Breaking Free

Chapter 4

Past

From the first day of school, Beth and I became fast friends. I would go as far as to say we were best friends. Even though we didn't see much of each other at school, except for lunch, we found ways to hang out outside of school. We would go over to each other's house and occasionally have sleepovers.

During one sleepover, Beth confided in me about her mother's illness.

When I first met Beth's mom, I knew something wasn't right. She was pale with dark circles under her eyes, and she was so skinny the bones of her face were sticking out. I didn't want to ask and intrude on Beth's personal business, so I didn't, and I waited for her to tell me on her own time.

We were watching the movie A Walk to Remember in the living room, and I noticed that Beth was crying halfway through. When the movie ended, I turned off the TV and looked over at her.

Beth sniffled and wiped away the tears on her face. "I know you probably noticed how sick my mom is." She waited for me to say something, but when I didn't, she continued, "they diagnosed her with breast cancer last year." She sounded close to tears again.

I took her hand in mine but kept quiet.

"She started chemo treatment shortly after the diagnosis, and she had surgery to help get rid of the cancer. But by then, it was too late, and the cancer spread farther. The radiation made her sick, and it's painful to watch her waste away. My dad tries to take care of my brothers and me as much as possible, but most responsibility for the twins falls on me." She inhaled deeply, then exhaled. "I hate that she's going through this, and most of all, I hate that I can't help her."

"You are helping her though," I told her, and she looked up at me, her eyes shimmering with tears. "You are helping her by being there and remaining strong for her during this tough time."

She hugged me then and whispered, "Thank you."

After that night, Beth confided in me a lot more. If it wasn't about her mom's illness or her twin brothers, it was about her boyfriend, Josh. They met in middle school, and Beth knew she loved him as soon as she saw him.

"I knew he was the one for me as soon as I saw him." She clasped her hands together and looked dreamily upwards from our spot at one of the mall's food court tables.

I choked on the drink that I just sipped and coughed.

She reached over and patted me on the back. I grabbed some napkins and coughed into them. After the cough subsided, I squeaked out, "But you guys always seem to argue over something."

Which was true. Any time I saw them together lately, they were arguing.

Beth shrugged, picked up a fry from her tray, and pushed it in her mouth. "Every relationship has fights, and the people in them come out stronger than before."

I rolled my eyes.

"It's just... Ever since he became football captain, his time has been consumed by practice and studying." She sounded annoyed. "And girls have been practically flinging themselves at him."

Ah. Jealousy.

"You know he doesn't seem to care that they are doing it either. Like yesterday, we were in homeroom, and this girl was flirting with him right in front of me. He flirted back like I wasn't even there." She slammed her fist down, which landed on her tray, making it fly up, spilling her drink and fries all over the floor.

"Okay... I think we need to go get a pedicure," I told her as I spotted a janitor shooting Beth a glare as he made his way over to clean up the mess.