cutest boy I had ever seen enter the ward. Heck, the cutest boy I had ever seen ever! The first day we met, he had rolled in a wheelchair while being pushed by an older man and was placed in the central playing area where all the kids spent their time playing or drawing or just socializing. I was just minding my own business by the window, staring down at the outside world, when he rolled himself over to me.

"Hi," said a voice, sounding bright. I rolled my eyes internally, thinking here we go again, some happy go lucky kid trying to brighten up my mood. Clearly, someone didn't realize that I was satisfied having my own pity party, as per usual.

"Hello," I replied, with a bored tone, hoping the voice would leave me alone.

"What's your name? You seem to be the only person who looks to be about my age and I really don't want to play with building blocks to satisfy my dad that I'm making friends. You also look like you don't want to be disturbed, but it would do me a huge solid if you just pretended to be my friend," he said with a short laugh.

I laughed, I knew what that felt like. The slight guilt you felt when your parents worried about how much of a loner you were and how nothing could really make them feel at ease.

"Sure, I know the feeling. My name is Kennedy. Kennedy Cross," I finally said as I turned to him. Then my eyes landed on a beautiful boy staring back at me. His short brown hair was slightly disheveld and his blue eyes were bright and creased with a smile. A beautiful smile. A smile that had me hold my breath as if the moment was going to kill me before the cancer did.

"Hi! I'm Elliott Thompson! So Kennedy, that's an interesting name. Are you as interesting as your name?" He asked with a laugh.

My smile disappeared. Here we go, I thought. "Ya my name is Kennedy, not by choice. My grandpa loved the Kennedy's so he told my parents before he passed away to name their kid after JFK, not him, saying I'd do great things with a great name. When I ended up being a girl, my parents just stuck me with Kennedy."