Don't forget me. by Christina.D (book club recommendations .txt) 📖

I got to go home in the next few weeks. My grandmother took care of me, as my parents were with Summer.
I couldn’t get out of bed, so my grandmother bought everything I needed to me instead.
‘Hun, your goanna get fat if you keep asking for chocolate’ she sat next to me and laughed from inside.
‘Hey I have concussion; I think I’m allowed to get fat!’ I stuffed a chocolate ice cream down. As my grandma took the wrapper, and shook her head laughing. You know you have always had a thing for chocolate, unlike your mother, she wouldn’t touch the stuff.’ I stopped stuffing myself and just stared at the ice cream. My grandmas sounded serious.
‘Don’t hate your mother. She just doesn’t want to lose any of you, so she is just trying to save all of you.’
‘You mean save Summer.’ She took the ice cream away from me and threw it in the bin next to the bed.
‘No, she knows she can’t lose you, but Summer, that’s a different story.’ I knew what my grandmother meant, but It still makes the knot in my stomach tighten.
When I was born, I was premature. I had to be in the incubator for weeks. My mum gave up on the idea that I was going to live. She just shut down. My grandmother told me that no one could get her to snap out. Not even my father. But I survived. The doctors said I shouldn’t have, but I did. I have never got a cold. I have never even broken a bone or factored anything. It’s weird how healthy I am. But that’s why everyone knows that I will be fine. In the end I will live. They were all wrong.

After the sixth week I could get up from bed. I walked outside to the back garden. When I checked my phone, it turns out my friends sure missed me. 87 messages and 96 missed calls. It took hours to explain what happened, but they understood. I invited all of my friends over next week. It turns out my parents didn’t tell anyone about what happened, not even the school.
I haven’t got a best friend. I’m too far away to have a best friend. I can’t tell people about what I’m thinking because I’m a freak. I want to be alone. I like being alone. But I hate people forgetting me. I don’t know how that’s going to work, but it has to. I don’t like the feeling of people thinking I don’t exist. School is ok, I guess, putting on a short skirt and a tight top makes you unforgettable in high school, but with life. It takes a lot more.
‘Hey, if you keep staring like that, your eyes are goanna fall out.’ I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard him. I shuffled to see who it was. My next door neighbour. I smiled. I couldn’t help myself. He was really nice the last time I saw him. He has bark brown hair, and beaming blue yes. He’s strong build mad me shiver. He was leaning against the tree in my back garden woods. He was wearing a blue shirt and jeans.
I felt embarrassed when I realised that I was wearing by pyjama shorts and top.
‘So, back from the dead?’ He smirked wildly.
‘Yeah, guess so’ I swung my legs front and back, looking down.
‘Yeah it seems that the dead don’t even have time to get changed at two pm.’ I looked up and laughed.
‘Yeah, it seems so. But I think part of it is that the dead had a chance to go out, so I took it.’ He came closer.
‘So what you just got locked in? That’s not fair. How are you meant to get better with no fresh air? ‘
‘What, is that the secret medicine?’ I patted my hand on the seat next to me, and he took it.
‘Yeah, defiantly, fresh air is the key. I mean it heals everything. That’s why I don’t use those damn plasters; they just go all soggy and leave you with scars at the end’ He showed me his elbow which was scraped. ‘You see when the scab comes on, it will eventually heal, but people put a plaster on and don’t let the wound heal. It’s stupid really.’
‘Guess you’re right, but I put plasters on because it looks better.’ I pulled one eyebrow up as he laughed.
‘You girls, even if it hurts as hell, you prefer it, because it looks good. My sister is just like that’
‘How many siblings do you have?’ I started swinging my legs again, as he was looking at them, and I didn’t comfortable feel with them being bare.
‘Your goanna think my family is weird, but twelve.’ My jaw dropped.
‘Jesus. Twelve?’
‘Yeah, I’m third from the bottom.’
‘How the hell do you all fit in the house?’ It’s about the same size as mine, but I couldn’t imagine another person living in it. It just wouldn’t be right.
‘Well Its only six of us that live in the house all the rest of my eight siblings are old enough to live on their own.’ He looked up at me and smiled. ‘How about you? How many do you have?’
‘One. She’s four.’ I tried smiling warmly like my mother.
‘ I never hear a baby cry, I mean when I remember my little sister crying, I swear the whole street would complain’ He laughed .
‘Oh, well she’s always in hospital, so I guess no one hears her cry.’ I tried smiling but his face was full of shock.’
‘Oh. I’m sorry. I just didn’t mean. I didn’t know. I swear.’ He turned himself at me with pleading eyes.
‘No it’s ok, you didn’t know, and I shouldn’t have said it like that’ I smiled hopelessly.
‘I just. Wow. I couldn’t imagine anyone from my family being in the hospital. As many as there are of us, and as annoying they are. I couldn’t live without them.’ It seems weird how someone else could think. I mean Summer is my sister, and there’s me thinking that it really wouldn’t matter to me if she was alive or not.
‘Well I never got to know her. She’s been ill since she was born.’ I looked down.
‘Oh. Hey, I didn’t mean to make you upset.’ He placed his hand on the top of mine, which made all of my body have electric shocks. But good ones.
‘ No you didn’t, I was just thinking.’ I smiled at him. ‘Anyways, I completely forgot your name.’ I laughed to myself. I guess I had an excuse, banging my head and all.
‘It’s Liam. Your Sutton right?’
‘Yeah’
We ended up talking until midnight. When I went upstairs to my bedroom, I felt more alive than ever. I have never felt like that. I mean it’s not just a crush, he makes me wonder, he opens every part of my mind and makes me explore it. He’s everything that I’m not. He’s so open minded and intelligent. I sighed.
‘Well missy, who was that?’ I rocked myself on my elbows and let the worm air out of my freezing body.
‘The guy who lives next door.’ I smiled with all my teeth showing. My grandmother looked happy for me.
‘well it’s about time someone moved in there, I mean no one’s lived there since forever, and a good thing he’s cute too’ She winked as I threw a pillow at her.
That night I dreamed. I never dream, and it was about getting lost, getting lost in the woods, in a forest that he touched, a dream that only he could create.

I stood in the mirror and looked at the back of my head. It had a huge ugly scar that I hid with my hair. I put make up on, and got dressed. Shorts and a floral top seemed appropriate for the hot weather. I went downstairs to find grandmother making pancakes.
‘Hey princess, finally you’re up, you have to help me eat these pancakes, I made enough to feed an army. ‘ She turned and carried on stirring. ‘And you look very pretty.’ I guess gran likes floral things, as she was wearing another floral dress to compliment her light pink lipstick.
‘You have to say that, you’re my grandmother.’ I smiled and sat on the counter. ‘So where’s mum and dad?’ They left this morning at six am. There starting a new treatment for Summer.
I took a deep breath and picked out some plates.
‘Why don’t you set it up outside.’ She smiled at me as she knows I love eating outside.
I stepped out in the soft, worm sunlight. I started getting everything ready as a ball hit me. I’m used to them doing that, as at school I get hit all the time. I’m just not very coordinated.
‘Sorry!’ A little boy with an elder girl ran up to me. They both had jet black hair and light blue eyes. They reminded me of someone.
‘It’s ok,’ I smiled at both of them whilst I handed the ball.
‘We live next door’ said the little boy, who looked about six, and the girl, who looked about eight elbowed him in the head.
That’s why they look familiar. There Liam’s brother and sister. The little boy hit the girl and they started fighting.
‘Hey knock it off! When mum and dad come home I’m telling!’ Liam came out the trees and shrugged leaves off. When he saw me he’s eyes popped out huge. ‘Oh hey. Sorry