*Three days later*
I collapsed on the couch and closed my eyes. I’m not in the mood to write . . . for God’s sake I’m not in the mood to write for three fucking days! I took a deep breath and sighed to myself. This is going to be a boring day, I thought. I opened my eyes and got up from the couch. Wow, living alone is pretty lonely. My phone rang loudly making me jump. I walked towards the coffee table and picked my phone up,
“Hello?”
“We need to talk.”
I raised an eyebrow, “Uh, who’s this?”
“It’s Luca.”
“What the hell? How did you get my—”
“Meet me at the small diner where I ate Lauren’s pancakes.” And with that, he hung up on me.
“Phone number,” I finished.
I put my phone back on the coffee table. I walked to the bathroom and took a cold shower before I threw on a loose tank top with a pair of jeans. I walked back to the living room, grabbed my shoes, and sat on the couch. I tied my shoelaces quickly and ran towards the front door. Am I really going to go to that small diner? Whatever, I thought. I don’t have anything better to do anyways.
I saw Luca’s car parked in front of the diner. I rolled my eyes and started to jog to the diner. I stepped inside and saw Luca immediately. I sat down across from him and stared at him blankly. I noticed that a book was placed on the table. I grabbed the book and looked at the cover . . . Oh.
“You’re a writer!” he said loudly.
“So?” I held the book in my hands and I started to flip through the pages. I smiled to myself.
“I’m currently reading chapter three,” He paused. “My sister asked me to buy her a book but—”
My head shot up and I looked at him, “Sister? You have a sister?”
“Her name’s Skylynn and she’s 15. Well almost 16,” he smiled widely.
I nodded, “What do you want to talk about?”
“Your book,” he paused. A waiter approached our table and he set two cups on the table. “Is tea okay?” he asked.
“It’s fine,” I took a sip of my tea. “So, you like the book?”
“So far, it’s great. Love the characters. But, Esther is such a bitch though!” ah, Esther. He was talking about the main character in my first book. I couldn’t help it, I laughed so hard at him ranting about Esther.
“Hey, Esther’s my favorite!” I defended.
“But, she’s a bitch,” he looked at me. “Just like you.”
I punched his left arm playfully. He chuckled before he smiled widely. We continued to talk about my book. He told me about his family and mostly, he told me about himself. He thought that it was unfair for him to know my last name when I don’t know his. His name’s Luca Declan. I gave up after twenty minutes of talking about him and I told him about myself.
I smiled to myself, Luca’s nice. But, then I remembered that he’s only being nice to me so he could make me fall for him. I immediately wiped that smile off my face. Luca gave me a weird look but he shrugged it off. Luca is just Luca. He’s not my anything and, he’s definitely not my friend. He’s just Luca, I repeated to myself. I glanced at the clock in the diner, 13:48.
“Shit, it’s almost two,” He said, messing up his dark brown hair. He sighed loudly, “I have to go. I’ll drive you to your house.”
“Um, okay?” I raised an eyebrow. Luca stood up, placed some money on the table and he literally ran outside. I ran after him and got into his car, “Whoa, slow down,” I shook my head.
“Fuck, I’m going to be late,” he punched the steering wheel, making me jump. I stared at him with wide eyes as he drove to my house.
“Why are you in a hurry?” I asked finally. He looked at me.
“I’m going to the hospital,” he said, focusing back on the road.
“What? Why?” I asked. I ask too many questions. He froze for a second. I could tell that he didn’t want to tell me. “Um, never mind,” I looked down and played with my fingers. He quickly shook his head.
“I’m going to visit my sister.” He said, his voice was barely audible.
“What? Is Skylynn sick?” I asked again. The car stopped moving. I looked to my left and saw my house.
“Victoria, my sister has leukemia.” He whispered.
My heart dropped. I stared at him for a second and blinked. Leukemia, I thought. I shook my head and placed my hand on his shoulder. He shook his head, “It’s fine.”
I closed my eyes and sighed, “I-I’ll come with you to the hospital.”
“Really?” his face lights up. I nodded. He started the car and drove off slowly. “Are you sure?” he added.
“I’m sure. Just drive.”
*
“Here, wear this,” he handed me a jacket. I took it from him and quickly wore it. He was telling me everything about his sister when we walked into the hospital. I held onto Luca’s jacket that was wrapped around my body, I can’t even remember the last time I went to a hospital. He smiled at the nurses that were sitting behind a desk.
“Everyone here loves me,” he whispered. I rolled my eyes and smiled.
He suddenly stopped me in front of a room, the door was slightly open. “Wait here,” Luca held my shoulders. I bit my lower lip and nodded. He pushed the door slowly, smiling widely, “Hi, Sky. I want you to meet someone.”
I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. My heart was beating fast. I opened my eyes and slowly walked inside that room. I looked at the person who was lying on the hospital bed.
“Hi, I’m Skylynn.”
She was wearing a pink colored beanie. Her eyes were bright blue just like Luca’s. She’s so . . . pale. I didn’t realize that I was just standing there, staring at her.
“My name’s Victoria,” I smiled widely.
Luca and I sat down beside her bed. Luca handed her my book, “Here, I bought you this.”
She looked at him, “Uh, I already have this book. It’s my favorite!” she smiled. “Wow, Luca you don’t know anything about your little sister.”
“That’s your favorite book?” I blurted. She nods her head excitedly.
“Well, then,” he grinned. “She’s Victoria Anderson.”
Skylynn raised her eyebrows, clearly shocked. “The Victoria Anderson?!” she squealed.
She started to talk about my book. And, she was begging for me to write another book. I’ll start writing . . . for Skylynn, I thought to myself. Skylynn is the best and strongest person I have ever met.
We had a great time. There were lots of laughing and Skylynn freaking out about me being here with her. The door opened, a nurse stepped inside the room. Before the nurse could say anything, Luca gave Skylynn a tight hug.
“Visiting hours is over—”
“I know,” Luca pulled away from Skylynn, glaring at the nurse. The nurse walked out of the room, closing the door shut.
“Bye!” Skylynn smiled.
“Bye, Skylynn.” I smiled back. Luca smiled at her before we both walked outside of the room. I heard him sigh when he closed the door. I looked at him and gave him a smile.
“Hey, Luca,” I said, my voice was small and low. I bumped his left arm with my right shoulder. He looked at me, his eyes looked tired,
“Yeah?” he rubbed his eyes with his right hand. I faced him and my hand brushed his. I didn’t want to hold his hand . . . but, I did.
“Thanks.”
