When former beauty pageant queen, Ellie Wilde, hears of her grandmother's sickness, she's the first to offer to drive her to her chemotherapy. What she didn't know she was agreeing to was an obnoxiously cheerful blond boy somehow nudging his way int...
this is the first chapter of a rewrite for this book that i never finished writing. you can read it if you'd like, but the full, completed, book comes after this! i'd advise maybe coming back to read this after finishing the first draft.
-
ONE
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A VIBRATION FROM the phone in his pocket jolts him out of his sleeping state, sending his back arching and his heart racing. His wide eyes are quick to return to a normal size as he takes in his surroundings, stark white walls and an enormous fish tank being the first things he notices—the overwhelming scent of disinfectant being the next. It doesn't take long to register that he's in a hospital.
He doesn't remember falling asleep in the hospital lobby, though it's not the first time he's fallen asleep somewhere and not remembered it. Shaking off his confusion, he slouches back in the scratchy seat he occupies and reaches for his phone, curious to see who exactly it is that has pulled him from his slumber.
With a text message reading, "here," from his mother, he knows he's found the culprit. Taking that as his cue to go, he begins to push himself up from the seat, only to stop moving altogether when his eyes land on a girl making a quick dash across the room, both her hands occupied by cups of coffee.
It's clear to anyone that this won't end well as she sprints for the closing elevator doors, a look of worry visible across her features. In a feeble attempt, she quickens her pace, only to be met with the doors closing on her and two scalding hot coffees finding residence on the front of her bulky yellow sweater.
Despite his best efforts, he can't hold back the laugh that makes its way up his throat. As his deep chuckle fills the room, the coffee-soaked girl's gaze finds his, her dark eyes glaring into his opposing bright eyes.
"I'm sorry," she says through gritted teeth, "is this somehow funny to you?"
He bites down on his bottom lip to conceal another laugh, the smile never leaving his face. "A little," he admits. "You know, the elevator would've been back down in thirty seconds. You didn't have to make a run for it."
She laughs, though her laugh lacks any sort of amusement. With a frown quickly returning to her lips, she says, "Not that it's any of your business, but I left my grandma alone upstairs. I was in a hurry to get back to her."
"I'm sure your grandma would have been able to fend for herself for an extra thirty seconds." He glances down to her newly stained sweater before looking to her eyes once more. "You didn't have to do that. Though it was quite admirable of you, I'll admit."
"Admirable," she mutters under her breath, scoffing at his use of the word. "You're right. My grandma probably would have been fine for an extra thirty seconds, but I don't even want to leave her alone for a single second. She's here for her first chemo appointment and I'm sure she's scared out of her mind."
