"Oh come on, Dad! There's got to be a cure." I said again. Dad was sitting across from me at the table, eating his cereal. We'd somehow gotten around to the topic of Solstice's sickness. Well, I brought it up but that doesn't matter. It seemed like she was the only thing that I thought about these days. Even when I was concentrating, or trying to, on something else, she was always in the back of my mind. Weird, how that could only happen after a few days.
Dad said after eating his spoonful of Reeses, "I've told you it before. We've been looking, the other doctors and I. But...I did order some new books that came in last night. I was hoping they might contain the cure, though I doubt it. What Solstice has is something we've never seen before. She shows no symptoms, but the charts say that she only has one fourth of the year left."
I shifted in my seat, "Can I...You know, read the books?"
"You? Read? Since when did you willingly read?"
I rolled my eyes, "Since I had a good reason to read for."
I watched as Dad rose from his seat, trudging into the kitchen to dump his bowl into the sink, then reached into one of the cabinets. He pulled out three pretty thick books and plopped them in front of me.
I muttered, "Dang...These are way bigger than Sam I am."
The books had pretty obvious names. There was Cures, Diseases and Their Cures, and Antidotes. I chose the Diseases and Their Cures books then flipped open to the first page.
I said, "Holy crap, Dad! These words are tiny! You need a freaking magnefying glass to see these things."
Dad sat next to me, "Oh, be quiet. Don't be so dramatic. I can read them just fine."
"Yeah? Well you aren't me."
"Are you going to read it or not?" He asked.
I nodded and found a chapter called Uncurable Diseases. Whatever Solstice had, it wouldn't be in that chapter right? She had to have a cure! I read through them, then stopped when I found a paragraph that read:
Cureless Disease #32: This disease shows no symptoms at all, aside from the fact the patients heart beat slows down each month. After getting this disease, usual patients have no more than three to four months to live.
I read it aloud to my dad. No...No, no, no! The book had to be wrong! Doctors make mistakes. I absentmindedly threw the book across the room and grabbed some of my hair in frustration.
I paced around the living room, my head in my hands.
Dad asked, "What are you gonna do?"
I looked at him, "What I said I'd do before. Make her last months the best of her life."
"I'm not sure if that's the nicest or stupidest decision of your life."
I put my hand on his shoulder, "No. You know I've made stupider decisions. Remember the time I took grandma's car for a joyride when I was 12? Good times, good times."
"How do you do that?"
"What? Crash a car? Easy. You just run the car-"
"No, Tristian! I mean, be sad and pissed off then be retardedly funny."
I blinked, "I don't know whether that was meant to be an insult or compliment."
"You'll never know."
I did the whole 'I'm watching you' eye thingy to him, trying to keep that smirk off my face as I did so. One thing I love about my dad: He's just as sarcastic as I am. I personally don't think I look much like the dude, but his friends say that it's like he just spit me out. I don't think that's possible since guys don't have the babies but I'd rather not get into grown-up specific stuff like that with his friends. They'd have to cover their ears when the naughty details came out.
Dad smirked slightly, "So...About that date you have this afternoon with Solstice."
My jaw dropped ever so slightly. How come every one thought I was dating Solstice? Couldn't two teenagers of the opposite gender joke around and hang out without everyone else assuming things? I mean, sure, the idea of even going on a date with Solstice made my stomach flip, but that's beside the point.
I blinked slowly again, "Wh-She- We're....Dad! It's not a date."
He plopped down on the couch "You sure?"
"Yeah, Dad." I insisted. "It's. Not. A. Date."
"If you say so."
"Yes. Yes, I do say so." I retorted stupidly before brushing some dust off my jeans.
Dad studied me, "Hm...Okay. Well, when will you get ready for it?"
I shrugged, "I don't know. Girls are the ones that freak over what they'll wear." I then mocked what girls on movies sounded like in a falsetto tone "O-M-G. I, like, need to, like totally,dig through my wardrobe to find what I'm gonna wear even though, like, I have to go in, like, forty five minutes."
"Those are only the girly girls, you know. Your mother was never like that. I highly doubt Solstice would be like that."
I waved those comments off, "Details, details." I yawned and sat down next to him before my phone began ringing. I frowned, pulling it out. Travis. Figures.
I answered the phone, "How may I take your order?"
Travis asked, confused, "What?"
"I have no idea. I just wanted to say that."
"What's up?" He asked.
"Anything above eye level." I smirked.
"Finally! You didn't say the sky!"
"The sky is above eye level." I pointed out. "But, really, what do you want?"
Travis seemed to think about it, "Hm...Well, I want a hot blond-"
"Travis."
"Sorry, sorry. Do you have time before your da-"
I sighed, "I swear, if you say 'date' then the next time I see you, tie you into a knot and play volleyball with your ass."
Dad stared at me with a quizzical look. Well, I didn't have time for quizzes!
With my spidey senses, I knew Travis rolled his eyes, "I highly doubt that's possible."
I held my index finger up, "Anything is possible if you just believe!"
"Dude. Seriously?"
"Nope. I'm as serious as the Joker."
"Can you come over?"
"Why?"
Travis sighed, "Just come."
He hung up. I furrowed my eyebrows together, slowly standing up. "I'm going to Travis's, dad."
Dad nodded, "Okay. Do you want me to drive you?"
I snorted, "Dude, I've got a car. Speaking of that car....To the bat mobile!" I was going to run to the Tristian mobile, when Dad asked:
"What's with your bat man references?"
I turned to him, "What's with your references to my references?"
"What?"
"What?" I smirked.
"Really, Tristian,"
I shrugged, "Bat man's a bad ass. He's got no powers, but that makes him realistic!" I left my father staring at me like I was a mad man.
