Forever Girl

Chapter Five

A/N : I very slightly changed the previous chapter. You don't have to reread it if you want, just don't be confused if you see slight changes.

The song is A Daydream Away by my all time favorite band, All Time Low (now you know where the half of the band came from.)

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I felt like a criminal being interoggated. All eyes were on me, spotlight's on me, all questions on me. I sat still on their bed as they flooded me with questions. What were you doing? What do you know? How much have you heard? Those kind of questions. Yet I remained silent and unresponsive, not only because of their annoying incessant questions, but also because I was still struck with what I've heard about Maddie. She can't die too soon, she just can't.

"Daniel!" the father silently screamed, fearing that her daughter might be curious of the commotion.  I looked up, blankly and lifelessly, just to see his forehead crinkled, with a face I cannot describe.

"What?" I asked.

He took a deep breath. "You have to promise us one thing," he said, now calmly. I raised an eyebrow at them, gesturing them another "What?"

"You have to promise not to tell Maddie about this," he said.

"What!" I exclaimed, slightly outraged. "What are you talking about? Maddie should know about this, it's her life for god's sake!" I realized that I was already standing on their bed, which is bad because they're neat freaks.

"Get off the bed, Daniel," the mother said, and I stepped off obediently.

"Why are you keeping this from her? Since when did you know about this?" I asked.

"Ten years ago. Turns out she never had sugar allergies, it was her sickness all along. She faints very easily, even at shallow things. We can't make her too sad, scared or disappointed, we can't even make her too happy. And this will worsen through time. It's hard for us too, you know."

"You knew about this for that long? Why didn't you tell her then? It might be too late, she might not be able to live her life to the fulllest, or the way she wanted it to be!" I said. I felt so outraged that I felt like punching someone on the face. But the mom put her hand on my shoulder, calming me down a little bit, just a little bit.

"I know that, honey, but we fear that Maddie will feel the exact opposite. We fear that she would sulk, or feel bad about herself. Maybe she would feel unfortunate and instead of living life to the fullest, she would spend the rest of life just waiting to die. You know what I mean? We can't take the risk."

So that's why they let Maddie watch the concert on a schoolday, and I guess mom knew about this too. I sat down and buried my face in my hands. They have a point, but I just can't let this be. They have to do something- we have to do something.

I looked up. "What do you suggest we do?

"It's what we suggest you do," the father said. "You being Maddie's closest friend, I want you to let Maddie enjoy her remaining days without letting her know about her condition. If she knows about this, it may worsen her condition."

My eyes widened. Why are they leaving this to me? Aren't they supposed to do  this themselves?

"Do we have a deal?" he said, giving me a hand for me, when shaked signifies that I agreed with what they said.

Should I? I don't want to be held responsible for all this. I have a life too!

But Maddie is a big part of my life, more that half of it. And as her best friend, I should. I should let her enjoy her life, or what's remaining of it. I must let her feel happy, and let her feel like she has lived a thousand years.