A Friend's Love

Chapter Sixteen: You'd Know...

Time passed quickly. Alise took her tests and then all we had to do was wait for the results. It was always a worry at the back of my mind, Alise's "sickness," but I kept myself busy so I couldn't dwell on it. The marching band competition was coming up (October sure had snuck up on me!), the school was planning a Halloween Dance- I had to decorate the mornings I didn't have basketball- and I didn't have a costume planned out. Basketball was the hardest it had ever been, my reading assignments were always a struggle because I never had time to read the books, and once I week I tutored a group of my classmates at my house.

Jake was busy too. With basketball, band, and and advanced Science class (that was- surprisingly- Jake's best subject), he barely had time for his regular classes. Add watching Cassie every time Alise went to the doctor's to all of that, and anyone would be surprised at how well he was handling.

Amazingly, neither one of us had cracked from the strain. Yet. In fact, it felt like we were growing closer every day instead. Because no matter what was going on, we always found a way to see each other, outside of school, at least every other day. And we had traditions that kept the relationship going, like playing one-on-one basketball after a picnic meal at least once a week, and calling each other every night. We really did try hard.

But... we weren't perfect. Sometimes one of us would forget to meet up, or turn up late. And... after a few times, we'd get pretty annoyed with each other. And... there were a few low-scale fights. But we usually worked it out and ended up closer than before.

I guess we were at the point of getting pretty annoyed with each other when things got bad. We both had a basketball tournament in the middle of the week, major tests to study for, and extra band practice with our sections whenever the band director surprised us with it. I was getting 4 hours of sleep- at most- every night, and to be honest, I was exhausted, and irritated. And... I figured out that Jake was too.

It was a Tuesday. I hadn't been alone with Jake since last Thursday. Jake had sounded upset on the phone last night, and he hadn't talked to anyone all day. I was worried. So I rushed through my tutoring and left as quickly as I could. When I got to Jake's house, everyone was home, but Jake was sitting outside, alone. So I went and sat beside him on the porch. He didn't look up. I waited for him to say something, but the silence just kept going...

"What's wrong?" I finally asked. This suspense was killing me.

"Where have you been?" he muttered. His head was still in his hands.

So he was accusing me now? I started to get mad, but then forced myself to calm down. Jake was just tired, and so was I.

"I was tutoring. I got here as fast as I-"

"I called you." he interrupted. "And texted you. And you didn't answer. I needed you, and you were busy."

Oh, he was definitely accusing me now! I started to get defensive.

"My phone was turned off because I was tutoring. You know I always do that! And I came here right after, didn't I?" My voice was rising. But I made myself calm down, again. I really didn't want to right with Jake... "Jake... just tell me what's wrong. I just want-"

And then he cut me off again. That was really starting to tick me off. "If you were around more, you'd know!"

Jake had finally taken his head out of his hands, but now I wished he hadn't. He was glaring at me, like this was all my fault. He wasn't being fair! I wanted to scream and accuse and throw things (okay, that was a bit over dramatic, but he was making me mad!), but first I had to ask.

"Know what?" What would I know if I was "around more"?

"That it's a brain tumor." He hissed. I had never seen Jake so mad before... "That my mom has a brain tumor."

He stared furiously at me for a few more seconds and then, without any warning, broke down in tears.

I was shocked. His words hadn't sunk in yet. All I knew was that Jake was scared, and worried.

My anger forgotten, I moved to give him a hug. But the blood started pounding in my ears again when he shoved me away. Suddenly, he was yelling at me.

"Just go! I don't want you anymore! Just leave me alone..." His voice cracked and then the anger was gone, replaced with pain.

I sat there, not sure what to do. Should I stay? Shouldn't I stay? I started to try to hug him again, but then I got mad. Really mad. He had no right, accusing me like this! I was trying to be there for him. But I wasn't perfect! Jake knew how busy I was! He wasn't being fair!

Furious, I stood up. I couldn't even look at him. Gritting my teeth, I snarled, "Fine," and walked right out the gate. He didn't try to stop me, and I wouldn't have stopped if he'd said anything. I was tired, irritated, and sick of people being mad at me. And most of all, I was sick of Jake.

This wasn't looking like it was going to end well.

"Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men."

-Joseph Conrad

(I LOVE this quote! It made me laugh so hard!) Okay, so... sorry about that! I hated writing about them fighting but... it had to be done!:/ I'm not sure exactly where this next chapter's gonna go... I just know what the end is! Yup, this book is close to being FINISHED! I'm so sad! :'(

Well, I love you all!(: Thanks so much for reading!

-Alyssa <3