Red Band Society

Clarke, Princess of Tumors

I bit down on my lip to keep from yelling out in pain as the needle entered my skin. I gripped the stress ball, which by the way, did not help my stress one bit. "There, all down." The nurse grinned over at me before patting my head. I tried my best to not glare at her as she talked down to me. "I know this must be very scary for you, sweetie. But you are a fighter you hear me? You are going to make it. You understand me?." I plastered a smile on my face before nodding at her. "Totally" My voice leaked sarcasm as the nurse quickly scrambled out of the room.

"5 bucks she tells every one that." My mom narrowed the same blue eyes I had. "Clarke, she's just trying to be positive." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her. "There's a big difference between flat out lying and being positive." She sighed before plopping down next to me on my new bed for the next few months. "Oh, baby." She whispered as her phone started to beat loudly from her pocket.

"She was right about something; you are a fighter."

"Doesn't every parent say that about their child before they die?" Her eyes widen in horror before she glared at me. I held my hands up in the air as a surrender before shrugging. "It's probably just my new meds they put me on. Mood swings were listed among the side effects." Her phone started to go off again before I laid a hand onto of hers.

"Mom, go. They need you." A few tears welled up in her eyes. "So do you."

"I do need you mom but not at this moment. They need you. Finn and Well's are suppose to stop by after school. It's not like I'll be alone for long." She glanced at her phone in her hand that was still beeping. "I'll come back as soon as I get done."

I shook my head at her before giving her a incredulous look. "Mom, it's like a 45 minute drive. You are not driving all the way back here to only stay for like an hour. Like I said, Finn and Well's will keep me company. You can just swing here before your shift tomorrow." I know that she wanted to be here for me but she had a life of her own. She was Abigail Clarke who wan her own clinic, she was Abigail Griffin a single mother, she was Abigail Griffin, the woman who onto of everything else she had a terminal ill daughter. She had enough to worry about. I didn't want to be another thing to pile on her. She hung her head in defeat before leaning over and pressing her lips to my forehead.

"I love you."

"Love you more."

I grinned over at her to show her that I was fine, which I was, for the most part tallest. After kissing my head one more time she was rushing out of the door with her phone attached to her head. I sighed in relief before letting my eyes travel around my new home.

Both the walls and the floor was painted a bright white (however, it was a dull white), there was a suicide awareness poster that stated "You are not just another person. You are important", a pain chart, and even posters full of smiling people. What a joke. Last summer I volunteered to be a hospice nurse so I was used to the bleak surroundings my now. There was a bed that cocked the other side of the room. There was a quilted blanket laid crossed it; a huge contrast against the hospital one that I was wrapped up in. A small photo frame was on the bedside table but I couldn't see who was in it. Sighing I sunk father into the itchy bed and let my eyes flutter closed. God knows they won't let me sleep at night so might as well get some now.

I was awoken by a loud feminine voice.

"Calm down, Bellamy. it was just a kiss." A male voice boomed just as louder. "Just a kiss? O. You don't just kiss people like that. Do you want to risk a affection?" The girl sighed before I heard her jump onto the bed. "You didn't have to punch Atom though." I lifted my head off my pillow to take a look at who woke me up. A girl with long wavy black hair had tubes stuck up her nose. She was sitting on the bed with her legs crossed and a glare on her face. The boy, who I amused was Bellamy as the girl once said, was standing above her, his arm crossed a passed off look on his face. Bellamy open his mouth to say something but I quickly cleared my throat. Both of them whipped around to my direction. The girl stared at me in confusion but a look of recognition crossed her face.

"Who the hell are you?" Bellamy snapped.

"Who the hell are you?" I glared at him before crossing my arms.

"You're my new roommate!" The boy with shaggy brown hair and huge brown eyes raised his eyebrow in the air.

So she was my roommate. "Since when did you get a new roommate?" He turned back to the girl and tilted his head to the side. She shrugged before leaping out of her bed. I didn't notice it before but she small tank peaking out of a purple bookbag that was slung over her shoulder. She slowly made her way to my before falling onto my bed. I froze in shock as she took a shaky breathe. "Octavia Blake. CF. Cystic Fibrosis. Lungs suck at being lungs."(1)Octavia stared over at me, smiling slightly. I realized that she wanted me to state my name.

"Uh, Clarke Griffin. Brain Tumor. Brain sucks at being a brain?" Mine came off more as a question as Octavia nodded in appreciation, accepting my answers. She nodded over to Bellamy. "That's Bellamy. He's my big brother. No wonder they both had the same black hair and huge brown eyes.

"So, when were you diagnose?" I took a deep breath of air. I wasn't used to people being so straightforward when it came to asking questions like these. Most people would look at you and pity and make up some bullshit "words of encouragement" or would avoid you at all cost. But maybe since we were in the same predicament (well not exactly the same, but we were both stuck in this hellhole." Uh, 2 months ago. What about you?" Octavia leaned back and stared up at that ceiling. "When I was 7. Been in and out of the hospital since then." I bit my lip slightly as I toyed with my bracelet. "I'm sorry."

Before she could say anything to me a phone started beeping. Bellamy glanced down at the phone in his hand before sighing. "I have to go to work. I'll see you tomorrow morning O." He placed a kiss softly on her forehead before turning to me. "See you later, Clarke, Princess of Tumors."

I hand to bit my lip so hard that it almost bleed my teeth as I fought to call him every name in the book. Princess of Tumors? He couldn't be any more morbid. But a part of me was slightly happy he didn't give me a look of pity or some other kind of bullcrap. He was making a joke out of it.. He sent one more smirk to me before walking out the room. Octavia gave me a sheepish grin. "I'm sorry about him, he's a little bit of a-"

"Jackass. Asshole. Douche bag." Octavia laughed before nodding her head. "Sometimes. But once you get pass the layer of jackass and douche bag he's actually a decent person. Trust me, you'll eventually learn to love him."

Hopefully I'm not around that long to test her theory.