Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry it hasn’t gone as planned, Zoey,” he tells me with the utmost sincerity. “If there’s anything you need, just let me know. There’s absolutely no pressure, and I’m sure if you need extra time on your schoolwork, your teachers will be happy to allow extensions until you’re feeling better. We could definitely work something out to ensure you still graduate with the rest of your classmates.”
“Thank you,” I say, not bothering to tell him that the likelihood of me graduating in the spring is slim to none.
“Alright, I’ll leave you to it,” he tells me. “You know where the nurse’s office is if you need some time to recoup or just a little peace from the madness. And I’ll be sure to let the faculty know that you’re here today.”
Principal Daniels gives me a tight smile before continuing down the hall, and the second he’s far enough away, I turn back to Hope and let out a heavy breath.
“Well, shit. If I knew being sick was the way to go about getting extensions on my assignments, I would have faked appendicitis for my history paper last week,” Hope teases before looping her arm through mine just as the bell sounds for homeroom. “Come on. Let’s get you to class before everyone else starts moving around so you don’t get trampled.”
I give her a tight, grateful smile and allow her to pull me through the halls, only as I look up to see through the crowded bodies, I almost run right into Tarni.
I come to a startled stop and quickly back up a step as Hope pulls me around her, and as I glance back over my shoulder at the girl I grew up with, the girl who once held my hand through these very same treatments, I see nothing but a stranger.
Her eyes linger on mine with vile hatred, and it cuts me right to the core, just as Noah knew it would. I really am the furthest thing from a terrifying badass. I’m a good girl who shatters like glass, but the thing about glass is with the right amount of heat, I can mold myself back together. And Noah, he’s all the heat I’ll ever need.
Turning my gaze away, I continue down the hallway, putting Tarni to the back of my mind. She’s the last thing I need to focus on right now. And with that, Hope walks me straight into homeroom, lays my books down on my desk, and promises to meet me right back here to walk me to my first class of the day. As she leaves, I can’t help but smile at her retreating form. She’s reminded me what it truly means to have an amazing friend who will always have my back.
48
Noah
Christmas and New Year’s Eve flew by, and all too soon, Zoey is back at the treatment center, going through the worst hell of her life. She’s three weeks in, and every day just gets harder. I hate seeing her like this. I hate seeing how the light in her eyes dulls a little more each time I see her.
She’s seventeen, almost eighteen in a few weeks. This isn’t how she’s supposed to be living. She’s supposed to have the world at her feet with college right around the corner. She’s supposed to be learning how to fly, not crumbling under the weight of her disease.
I know she’s strong enough to pull through this. She has to be. But it’s going to be the biggest fight of her life. She just needs to hold on, endure the worst so we can get to the best days of our lives.
I pull up at the treatment center, letting out a heavy breath, terrified of what I’m about to walk into. Some days she’s good. They’re generally the rest days between doses, but then some days, I see the pain in her eyes, and I know she’s dying inside, silently screaming for me to take her away from this place.
She’s never once told me how badly she’s suffering. She’s trying to protect me from it, doesn’t want me hurting for her, but she should know better by now. I can see right through her. Those dazzling green eyes are like a window right into her soul, and when hers is so entwined with mine, I read her perfectly.
Desperate to get in there and see how she’s doing, I jam my pockets full of supplies and then glance down at the floor space of my passenger side, wondering how the hell I’m going to get her gift into her room without getting kicked out. I could always sneak through her window, but then I have to scale the high fences, and carrying this with me is going to turn it into a chore.
“Shit,” I mutter, realizing I’m going to have to shove it down my shirt.