Until The Day I Die

Chapter 8

The next Monday, and the rest of the week, I went to school alone. Chloe had more appointments coming up, and she said she wouldn't be at school Monday, but hopefully Tuesday. I had really hoped as well. I'm sure I mentioned this before, but I really don't like going to school alone.
Monday morning, I got ready as usual. I skipped breakfast because I didn't feel hungry. I headed out and walked to school. Since, I skipped breakfast, I ended up leaving ten minutes early. It was cloudy, about to rain. I didn't have an umbrella or a jacket. I thought the rain was the least of my problems. It didn't start raining until I got to the building. I walked in realizing I was alone, but not for long. Eli approached me. He asked how I was doing and how my break was. I said it was good and asked him the same question. I noticed his wrist had a cast on it. He said he sprained it falling off a ladder.
"My grandparents and I are remodeling the roof and they needed me to climb up there. I guess I didn't place the ladder correctly, and I fell," he said. At least a sprain was all that came out of it. It could've went way worse.
When I got home I tried to call Chloe, but there was no answer. When I went downstairs for dinner, I tried calling again.
"Don't try to call Chloe, she's been resting," Mom said. I understood and put my phone away. "You know you're not allowed to have your phone at the table, anyway." Mom seemed a little aggravated. I could hear it in her tone. I asked if she was alright. She told me I need to eat. I let go of the question and ate my food.
I went to get ready for bed. I wasn't tired though. Chloe was on my mind, and she just wouldn't get out of my head. What we did over fall break came back to my head. It was the greatest day of my life. I closed my eyes and reimagined that night. I caught myself smiling a few times thinking about it. After awhile I fell asleep, and it turned into a dream. I dreamt that same night in loops, and I dreamt it every night. I think the reason why was because Chloe never showed up that week. I didn't worry too much about it, but Chloe didn't show up the next week either. She didn't answer her phone, never opened my messages, and her mom never even spoke to my mom. That's when I knew something was up.
I completely turned into my old self. One late night, I snuck out of my room downstairs into Mom and David's room. I took her car keys and I took a couple of cigarettes from David's pack and the lighter before I snuck out of the house. I had my license, so I knew how to drive and I took Mom's car. I planned to drive to Chloe's house to see what was going on. When I got there, all the lights were turned out except for a lamp downstairs and Chloe's bedroom. On the side of the house, Chloe had a ladder by her window for emergency purposes. I climbed up the ladder and tapped the window quietly. The curtain was closed, so I couldn't see anything. I saw a figure run across the room. I tapped a little harder and spoke her name. I then saw the figure stand in front of the window slowly approaching it. I knew it was her because I didn't see any hair. She's the only one who didn't have any. She moved the curtain and with wide eyes looked at me with relief.
"What are you doing here?" She says in a loud whisper. I just smiled back at her. She opened the window as quietly as possible. I stepped in ,and before I had time to look up, Chloe gives me a big hug and starts crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she just cried more, burying her face into my chest. I grew extremely sad unaware of what was going on. I sat Chloe on her bed and sat next to her holding both of her hands and I asked again.
"Chloe, what's the matter? Where have you been lately? Why haven't you called me back? I started to feel worried and scared. I had to see you." I caressed her cheek as I had seen a tear approach my thumb. I looked deep into her eyes. She grabbed my hand and pulled it from her face while closing her eyes and breaking the eye contact. She looked down and shook her head.
"Brandon, you shouldn't be here," she stands up," you have to leave, and don't come back." I stand up feeling extremely confused and worried.
"Chloe, what-is going- ON?"
"I can't tell you!" Her voice cracked and she started sobbing while dropping to the floor. I watched her for a second before joining her in the floor. I lift her up and lean both of us against the bed. I held her in my arms letting her sob into my shirt. We sat there for a while until she calmed down.
"Chloe," I said softly," what's going on? Tell me, please." She wiped her tears, and she was about to say something but hesitated. I looked directly at her patiently waiting for an answer.
"I'll tell you at school tomorrow, I promise."
"You'll be at school, really?" I was happy. I hadn't seen her at school in weeks. She smiled and nodded as a reply. I cupped my hands on her face while smiling and said okay. I gave her a deep, passionate kiss and held her once more for a while. I glanced at the clock on her wall and it said 11:24. I then told her that I had to get going, but then I realized that she fell asleep on me. I picked her up and placed her in bed, covered her up, and placed a kiss on her head before climbing out of the window.
When I got home, all the lights were still out. I parked the car, not leaving a scratch on it. I entered through the front door, and it was dark and quiet. No one had waken up. I was relieved. I placed Mom's purse back, and I headed up to my room. When I laid down in my bed, I noticed that I still had the cigarettes behind my ear. I took one out and smoked it while still laying in bed. When I finished that one, I smoked the next one. When I finished that one, I smoked the last one. I fell asleep around 2 am.
I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock. It was seven o'clock. I felt terrible. I could barely move because of how tired I felt, but I managed to get up. I skipped breakfast again because I was too eager to figure out what was going on with Chloe. When I got downstairs, David was about to walk out the door. He told me he had a doctor's appointment, so he had to get going. I waved goodbye and he waved back while shutting the door. I then got a text from Chloe. She said not to wait on her because she was going to be late. I started to believe she wasn't going to show up. I got upset and headed out slamming the door. I walked to school very slowly. I showed up at 7:55 because of how slow I was walking. I was very tired. I couldn't think straight at all. I sat in class completely drifted off into space. In third period, I sat in the back behind this really big guy, so the teacher couldn't see me sleeping. I felt somewhat better after that nap. When I walked into the cafeteria, Chloe was nowhere to be found. I felt sad once again. I grabbed a tray and got in line to get food even though I wasn't hungry at all. I sat alone just staring at my food, poking my lasagna with my fork. It looked all burnt and just... deadly. I was about to start falling asleep, but then I heard a beautiful voice in my left ear.
"Hey, baby, I'm sorry I'm late." She wrapped her arms around me and chuckled. I turned around relieved and gave her a big hug. She sat down in front of me, and she noticed how tired I was. "Baby, how much sleep did you get?" I told her that I didn't sleep. Five hours of sleep is the same thing as none in my opinion. She grabbed my hands and said sorry. I shook my head and told her not to worry. Then, I mentally woke up in realization.
"Hey! What were you going to tell me?" Her grin was gone when I asked that. She sighed and told me she wanted to tell me in private. She said she'll walk with me home after school.
"I shouldn't be here anyway." She said as her eyes started watering. I looked at her confused.
"Why aren't you supposed to be here?"
"Well, because of this issue, I'm supposed to be staying home."
"Chloe, baby, you gotta tell me what's wrong."
"I will, I promise."
"After school, we meet up and start walking home. I carried her again because I remember she wasn't supposed to be walking so much. Before I said anything, she started telling me what was up.
"I have to go back to the hospital. My cancer is getting worse. I may have to go homeschooled," she started to cry, "... I may have to plan a funeral." I stopped for a second, trying to process what was just said. I then started walking faster home. I walked through the front entrance and up to my bedroom with Chloe still on my back. Tears started forming in my eyes. I tried so hard not to cry. I slammed my door unaware if David ever saw me walk through the house, but I didn't care. I put Chloe down. I wasn't facing her because I didn't want her to see me cry, and I wanted to say what I wanted to say without sounding like I'm going to cry. Chloe said my name with a concerned tone. The way she always said my name was so beautiful. I couldn't help but cry.
I turned around in tears, and for the first time I yelled at her.
"You are not going to die! Do you understand me? You have so much life ahead of you. You can't lose your battle. You can't! I can't lose you! I can't lose you, Chloe..." I grabbed her and just held her, crying on her shoulder. She hugged me back. I started slowly falling to the floor from the amount of aching I felt in my chest. She fell with me and started crying as well. I felt her hand run through my hair while the other arm wrapped around my shoulders. I was so scared that I was going to lose these moments: the moments of small talk, and cuddling, and crying on each other's shoulder. I just wanted her to stay in my life. Take the clothes off my back, take the money, take the food; I never cared about anything as much as I cared about Chloe. We sat there for a long time. My dinner was getting cold. David came up to my room, and saw us sitting in the floor. Chloe noticed him before I did.
"I'll take you home whenever, Chloe. I'm gonna call your mom and tell her the same." She nodded.