Chapter Four

My joyful laughter could be heard throughout the entire chemotherapy room, earning a few glares from patients who probably wanted to receive their treatment quietly. The last two weeks went by with worry and fear. Nurse Hilda, who was assigned to assist my treatment had allowed Josh to sit beside me only because it was my first time.

We were currently reminiscing embarrassing memories of when I was younger. "Do you remember when you thought the ice cream truck was coming to take your teeth?" Josh asked laughing loudly. " Hey! It's not my fault, you're the one who let me watch that movie...what was it again? " I replied joining in. "Ok! All done Angelina. Your catheter is in, just make sure that you don't touch it or it could cause discomfort for you." Nurse Hilda said while patting my head. I nodded and looked down at my arm with a frown. "It didn't even hurt.". "Probably because you were distracted by our stories Lina," Josh said with a smirk. I grinned at him and held his hand tightly.

"Thank you so much, Josh, I couldn't do this without you. Your the best brother and the only family I truly need, I know this is probably hard for you and the last thing I want is for you to have to feel pain after our parents left and everything. You've given up so much for me and if it wasn't for them you probably would have had a bett-."

"Lina, no. It may sound weird but I'm glad they left, I'm happy that I have gotten to see you grow up into this amazing young woman that you are today, and yeah this is hard but I know you'll get through this because you're so strong and brave ok? So don't ever think that I regret this." Josh replies, cutting me halfway through my rant.

I wiped my now teary eyes and nodded, feeling thankful for everything Josh has given me, and for this chance to live.

. . .

An hour had passed and I was done with my chemo for the day. I had been given prescription pain meds and an anti-sickness pill in case the side effects kicked in right away. Josh and I were headed out of the hospital when I heard distant shouts and calls. I turned around confused but smiled when I saw Alli and Nate walking up to me.

"Hey Cancer Girl, How was your first chemo?" Nate asked while him and Alli both gave me hugs. "It was fine, it wasn't painful or anything as I imagined," I replied with a shrug. "Oh! Guys this is my brother Josh, Josh this is Allison and Nathan.". "Nice to meet you guys," Josh said with a small smile. I rolled my eyes at his antics but decided to ignore it.

"Do you guys wanna go to the diner with us? I'm famished and I fancy a milkshake right about now." I said while groaning. "Yeah sure, we haven't got anything better to do anyway.". "Well, off we go then!"

. . .

I guess I could say that I was somewhat surprised when we arrived at the diner. We were all laughing and making silly jokes but as soon as I spotted them sitting all the way to the back talking in hushed tones, I could instantly feel my smile slip away. Great, I thought to myself, this is just what I need. I decided to ignore them since they hadn't spotted me yet and joined my brother, Alli, and Nate at a table near the exit.

"Isn't that Theo Fields?" Josh suddenly asked. "Yeah...it is. I'm not quite sure that I'm in the mood to talk to them." I said with an eye roll. He nodded and fortunately for me, dropped the subject.

I somehow found myself getting lost in the banter of Alli and Nate who were arguing over which ice-cream flavor was best. "Chocolate is gross and it kinda looks like poop, vanilla is the best!" Alli argued. "What do you think Cancer Girl?" Nate asked turning to meet my now wide eyes. "Uhm...I actually think chocolate is better....even if it kinda looks like poo."  I replied slowly, silently praying that Alli wouldn't castrate me for choosing Nate's side.

"Yes! See I told you!" Nate suddenly yelled, causing heads to turn our way. A few of which were familiar. I groaned and put my head down hoping that Theo would stay where he was but I knew that I was wrong when I heard him talking to Josh.

I raised my head up with a tight smile on my face. "Hey, Theo.". "Hi, Angelina." I cringed at the sound of my full name, it always sounded too formal. "We missed you at school today.". He said, causing my eyes to widen in surprise. "Oh really?". "Yeah. Jackson said he missed your "hot British accent."." He told me with a laugh. "A boy? That finds my sister hot? Looks like I'll need to get my shotgun." Josh said with a joking expression on his face. I laughed but my laughter soon died down. "Anyways. I guess I'll see you later then?" He asked with uncertainty. "Yeah, for sure."

He walked away and I let out a deep breath I didn't know I was holding. "He seems nice...why don't you like him?" Josh asked me confused. "No I do, he's really sweet and enthusiastic but when I'm around his friends I feel like I'm a bloody puzzle they're trying to fix. It just feels weird." I explained. "Well if they ever give you trouble tell me and I will actually get my shotgun," Josh said seriously this time.

"Tell me too, I'll hit them with my tank backpack," Nate said seriously, but caused me to burst out laughing. However, Nate still held a serious look on his face which cause me to stop laughing. "Oh wait you're serious?" I asked him. He nodded and I bit my lip to hold back my laughter but failed miserably.

Soon they all joined in and as I looked around at the wonderful people sitting around me, I felt a sense of peace and belonging, a feeling I thought I would never feel again.

. . .

The next day I walked into school feeling weak and nauseous. The side effects had kicked in this morning and although Josh offered to stay home with me today, I refused to know that he had important work to do.

I grabbed my books from my locker and made my way to History class. As I walked in I spotted Alli sitting in the back with an empty seat next to her.

She attended my school but had stopped for a couple of weeks hence why I didn't see her on my first day. I sat next to her and gave her a wide smile.

"Hey. The symptoms kicked in? I could tell from your pale skin. Oh! What time do you have chemo today?" She asked in a hushed tone. "Yeah they did kick in, I forgot to take the anti-sickness pill. I have chemo at around 3:30 why?". "Oh good, I have the same time so we'll sit together in the chemo room." She said joyfully. I giggled at her positivity towards cancer, she made it seem so easy.

My train of thoughts was interrupted when the door suddenly slammed open. To my surprise, Mason and Grayson Black walked in. I groaned in displeasure and became even more upset when Mason sat in front of me and Grayson in front of Alli. I could tell the difference between them due to the tattoos Mason had on his neck.

"Bloody hell." I silently exclaimed, both Mason and Grayson turned their heads towards me. "Oh, Hey Angelina," Grayson said with a small smile. "Hello, Grayson.". He slowly turned around and I continued to take notes. "You weren't here yesterday what happened? I saw you at the diner." Grayson asked curiously. "I had an emergency and I couldn't make it yesterday.".

Mason suddenly scoffed and turned around looking me straight in the eye. "You just moved here and yesterday was your first day of school. Do you always make a habit of skipping the second day? What was so important? Did your Daddy take you shopping and bought you everything you wanted." He snapped violently. I looked at him in complete shock. I was furious because he was judging me for money. "Look, mate, I just met you and you don't even know me so why don't you get all your facts straight before you become a bloody judge." I spat harshly at him.

His eyes held shock and surprise but only for a minute. Soon it was gone and his eyes held a burning rage in them. "You think you're so much better than us just because you're rich? I knew you were nothing but another spoiled bitch the moment I saw you." He growled out loudly, causing heads of other students to turn our way.

"Mr. Black, is there anything else that you would like to share with the class?" Our teacher, Mr. Peters asked sternly. "No Mr. Peters," Mason said lowly. "Well then, be quiet and pay attention."

I closed my eyes, feeling a wave of nausea hit me full force. "Hey Lina, are you ok?". "Uhm...yeah I just had another wave of nausea but I'm fine," I said with a small nod. She held a look of understanding before going back to taking notes.

. . .

I looked down at my tray of food with a loss of appetite. The side effects had really hit me hard and were very unexpected. Alli sat next to me ranting about ice cream again when Theo and his group sat down at our table. Alli instantly became quiet which amused me because she was never quiet.

"Hey, Angelina," Theo said with a smile. "Hey Theo, what's up?". "Well, we came to sit with you guys." He said while rubbing the back his neck shyly. I nodded and pushed my tray away.

"So Angie, are you gonna try out for the dance team?" Jesse asked hopefully. I instantly tensed and looked over at Alli. "Uhm...no I can't actually.". "Oh, that's sad." She replied with a frown. "I don't know about you guys but I think I want to move to England so I could meet more hot girls like Angelina," Jackson said with a wink, trying to lighten the mood. I laughed loudly, finding amusement in his attraction for me. "Ugh...Jackson, must you be so arrogant?" Octavia asked him finally breaking her silence. "Hey, it isn't my fault her accent is so special and not to forget sexy." He replied while raising his hands.

"My accent isn't that special, it's probably different from my perspective because I've heard this accent all my life," I explained. "Yeah, before you came here we'd never talked to a British person," Octavia replied. I nodded in understanding and held in my breath when another wave of side effects hit.

"Angelina, about what Mason said today in class, he didn't mean it. So sorry for what happened." Grayson said, apologizing for his brother with a nervous look on his face. I looked over at Mason who had a bored expression.

"You do realize that your apology doesn't really help if he isn't sorry. Money doesn't determine who or what someone is.". Mason rolled his eyes and looked up from his phone. "In your case, it does." He said simply.

"Why do you think that I'm a stuck up bitch because of money? You don't even know me nor my family so stop being a bloody fool." I snapped at him. "I may not know you that well but I do know that your Daddy is rich, and he gives you everything you want. Isn't that enough to determine that you're spoiled?" He asked. At that moment it felt as if something in me snapped and I soon found myself yelling at him.

"You really need to get your fucking facts right mate, didn't Theo tell you that I only live with my brother? I haven't seen my bloody parents since I was five so stop saying that my "Daddy" is rich. Yes, my brother earns a lot of money but he had to work hard to get there. Now shut up and get your facts right before you decided to judge me." Everyone there but Alli looked at me in pure shock.

"Oh my gosh, I just thought that you're parents was out when my mom and I came over, Angelina I had no idea. I'm so sorry.". "I didn't mean for that to come out. Bloody hell now I've done spilled it." I said with wide eyes. "Angelina I'm so sorry, Mason apologize. Now," Jesse yelled at him. "Fine, I'm sorry. I don't particularly like rich girls and when I heard where you lived I guess I snapped." He said roughly. I nodded and looked down at my untouched food. Now more than before, my appetite had disappeared and I looked at my food in disgust.

"Look, let's just start over, and you can't tell anyone what was just said," I said quietly. They all agreed and soon we were engaged in a comfortable conversation.

The tenseness of the mishap was still sitting in the air, but we all ignored it and tried to get along, even Mason who kept staring at me when he had the chance. His eyes held regret and another emotion that I couldn't quite decipher. I remembered his words, that he may not know me well, he probably had an idea of who I was based on where I lived and how wealthy my brother is, but as it turns out, he doesn't know me at all not even a little.