Family comes first? You have got to be kidding me.

I wasn't sure exactly when the nightmare began. It could have been when I fell in gym after running laps that Wednesday. Maybe it was when I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Perhaps it's when I found out I was a freak. Or maybe it was when I discovered I would be spending the rest of my highschool years at a boarding school across the country.

Things normally didn't go my way and I was perfectly fine with that. My favorite song constantly played in my head Don't stop Believing, Hold on to that feeling. That had always been my outlook on my life. I truly thought that if I believed in myself great things would happen. So far that wasn't the case. Actually believing had gotten me in even more trouble than I had already been in.

Maybe a month ago I was diagnosed with some rare brain cancer that would kill me if I didn't get a transplant. Almost all of my family from around there got tested to see if their blood matched up. Nobody's did, not even my mom's. It wasn't until that night that I found out the truth as to why my blood didn't match hers.

"Honey, we need to talk." My mom said. When I nodded she continued. "Well, I don't know how to tell you this. But your dad and I aren't your real parents." Her voice broke and tears started running freely down her cheeks. My eyes widened and I gaped at her. I had a feeling she didn't mean just Mark- my step dad- wasn't my dad.

"Ar-Are you serious?" I asked in shock. "You can't possibly expect me to believe that you have kept me from knowing the this my entire life.I even asked you if i was adopted before because we are so different!"

She was sobbing but she managed to nod her head. "I'm sorry. We didn't want to upset you. I wish I would have kept in contact with them so that I could have asked them to donate or so i would have known the possibility for this disease. The doctor said its genetic."

"So what? I'm not going to get a transplant and I'm just going to die?" I spat at her a little too harshly and instantly felt bad.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner I just didn't know how. When your father died I realized I had to tell you on my own." She looked at her feet. "I just didn't know it would be this soon."

I stared at her, feeling tears well up in my eyes. I choked them back and met her eyes. I knew there was something she was keeping from me so I decided it couldn't hurt to press for answers. She kind of owed them to me. "What else mom?" I asked trying to sound less scared than I really was. I can tell your keeping something from me."

She thought long and hard before finally meeting my eyes and saying, "You have a rare blood type that not many people have. They are going to make an announcement at the school and there should be a few matches but I don't know that anyone will be allowed to donate." She said slowly. "I wish your father were alive. He could have been a match." With that she covered her face and dropped into a nearby chair. I couldn't tell if she was upset over the fact that I could be at a loss for a brain or my father's death.

About four months ago my dad died from some rare heart disease. It hit us all pretty hard and I remember laying with him in his hospital bed moments before I heard the heart moniter stop it's steady rythem and fall into a steady beep sound. I pushed the button for the doctor and screamed out the door. "HELP! PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP ME!" I ran to my father and tried to shake him to wake him up when the doctor came in and took me out of the room so they could see what was wrong. About an hour later he was pronounced dead. Ever since i had frequent nightmares about that day. he was my rock and now I had nobody. That's when the hallucinations started and I blacked out one day during school. I was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with the brain cancer. That's when my life changed. Forever.