Her Last Wish

Chapter 20

Hello lovely people who are so commited to Alice and Drew they are still reading this book!

I love you guys, seriously. Like in an icky gooey cheesy affectionate kind of way. A million apologies for the delay. College has been keeping me busy lately. Also, I have internships that need me to do day-to-day tasks so you know, it's been almost impossible to find free time (Miraculously I found time to read John Green stuff. He's awesome. He's awesome. He's awesome).

Anyways, HLW update: I've been busy trying to finalize the twists and turns of this book (at least one in particular which is so big you guys wouldn't see it coming). I'm really excited to finally see this story come to an end (I know you guys are waiting for the big "Will Alice live or die?" ending) and just be able to see how you guys will react to it. The story is going to get really scientific-y soon and so brace yourself. 

Lastly, sorry for the not-so-long chapter. I know you guys waited a while for this. I'll try and keep my uploads constant (once in two weeks) but I can't promise anything because I swear in this university, one minute you've got no projects then the next it's projects+tests+reports. 

Enjoy guys!

xx Sandra

Chapter 20

"Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep. Dreaming about the things that we could be. Lately I've been, I've been praying hard. Said no more counting dollars. We'll be, yeah, we'll be counting stars. . ." I groaned, shutting my iPod off. I had been playing the same song for days. It was not because I was fond of it; no, it was more because it had allowed me to keep my mind off things. I would instead think of how life would have been if Drew was a normal teenage boy. I would think of how easy it would be if I wasn't sick. It was impossible and selfish, I was aware. Yet, I could not help but question why others had it easier. 

I had been skipping school for almost a week now. I could not afford to waste my time learning lessons I would not live to make use of; instead, I needed to spend what time I had left trying to help Drew and ensure his safety. I was past the point of crying myself to sleep out of self-pity. Now, I was at the point where I needed to figure things out. I accepted the fact that Drew could not tell me the entire truth; it was far too dangerous---for us both.  But I had to know somehow. I had to know what information Drew was after. I needed to know why it was important he had it. And most of all, I needed to figure out what McKinley wanted with Drew. If he didn't know what Drew had been up to, then there must have been a reason why he wanted Drew back in his laboratory.

I was uncertain how I could obtain all the information I needed. Powell could help. But that was difficult and far too risky. I had been trying to figure out ways to talk to Powell again for the past few days but to no avail. I sighed. The information would have to wait, I supposed. The first thing I needed to do was continue to aid in covering for Drew. That would at least help assure me that he was safe. 

I pushed myself out of bed and decided to go for a quick jog. I was feeling pretty well --in terms of health, that is--since I decided to ditch school. I concluded it must have been the more-than-enough hours of rest I'd been getting. I threw on a loose hoodie and my old-but-barely-worn running shoes and left a note by the kitchen before leaving the house. 

It was mid-afternoon. The elderly were taking a stroll and the young were happily chattering on the streets. Today was a relatively nice day. I jogged aimlessly around the neighborhood for a while before heading to a small cafe. I had been sweating buckets by the time I reached the cafe but I ordered myself a cup of hot coffee anyway. 

"Hey." A voice called out.

I looked up to see an unfamiliar face smiling down at me from where I sat. I furrowed my brows in confusion. "Uhm ... Do I know you?"