A Summer To Remember

You're On

It was hard to focus on school when I knew Jade was dealing with so much. She was missing school because of everything that had happened and I knew that stressed her out, too. She needed a break.

After missing a week of school, I had a large stack to bring home and finish. My teachers were being extra helpful and understanding of my health issues. I was the only kid, that I knew of, who had any kind of disability that wasn't inherited at birth. No one at my school knew what to do with a kid who suddenly only had one and a half limbs.

I didn't want to spend my weekend stuck inside doing homework but we were supposed to get snow and I knew neither my wheelchair nor my prosthetics would do well in it.

So I camped in my room for the day, struggling to focus on the fourth math worksheet I was working on.

Jade walked in and stopped when she saw me staring down at a math assignment that made no sense. Her lips curled up but she didn't say anything as she walked over and laid down on the bed beside me. She pulled the paper toward her and took the pencil from my hand and started scribbling things down. I had no idea if it was right but it couldn't be any worse than the answers I kept getting.

"I should be doing this, you know."

"Do you want to fail?"

"Are you calling me stupid?"

She laughed. "No."

I nudged her with my elbow. "Just for that, I should make you do all of my homework."

"At least we know it'd get done."

I rolled my eyes as I turned to lay on my back. "Do you ever worry about not graduating?"

She shrugged. "Not until recently. It just seems a little... arbitrary now considering everything that's happened."

I knew she was talking about everything with her mom but I understood her completely. She'd been through a lot with her mom and she had still had a lot to process and deal with. School was just in the way of her growing up and moving on.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head. "I'm not ready yet."

I sat up on my elbows and looked at her, writing something on the paper in her lap. "You really don't have to do that."

"I am so get over it."

I raised my eyebrows and the smallest smile spread on her face.

"Do you need to talk?" She asked, flipping the pencil over to erase something.

"Me? Why do you think I need to talk about anything?"

She finally looked up at me and her eyes searched my face. "You seem kind of sad right now. Is something... eating at you?"

"Well, other than a flesh-eating bacteria, I'm fine."

She threw her pencil at me. "Don't joke about that."

My eyebrows scrunched together. "Why?"

"I don't like the thought of you getting sick again."

I sat up and pushed the homework off her lap so I was her only focus. "I'm not going to get sick again."

She sighed and stared down at her hand in her lap.

I leaned forward on my knees, or lack of, and kissed her, my bad hand pushing the hair out of her face.

When she pulled back, she wasted no time in wrapping her arm around me and pressing her chest to mine. We fell back onto the bed and she buried her face in the crook of my neck. "I can't lose you, Dyl."

"I won't let that happen."

She sniffled and slowly sat up. "I don't wanna do your homework anymore."

I laughed. "Do you want to play video games or something? I'll let you win."

She laughed. "Okay."

I sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, close to where my wheelchair was. I lifted myself into the chair then let Jade push me to the living room, not wanting to argue with her when she offered.

Jake was laying on the couch, flipping through stations on the TV. He looked bored out of his mind. He glanced at us as we entered the room.

"You're not going to go spend time what's-her-face?"

"Her name is Cassie and no. The roads are getting too bad."

I had a feeling the snow was going to keep us inside all weekend. It was early for snow but we all knew it was coming. It was November and it'd only get worse, weather-wise. We didn't exactly live somewhere warm.

Jade sat down on the couch at Jake's feet, earning her a sharp glare. He then stood and went to grab the controllers on the TV stand. He tossed two onto the couch beside Jade before sitting in one of the chairs.

"Do I have to let her win?" He asked, eyes flicking to me as he spoke.

I smiled. "Once or twice."

He rolled his eyes but didn't protest anymore.

Jade giggled.

I took Jade's controller from her and switched it from two-handed to one, making it easier for her to play. It didn't make playing easy but it helped a good bit. It was tired trying to hit every button when only one hand had fingers.

"I think Jake should play one-handed too." She said, shooting him a glance.

"No, thanks. I have two hands so I'm going to play two-handed."

"Then Dyl and I are on the same team."

"Woah, woah, woah. Who said anything about teams?"

"Together, we have two hands so we're playing against you."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, cheat so you can beat me. Whatever. But I'm not letting you win now."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "You're on."