Here's the Halloween party! It gets a little angsty towards the middle and end. Also, you'll notice that there is not a James diary entry in this chapter, but there's a reason for that and you'll see why once you've read the chapter. The next chapter, a continuation of this one, WILL have an entry at the end, though :) xoxoxo, Brooke
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On Halloween, at 6:30 pm, I was still feeling pretty rough after a chemo session just two days before, but since my dosage had been temporarily lowered, I was hoping I wouldn't feel as bad I as normally did after a session.
I was dressed in my old jeans, white tee shirt, leather boots, and leather biker jacket, with my new “hair” placed on my head. Now I was just hoping that Jade would come over soon, so I could finally know what she was wearing.
“Not bad.” Carlos was dressed up as Frankenstein and Stephanie was wearing a zombie bride costume. It was quite a strange pairing, but they looked cute together. Stephanie still had to use her cane, but she was beginning to get around more and more on her own. She had been doing physical therapy for several weeks.
“Is Jade out there?” I peeked behind me into the hallway. I didn’t see Jade, but I would just assume she was still getting ready. That is, until the clock hit 8:00 and she was still nowhere to be found. Then I would be pretty concerned.
“She’s in the lounge with Jo and Camille.” Carlos insisted, grabbing my wrist and pulling me into the Halloween decorated hallway. We kept walking until we arrived in the lounge. That was when I got my first glimpse of my date. She was dressed as an edgier version of Dorothy from Wizard of Oz. She had the same blue and white checkered dress, but she had added a black leather jacket and sparkly red boots, and her hair was now colored bright pink, worn in loose curls.
I was beginning to worry about the hair thing. I didn’t want her to damage it with the excessive coloring.
Nevertheless, I couldn’t complain about the costume.
Taking a deep breath, I approached her from behind, tapping her shoulder. “Ready to get our party on?”
“Promise you’ll behave yourself?” She pointed a finger at me.
I chuckled. “Surrrreee.”
With a roll of her eyes, she took my hand and the rest of the group followed, heading towards the elevator. We all crowded inside and we made our way up to the roof, where the party had begun thirty minutes earlier. I didn’t know why I was suddenly fidgeting beside Jade, finding it a bit hard to even take in a breath, and having to clear my throat every few seconds. I didn’t usually have social anxiety.
“Nervous much?” Jade lightly nudged me.
“No! Not at all!” I lied, coughing into my hand. I felt her rub my back and then the elevator doors opened, and we all walked out to the party. A bunch of people were already here, even ones that weren’t patients at the hospital. I was assuming that those people were likely friends and family of the patients.
The snack table was a regular table covered with a black cloth, some orange artificial flowers, and some fake spider webs and spiders. I knew I wouldn’t be going over there at all tonight, which sucked because the chips and salsa did look quite appetizing. I just realized that if I tried to eat, it would just come right back up. Story of my life.
“Hey, you wanna just go sit down for a bit?”
“You okay?” Jade asked as we approached orange cloth covered table.
“Yeah, just tired.” I felt immense relief once I was seated. It just seemed like the more time that passed, the weaker I got. The days in which I just couldn’t even bring myself to get out of bed were becoming more and more frequent. Sometimes I even had to request a wheelchair if I wanted to leave the room, as embarrassed as I felt.
“So, um, I’m...glad you invited me to this. I don’t...I don’t get invited to many parties.” She wasn’t even looking at me as she spoke. My eyebrows raised a little and my eyes widened, and my head tilted as I watched her struggle with her awkwardness. I thought she would have been one of the popular girls, but I guess I was wrong.
“Why not?”
“Girls were mean, you know? They left me out of everything, including parties. On the rare occasion that I did get invited to one, it was just so they could find a way to humiliate me. They would...” She took a breath. “They called me fat and ugly and they made fun of everything from the clothes I wore to the house I lived in. Stupid little bitches.”
“Is that...” I hated to ask. I hated asking so much. I had to, though. “Is that why you started to--”
“A big part of the reason, yeah.” She looked down. “But I was insecure anyway. My mom was always really obsessed with appearances because she use to be a model. When it wasn’t the girls at school commenting on my weight, it was her. She would criticize me when I even wanted a little bowl of ice cream and then one day, she was having this party at our house. She commented on my weight right in front of all her stupid, stuck up friends. After that, I went on this diet and even though it started out normal, it spiraled out of control really fast.”
Slowly, I reached across the table and took her hand, finding pleasure in our fingers intertwining.
She was looking at the smack table, her lips pursed together. It was clear she was having doubts, but it seemed that my hand squeezing hers was the only encouragement she needed. She stood up and let her hand lightly brush against my shoulder before walking over and fixing herself a plate.
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JADE’S POV
I loathed the sight of all those calories sitting on that table. I hated myself for even touching that stuff, but everyone else seemed convinced that me stuffing my face would be a good thing. I almost cringed as I was putting the chips on my place with a side of cheese dip and salsa. I knew I had an eating disorder and I knew that I should eat, but I didn’t want to.
“I can’t believe that I am here without a date.” Camille sounded so bitter as she chugged a glass of Coca Cola before pouring herself another glass. “I mean, Steve can go do whatever he wants with that slut, but after he’d made all these promises to me, I just--ugh!”
“There are other guys, you know.” I took a nibble of a potato chip, surprised when I didn’t puke right then and there. “Like Logan.”
“Logan has a girlfriend.”
“That’s the thing. I’m not sure how much longer that’s gonna last.”
I looked back over at James, frowning as he buried his head in his arms. I hated to leave Camille alone, but I felt like James was the priority right now. I was beginning to wonder if going to a party two days after a chemotherapy session was such a good idea. I didn’t want to ruin his night, but a part of me felt like the best thing would be for him to go lay down.
“Look, we’ll talk later, but--”
“Oh right, you have a date.”
“Sorry.” I took my plate and returned to the table, pulling my chair closer to James and sitting beside him. I let my arm wrap around him, waiting for a response. I was almost about to call for help when he finally lifted his head, blinking his eyes before turning towards me.
“I just needed to rest my eyes. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He coughed. Did he really think I couldn’t tell that he felt sick? It was far too obvious, so the fact that he was trying to minimize it aggravated me. I didn’t want to yell at him, though. I just rubbed his arm and waited for him to speak again.
“Maybe we should keep Logan company? He looks pretty lonely.”
Ain’t that the truth. Poor Logan was just sitting next to the elevator in his wheelchair with his prosthetic leg on and dressed up as an adorable, but depressed, zombie. I wished that Camille would go over there and talk to him, since they were both dateless, but she got so weird when his name was even mentioned.
“Come on.” I took his hand and we walked over to Logan, wondering if he even wanted company. Maybe he wanted to be alone.... “Hey, dork. You gonna dance or something?”
“Nope. Because 1) I’m still getting use to this,” He motioned to the prosthetic. “and 2) I’m not in the mood. Oh, and 3) I have no one to dance with.”
Whoa, talk about grouchy.
“It’s...hey, how about talking to Camille?” James suggested. That would so not work. Those two wouldn’t dare consider getting too close to each other. Logan was supposedly still with McKinley and Camille was still depressed about the whole Steve thing. I wasn’t too sure if we could just push them to hang out.
“Not gonna happen. She’s still upset over Steve, I’m taken, and it would just be a bad idea....”
I could only shake my head, still watching James. After a few short minutes, he lowered himself to the floor and buried his face in his knees, groaning softly. I knelt beside him and placed my hand on his bicep, my worry increasing. What was wrong with him tonight?
“James?”
“Buddy, you okay?” Logan reached out and gave his shoulder a squeeze.
“Guys, I’m fine!” He snapped at us, shivering. I didn’t believe him one bit, but talking to him about it was hopeless. James wouldn’t dare let anyone in long enough to help him.
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KENDALL’S POV
Jo was definitely the most beautiful princess at the party, no doubt about it. What I couldn’t understand was the fact that even though she was my date, I was too nervous to ask her to dance. Because of my heart condition, I couldn’t really do any of the upbeat dances, but a slower song was playing now. I could ask her to slow dance and I wasn’t doing it. WHY?
“I love this song.” She smiled, adjusting her blonde wig. “The story of my life, I take her home. I drive all night to keep her warm and time, is frozen.”
Okay, me? Dancing to a One Direction song? James, Carlos, and Logan would never let me live it down. Jo seemed to love the song so much, though, and this would be a good opportunity to get closer to her. I even saw Lucy nodding at me, actually encouraging me to ask the question.
“W-would you, um, l-like to d-dance? With me?”
She smiled more as she turned to me. “I would love that.”
So I took her hand and led her to the middle of the floor, her arms around my neck and my hands on her waist. From a distance, I saw James sitting on the floor next to Logan, looking particularly rough. When we all realized that the party would be happening such a short time after his chemo, we all tried to encourage him to stay in his room and rest, but he’d demanded that he be allowed at this party.
“I can’t believe I’m done with chemo. Well, as far as I know. They’re gonna run some tests tomorrow and I’ll probably find out the results in a week. If the cancer’s gone, then I can go home and start living my normal life again.” Jo sounded so optimistic. I hoped that she was in remission, because she deserved to have her life back.
“You know, you really know how to rock the werewolf look.” She giggled. My god, she was so cute. Come on, Kendall. SAY SOMETHING.
“Th-thanks?”
Oh, good. A little awkward sounding, but still good.
“Listen, there’s something that I’ve been wanting to do, but I’m sort of terrified that you’ll stop talking to me or that you’ll still talk to me but think I’m weird, or that I’m too forward or something like that. I’m sorry, I should stop talking now.”
“Jo, I am pretty much the definition of a weirdo, so you don’t have anything to worry about.”
“Then you won’t mind if I do this.”
Next thing I knew, she had pressed her lips against mine, and I didn’t mind at all. My arms were soon wrapped tightly around her waist and she ran her fingers through my hair, and I felt like I was in a dream. A beautiful, perfect dream. I was practically making out with Jo Taylor right there on the dance floor.
Too bad that it had to end.
“I, um...I...” She stammered, backing away from me. “I’m sorry, I’ve gotta go.”
She turned around and hurried to the elevator, disappearing from my sight.
If I had been nervous before, I was officially freaking out now.
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CARLOS’ POV
“Is James okay?” Stephanie and I both looked over at James, who was ignoring both Jade and Logan’s questions. He didn’t look so great, but I wanted to believe that he was just tired, that nothing else was wrong. Who was I kidding, though? The guy had cancer and he was looking worse and worse by the minute.
“Steph, I really should check on him--”
“It’s fine.” I nearly fainted when she kissed my cheek and I was certain that my face was now turning red. Then I gave her a shy smile, waving before rushing over to James, Jade, and Logan.
“Jay, you feel warm.” Logan warned.
“What’s wrong with him?” I knelt in front of James, rubbing his knee, and looking from Jade to Logan. I reached out to feel his forehead and Logan was right when he said that our buddy felt warm. In fact, his skin felt like it was on fire. When I went into his room before the party, I’d noticed that he looked a little off, but I’d been too scared to say anything, but maybe I should have spoke up sooner.
“I’m gonna get Dr. Rivers.” Jade said, hurrying into the elevator. My very first instinct to wrap my arm around James and pull him close, whispering to him in hopes of providing at least a little bit of comfort.
“Jay, you need to be completely honest with us, okay?” Logan kept his voice low, thankfully. We knew James hated causing a scene. “Does anything hurt?”
“Um, my throat, my stomach, and my head.”
“And when did this all start?”
“Um...I woke up this morning feeling just a little bit off and th-then it got worse as the day went on.”
Minutes later, Dr. Rivers came rushing over to us with Jade, dropping to her knees in front of James and placing a thermometer under his tongue. She was talking to him, but I was distracted and didn’t realize she’d been speaking until Logan brought me back to reality with a light slap on the shoulder.
Beep! Beep!
Dr. Rivers sighed. “101.5. James, you must’ve caught an infection.”
“S-so, what am I suppose to d-do?”
“We’ll try to bring your fever down, I’m going to get you started on an antibiotic, and we’re gonna run some tests to find out what germ is causing the infection. Depending on what germ it is, we’ll either continue the antibiotic I give you or I may change it.” She helped James to his feet, but he was protesting. I held my hand out to rub his back, tears beginning to fill my eyes.
“Do you need a wheelchair?”
“N-no.” That was a lie. James didn’t really feel like walking and we all knew it, but he was too stubborn to admit to any such thing.
I watched as a nurse brought a wheelchair over anyway and James was placed in it, standing close to Jade as my friend was taken away. Where could he have gotten the infection from? I knew he’d been to the lobby for a little bit yesterday and he even sat with his mom in the cafeteria, and Mrs. Diamond had expressed concern about someone with a bad cough in the lobby....oh no.
“I’m going with them.” Jade turned into the elevator, disappearing out of our sight along with James. I was praying silently, but my anxiety just wouldn’t disappear. Not until I could be absolutely sure that James was going to be okay.
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LOGAN’S POV
An hour later, at 8:00, the party had shrunk, but was still going on. Even Camille was still dancing with a small group she had gathered, and while I wanted to join her, James was the priority. After waiting for an hour to know anything about James, I ended up going back inside to the ward. I couldn’t enjoy the party if James wasn’t there.
I wheeled over to James’s room, where Jade was standing in the doorway. I’d known her for a month longer than James had and I’d never seen her show so much concern for one person. She’d stuck by James for the whole party, never once leaving his side. She normally kept to herself, but she became a completely different person around James.
“How is he?”
“Um,” She breathed. “They’re trying to bring his fever down and she ran some tests, so now they need to get the results back and decide if he’ll keep taking the antibiotic she gave him or if he’ll need something different.”
With her help, I stood up, inching into the room. James was no longer dressed up in his costume, but in a light blue hospital gown. He had a cool, wet washcloth on his forehead and he was even more pale than he was when he arrived at the party earlier. He must have been exhausted too because he was now fast asleep.
“Dr. Rivers is pretty sure that the infection was caught in time, so that’s good. It would have been a lot worse if it had been found later.”
“What caused it?” I wondered, leaning against the door frame.
“He only got chemo two days ago and then he went to the lobby yesterday and someone was coughing.” Jade explained, keeping her voice low. I sighed as I approached James, putting a medical mask on before taking his hand in mine. It was obvious that he needed to be much more careful from now on.
“Get well soon, Jay. You’re gonna be okay.” Jade leaned forward and placed a kiss on his forehead, to my surprise. She made it known that she wasn’t a hugger or a fan of any physical display of affection for that matter, so what was it about James that changed that? I wasn’t sure I would ever understand.
I didn’t understand why James had to be sick either. He didn’t deserve any of this.