Surviving Cancer

Thursday, January 11 & Saturday, January 13

LEVI POV

I had thought of nothing else but Maci's speech since my conversation with Ms. Chilson. I still had not read it and my resolve to go into the speech blind remained. There was a small portion of me itching to know what she wrote sooner rather than later but I couldn't bring myself to open the folder. I told Emma about it but I didn't let her read it. I loved Emma. And I knew Maci liked her but I was pretty certain it stopped there. If I was going to let anyone in on this speech, which I desperately wanted and probably also needed, it had to be someone close. I also wanted to know who else knew. It wasn't that our lives contained a bunch of secrets but Maci's journey had always been something private. I knew she was scared at times, mad, I even knew she wanted to give up a time or two. But she had never actually voiced her true feelings on the matter and I wasn't sure I could handle them.

At some point during the past day or two I had decided I needed to corner Jared. Jackie was out of the question even though she was my first thought. She shared the class with Maci and she was her best friend. She had probably read the essay, maybe the speech wasn't that different. But there was absolutely no way I could talk to Jackie. I knew she wouldn't confide in Greg that way. Which left Skylar or Jared and considering Skylar and her had broken up and I had no idea where the relationship stood, Jared was my best bet. Maybe she had told him about it. He was the person she always went running to when she needed to escape or whatever it was she was doing. Which is what led me to all but sprinting down the hallways before class. I had no idea what Jared's schedule was and what little of his routine I did know was completely inaccurate now that Maci wasn't in school. I turned a corner, colliding with a tall, wiry body.

"Sorry." I yelled in surprise at the collision, my apology coming out all on its own.

"Levi?"

I stopped, taking a second to look at the person I had nearly knocked over.

"Skylar." I said. "You're in school."

I wasn't sure why I had to point out the obvious.

"Yeah. Uh..." He rubbed at the back of his neck. "How's Maci? I was going to text her but..."

"She's good." I cut him off, an edge to my voice. I didn't think he really needed to know but it made me feel good to tell people she was getting better. "Really good considering."

His electric blue eyes lit up, his lips twitching upward in a smile. I pressed my lips into a hard line, watching him close.

"That's awesome."

I nodded, nerves still racing through my body making me hyper aware of my quest to find Jared. I didn't have time to deal with Skylar or his sudden concern for my sister.

"I gotta go." I said, starting to back away. "Do you know where I can find Jared?"

It was worth a shot, they were both seniors. I already had a good few feet between us, the noise from the other students in the hallway forcing me to raise my voice. I followed Skylar's finger down the hallway. Sure enough Jared was leaning up against a wall. He was laughing at something someone said. I took off in that direction, slipping through the groups of people.

"Hey Jared." I called when I was a foot from his group.

His eyes shot up, scanning the crowd before they settled on me. I didn't even have to ask him to talk, he was already shoving himself off the wall with his foot heading in my direction.

"Is she okay?" He asked instantly.

I nodded, realizing that I may have looked a little frantic as I weaved through people toward him. I was frantic but not for the reason he thought I was.