Save a place for me in your heart

Throughout the rest of the day it seemed as if I was the center of attention, everywhere I went people starred at me & whispered. Probably about their own theory of why I hadn't been in school for weeks. Some most likely so far fetched, but made sense to people. I tried to ignore it all and enjoy my day out of that ratchet hospital that I had been practically living at for the past few weeks. It was going pretty well until I was called down to the principles. For what? I'm not quite sure. I walked down to his office.

"Hello Georgia." Mr. McMullen said.

"Hi, how are you?" I asked nicely.

"I'm great. But it's come to my attention that you have missed the past couple of weeks. Care to explain?" He said in a hushed tone.

"My parents didn't tell you?" I questioned.

"No..." He said sounding confused.

"Well this is awkward. But anyway I kind of got into a car accident and was rushed to the hospital. I was fine though, but while they were running tests they found that I have cancer. So I've been getting treated and recovering from my accident. They haven't determined the seriousness of the cancer so they didn't want to let me out." I said trying to make it as clear as possible. Mr. McMullen's mouth dropped.

"Oh dear! I had no idea! I'm so sorry darling!" He replied fearful.

"It's okay, I guess with everything going on my parents forgot to tell you." I said.

"Oh my. What are we going to do?" He asked.

"You mean like do I want everyone to know? I guess so." I replied.

"Okay, how about we have an assembly? I'll do all the talking you just have to sit in your seat." He asked trying to make me comfortable in this situation.

"That's fine. Can I go now?" I asked kindly.

"Sure." He smiled as I walked out the door. Oh boy. I never thought of how everyone else would take it. Would they even care? I don't know. I guess only time will tell. I walked to my class just as the bell rang for lunch. I grabbed my things then met Emily at our usual spot for lunch. I was so relieved to see her, I was under so much stress. I gave her a hug then we talked about normal stuff for awhile until Jackson came. He walked in with a big smile on his face, which brought a big smile to my face! He gave me a kiss on the cheek & said

"Baby! I've missed you so much!"

I smiled even bigger than replied "I missed you too!" Lunch continued, the three of us caught up on the latest gossip and talked about classes. Then I decided to tell them about the assembly the principle was planning who knows when.

"So Mr. McMullen just found out about my cancer today & he wants to hold an assembly to tell the school." I said straight out. They both just blinked at me. Then Emily spoke up.

"Is that what you want?" She asked.

"I guess, I never really thought about it. How do you think they'll take it?" I asked them both.

"I think everyone will react differently, but everyone will support you. Everyone loves you George." Jackson said sweetly. His voice made me want to kiss him so deeply, but Emily was right there & I didn't want to make her feel awkward.

The bell ending lunch rang. We all headed to our next class, luckily Jackson & I had the next period as our free time, so I grabbed his hand then lead him to an empty hallway. This way no one would bother us.

"Everything's so hectic. I'm so stressed. I just need to relax for one minute." I said pulling him into a kiss. We kissed for who knows how long, I really didn't care because it felt so good. He felt so good. He tasted like apple cinnamon, I really had missed that. I had missed him so much the fast few weeks it was unbelievable.

"I love you so much, can we just stay here forever?" Jackson pulled away to say then came back into our kiss.

"I love you too, for as long as we can baby." I responded then jumped into his arms.

Eventually the bell rang for our next period, so we said goodbye then went our separate ways. Just as I had gotten to English the principle announced over the loud speaker that we were going to have an assembly, now. Oh gosh, this is it. I walked with my class to the auditorium, before I could go in Jackson & Emily grabbed my arm & pulled me to the side.

"Oh thank god! I was freaking out!!" I said panicky. Jackson hugged me then whispered in my ear

"It's going to be okay, everything is going to be okay."

"I don't want people to give me sympathy, I don't want them to act as if I'm any less than I was before." I said.

"Then tell them that, they'll understand." He reassured me.

"Do you want to go in? We can always ditch." Emily asked.

"No, it's fine I want to go." I said, then walked through the doors & took a seat in the back. Emily & Jackson joined. Jackson grabbed my hand & planted a kiss on my forehead. I love when he does that, I'm not sure why but I do. He's such a great guy I can't believe I'm lucky enough to call him mine. It's scary to feel this strongly about someone at such a young age, most people now a days don't use love properly, but I truly love Jackson. That scares me even more than the fact that I have cancer & could possibly die. Mr. McMullen's voice cut my thinking off,

"Hello everyone. I have gathered you all here for a very important announcement." He said. I gulped & squeezed Jackson's hand. Emily laid her head on my shoulder, I smiled at her. "How many of you know someone who has or has had cancer?" Mr. McMullen asked everyone. Many hands popped up. "It really sucks that I have to be saying this, there isn't any easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it. One of your classmates has cancer." He finished off. Everyone gasped & looked around. I was so tempted to leave but I know I couldn't.

"Who?!" A bunch of different people shouted. Mr. McMullen looked at me, to ask if I wanted them to know it was me, & I nodded.

"The student that has cancer is Georgia Cavanaugh." The room became completely silent, all eyes turned to me. It stayed like this for what felted like forever until Mr. McMullen spoke up,

"I know we are all devastated & feel for Georgia, I think the best thing we can all do is to let her know that we are here for her & we care." After he finished we were dismissed to leave. I walked upstairs as fast as I could, so I could avoid seeing people. I grabbed my stuff from my locker then sprinted to the parking lot to meet Emily & Jackson. As I was coming down the stairs I noticed that almost everyone in sight was crying. My heart broke. I never noticed how many people really cared for me. I was so blessed. Someone saw me & ran over to give me a hug, I hugged them back. I did this routine about 20 times after that until I needed to go. I have never felt so loved by so many people. It was crazy, I couldn't help but smile. As soon as I saw Jackson & Emily I ran up to them & pulled them into a big group hug.

"I love you both so much & I'm so happy I have you in my life." I said to them. Emily wiped away tears from her eyes then chocked out

"Me too babe, me too." Jackson gave me a kiss on the cheek, then we got into his car & drove away. I starred out the window, thinking about my life, & how much I was determined to stay here, to stay with these people.

We dropped Emily of at her house then headed to Jackson's to cuddle & watch movies. I was in such a great mood, this day could have been a disaster, but it wasn't. We got through the first movie & was half way through the second when my brother, Micheal, called me.

"Georgia you need to get home NOW!" He said freaking out.

"What? Why?" I asked worried.

"It's Jasper, hurry!!" He said then hung up. Oh no, Jasper was my horse, my prize possession. My expression must have shown that something was wrong,

"What's going on?! Is everything okay?!" Jackson asked.

"I don't know. We need to get to my house now, it's Jasper." I looked at him with tears in my eyes. He grabbed his keys & we ran to his car. Jasper was more than a horse to me, he was my best friend. The bond we share is unbreakable.

We got to my house five minutes later, thanks to Jackson & his speeding. I ran to Jasper's stall and saw him laying down. I looked around to piece together everything. Oh crap.