A matter of time

2. Run a marathon

I've had to change my original ambition slightly. I don't know if I'm going to live long enough to compete in the next marathon. So instead we're doing a 5mile fun run for Cancer Research, a charity which will hopefully prevent more people being in my situation. Thanks to my school and Facebook, my besties and I have managed to raise over £2000. It took me ages to convince Jess to actually join me. Nicole was already ruled out due to her asthma. But she's still coming along to support us. Well probably more like laugh at us since we're doing it dressed as pink fairies, with tutus and wands. The whole works, thanks to Nicole's sister letting us borrow her fairy dressing up stuff. To be honest Nicole would have found us any embarrassing costume since she wouldn't have had to wear it. She's already suggested dogs or a cow costume. Knowing my luck, if we had got the cow costume I would have been the rear end, doing five miles looking at Jess's backside. She might fart or something.

We only decided on our costumes this week and now the fun run is tomorrow. I'm really nervous to tell the truth. I don't like running at the best of times but I've always vowed to take part in a charity run or marathon. I had a massive carbohydrate dinner. A huge bowl of chicken pasta. The run starts at midday tomorrow and I have to eat 2 jacket potatoes beforehand to get my energy up. My parents insisted that I eat as much as possible in preparation for tomorrow but at their rate I'll have to do the run twice just to burn off all the calories. I had two helpings of the chicken pasta and I'm still full.

-

Its midnight and I really should be asleep right now. But my nerves are preventing me from dropping off. I mean what if I faint or something during the race. The doctors are still keen to keep up my treatment despite me being a lost cause. They said there is always the chance of a "miracle recovery". Yeah right! Sometimes the treatment makes me ill and I'm just hoping tomorrow isn't one of those days. It'd be really ironic if I died tomorrow. I'm sorry to be so morbid but trust me its worse inside my head. The constant paranoia of dropping dead any moment. Not knowing whether you are going to live another day, another hour, another second...

-

It's the day of the race and I'm already up. I got around 5 hours sleep last night. It's around six o'clock and I'm just showering. Most people make life decisions in here; I just make day decisions. But one morning even they aren't going to be fulfilled. I feel sorry for my parents. Anyway, I finish showering and change into the fairy outfit, complete with glittery wings. The little girl inside me is considering permanently keeping the wings for "sad days". The times when I just lose grip on reality and wallow in my own self pity. I count my blessings that I still have a little time to live. But it's weird knowing that my great grandma is probably going to outlive me. Anyways, sad times in the shower are over. I'm getting dressed and I'm really enjoying putting this outfit together.

I put on my underwear as I dance around the room to a One Direction song which was currently playing on the radio. They are my favourite band in the whole world and I practically screamed as soon as the first line blared out of the speakers. If someone was to look through the window, my “dancing” accompanied with my out of tune caterwauling might lead them to the assumption that I am being attacked. Or they might just think I’m possessed. But I really don’t care because I just love this song so much and I intend to enjoy it:

“The dimples in your back at the bottom of your spine,

But I'll love them endlessly

I won't let these little things slip out of my mouth,

But if I do,

It's you,

Oh, it's you they add up to.

I'm in love with you,

And all these little things.”

Harry Styles has got to be the most beautiful being that has ever lived. His gorgeous curly hair that frames his perfect face, his dazzling smile, his... Well I could go on forever about his perfection because it never gets old. But I have a fun run to prepare for and Jess will beat me to death if she hears that Harry is the best looking member of 1D- he is, but she seems to believe that Niall is “so much sexier”. We still haven’t agreed on who’s right and Nicole refuses to get involved in our argument as she is too obsessed with the back flipping babe from JLS. Now he’s just a stunner but he doesn’t do it for me like Harry does. “Little Things” sadly finishes and Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball” comes on. I’m ashamed to say that by the end of the song, I had failed countless attempts to twerk. I swear I’ve probably thrown out my back or something because that’s certainly what it feels like right now. That probably wasn’t a good idea to do right before a fun run. Otherwise I’m going to look less like Tinkerbell-meets-Barbie and more like the Fairy Hunchback of Notre Dame as I can’t quite manage to straighten up at the moment so I have resorted to lying on my bed, trying to wiggling into my neon pink tutu which I've been holding since the end of “Little Things”.

It takes me an hour to recover and put the finishing touches to my outfit; Jess and Nicole arrive just as I've adjusted my pink glittery wings. Nicole immediately pushes me down into my desk chair and opens her makeup trolley- and when I say trolley I mean trolley. She only normally lugs it round on special occasions. Normally, she just has a small makeup bag inside of her actual bag. She never goes anywhere without it. I don’t know why since she’s breathtakingly beautiful. She has this small heart-shaped face which is framed by these golden ringlets that fall right down to her bum. Her eyes are a piercing royal blue and are framed by her naturally long eyelashes. She’s a natural beauty but she doesn’t really seem to know it and her shy personality stops her from interacting with anyone else really. She also just happens to be AMAZING at make-up and since today is a special occasion I will be wearing more than the usual dose of mascara and lip gloss. Jess’s make-up is already done so she just watches whilst Nic transforms my face. She goes for pink glittery eye shadow, outlining my eyes in a gel liner and brushing on about three coats of mascara. A bit of foundation to cover up the imperfections that is my skin and finishing off with my favourite Barry M lip gloss. The chemo completely destroyed my clear skin, opening my eyes up to a world of foundation and concealer. Then my pink wig is arranged onto my head and we are ready to leave. I grab my pink water bottle, Jess grabs her deeley boppers and we head out of the door.

On the bus, I realise that I forgot to eat my jacket potatoes and as if on cue my stomach growls. The girls laugh at my misfortune. We eventually arrive at the park where the fun run is being held and I buy a sausage roll from a refreshment stall. I sigh as I bite into the flaky pastry and the taste of pork sausages hits my tongue. I wolf the sausage roll down, nearly burning my throat in the process. Then we head to the sign in desk and pick up our numbers and head to the starting line. Nic departs and finds a spot near the start line, which is also conveniently the finish line. She waves us on as the claxon sounds and we set off.

-

The fun run takes us two and a half hours but we finally cross the finish line, exhausted but accomplished. Nicole races at us and hugs us, despite the fact we must be dripping with sweat due to the jogging and the baking hot sun. I kind of regret picking an enduring activity that involves physical exercise during the hottest month of the year because right now I'm sweating my tits off. I wouldn’t be surprised right now if they slipped out from under my top and just melted on the ground. Anyhoo we got our medals and went home to celebrate in my air conditioned room with tubs of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Bliss!       

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FYI I do not own/ have any rights to the lyrics in this chapter. Sorry, I know it's been over a month since I've updated but my script has had to come first since it's due in on Monday and I'm still not finished.

The dedication is for the cover :)

Thanks for reading.