The Tearing of Oscar Monet

Chapter One

Oscar lay in bed for the rest of the day. Sobs and loud bangs echoed through the huge house. Oscar's father was the governor of New York, but him and his mother lived in a lonely house in Scarborough, Washington. He hardly ever saw his father.
Eventually he managed to fall asleep, only to wake up an hour later in a cold sweat. The night dragged on for what seemed like an eternity. Oscar staring at the ceiling, then drifting off to sleep to wake up ten minutes later. The sun finally rose around six and the birds began their daily concert.
Five days.
Five days.
Only five.
These words spun in Oscar's head over and over again, like a hand on a clock. He lay in bed for about a half an hour, slowly building up the willpower to move. An icy shiver ran up Oscar's legs and up his spine as his feet touched the wooden floor. The boards creaked horribly as he made his way down stairs. He came upon his mother slumped in one of the dining room chairs, a landline in her outstretched hand. Her head rested on the dark, oak table. Short chestnut hair spread loosely over the table.
"Mom?" Oscar's voice came out a pity full squeak. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Mom?" When she didn't respond, he stepped over and shook her lightly.
Mrs. Monet jolted awake, revealing her red and puffy eyes. "Oscar." She sighed, pulling him to her.
"I-it's okay mom..." He wrapped his arms around her.
"No it's not." She brought her hands to her mouth, sobs wracked her body.
"Don't cry, please don't." Oscar pulled his gaze from his mother, not able to face her. Somehow he felt that this was all his fault. Maybe if he hadn't gotten sick then this would've have happened. Scratch that, it definitely wouldn't have happened.
"Oscar-" His mother sniffed and choked back another sob. "Go and call Elle." She lightly pushed him away. Oscar left go find his phone, but not before hugging her one more time.
Oscar sat on his bed and dialed his best friends number. He had Elle had been friends as long as he could remember. They told everything to each other, and she was the only one who didn't tease him or shame him for his disease. The other kids at school had called him names such as, 'Rattle Box' and 'Paper Mouth.' Though none of them were clever names, they still hurt Oscar. So much to a point he was pulled out of school to become homeschooled.
"Oscar!" Elle's voice came through the phone. Oscar couldn't help but smile.
"Hey Ellie..." His grin vanished when he remembered what he had called her for.
"Something's wrong, I can hear it in your voice."
"I've got something to tell you..."
"Go on then."
"So you know how Dr. Munce visits every few days?"
"Yeah, the boring one."
"Well she... Um-Uh..." Oscar could feel the tears stinging his eyes, threatening to spill over.
"What, Oscar? Spit it out!" Elle had never been the most patient of people.
"I have five days to live." He choked out. A minute of silence pursued, then the line went dead.
Oscar imagined Elle bawling, snot running down her face and hot tears burning down her dark skin. But he knew she wasn't. Elle never cried. Never. Not when Billy Pole took her doll in preschool or when she fell and broke her arm last year. Elle was the strong one. The brave one, the courageous one. She was the support, the glue. Without her Oscar would never have done anything. He would've been too scared. Shy, scared, diseased Oscar never would have stepped up to home plate and made something of himself.

An hour or so later a loud knock sounded on the door. Oscar trudged down the stairs, avoiding the dining room where his mother still sat. He pulled the hulking front door open to see Elle standing there. She enveloped him in a massive hug and pulled him out the door.
"C'mon, get your bike." Oscar watched her face as she spoke, straining to find some discrete hint of emotion. But he found nothing.
"Where are we going?" He asked as he ran around the side of the house to fetch his bike.
"Somewhere, just get your bike." Elle was already at the end of the long, Tarmac driveway.
"Okay, okay, I'm comin." Oscar sat on his bike and pushed it forwards, swinging his legs out on either side as he went.
"You are such a weirdo." Elle chuckled, pushing off and pedaling down to the end of the cul de sac Oscar lived on.
"Hey, wait for me!" Oscar cried as he took off after her.

"So where are going again?" Oscar itched with anticipation.
"I'm not gonna tell you." Elle shook her head. It wasn't long before she swerved off into huge parking lot.
"The zoo!" Oscar cried, a huge grin lighting up his face. "We haven't been to the zoo since that field trip in fifth grade!" He hopped off his bike and leaned it against a wooden fence next to Elle's. He knelt down and locked it to the fence post before running off through the entrance.
"Giraffes!" Oscar practically screamed, dragging Elle towards the exhibit. He did he best to ignore the strange looks he got, keeping his eyes glued on the animals.
"Look at its tongue!" Elle giggled, point in at the giraffe's dark mouth.
"It looks like your tongue after you ate six grape Popsicles at the fair last year." Oscar chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." Elle rolled her eyes. "Ooh! Look, gorillas!" And Oscar was yanked off once again.

"That was fun, thanks." Oscar smiled, mounting his blue bike.
"No problem, I mean, might as well make the best of things considering..." Her smile faded as she realized what she had just said. "I'm- uh, I'm sorry." She whispered, pedaling faster.
"It's fine, it was bound to pop up eventually." Oscar stared straight ahead, his eyes glued to the road. The rest of the journey was silent.