A Bucket List for Ella

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

                  After breakfast I killed time for awhile, reading for a good couple of hours while I waited for Liam. When I heard him honking outside, I grabbed my shoulder bag and headed out the door. Luckily, Nico was in the shower and wouldn't notice my absence until I was long gone.

"Hey," I said, hopping into Liam's jeep. He leaned in towards me for a peck on the cheek and then pulled back. We glanced awkwardly at each other for a moment before Liam spoke.

"I just assumed..."

"No, it's fine," I said, flashing him a small smile.

Liam leaned in and placed a kiss on my forehead before putting both hands on the wheel and driving towards the boardwalk. Somehow, I didn't know if this was what I wanted. I didn't know if I deserved to be happy and then break peoples' hearts when I got sick or if I died.

Liam pulled the Jeep up into a parking space along the boardwalk. As we hopped out of the car, I tuned in with my surroundings. The water was in full view, looking gorgeous and crystal clear on the Australian December day. Parents walked, pushing strollers, and couples sat feeding seagulls and eating ice cream. It was easy to tell who the tourists were; most had a camera either slung around their neck or in their hand and carried shoulder bags similar to mine, easier to carry more stuff in.

Liam and I walked around to the little kiosks and I did some shopping. For my godmother, I picked out a gorgeous turquoise bracelet, for my godfather, a bottle opener that sang the Australian national anthem when the cap popped off the bottle, and for my two elementary school aged godbrothers I picked up boomerangs that didn't actually throw properly (for safety reasons) as well as one of those cute stuffed koala clips for each of them. I knew that even if you could find similar stuff in the states, they would appreciate it – they were boys, and they would think it was super special to have things from another country.

Liam patiently waited as I paid for each thing. He didn't say a word when he saw the bill for the bracelet, knowing that I was probably well off, considering the family I came from. I didn't like to flaunt my wealth, but this would help me conquer bucket list task number 9.

"Who's all this for?" Liam asked after examining the gifts I had bought.

I explained to him who each gift was for.

"You seem close with your godparents," he said.

"My parents died," I said, very matter-of-factly.

"I- I'm sorry, I didn't know," he said apologetically. Guilt filled his blue eyes.

"No, it's fine. It was a few years ago. At least they didn't have to know that I got sick."

"May I ask how long ago it was when you...got...found out you were sick?"

"Let me see, I was 17, so about two years, give or take a few months?"

"17? Geez, that must be really tough."

"Yeah. Nico told me it's pretty rare for people to be diagnosed with breast cancer that young."

I talked for a few more minutes about my life, and then I let him tell me about his. We chatted about random little things, when finally he landed on the topic of school.

"So you like your school a lot it seems," I commented.

"Yeah, it's really great. The profs are all really nice and they care about you, at least as much as a prof can," Liam replied.