Gwendalynn: The Girl With Cancer

Gwendalynn | 7

When I realized looks aren't everything...

OCTOBER - 2010

And that's what I did. I mopped, and sprayed, and scrubbed, and washed practically everything that I could. I wouldn't be surprised if I had cleaned half of the entire hospital. I practically did clean the hospital from two weeks ago to now. Twelve hours straight with a thirty minute break here and there. One with Gwen, the rest alone on the weekends.

For almost three weeks, this is all I did after school, so right now, I'm kind of cherishing the moments before I go to the hospital.

I sat at my usual desk and opened my notebook. I've actually found Biology class to be really interesting. It's not hard for me to understand - surprisingly - and I can learn at the pace the class is going. I sit next to a new kid, Ryan. He's practically the talk of the school. All the girls are in love with him and all the guys want him to enter their group, but he's actually pretty mellow and chilled out.

"Hey, Kyle." he greeted, taking the seat next to me.

"Hey."

"Page?"

"273."

He opened his book to the page and we waited for class to begin. Our Biology teacher is Mr. Maxwell who is probably around his mid twenties. Some girls, not all, but some also like him too. He's a cool guy, strict, but not strict enough for me to dislike him. He has black hair with broad shoulders and a sharp jaw.

He's got a good sense of humor, one that many teachers here would find childish and immature, but he's still young and still has those characteristics that we all have.

Since we've been learning Human Systems lately, he told us we'd be learning about the circulatory system today and I was actually pretty excited. After we read the chapter in our books, everyone was given a piece of paper which had to be finished at the end of class. I worked on my sheet with Ryan's help. We were one of the first ones to be finished.

As the bell rang, signaling us as the end of the day, Alice from my English class stepped forward, stopping me.

"Hi, um, Kyle? I-I was-" at that moment, Mr. Maxwell called to me, interrupting Alice.

"Mr. Hastings, may I speak to you for a moment?"

I glanced at Mr. Maxwell and nodded before turning back to Alice.

"Oh, it's okay." She started to blink rapidly. "Never mind, it's not important anyway." She hurried towards the exit before I could say anything else.

I heaved a sigh and turned around to face Mr. Maxwell.

"Uh, yes, sir?"

"I'd like to have a word with you about your grades."

I sucked in a sharp breath, feeling confused. I thought I was doing well in Biology.

"You've been doing rather exceptional work. I'm surprised to see that this is one of the only classes you get an A in. Is there anything going on at home?" he asked sincerely.

"What? No!" I shook my head violently. "Nothing's going on at home. I just, I don't know, I guess it's just kind of one of the only things I have a huge interest in."

Mr. Maxwell narrowed his eyes, not impressed with my answer, nor convinced.

"Alright, you are dismissed." He motioned his hand towards the doorway. I lifted the strap from my backpack higher onto my shoulder. I lazily left the room and started to wonder what Alice was going to tell me. I shrugged and left the school.