Perfectly Imperfect

Chapter Eight

I hear my ringtone going off... again. It's probably been the 20th time, without exaggeration. I stare at the caller ID. Markus. Him and Bianca have been calling me non-stop. Thank goodness that it's the weekend, means I don't have to awkwardly bump into them and attempt to ignore them. They're very persistent by the look of things. It's the first time that I'm this mad at them, and I feel that it must be getting to me because last night I spent a lot of it vomiting.

Then it hits me. I open up my laptop and begin researching cancer treatment side effects. I begin reading - hair loss, nausea/vomiting, loss of appetite, fatigue, constipation, flu-like symptoms, etc.

I take a deep breath. This is definitely not stress. I haven't had an appetite for breakfast or lunch today, plus I was vomiting last night. These are side effects of the treatment that I've been having. I didn't realise that the effects could occur so fast, and so many around the same time. Leslie's side effects don't seem to be happening as fast. She only mentioned feeling a little more tired. They did warn that it depends from person to person on what side effects we get and how fast they occur. I guess I was one of the unlucky ones.

My ringtone goes off again and I grunt loudly. I was hoping that after 20 ignored phone calls that they'd get the hint. I don't want to talk!

"Kira!" I hear my mother shouting from downstairs.

"Yeah?" I shout back.

"You got a visitor!"

I swear to god, if it's Markus or Bianca I am going to absolutely kill them.

I tread down the stairs slowly, and I stop dead on my tracks before hitting the last step, confused.

"Ben?" I ask.

"Hey, Kira," he waves at me.

"Wha-what are you doing here?"

"I just thought you might like to go and grab a coffee with me?"

"Oh..." I trail off and look at my mum, whom nods at me in approval. "Sure."

Benedict smiles and I grab my jacket from the hanger, and put on my sneakers. I wave my mother goodbye and exit the front door after Benedict. I climb into his car and put on my seatbelt, sitting back still a little confused. I look at the backseat, no Leslie. Strange.

"So..." I begin, after he takes a seat on the driver's seat. "This is a surprise."

"Markus called me. He couldn't get ahold of Leslie so he tried me instead."

"I didn't realise that you had each other's numbers."

"I gave it to him when I was sorting out their website. He was worried about you and just called to check if you were with us. I figured something happened and so I came to check up on you."

"I see." I blush slightly, kind of flattered that he cared enough to come all this way just to see if I was ok.

"I'm not wrong, am I? Something happened?"

I take a deep sigh. "I overheard you and Leslie talking the morning after the party. About Markus and Bianca on the couch."

"Oh..."

"I spoke to him about it and he just kind of dismissed the whole thing and started accusing me of not caring about any of them anymore except for Leslie."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I kind of lost it and just haven't spoken to any of the two since then."

"But why Bianca too? She didn't say anything, did she?"