It Was You

Chapter 9

"Ms. Hansen." My head jolted up from where it had been resting on my desk. I didn't realize I had fallen asleep...again. Everyone around me was giggling. I wonder if they would be giggling if they found out I had been in the hospital with little to no sleep all week.

Honestly, they still might.

I don't remember the last time I was in the hospital so much. When I first got this cancer, I was there almost everyday for a year. I've been going multiple times in a day recently and, needless to say, it's scaring my parents and my three friends. Honestly, it's kind of scaring me, too.

Lee, Aaron and Ben came to visit me when they could, which was nice. Ben and I even had a few 'dates' in the cafeteria. It was awful food, but it was a good time and he promised to take me out for "proper" food when I was feeling better.

Ever since Ben came into my life, I've been getting more and more afraid of dying because I don't want to leave him. Not yet. There's still so much more I have yet to do with him, to explore with him. That is, should he want to continue living with my endless torture that is being with me.

When class ended, I was getting stares and smirks from a bunch of these immature assholes. One had the audacity to flick off my oxygen tube as I was walking past him down the hall. Just as I was about to turn around and give him a piece of my goddamn mind, I saw Ben quickly go up to him, then shove him against the lockers.

"You think that's funny, do you?!" He shouted. "You're picking on a sick girl, you pathetic piece of shit!" By now, there was a crowd around us, including Lee and Aaron. "H-Hey, man, I was only joking," the guy shakily told him.

"Oh, really?" Ben asked. "Do you see her laughing? Do you see me laughing?" The guys quickly shook his head. Ben scoffed at him, then let him go. "Fuck off, prick," he growled before the guy sprinted off. The crowd was disappointed about there not being any fight, so they all left.

Lee and Aaron stayed with me to talk to Ben. "Thanks," I told him. "Um...no one's ever done that for me before." He still looked mad, but had a small smile playing on his lips. "I just couldn't believe he would do that to you," he said.

He fixed my oxygen tube, then took a deep breath to calm himself. "That was awesome, Ben," Lee told him. "Yeah, he's a complete ass," Aaron piped in. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. "Wait...isn't your next class on the other side of the building?" I asked.

He looked shyly down to the floor (so cute) and nervously back at me while biting his lip. "I...I wanted to ask you something," he said. He reached into his backpack and pulled out two tickets. I couldn't recognize what they were for and he was holding them tightly in his fists.

"So...I know you said you didn't want to go, but...I was only wondering if...you might go to Homecoming with me?" He showed me the tickets that had the word 'Homecoming' in an annoying glittery font. "Um...wow," was all I managed to get out because I was truly shocked. I've only ever imagined a boy asking me to a dance, but I never thought it would happen.

He was right, I didn't want to go, but...how could I deny him this? How could I deny myself this?

He was looking more and more nervous the longer I took to answer him, so finally I managed to say, "Yes. I'll go with you." I started laughing and smiling like a loon and he let out a deep breath and started laughing, as well. He pulled me in for a hug, then kissed my head.

"Bloody hell, I thought you'd say no," he chuckled. I pulled back from his strong embrace, then said, "I couldn't. Thank you for asking me, I never thought that would happen." He smiled down at me as he said, "It's my pleasure."