Liam and I by Elaina H (the reading list .TXT) 📖

you could ever run away?” Liam dropped his gaze to the ground and dug his heel into the dirt.

I shook my head left and right, “No! That would mean I wouldn’t ever be able to see my mom and dad again! Why would you ever want to run away?!” I looked at him, dumbfounded that he could possibly want to leave.

“Aw, I was just wonderin’. It wasn’t serious or nothing.” Liam pursed his lips, “Just forget it, okay?”

I raised my eyebrows right as the bell rang, “Well, I’ll make sure nobody hears about your stupid question, Liam.”

Liam and I raced to the doors of the school, and never stopped being friends.

Until eighth grade year at least.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Seven

April of seventh grade year something bad happened.

It was lunch time. Liam and I were sitting with my friends Katie, Samantha, Joe and his friends Kyle and Jeremy.

Jeremy was teasing us about wearing make up, and about how it made us look like sluts. Usually Liam backed us girls up and told his buddies to lay off when they got too harsh, but Liam was staring at his lunch tray with a disgusted look on his face.

His cheeks were bright red, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks.

“You girls are gonna wear so much make up that us guys won’t even know who you are anymore! You’ll all just be hooker number one, hooker number two, hooker num…”

“Oh shut you face, Jeremy,” I interjected. “We all know you’ll be the only boy without a girlfriend in the entire grade! I mean,” I looked at my friends and laugh, “you do have a face only a mother could love.”

Everyone laughed, except Liam. He rubbed his eyes, and pushed his tray away. “Liam,” I leaned across the table, “you okay? You don’t look all that good. Maybe you should go to the nurse.”

He just shook his head, and mumbled an answer, “I just need some fresh air. You guys want to go outside?”

I knew Liam had been having a rough time lately, and the doctor had told him he was in remission fifth grade year. He was supposed to be better then.

“Alright, I’ll go outside with you,” I sighed and picked up both our trays to throw them away.

“Thanks,” he stood up, and shakily walked out the cafeteria doors. I followed him down the front steps into a small courtyard set aside for the students. Swings and cement benches were the only thing on the grass.

I led Liam over to one of the benches, and sat down. By the time we got there he was breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

His hands shook, and I gaped at him wide-eyed. “Liam, you really need the nurse.”

“Isabel,” he said weakly, “will you just shut up? I’m trying to concentrate here.”

I rolled my eyes, “Concentrate on what? Not passing out?” I said sarcastically.

Liam kind of smiled, and actually nods his head yes. The universe must have had some sick sort of humor because less than a second after he nodded, Liam collapsed onto the bench.

I heard his head hit the cement with a sickening crack, and I darted up off the bench and too his side. “Liam! Please! Oh God!” I looked at the kids standing next to me who were just watching. “Go get help!” I screamed at them.

Liam wasn’t bleeding, but his breaths were shallow and I knew things were about to go from bad to worse.

Teachers ran out onto the courtyard heading straight for the two of us.

I was shouting at Liam to wake the heck up, when one of the teachers pulled me away. “Wait! I have to go with him! His parents are at work an hour away, he can’t be alone!”

The teacher held my shoulder and shook his head no. “I’m sorry, you can’t go, Izzy.”

The sirens from an approaching ambulance broke my hysterical train of thought. “Did you call his parents?”

“Yes, Izzy. You need to stop worrying and go inside. Liam is being taken to the hospital, it’s out of our hands.” The teacher (I can’t remember his name for the life of me) turned me around and pushed me toward the school’s doors.

I looked back over my shoulder, and saw the EMTs load Liam’s limp body onto a stretcher and roll him away into the ambulance.

The school air conditioning hit me at the same time Liam’s ambulance drove away.

 

“Mom? Mom?” I slapped my hands down on my lap as my mom drove me home from school that day. “Did that say anything yet?” I tapped my fingers against the dashboard and nervously hummed a song.

After another ten minutes, my mom spoke up, “Okay, uh huh, thank you. I really appreciate it. Yes, you too.” She hung up the phone.

“So!” I shouted.

“So, they said they can’t reveal any information to us, but I two days you can go up

there and ask permission to visit him. He and his parents have to approve it though.” Mom

turned the car into our driveway.

I grabbed my hair and pulled at it, “They can’t at least tell us if he’s stable or anything? We have to wait two days to see him?!” I snort, “Well, I guess that means he’s not dead, huh?”

“Isabel!” mom scolded. “You can’t talk about people like that.”

I yanked my backpack out of the backseat and carried it inside. “Izzy, can you take out the trash?” Mom asked.

“I have homework, Mom,” I said exasperated.

I stomped to my bedroom and through my backpack against the wall. A loud crash echoed through the silent house, and I screamed in frustration.

I dug my hand into my black over-the-shoulder purse and pulled out the new phone my parents had gotten me less than a month prior.

Quickly, I searched through my contacts and slammed my thumb down on the OK button. The phone rang three times before I heard Mrs. Carlson’s voice. “Hello,” she whispered quietly, her voice shook and I swallowed hard. I had thought Liam was gone.

“Mrs. Carlson,” my voice broke, “Liam?”

Her breath came heavily, “He’s going to be okay, Isabel, but he has to be in the hospital for a few days.” Mrs. Carlson paused, “Maybe even a week.”

“Oh,” I had let out a relieved sigh, and smiled to myself. “Have the doctors said anything yet?”

I took notice of Liam’s voice in the background, “Isabel, I have to go. Liam will call you tomorrow, okay?” Mrs. Carlson sounded tired, so I agreed and ended the conversation without more information.

“Tell Liam I said get better, and that I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” I finished.

“Will do, Isabel, good evening.” Mrs. Carlson hung up the phone and I gazed out the window for a good half hour before I finally began my homework.

Liam was sick again, it was obvious to me then. I didn’t know what I could do for

Him. I didn’t know what I’d do without my best friend.

 

 

Chapter Eight

Later that month, when I was visiting Liam, he had been acting a lot more like himself.

The doctors were weaning him off chemo again, the cancer was backing off. The doctors were guessing that he would go back into remission.

I was still worried, but Liam seemed to be doing just fine with everything. At least that was what he had been telling me for the past four weeks.

“Would you quit looking at me like that?” Liam said in the middle of our conversation.

I shook my head, “Like what?”

“Oh please, stop looking at me like I’m dying tomorrow! I still have plenty of years left.” Liam chewed on his nail and waited for me to respond.

“Seriously, I’m just being a good friend. And I am not looking at you like,” I paused, I had not wanted to say dying, “that.”

Liam shrugged his shoulders, “You know we’re almost done with seventh grade, right?”
I crossed my eyes, “Really? I had no idea!” I teased him, trying to ease us out of the uncomfortable mini-argument.

“Ha ha. I was just trying to be sociable. Besides, be happy, we’re going to be eighth graders next year. Big kids on campus.” Liam sat up straighter. “’Nother round?”

I gave him a funny look before I realized he wasn’t talking to me. “Oh.” I had said dumbly when I saw the nurse behind me.

Liam was due for another round of chemo and I knew he never felt well afterward. “Alrighty, I’m going to go ahead and leave. I’ll see you later, okay?” I stood up and walked toward the doorway.

“Wait,” Liam had called, “when are you coming back?” The worried look on his face made me nervous; like he knew something I didn’t.

“Um, when do you want me to come back?” I asked. “Remember, I can’t drive,” I teased.

Liam looked away, “The sooner the better. I’d miss you if you were gone to long.”

At that moment in time, my stomach flip-flopped and my cheeks flushed cherry red. “Uh, okay,” I fumbled over my words and the nurse by his bed chuckled.

I scurried away, and called Mom. “Mom can you pick me up now? Liam had to go in for a chemo treatment, I didn’t want to hang around that long.”

“Well, I’m busy right now, Izzy, but I’ll call your dad and see if he can pick you up.” Mom hung up the phone and I rubbed my forehead.

Jack had been at baseball practice, so that’s where Dad was. Which meant I went and watched Jack play baseball for two hours and ate crappy nachos.

During Jack’s practice, a group of girls I knew from school were walking by. Alice, the most popular girl in school at the time, was flipping her dark black hair over her shoulder. “Hey, Izzy!” she called at me from the bottom of the bleachers.

I had never really been friends with Alice, but it’s not like I hadn’t wanted to be friends with her. She was popular, and I wished I was popular.

So when she call me, I was surprised. “Me?” I mouthed and pointed at my chest.

Alice rolled her eyes and tapped her heeled flip-flop impatiently, “Duh! I said Izzy didn’t I!”

I nodded eagerly and quickly rushed down the stairs to meet them. “Hey, I heard Liam’s back in the hospital,” she said when I stood in front of her.

“I…uh…” Liam didn’t usually like it when I talked about his hospital stays to classmates. He said he didn’t want people to pity him. It’s not like they did anyways, I’d have to consider Liam pretty popular. “I guess so, yea.”

Alice pursed her lips, “So is it I guess so or yes?”

“Yes,” I said quietly.

“Okay, he can have visitors, right? What room number is he?”

I shook my head, “Wait, you want to visit Liam?!”

“Duh, that’s pretty much what I just said. So, are you going to answer my questions or what?” Alice looked at me expectantly.

“Well, he’s only allowed visitors who are on the list.” I sat down on the bleachers expecting Alice to leave me be.

Instead, Alice continues to stare at me. “You’re on the list, right? I can just come with you!”

“Why do you want to see Liam anyways? I’ve never seen you talk to him at school. Besides he’d kill me if I brought anybody without asking him.” I clap when I see my brother make it to home plate.

“I’ve talked to him plenty. I just promised everybody at school I’d talk to him to see how he’s doing.”

“I can give you his number,” I said sarcastically.

Alice stomps her foot on the dirt, “Listen Izzy, just take me to say hello. If he tells me to leave, I’ll leave.”

“Whatever, fine. He’ll tell you to leave though. I know Liam better than anyone else. Just meet me at the hospital Monday next week and I’ll take you in.” I left before Alice could have even thanked me, not that she would have anyways.

 

I sat on the bench in front of the hospital tapping my foot impatiently. Where was she? I had texted her three o’clock! It was almost three thirty.

I decided to give her five more minutes, and right when