Where There's Light | ✔

49. Two Weeks

Two weeks. That was all the time we had left with Alison. In those two weeks I didn't see much of Nolan. As much as I missed being with him after school I was glad he was taking advantage of every moment he had left with his mom.

He'd tell me all about what the three of them did, sometimes laughing so hard he couldn't tell me the funny thing his dad said. He was the happiest I'd ever seen him.

I saw Alison two days before she passed and she seemed just as smiley and bright as ever. That's why it was such a shock to me that she was gone. I guess I should've know when Nolan didn't show up for school that morning. But he'd been missing a lot of days, taking day trips to where Alison wanted to go that day.

I always thought that when someone was days from dying the signs would be clearer. In my mind it looked like being in a hospital bed hooked up to wires and tubes. Alison never looked like she was sick. Knowing her she probably did everything she could to avoid that. 

She told me once that she refused treatment for that very reason. There was only a small chance that the chemo would actually work and if her days were limited she'd rather spend it with her family instead of a hospital.

That was one of the things I admired about her, her ability to see the silver lining. Even on the day of her funeral despite the forecast predicting rain the sun shined. Even mother nature knew Alison Chambers didn't do sad and gloomy.

Nolan couldn't bring himself to go to the service. Instead we stayed in the parking lot of the cemetery, sitting in the back of the minivan with a deck of Uno! cards he found in the glovebox.

When he pulled the deck from the box a note fell out. I'm not sure what it said, but it was the first time I saw Nolan cry throughout the whole ordeal. My heart broke for him. No one deserved to lose a parent so young. Least of all Nolan.

We spent a few quiet nights in the trunk of that minivan. I didn't know why he liked that particular location. Maybe it was because at any given moment he could start up the van, head for the city limit and never look back.

If he wanted to leave, if he asked me, I'd probably go. No questions asked. Bellcreek was suffocating.

* * *

It smelled like rain as I stepped out of the house to meet Bee at the curb. The dark clouds that hung overhead felt fitting that day.

"I feel like I haven't seen you since the funeral," Bee said after I got into her car.

I had almost forgotten that school was a thing. That the world still went on even if I was still stuck on the fact that the world lost a soul as beautiful as Alison Chambers'.

"How's Nolan?"

I fastened my seat belt as she pulled away from the curb and headed for the school. "Better. He mostly just wants to cuddle, which I have no problems with."

She shot me a look from the corner of her eye. "Define cuddling."

"Head out of the gutter." I laughed, smacking her arm.

"Will he be at school today?"

"I don't know. Principal Gibson said he could take the week off." I kind of hoped he would show up for school, it'd be good for him to get out of the house.

"I know it's the last thing on either of your minds right now," Bee started, stopping for a red light. "But prom is next month and the other couples are campaigning their asses off. Tiffany Ha and Mason Chen have candy bars with their faces on them. Rainesha Williams and Ivan Fairchild made a video to get votes and there's a rumor going around that it's getting featured on Ellen."