Cancer

21. Oldies

"You ready to go?" Lyn-z busts into Frank and my room. I shut my eyes open, realizing we never really got dressed after our 'Making love'-session, because we fell asleep. "Sorry." She says wide-eyed. I start laughing. Maybe I should be embarrassed, but I am not. Luckily, the duvet was covering most of our bodies, but it was obvious we have had sex.
As I am dressed, I stand for about a minute, just adoring my Frankie. My sleeping Frankie. He looks so peaceful, as if he made a shield around him, so no evil could hurt him. Yeah, that was Frank. My shield for evilness.
I close the door carefully behind me, as I get out of our bedroom with Sir William. I look up at a smiling innocently Lyn-z. "What?" I ask, cracking my voice into a high-pitched tone, accidently of course. I feel my face turn into a bright red. She shakes her head, smiling. "You love him, don't you?" She says more as a statement rather than a question. I smile at her. "So much." I tell her truthfully. "He loves you too, Louisa." I nod, I know. Smiling I put on my shoes and a jacket. Leather jacket. I love leather. We go out to Gerard's spare time car. Yeah, my dad has a 'spare-time-car.' It's just a car, however, he only uses it really rare. Why even have an extra car if you don't use it? Well, we are the Ways. We are weird people.

"I like these." I say as I hold up a pair of big, black combat boots. Lyn-z joins me, looking at them. "Your dad would love them as well. I like them. Try them on." She shrugs as she goes back to look at shoes for herself. I put them on. I look in the mirror in front of me. They look great. I would totally die in these! Wait. I'm sorry? But. I would. I put on my flip-flops again and hand Lyn-z the box with the combat boots in. "Can I get these?" I ask her smiling. She nods. "I found some shoes as well for, you know, your..." She waves her hands. I smile at her. "It's not a curse-word, mom. You can say it. Also in my company. Remember, it's not a party, neither a 'sad' funeral. It is the last goodbye." I explain to her, as we pay the cashier. He's looking very suspicious at us. It's none of your business dude. We take our bags and head into the next store. "You want leather jeans and a top?" I nod, smiling at a boy walking past us. I keep looking at him, and he keep watching me as well. I stop up, and so does he. I squeeze my eyes, thinking about who the hell this guy is. I start studying his eyes. He starts smiling bright. He has recognized who I am. Shit, what am I going to do? He's coming over now. I keep staring into his eyes. "Louisa? Oh my god! It's so good to see you!" He hugs me. His scent, and that's where it hits me. "Josh?" I ask with my eyes wide open. He pulls away nodding. Wiping a hand through his blue-green hair. I smile happily, and hug him again. "It's really you." I state. He giggles. Josh was my best friend when we were kids. Us, Adam and Alec. However, Josh was like a big brother to me. We lived next to each other. We were CLOSE. Lyn-z comes up from behind and looks at the blue-haired boy I am chatting to. "Oh, yeah, this is my mom, Lyn-z." I point up at Lyn-z. She waves smiling wry. Josh nods. I just told him about my foster parents. One thing (of many) about Josh is that he understands. He gets it. If you don't know, how to explain things, just give hints, and he'll understand. He, apparently, knew about my foster parents, not being my real parents. Apparently, everybody but me did. Which, kind of pissed me off in the moment, but I am not angry or anything now. Just happy to see him again.
"Have you talked to Adam and Alec recently?" I ask Josh, changing the subject. He shakes his head. "No, we lost contact, not long after you stopped hanging with us." He is very direct in his sayings. Like he always has been. I like it. We just stand there for a couple of time, catching up.
"Do you want to hang out?" He asks me smiling. I think about it. I don't want to hurt him. I look up at my mom, as if 'what should I do?' She smiles weak, understanding my situation. She nods. "It's okay by me. Just take care, and come home before 8 pm." She smiles, giving me that look: Live your life. I nod, appreciating her understanding. Josh smiles as well. "Wait. Here," she says handing me money. "It's for your... yeah." She still do not want to say the word. I get it. "Thanks mom." I hug her tight, burying my face in her shoulder. I feel a hand on my shoulder, and look up smiling at Josh. "I'll take care of her, don't worry." Josh tells my mom, and we walk off.
"How long?" Josh asks as we walk the hall. I look at him. He is good. "I have a few days left." I reply, smiling stiff at Sir William. He nods weak. "I knew, you know." I look back up at him, waiting for him to explain himself. "About your cancer, when we were kids. So did the others. We tried to contact you. We still cared. We never gave up on you. I never gave up." He corrects himself. I nod my head. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't bear to watch your hurt eyes when I die." I tell him truthfully. He nods. "I get it. I guess we just react differently." He takes my hand, smiling. "However, don't get me wrong here, but we would be happy. Happy, because we got the chance to meet you and be your friends. It won't be sad, I promise. It would be a last goodbye." He explains and dumps down on the bench. I smile at him, exactly.