Chapter 25
“She was acting really weird, Bri.
And her doctor told me that night that her tumor was probably growing
again. But she said everything was fine
and didn’t even mention that.”
Brian’s brow furrowed as he listened to Nick. “That is sort of weird,” he agreed. “But maybe the doctor was just wrong. Maybe what happened to her is normal. And if they don’t have her on radiation
anymore, then it must be good news.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.
But, I dunno, she just acted weird, like she was keeping something from
me,” Nick said, still pondering over Olivia’s odd behavior.
It was Friday, and the Boys were on a flight to Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, where they would kick off the second leg of their Black and Blue Tour
that night. But Nick’s mind was not on
performing at all. He just kept
thinking about Olivia.
“So, have you talked to her about your little kiss that day yet?”
Brian asked teasingly.
Nick couldn’t help but smile.
“No, not yet. With all that’s
happened, we haven’t had a chance to.”
“Have you figured out your feelings for her yet?” Brian asked.
“Feelings? What are you
talking about, Frick?”
“Nick, come on, I know you like her. It’s obvious.
Why won’t you just admit it?”
“Of course I like her,” Nick replied. “She’s my friend.”
Brian rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Oh, come on, Nick, seriously. You like her more than that, and you know
it.”
“I don’t! Honestly! I don’t know where that kiss came from; I
couldn’t help it. But I don’t like her
like that, and she doesn’t like me like that either. We’re just buddies.”
“Buddies? Oh, come on,
Nick.”
“What’s wrong with buddies?” Nick asked defensively. “You can have a girl as a friend without
liking her as a girlfriend, you know.”
“I know. But, Nick, I know
you like the back of my hand. You like
Olivia more than just your ‘buddy’. I
can see it. You get this look in your
eyes whenever you so much as mention her name.”
Nick’s mouth dropped open.
“I do not!” he cried.
“You do too,” Brian insisted.
“Think about it, Nick. You like
her. You just won’t admit it to yourself.”
Nick crossed his arms over his chest and turned away from his
friend, pretending to be annoyed. But
really, he was thoughtful. Was Brian
right? Did he really like Olivia? He had to admit that their kiss had been
nice. But would he ever want her as a
girlfriend? He wasn’t sure. He needed more time to think about that.
Unfortunately, time was the one thing Olivia didn’t have.
***
One week later
The symptoms had come sooner than Olivia had expected. It had been just over a week since she had
found out she was dying, and already, her headaches had come back, more
intensified and painful than ever. She
could feel her body weakening. Whenever
she stood up, she got dizzy and almost lost her balance. And she knew it would only get worse.
Nick still didn’t know. He
called Olivia daily, and they talked, but never about her condition. Their phone conversations never lasted long
either. Nick was so busy, and Olivia
got tired easily. Plus, it pained her
to talk to him when he had no clue that in a matter of weeks, she would be
gone, and he didn’t even know.
Her parents were staying with her, and Olivia knew they would stay
until she was dead. This time, it
didn’t bother her. She knew she didn’t
want to die alone, and having them there brought her at least some
comfort.
The one other thing that comforted her was the ocean. Every evening, Olivia sat out on the beach,
watching the sun set over the water.
She felt totally at peace there.
And it seemed to bring her closer to Nick. He was not there with her in body, but she
felt like he was.
The ocean was what connected them. It had brought them together the first night
they had actually met, and now that they were apart, it comforted her. Olivia hoped that after she was gone, Nick
would be able to sit in that spot and feel closer to her.
Eventually, as the sun disappeared from the sky, it grew chilly,
and Olivia reluctantly went inside. She
slowly navigated the stairs to her room and lay down on her bed, turning on her
stereo with the remote that went with it.
The radio came on, but Olivia barely listened. Her thoughts drifted instead to Nick. She remembered their kiss, just the week
before. It seemed so long ago.
I like him, she realized suddenly. I really like him. More than just as a friend. The thought made her smile. But that smile quickly vanished, as a
realization hit her hard. Nick could
never like me back though. I’m just his
friend. He could never like me as a
girlfriend. I’m diseased. I’m dying.
He would never want someone like me.
And even if he did, I would just die on him and hurt him. And I would never want to do that to him.
And so, Olivia quickly decided not to bring up the kiss or her
feelings for Nick. Ever.
***
Olivia stayed up late that night,
wanting to talk to Nick. She longed for
normalcy in her life, and talking to him at night was something that had become
normal for her. She knew he wouldn’t be
available to talk until then because of his busy schedule. When she was pretty sure he would be done
with everything he had to do following the concert, she grabbed her phone.
The buttons on the phone looked sort of
blurry to her, but she figured it was just because she was tired and needed to
go to bed. Squinting, she slowly dialed
the number to Nick’s cell phone. About
halfway through, she realized she could not remember the rest.
Damn it, Olivia thought,
hurriedly fumbling around inside her night table drawer for the piece of paper
Nick had written his number on for her.
She found it and finished dialing.
The phone rang a few times, and finally
Nick answered. “Hello?”
“Hey, Nick, it’s Olivia,” she
said. Or at least that’s what she tried to say.
But it came out sounding more like, “Hankissesoivia.”
“Uh… hello?” Nick asked again, his
confusion apparent in his voice.
Olivia’s heart hammered, and her cheeks
flamed red. What was wrong with
her? Why couldn’t she speak right?
“Hello?”
Nick demanded, sounding irritated. She
heard him sigh loudly.
Then she heard muffled voices in the
background. “Who is it, Nick?”
“Prank call,” came his annoyed
mutter. And then the line went dead.
Olivia began to cry. Why was this happening to her? She knew Dr. Avery had mentioned something
about slurred speech, but he never told her she would start speaking
gibberish!
Miserably, Olivia hung up the phone,
lay back down in bed, and sobbed herself to sleep.
***
