The Boy Who Saved Me From Me

Chapter Two

~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Two ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elizabeth's POV

Despite Chris' plea, I never went back downstairs. I felt guilty for not, but the one thing that kills me is when people talk about diabetes. I've had type one diabetes (there is also type 2 diabetes which is more common in adults, type one is normally diagnosed at a very, very young age) for 15 years. To this day it is the one thing that I cannot talk to anyone about. To me, it's a monster that will kill me one day. I ignore it and act like I don't have it. I know it's terrible for my health to act like I don't have it, but it makes me feel somewhat normal because sometimes it's like I don't have it. Anyways, Jackson's comment felt like someone had punched me in the gut. I know he doesn't know I have it, but it still hurts.

There was a soft knock at my door.

"Come in," I say absentmindedly thinking that it's just Chris.

"Hey Elizabeth, can I talk to you?" That snapped me back into reality. No one really calls me Elizabeth. I turned around in my desk chair and see Tanner standing by my door.

"Oh hey Tanner, what's up?" I can't help but think that I know this guy from somewhere. He looked uncomfortable and as if he shouldn't have come up here.

He was looking at his hands when he said "uhmm, well, can I, no this was a bad idea, uhm, just, nevermind." He began to turn around to leave.

"Tanner, don't leave, you seem troubled by something. What'd you want to talk about?"

He turned back around and looked my straight in the eye. His deep brown eyes were bore into mine. That's when it hit me. I did know this boy. I could never forget those eyes. Tanner Devons, the one person who understood. As if he knew what I was thinking, his expression softened.

"Tanner? Tanner Devons?" I asked caustiously.

"Hey Liz." He said sheepishly. At that instant all the memories came flooding back. It was years ago when I was first diagnosed. I was part of a study to see if younger children could be put onto an insulin pump. (A little device that delivers a set amount of insulin to the body every so often, helping keep blood sugars regulated.) Back then I couldn't understand why I was always getting treated differently. I had to get a shot after I ate anything, I always had to prick my finger and make it bleed, and people were always asking me if I felt okay. I was scared and one day during the study, Tanner had found me crying in the corner.

"Hey there. My name's Tanner. What's yours?" A little brown hair, brown eyed boy asked me.

"My-My name's Elizabeth." I said in the middle of sobs.

"Why are you crying Liz?" He cocked his head to the side a little and waited for my answer.

"I'm different from the other kids at my school. Some of them stare at me cause I get 'special treatment'"

"Well that's no reason to cry! I'm different just like you. You know what that means?"

It had just dawned on me that he had called me Liz. No one ever called me, it was either Elizabeth or Lizzy. I remembered he had asked me a question. "No, what does it mean?"

An extremely warm, friendly smiled appeared on his face. "It means that we get to be best friends and since we have each other, none of the kids from your school matter. I have you and you have me."

Immediately I stopped crying and smiled. The rest of the study we were inseparable. He became my 'boyfriend' and I became his 'girlfriend'. Then the study came to an end and we had to go our separate ways. I was torn apart and couldn't understand why we had to leave.

The sound of someone clearing their throat snapped me out of my flashback. I stared at him with my mouth slightly opened. I couldn't believe that he was here. He was back. I stood up and walked over to him. I cautiously put my hand on his cheek, seeing if he was really standing there. His cheeks became flushed at my touch. Then I hugged him. We stood there hugging each other for a while. We were forced back into reality when there was a loud pounding on my door. Jackson stood there looking furious. His jaw and his fist were clenched.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything" he said through clenched teeth.

"Uhmm, ermm" I looked back up at Tanner, then back at Jackson.

"What, you've never seen two people hug before?" Tanner said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Whatever, come on Tanner, we're going to Randy's to get ready for the party."

"What party--?" I was interrupted by Chris yelling.

"COME ON GUYS. YOU BETTER NOT BE IN LIZZY'S ROOM CAUSE IF YOU ARE I SWEAR TO -"

Rolling his eyes Jackson yelled back, "WE'RE COMING CHRIS, CALM DOWN."

Then Jackson grabbed Tanner and pulled him downstairs, leaving me standing there. The little boy who had helped me all those years ago, was back in my life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So there's that! I think I know how I want this story to go so hopefully writting will be easy!