Her heart

2

"Ava you need to wake up!" My little sister comes into my room, screaming so I could wake up.

"I'm up, I'm up!" I yell as I get to the edge of the bed so she could see I'm fully awake. "Mom and dad left earlier. They said you have to drop me to school." She added then left my room.

Now you would think she's just my usual annoying little sister that I can't stand and I have to take orders from just because otherwise she will tell our parents. But she's not.

April is the sweetest and kindest child I've ever met. She's ten years old but sometimes I can talk to her like she's twenty.

After eight years of having me, my parents decided to give birth to one more child. Everything was beautiful until she got diagnosed with a heart disease that required a lot of surgerys, in order to implant a special device on her heart, to help her survive.

What's the worst, is that we don't know how much longer she would be able to survive with that. She needs to have a heart transplant and it's not so easy to find a compatible donor.

April knows what's going on but not entirely. We try our best to make her happy and not to think that she's any different from the other kids. My parents sent her to a special school where it's safer for her even though, they could have homeschooled her.

I love when she comes to me during the day just to tell me what some random teacher said. It's getting boring sometimes, but I learned to cope with it.

I'll admit, I'm feeling sometimes like a glass child but I love my sister more than anything. Plus, my parents don't pay that much attention to my actions so it's easier to slide with certain things.

"Can I pick a shirt for you?" She asked as she was watching me looking through my closet. She sometimes likes to pick a certain clothing piece for me and to be honest, I love it because it helps me to build an outfit around it.

"Sure" she comes in front of me and looks through my many shirts then points to a cropped nike one. I take it and continue looking for other stuff.

"Are you done getting ready?" I ask as I'm headed towards the bathroom. "I'm done. I just have to eat something but I've been waiting for you" how could you not love her?

"Good. I'll be back soon" I say as I enter the bathroom.

First thing I do is put my clothes away and take off my underwear and pants, then sit on the toilet.

"Oh god, I totally forgot. Fuck!" I scream in frustration as I notice the blood on my panties. Luckily it didn't got on my pyjama pants too.

I finished doing my business at the bathroom and made sure to take extra tampons to put them in my backpack.

"Did mom leave any food?" I ask April as I follow her towards the kitchen.

"Yeah. She left pancakes on the counter"

We both ate in a rush then took out stuff and left the house. It's a normal thing for us to wake up alone sometimes. Our parents aren't bad ones, they are just busy.

Mom is a doctor and dad is a super busy detective, but they still manage to take care of us. They make sure we have everything and they give us the love and care we need.

My dad has always been the strict one and I think it's because of the paranoia he gets from his job. Facing so many problems of all kinds must be hard.

As I drive through the city, I think of the way Noah used to drive us for ice cream. He was really the big brother for me.

"Are you sad?" I heard April's voice which wakes me up from my trance. "A little. I miss our cousin" I answer honestly.

"I miss him too. He was cool" she answers back, playing with the zipper of her jacket. April is very aware of his death but they weren't as close as me and him were.

For April, Noah was just an older dude who used to visit us and bring her candies and chocolate , even though mom always complained about the sweets.

"Do you think he got to see uncle Harold?" She asked  after a while. I sat in silence for a second, surprised of the things she was thinking of. A ten year old's mind is interesting sometimes.

"He for sure did. I bet they are happy now" I give her a little smile just to transmit her happiness. I try my best to keep her happy and sometimes I feel like that's the reason I'm living for.

The rest of the drive we just talk random things and I make sure that she's doing well. After I drop April to her school, I continue driving to mine.

It's not a big school but It's not really the kind where everybody knows everyone. It's just perfect. I'm not the popular kind of girl but I have a couple of friends in there.

Speaking of friends, just as I park my car, I'm greeted by all the three humans I hang out with. I don't consider them my best friends because that place was owned by Noah. They are the kind of people  you hang out in school and maybe go to parties.

I don't feel comfortable confessing them all my problems even though lately, we got closer. Maybe we'll end up being inseparable by the end of this year. Who knows?

"Avaaa! How are you doing girll?" Victoria greets me as I close the door of my car. She's the one I feel the closest in this group and maybe because she's a girl. The boys are nice too, but they don't get the pain I go through when I get my period cramps. Just like right now.

"I'm good...I guess. I'm still trying to accept that he's gone" Victoria opens her arms and gives me a tight hug, making me feel better.

"If you need anything, we are here. And if you don't, we'll still be by your side." Zack adds. We call him "the mom of the group" because he's the most responsible one and he's always making sure we don't do stuff that's too stupid even for us.

"Yeah, what he said" Travis adds and he gives me a hug too. He's always goofy and if you didn't know him well enough, you would think he's constantly high.

"Thank you guys. It really means a lot for me" I smile  at them, trying to seem at least a little better.

We get inside and split through the school, going to classes. They all pass by harder then I thought and my period mood doesn't help either.

I'm a pretty good student and I really want to go to college. I don't know where I'll go yet but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

After the sound of the bell, I rush towards the cafeteria where we usually meet at a random table.

"Guys, I have some news, Ray is throwing a party. You HAVE to come" Victoria started talking.

"As much as I would love to meet your drug dealer boyfriend, I would rather say pass" Zack says then takes a bite of his burger.

"He's actually cute. Shut up." She complains as she softly hits the table.

"If they have free drinks and ciggs, then I'm in" Travis raises his hand full of food. "See? That's what I'm talking about. What about you Ava? Will you be there?"

I think a little and look at her, trying to find the best way of declining her invitation. "I don't really know Vic, I don't feel like I'm in the mood to party"

"Come on bro, you gotta try and forget" Travis speaks with his mouth full of fries but he gets hit by Vic before he could say anything else.

"Ouch"

"Leave her alone bro. It's her decision. But just so you know Ava, maybe he has a point. You have to occupy your mind with something else."

She's right. But I'm so not in the mood for a party right now. "I'll think of it"

"Great. Just make sure you don't come with Travis cuz I know for a fact he won't be able to drive it back"

"Yooo, that was meaaan!" He protests and looks at her with a look that was supposed to be angry.

"I'll come too. I can't leave you idiots alone" Zack adds.

"Perfect. Ava, if you decide to join us, text me" Victoria looks at me, and I just nod my head.