mermaid 》 alemanda ✔

chapter fifteen.

alesha

I could hear the giggling from drama club members at the way Amanda and I had fallen asleep and had stayed for the entire night. My head was on her chest and she had her arm wrapped around me to cuddle me and pull me closer to her. I heard more giggling from students on the other side of the room, where Paula and Simon had slept on their air mattress. I could feel Amanda stirring underneath me and her arm began to move, stroking my arm carefully and gently.

I opened my eyes and Amanda smiled. "Good morning. Pictures have been taken of us cuddling and of Simon and Paula cuddling," she said with a little laugh. I looked over at Simon and Paula and their bedsheets were tangled and their legs were tangled together. Paula's hair was a mess, as was Simon's. Her head was on his chest and Simon was lazily staring down at his girlfriend with complete adoration for her.

"I can see why for Simon and Paula. It looks like they shagged last night while everyone was sleeping," I replied.

"I wouldn't put it past Simon to do that," Amanda spoke softly, her smile widening into a grin. I got out of bed carefully and I stretched. I had left the prosthetic on all night by accident and I was starting to feel the results of it. I needed a new prosthetic as the cup for it was now too small for my legs from Amanda and I swimming together. My legs had gotten more musular as a result and my thighs had gotten larger. I was due for a new one anyways as I got a new one every two years or as needed.

Amanda got out of the sleeping bag we had shared and she started to roll it up, keeping her head down to try to prevent people from seeing it. People had already seen it this morning though and she knew that I thought it was beautiful.

I let the air out of the air mattress to have a reason to bend down. Most people in the band room didn't know that I had a prosthetic leg because of cancer. I didn't like for people to know that I was disabled because it would change their opinion about me and how they talked to me.

Simon even know that I had a prosthetic and I had been working with him for five years. All he knew was that I walked funny for some unknown reason as I never told him it was cancer.

The lock in had gone smoothly and Simon and Paula had left directly after the last student had, needing to go get Simon's son from a friend's house. It left Amanda and I alone.

We had already cleaned up everything and we were now just talking, leaning against one of the walls of the band room.

"Do you mind if I take off my prosthetic?" I asked shyly.

"No, go ahead," Amanda replied. I rolled up the pant leg of my yoga pants and I took off the prosthetic,  rubbing the bottom of the amputation. "May I ask what caused you to have a prosthetic again?"

"Yes. I had cancer, osteosarcoma, when I was fifteen. The cancer was just above my knee and it was all the way halfway down my shin. There was no other option to save what had been affected by cancer at that time so it was amputated," I replied. "Azuka never liked it."

"I like it," Amanda replied. "I think that it makes you even more amazing."

I grinned. "Do you want to see the scars from the surgury?" I asked.

"Sure," Amanda responded. I turned around in Amanda's arms and I rolled the pant leg up farther. I lifted the stump that was left of my leg and Amanda could see how ugly the scar was that was left behind from the cancer. She traced it gently with her thumb, glancing at my thigh at the two other scars. "Are these two ones from the surgery as well?"