Blake and Aimee

Chapter 14: Blake

I feel dizzy as fuck. My head feels so heavy and my stomach groans from hunger. Bloody hospital appointments. Chemo starts next week most likely, so I better get used to it. You'd think after this long I'd get used to it but frankly I really don't. I feel my phone ringing in my pocket. Aimee.

"Hey how was school?"

"Aimee I wasn't at school, I had medical appointments. Where were you?" She doesn't respond. "Aimee, what's wrong? What's the matter?"

"Uh, nothing. Nothing. Just didn't feel well ah- the phone cut out before that's why I didn't- anyway, um."

"Aimee your voice is shaking are you alright?"

"Yeah I, I got to go."

She hung up. God this isn't right. She isn't right I can tell, I don't know what's going on with her but she's never acted this timid before. Her voice was so quiet, and shaky I have never heard her talk like that before. I unlock my phone to text her.

Blake: Hey what is your address?

Aimee: 24 Green park Avenue. Why?

Blake: No reason

I run down the hallway to find Ma.

"Ma! Ma! MA!" She runs out of the kitchen, hands floundering about.

"Yes, what's wrong? What is it? Can you breathe? Does it hurt? What happened?"

"Ma stop, slow down nothing's wrong just listen." She calms down, running her hands over her blouse.

"Mum I need you to drive me somewhere." She slowly walks forward, confused and puzzled.

"Where Darling? Where do you need to go?" I pull out my phone and hand it to her.

"This address."

...

We pull into the driveway and I jump out the car door.

"Careful Blake!" Mothers.

I run up and knock on the door. A man opens the door, assumingly Aimee's Dad.

"Hello, how can I help you? Oh, you must be Blake then." Shouldn't be surprised really, it isn't often you meet a bald teenage boy with cancer. I am greeted by a tall man with dark hair and full-blown Scottish accent. Here I was thinking Aimee had come up with it on the spot in English.

"Uh, I was looking for Aimee." The man rubs the back of his neck uncomfortably

"Look- it really isn't a good time right now but- "

"Please," I interrupted, "she is expecting me, she gave me her address." He nods slowly but then opens the door completely.

"Right then, ah, she's upstairs." I nod once at him as I walk upstairs, to find only one room with a closed door- the rest are empty. I knock once on the door, quietly, before slowly creaking it open.

"Dad I said I don't want to talk can you leave me alone." She's curled up in a ball on her bed, head in her pillow muffling her sobs.

"Good thing I'm not your Dad then." Surprised she looks up, her face red and blotchy from crying, her chest heaving unevenly.

"Blake? What the hell are you doing here get out." Not knowing what to say I linger in the doorway. "I said GET OUT!" Okay maybe this wasn't such a great idea.

"Aimee I just- "

"You know you can't just barge into my house like this, if I had known you were planning on stalking me I wouldn't have- "

"You gave ME your address Aimee, you could have said no. Besides I'm just checking up on you to see if you're ok?"

"I'm fine! I just needed a day to myself. ALONE." She bursts into tears, and flops back onto her bed and under her pillows.

"Please go, I don't want you to see me like this okay?" I walk over to her slowly and sit beside her on the bed.

"Aimee," I quietly whisper, "you know you don't always get a choice as to how others see you. Or if you want to be helped. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to push someone away, they'll keep coming back." She rolls over to face me, her hair all messy and wet. She smiles half-heartedly.

"For someone who says they hate poetic bullshit Blake, you really have a way with words." I gently push the hair out of her face, my hand brushing against her cheek.

"Why were you so concerned about me seeing you?" She shifts uncomfortably.

"Well, truth is since my mum and dad divorced I've had really bad anxiety. Mainly because my older sister got to go to Scotland with my Dad but being a minor, I had no choice- I had to stay with my mum. She had several bad relationships with different men, alcohol, and she recently got married to an ex-football player. They are travelling America at the moment, when I said I didn't want to go Dad and Sofia my sister moved down here from Scotland. Just so I wouldn't have to leave my life here." Tears begin to well in her eyes again, "The worst part, the worst part is that when my mum gets back she says I have to live with her and her new husband- who I hate. It's been going on for months now and getting worse. I'm not happy with her, we are nothing alike and she doesn't know me the way she thinks she does. Sometimes it's bearable, the anxiety I mean, it's just a small tugging feeling in my chest. But other times its worse, my whole-body shakes and my head pounds, and I just want to scream." Tears trickle from her yes and down her cheeks. "I'm sorry Blake," She stares up at me, "I not quite the optimist you thought I was." She laughs under her breath, and stares down as she fidgets with her fingers. I grab one of her hands and hold it in mine.

"No, you are not the optimist I thought you were, you're human," I lean in closer to her, "and I like that a lot better."