Chapter 3.
998 Words
Harper stalked up the stairs the moment they got inside. Her heart felt erratic, skipping beats like a scratched record. She walked into her room, the door clicking shut with a finality that made her shiver. She turned the lock- snick, and plopped down on her bed.
The dam finally broke.
Tears brimmed and then spilled, hot and fast, tracing paths through her heavy eyeliner until she was sure she looked like a gothic tragedy. She curled into a ball, clutching her pillow, the weight of the "one month" sentence finally crushing the air out of her lungs.
After a few minutes, she wiped her face with her sleeve and reached for her phone. She needed Derek. She needed his "dreamy" blonde hair and his steady, easy-going presence to tell her this was a nightmare. She dialed his number, the ringing tone echoing in her ear.
No pick-up.
She tried again. Then a third time. Each "Please leave a message" felt like a door slamming in her face. Harper sniffed, a spark of hurt blooming in her chest. She never called him unless it was important. He knew she was at the doctor today.
Frustrated and aching, she opened their text thread.
Harper: Hey, I need to talk to you about something really important...
She sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the three little dots that never appeared. A half-hour crawled by. She watched the shadows of the tree branches outside dance across her carpet. Finally, the phone buzzed.
Derek: could u text me it? I'm with the guys, thx
Harper stared at the screen. I’m with the guys. The words felt like a slap.
She looked at the clinical diagnosis in her head and then back at his casual dismissal. A hollow laugh escaped her lips, followed by a fresh sob. She couldn't wait. She couldn't play the "cool girlfriend" game anymore. She didn't have time for games.
Her thumbs hovered over the screen, shaking.
Harper: I have a cellular degradation... I only have a month left to live....
She hit send. Her breath hitched as she waited. One minute. Five. Ten. The "Read" receipt stared back at her, mocking her.
Nothing.
Another ten minutes passed. The silence from his end was deafening. It was the sound of someone retreating, someone dropping the phone in horror and not knowing how to pick it back up. Or worse- someone who didn't care enough to try.
Heart heavy, she sent one last message, a tiny white flag in the dark.
Harper: I love you
An hour passed. The phone remained dark. The boy who was "like chocolate" had suddenly turned bitter and cold.
Harper couldn't take the silence anymore. She needed a voice- a real one. She scrolled past Derek’s name and hit Maxine’s.
Maxine picked up on the very first ring.
"HEYYY BESTIE!"
Harper winced, pulling the phone away from her ear. Maxine’s energy was a physical force, even through a speaker.
"Hey," Harper whispered, her voice thick and wet.
The line went quiet for a heartbeat. Maxine’s internal radar, honed over years of friendship, pinged instantly.
"Woah, woah, woah, what's wrong?" Her voice was suddenly laced with a sharp, protective worry.
"Nothing really- kinda," Harper sniffed, wiping a fresh tear away. She wanted to tell her, but she also wanted to stay in this world a little longer- the world where Maxine was just a loud, happy girl complaining about her water bottle.
"What does 'nothing really-kinda' mean, hmm?" Maxine’s voice took on a stern, older-sister quality. "Harper Brooks, talk to me."
"Well, uh... don't freak out."
"Why would I freak out?" Maxine asked, though Harper could hear her shifting on her bed, probably sitting up straight.
"Because you literally freak out at everything," Harper tried to joke, her voice cracking. "You freaked out when someone moved your water bottle slightly last week."
"I still won't apologize for that!" Maxine claimed, her indignation a comforting constant. "Everything has its place and you moved it! Now, quit stalling. What is it, Harp?"
Harper closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the wall. She took a deep breath, the scent of the lavender-scented waiting room still clinging to her clothes.
"I went back to the doctor," Harper started, her voice dropping to a practical whisper. "The bloodwork... the biopsy... they said I have a month, Max. A month left on Earth."
For the first time in their entire friendship, Maxine Foster was silent. It wasn't the silence of Derek- the silence of avoidance. It was the silence of a heart stopping.
"Harp," Maxine finally said, her voice small and broken, the bubbly energy vanished.
"Hmm?"
"I love you," Maxine’s voice cracked, a jagged sob catching in her throat. "I won't give up. We’ll find someone else. There has to be a cure. Doctors get things wrong all the time, right? They’re just people."
Harper could hear her best friend’s world crumbling on the other end of the line, and yet Maxine was trying to glue it back together for her. It was a beautiful, tragic lie.
"I love you too, Max," Harper whispered, her eyes fixed on the "I love you" she had sent to Derek that still remained unanswered. "But there isn't a cure. This is... this is it."
"There has to be one," Maxine insisted, her voice growing stronger through the tears. "I'm coming over. Don't move. I'm coming over right now."
Harper hung up and curled back into her blankets. She had a month to live, a boyfriend who had vanished at the first sign of trouble, and a best friend who was ready to fight the sun to keep it from setting.
The month had officially begun.
- Writer
