“You used to do that when you were a little kid, remember? Only a lot louder. The whole office could hear you and I used to have to buy you a lollipop to get you to stop.”
“Did it work?” I asked, curious.
My father grinned. “Nope.”
After not too long, Dr. Martin came in with my file and a stack of papers. He did not look happy and I knew that all my suspicions were true.
“Well?” I asked, eager to get this over with.
He sighed. “Well, Amy, your T cell count is low and your blood tests show the disease has progressed. It looks like we are in the early stages now, so no need to worry too much. There’s a lot we can do to…”
I let him drone on and on, but I wasn’t listening. It didn’t matter what medications he had to offer, or what the statistics said nowadays, or what I could or couldn’t do.
The truth of the matter was right in front of me: I had AIDS.
The car ride home was silent, except in the middle, when Father asked where I wanted to sleep. I asked to be taken to his house and he agreed.
From there, I went straight up to my childhood bedroom, where I lay with my phone in my hand for quite a few minutes before rolling over and texting Sarah.
It’s bad.
She responded immediately. I love you. Remember that.
I smiled, and we went back and forth for about 45 minutes, never once hearing each other’s voices. This was the way it used to be, Sarah and me, before all this complexity came in. Before Liam, and school and relationships, it was just Sarah and me, our personalities coming through the texts, as we shared every detail of our day through our phones. All the awkwardness and anger of the previous weeks melted away.
I knew I should text Liam, but I didn’t want to. How was it his business anymore? Of course, I still loved and cared about him, but he had made it clear that he was in a different place in his life right now, and there was no room for me in it. So instead, I scrolled down my contacts and texted Drago.
Hey. Got time to talk?
After a few minutes and in between texts to Sarah, he responded.
For you? Anything. Want me to bring food? Where are you?
I smiled, sitting up. Perhaps a good meal, or a weird meal, with two close friends was exactly what I needed. I confirmed with Sarah that she was free, and then texted Drago back, giving him my father’s address.
Be there in 20 minutes was the response.
I smiled, feeling better already and went to my closet, where there were still some clothes. No matter what the situation was, I still had friends that I could be close to, that could make me laugh no matter what. A night out with Sarah and Drago was just what I needed.
My phone beeped again and I went over to check it, assuming it was one of them. But instead, it was Liam.
Emergency Party Scene rehearsal in Red Theater, 6 am
That was all it said. I didn’t think that my heart could pound any louder after today, but it leaped into my throat.
And yet, at the same time, I didn’t want to go. The days of rushing to Liam’s side to fix yet another issue of a world I wasn’t apart of was over. After the show, I was pretty sure I would be leaving school and not coming back.
Why?
I’ll tell you when you get here.
I sighed, rolling my eyes. Typical Liam. And yet, Liam never made a mountain out of a molehill. If it was serious, it was serious. It seemed like he sent a mass text to everyone, so I simply replied ok and went back to getting dressed. I wasn’t going to let him ruin my evening, not with so few evenings left.
Chapter 18: Liam
I paced the stage at 1 pm as the others arrived. When Connor had told me that the other vampires wanted to speak with me, I assumed it had to do with the plan, and so I decided to arrange for a whole cast meeting. I knew that Amy had to film Ranger, so I arranged a breakfast meeting when most of them would be coming out of their transformations with the rising sun.
Amy came in first with Sarah, and neither girl looked like they had slept much. The scent of death wafting from Amy grew stronger every day, and from the look on her face today, I knew she had learned something about it. It just about killed me to not ask her how she was feeling, or what was wrong. Once upon a time, I could practically read Amy’s mind, but now times were different. I felt like I couldn’t trust her anymore. I knew all about Drago from the summer Gatsby tour, and even though I knew she was probably telling the truth, I couldn’t help but wonder if that compromising picture was more than she claimed it was.