Priceless / l.h. (Hiatus)

chapter ten

Brooklyn's pov

november 2008

"Who dropped you off last night? I saw the headlights light up my room when you got home," My mom asked the next morning as I was feeding her her breakfast.

"The boy who's birthday it was, his family," I answered.

My mom adjusted herself, letting out a slight groan. She has a sickness that we haven't figured out what it is quite yet, but long story short, she's going to die. No one knows when, but she's on so many medications and none of them are working. They eased the body pain that she experiences on a daily bases, but never to the fullest.

Like I said, we don't know her sickness, but it's bad. My mom can only stand for about ten minutes and can only walk for a very short amount of time. Sometimes she can't even walk by herself. She has been bedridden for years and needs to be fed, as she can barely hold a spoon, me and my siblings have to take shifts with who feeds her. She is in constant pain and very weak. It's been a hard four years for us.

"Do you like this boy?" My mom asked, pulling my out of my thoughts.

I started to smile. "I don't know, maybe," I saw a weak smile grow on her face. "I don't know!" I laughed.

"Sounds to me like you do," My mom said.

"I mean, he is the only one who has talked to me in my schooling years, ever, and he's very nice to me. He's very, very nice," The smile crept on my face again. "I don't know." I laughed again and put down her now empty bowl. "I have to get to school."

I stood up from my chair and leant down to kiss my mom's head. As I was going to stand back up she grabbed my arm to stop me.

"Talk to him, let him know how you feel," She said.

"I don't know," I sighed. "I don't know how I feel, and we're still young, mom."

My mom nodded and put down her arm slowly. I saw her eyes growing heavy and she didn't respond to my reply. That was another thing about the sickness, she had a hard time staying awake. I waved goodbye and walked off. I threw my backpack over my shoulder and left the house to start walking to school, which I had forty minutes to get to before the first bell. My walk to school took a half an hour, so I was good on time. I was tired though, so I knew it would take a longer time.

When it was my shift to feed my mom, every fourth day, I had to get up at five thirty instead of six. School started at seven forty-five and it always took me over an hour to get ready. And being late was always something I was afraid of. I didn't mind the walk. I always took a way through a small forest. I mean, it wasn't a legit forest, it had a path that took us to central town, but it was a scenic route and a lot safer than walking through my part of time. 

I got to school and suddenly got nervous. I planned earlier this morning, after waking up with a smile on my face, that I was going to thank Luke once again for the ride home. It was a simple thing to do, but for some reason I was still nervous.

I turned down different halls before finding my locker and getting my stuff. I then turned a few more to get to Luke's locker, where he usually was every morning. I got excited seeing his blonde hair and started walking faster, but as I got closer, I froze. It wasn't just him at his locker, he was with Genevieve. I hated her.

Not only was Luke with Genevieve, but he was on Genevieve. Her body was pressed against his and they were making out. I wanted to puke, but instead I turned around and took the long way to my class. I went on with my classes in the morning, but still couldn't get the image of them making out out of my head, and let me tell you, it wasn't a pretty sight.

At lunch, I didn't know if I was going to sit with Luke and his friends, but then I thought about it a little more. It wasn't like Luke had cheated on me, I didn't even know if I liked him. So I met them for lunch. When I got there, only Luke, Calum and Will were there. Luke grinned at me as I got there, making me feel better about eating with them.

"Hey," he said as I sat down.

"Hi," I smiled. "Thanks again for driving me home last night."

"Oh it was no problem, it could be dangerous for you to walk that late, and it's a long walk," Luke shrugged.

I laughed, if only he knew. "I had a good time."

"I did too, I'm glad you came," Luke said, and he was about to continue when I saw out of the corner of my eye, a hand place on his shoulder. It was Genevieve. 

Genevieve leant down and kissed him, making me uncomfortable. She squished in between Luke and me, leaving me only half sitting on the small lunch table bench. I had to hold onto the table the rest of lunch.

As the week went on, lunch kept getting more and more awkward. I felt like it was even awkward for Calum, Will and Amy. Every lunch Genevieve and Luke were all over each other. If it wasn't them kissing, one was touching the other in a way, if it was just a simple hand hold or a hand on the thigh. Also, Luke quit talking to everyone and only payed attention to Genevieve.

As a few more weeks like this went on, I stopped eating lunch with them. I started to eat outside, it was starting to get a little cold, but I didn't care. This was a lot better than eating with them. I didn't have to be ignored, instead I could just be quiet and alone. I also didn't have to sit beside Will, who was the more quiet one out of the guys, and have it be even more awkward. I also didn't have to witness the PDA.

Overall, being alone was better.

I entered this as a wattys2016 book only because I am really proud of this book. And a different chapter for you! Brooklyn's pov.