1

The sun is so bright...and so, so hot!

The first day of summer vacation. A time meant for parties, staying up late, and going out. Instead of doing that, Sam and I decided to visit Yami first. She had a reputation for being rebellious and violent for as long as we could remember but who would have imagined that the big, bad, Yami Dowell would spend her summer cooped up in a hospital.

"Wow…spending the first day out of school hangin' with me. Don't you losers have some anime to catch up with?" Yami said light-heartedly, even while she was in pain, she still had the galls to make jokes.

"We can still watch it here," I said matter-of-factly, "the digital age makes everything so much easier."

"You sound just like the geek you are- Also, Sam, your parents didn't sign you up for summer school?"

"Not this time. I guess they feel bad about it," He aired quotation marks while saying 'it'. Leukemia. End-stage leukemia, to be exact.

"That's like, the best they've ever been to you, bud, cheers to that."

We all chuckled, she was right. Sam's parents were known to be rich, up-tight and way too cruel, always too involved in his life and making sure he gets the best, and I mean BEST education. It was kind of them to let him take this summer off.

"I was a bit worried Feng would be lonely without me this summer, but since you're free, I guess I don't have to worry."

"I like hanging with you more though.." I planted my face in my hands and pretended to weep.

"Hey! I'm not that bad! Just because I'm a little ugly, doesn't mean we can't have fun together!" Sam's self-deprecation made us burst out in laughter again. Sam was never a looker, even if he's my best friend, I have to admit he's ugly. I've always wondered if he was adopted or if one of his parent's got plastic surgery.

The laughter died down and we were met with silence again. Until Yami spoke up.

"It's so hard being cooped up in this room all day." She gave an over exaggerated sigh and smirked at us, "I have an idea." Oh no. Her ideas were never good. The last time Sam and I went along with one of her ideas, I got all my electronics taken away while Sam wasn't allowed to see the shining sun for a week unless it was to go to school.

"Why don't we all take a trip down memory lane." The idea was fine, nothing's more enjoyable than relieving your memories with your childhood friends. But there had to be something else. There always is. "All you guys have to do is sneak me out of here!" There it was.

"No." Sam already answered, "there's way too many things that could go wrong."

"Like what?"

"We could get caught and get an earful from the nurses, you could faint at an non-conventional moment, you could get reckless and end up hurting yourself like you always do, you could-"

"Okay, okay, I get it! But the decision doesn't lie with you, it lies with my dearest Feng."

"Ah..Uhm.."

"C'mon, Feng. Don't tell me you're seriously considering it."

"Shut it, prick," Yami raised a fist at Sam before she faced me again and put on her best puppy-dog eyes, "pleaseee. I still haven't spent my earnings from my job, I'll buy you whatever you want! Like that Miku figurine you've been so desperate to get."

"Bribery?! Don't you dare listen to the likes of her."

While I didn't want Yami to get hurt or get caught, I wanted her to have an enjoyable time out. Being stuck in a hospital bed with occasional visits must be boring. She deserves to have fun.

"I say we do it."

A defeated sigh left Sam's mouth while Yami fisted the air and gave a small 'hell yeah'.

"It's on you if she gets hurt. I'm taking no part in this." Sam got up from his seat.

"Yes, you are! Unless you want your parents to know about the magazines you hide in my room." Yami threatened and Sam sat back down.

"Let's go now. It's 2:12, my parents are at work, no one will be looking for me. We have a good 4 hours before someone brings me dinner."

"Surprised you can memorize the staff schedule." Sam scoffed.

Yami ignored him and continued talking, "the easiest way to get me out of here would be through the window. There's always someone in the hallways before visiting hours end and there's no way in hell a passing nurse or doctor won't ask where we're going."

"There's still the chance of someone outside seeing though," I said.

"That and the chance of some unexpected guest coming to look for you," Sam chimed in.

I guess Yami didn't consider that because she looked confused. Either that or she didn't care about the actual risks. She ruffled her curly hair in frustration.

"Look, I think it'd be better if we didn't do this and instead just talked about our childhood memories like normal people."

"Porn stache." Those magazines were definitely the biggest blackmail Yami had on him. Not only were Sam's parents strict, they were also super conservative, who knows what sort of punishment he'd get if they found out about his porn stash. When they saw the way Yami started dressing after her 12th birthday, they lost it. They gave out to both Sam (for hanging out with someone like her) and Yami's parents (for letting her dress that way). Luckily for me, my parents are pretty open to anything and also. Yami's style wasn't anything that bad. It's like Y2K emo. Low waisted everything, thong showing, a crop top, several piercings and jewelry. It took literal hours of begging on our knees for his parents to allow them to hang out again. A group effort that wouldn't be forgotten.

"Have you thought about, maybe- just maybe, asking someone if you can go out briefly?"

I looked at him curiously. That would never work, Yami's so fickle, there's no way she'd be allowed outside. Unless, someone took pity on her. Someone young and naive. We seemed to all be thinking of the same thing and nodded.

Sam left the room in search of a nurse who looked young enough to be easily swayed while I stayed back with Yami and perfected her sickly act. There wasn't much to perfect since she was actually sick. Sam came back shortly with a nurse who seemed to be in her mid-twenties, short dark-brown hair with eyes as green as emeralds. Her face contorted with pity when she saw Yami.

"This is her, we just want to take her out on a walk, just for a little bit." Sam said somberly.

She clutched her chest and began to speak, "fine…don't take too long though. You don't know what could happen."

"Thank you, we won't."

The nurse turned to leave before turning back to say something, "and your names are?"

"Samuel Jean-Pierre, Feng Li, and Yami Dowell."

She nodded and finally left. There was no explanation as to why she asked for our names, but we didn't sit on that thought too much. I helped Yami out of her hospital gown and gave her whatever she brought with her before she was admitted. Wouldn't want to be questioned outside of the hospital. She held onto Sam and I as we walked outside of the hospital room, through the front door, and into the world.