Wildflowers For Nana

Wild flowers for Nana

Dedicated to Nana, hope heaven is everything you wanted it to be.

 

PROLOGUE

It was two years ago when Nana found out that she had cancer. It was me, mama, and nana in the wildflower feilds when she first started showing it. I care for her the best I can. Mama doesnt do much. Shes to grief-stricken. I wish she would come back to reality though. Shes been lost in her own world. While I still go to school, then come home and cook dinner for me and Mama and then head over to the hospital to stay with Nana. Its pretty insane how I pull it off. Recently though, Mama got a new boyfriend. I hate him. His name is Eddy. He is a total jerk! Sometimes I just really want to punch him in the face. The other night I heard Mama and him talking about sending me away. There is no way I would let that happen. I can't leave Nana. No freaking way. Sweaty Eddy (I call him that because he is super sweaty all the time. I don’t see why Mama likes him.) is just going to have to suck it up and put up with me.

CH 1

"Mama?" I asked, trying to shake her awake. She was asleep. I’m sure she had gone to sleep drunk last night. Sweaty Eddy was laying in the bed next to her. He rolled over.
"What is it Kaylee?" He asked. I rolled my eyes.
"Mama has to take me to school." I told him. Unlike he would care.
"Your Mama is sleeping. You can walk to school. It’s not that far." He said. Then he turned over and went back to sleep. My assumptions were right. He didn't care. I turned and left Sweaty Eddy and Mama in their bed. I walked to the front door and opened the coat closet next to it. I got my coat out and put it on. Then I glanced in the mirror on the wall.
"Great. Another day of walking to school." I grumbled to my reflection. I opened the door and started walking. It was a cloudy day with rainclouds threatening to pour out water on my head. I took out my iPod and looked at the time. 6:45. School started at 7:00 so I was defiantly going to be late. Finally after what seemed like hours of walking I got to the school. I walked in just as the one minute bell rang. Luckily my class was just right in front of the school. I started walking there. I wasn’t paying attention when I bumped into someone. All my stuff fell out of my hands.
"Oh...crap I’m so sorry." I apologized. I looked up into the eyes of a cute guy with tan skin and green eyes.
"Its alright. I should watch where I am walking." He said. I smiled as he helped me pick up my stuff.
"Are you new here? I’ve never seen you around before?" I asked. He nodded.
"Yah I just came from Minnesota." He said. He had his schedule in his hand. I pointed to it.
"Can I see?" I asked. He handed it to me without a word. I looked it over. His name was Dylan. He had first period with me. "We have first period together!" I said. Then I remember the bell was about to ring. I grabbed his hand and pulled him along. "It’s this way." We got into the classroom just as the bell rang. Mrs. Briggs looked at us.
"Well nice of you to join us." She said. Then she saw Dylan. "I see you’ve met our new student." She said snottily. I nodded. Then I went and sat down. Dylan walked over to her and they started talking. Then she pointed to the empty seat next to me. Dylan came and sat down. He smiled at me.
"Looks like we’re lab partners." He said. I smiled back and nodded. Then Mrs. Briggs started her science lesson. After first period, everything went by fast. After school I walked home and quickly made my Mama and Sweaty Eddy dinner. After it was done, I put it in the fridge and went and got my bus pass. Now to the hospital. After the long bus ride there and the checking in and everything, I went to her room. She was sitting up watching TV.
"Hey Mama duck." I said softly. She turned her head and smiled at me.
"Hey Baby duck." She replied. The nicknames were something we had done since I was little. When I was about three, I would follow her around everywhere. Then she called me baby duck and I automatically called her Mama duck. I opened my purse and handed her a picture. It was of a wildflower field. She requested them every week. So once every week I brought her one. I was always a good photographer. When I got out of high school I plan to go to a photography collage and then become a photographer.
She took the picture and looked at it.
"Oh Baby duck this is the most beautiful one yet." She told me. I smiled and said my thanks. She handed it back to me. "Put it on the wall with the others." She told me. I turned and taped it to the wall with the other 100's of pictures. I went back to her and sat down.
"What are you watching?" I asked her. She sighed.
"Another boring TV show. I wish I could be in the beautiful wildflower fields instead of stuck here in the hospital." She said. I felt her sympathy. The wildflower fields used to be her refuge. Now she passed it down to me. I go there when ever I want.
"I wish you could see them in person Nana. They have gotten so beautiful." I told her. Longing filling my voice. I wanted to take her there one day. So she could see them again before her time ran out. She smiled.
"Well one day, I'll be able to see them all the time baby duck. Ill be able to go there and never leave. I’ll be able to see the wildflower fields of heaven." She said, looking off into space. Tears filled my eyes.
"Don't talk like that Mama Duck." I told her. She snapped out of her day dream and looked at me. She saw my tear filled eyes.
"Oh. Im sorry Baby Duck. I didn't mean to upset you sugar." She said. I nodded and blinked back the tears. She saw that as an opportunity to change the subject. "So how is everyone?" She asked. I chuckled.
"Same as usual. Mama is in her one world. Sweaty Eddy is right there along with her. I really don’t like Sweaty Eddy Nana. I don’t see what she sees in him." I told her. She nodded. Then I vented about everything that he’s done. After I was done, Nana thought a while.
"Well baby duck just ignore him. I am giving you permission to completely ignore him. He isn't your papa. He doesn’t have a right and plus I really don’t like him either." She finally said. I smiled at what she said. My Mama duck was the sweetest person you could ever meet. She would stick up for you, let you vent to her and she would just listen. She was like my Mama and my actual Mama was like an older sister.
I looked down at my watch. It was time for me to go yet again. I sadly said my goodbye to my Nana and walked out yet again. I knew I would see her tomorrow but I didn’t want to leave. I got on the bus and went home. When I got in, Sweaty Eddy and Mama were fighting. Next thing I knew, a plate flew and hit the wall next to my head.
"You are a good for nothing worthless s**t!" Sweaty Eddy screamed. I cringed and ran upstairs before they noticed I was there. I took a shower and put in my head phones so that I wouldn’t hear the screaming. I went and laid down on my bed. My headphones were super loud so I wouldn’t even know if anyone walked it. Soon, I was asleep.

 

CH 2

The next day, I walked into the kitchen. Mama and Sweaty Eddy were sitting at the table looking at some papers. I walked to the fridge and opened it, looking for some food.

“Morning sugar.” Mama said. I waved my morning to her.

I got out the milk and cinnamon toast crunch. That was my favorite cereal. If I had a choice, I would live off of it. I sat down at the table and started eating. Mama and Sweaty Eddy had their heads put together. They were whispering. I only got a couple words out of it.

“Are you sure…..” Mama asked.

“I’m positive. We’ll……” Sweaty Eddy whispered back to her. “Besides……” He continued. I focused on my cereal. They were probably talking about sending me away again. I quickly glanced at the papers. There were pictures of big buildings. One said “Hollywood hills Nursing home” in big black letters. They weren’t planning to send me away, they were planning to send Nana to a Nursing home all the way in California. I felt anger rush up in me.

“Mama? What’s this?” I asked her. Both Sweaty Eddy and Mama turned to look at me.

“Oh…were looking at new houses sugar.” She said nervously. She swiped her arm over the table and the brochures went with it. Sweaty Eddy glared at me.

“Don’t you have school to go to?” He asked, his tone was nice, but his eyes were daggers.

“No. Its Saturday.” I told him, putting as much ice into my voice as I could. My Mama looked at me.

“Don’t talk to Eddy like that Kaylee.” She snapped. I looked at her.

“I was only answering his question.” I said as innocently as possible. Mamas gaze softened.

“Alright.” She said. Then she glanced at the clock. “Sugar its almost 12. Are you going to the fields today?” She asked. I nodded.

“I am getting ready right now.” I told her. She nodded and went back to murmuring with the disgusting man she fell in love with. “Mama?” I asked one more time. Sweaty Eddy glanced at me with annoyance.

“What is it baby doll?” She asked.

          I bit my lip. I wanted to take my car. The car my Nana got me as a congratulation present for passing my driving test and getting my license. I used to drive it everywhere, but since Sweaty Eddy moved in I haven’t been able to drive the car anywhere.

“Can I take my car today? I am out of money for the bus.” I told her. I really hoped that she wouldn’t remember that I had a bus pass. She waved her hand at me, her eyes still glued to the paper.

“Sure whatever.” She said. I felt a grin come onto my face.

“Oh thank you Mama.” I said. I jumped up and ran upstairs to get my stuff. I grabbed my keys off my dresser and walked down stairs. I heard my Mama and Sweaty Eddy talking.

“What do you mean Eddy. We can’t do that.” Mama said. I stopped on the stairs so that I could hear their conversation.

“Lily, we have to. We cant pay the bills anymore.” Eddy said.

“Well she has cancer?! We have to unless you want her to die.” Mama said. They were talking about Nana. Eddy wanted to take her out of the hospital. Away from her chemo.

“We have no choice.” Sweaty Eddy said. I could hear the anger in his voice. He wanted to take her off the chemo so that she could fight the cancer herself.

“Eddy. There is no way that I am doing that. We can cut back on other things. She needs to stay there in that damn hospital.” Mama said. I could her venom in hers and it was probably taking over the anger in sweaty Eddy’s.

“What could we cut back on? Hmm?”  Eddy asked. I wanted to run down there and list a bunch of things that he could cut back on.

“How about your alcohol? Cigarettes?” Mama asked. I could tell she was getting angry. It was time to get out of here. I grabbed my stuff and snuck down the stairs. I went into the garage. It was dark. I tried to turn the light on but it just flickered, and then shut off.

“Great. Another thing the stupid man won’t fix.” I grumbled as I made my way to the little blue bug. I got to the car and tried to open the door, but something was blocking it. I looked down and saw a giant box. Curiosity filled my mind. What was the box? What was in it? Why was it blocking my car door? I opened the trunk and put the box in there. Time to do some investigating. I opened the garage and started the car. I backed out and started driving to the fields. When I got there, I got out my camera, the box, my bag and my picnic basket. I found a good spot and spread out my blanket. Then I put the box down and opened it. It was a bunch of pictures albums and some brochures. I took out an album. It was full of pictures of Papa. My papa died in gang violence. I know it may not seem like there would be gang violence in Georgia but there was all kinds of them. Not the LA kind but the kind that listened to country music on full blast in their trucks and kidnapped cute little country girls that they saw walking on the street. My Papa was the leader of one. The biggest one in Georgia. My Mama wasn’t pleased with what he was but she loved him all the same. Anyway, once I was born, Papa tried to leave the gang. But as you know, once in a gang always in a gang. You can’t leave or they hunt you down. So Papa tried to run. That didn’t work out to well though, because they hunted him down and shot him in a drive by. Mama was devastated. She didn’t talk to anyone for months and every night I could hear her crying in her room. Sorry my mistake. Not crying, sobbing. Wailing. She was miserable. Of course I was little so I didn’t know why she was crying. I just sat there listening to her. Then my Nana got her to go to places again. She was at the liquor store when she met Sweaty Eddy. Great place to meet the man of your dreams huh.  She tells me this story all time. As if I wanted to hear it. He was buying a 12 pack of bud wiser. They started talking and sha-bam. Here we are today. With that jerk taking over my Mama’s life.

          I looked at the pictures. There was one with Papa and Mama at a beach. They looked so happy. That was the happiest I’ve ever seen her. Her smile was real. Not forced. Her eyes weren’t puffy and blood shot from crying and drinking alcohol. They were normal. She had her hands on her stomach, which slightly stuck out a bit. She was pregnant with me. The next picture had me and Mama in it. Mama was in the hospital.  She was holding a little baby me. Yet again she was actually happy. I flipped through the photos. Mama was so happy with Papa. Then I got towards the end. There was a picture of caution tape on the street outside our house. Caution tape and markers. In the next photo there was a 7 year old me and a crying Mama. We were at Papa’s funeral. The next photo was Mama and Sweaty Eddy. I was supposed to be in that picture between them, but Sweaty Eddy pushed me out of the way right before it was taken. Mama was smiling. She looked happy, but the color in her eyes was different…duller maybe. The next photos were all just her and Sweaty Eddy.  I felt anger boiling in my veins and tears prickling in my eyes. I threw the pictures back in the box. I pushed the box away from me and lay down on the blanket. Why did she have to be with stupid Eddy? He is tearing her apart. Can’t she see that? He isn’t right for her. She needs to see that! I closed my eyes as a tear slipped down my cheek.

“Are you ok?” A voice asked. I jumped and quickly sat up. I looked around to see Dylan standing beside me.

“Dylan?” I asked. He nodded. “What are you doing here?” I asked him, quickly wiping away my tears. He pointed next to me, indicating that he wanted to sit there. I nodded and scooted over so he could sit. He sat down.

“I come here to think sometimes. I passed by it when we first came here.” He explained I nodded. “I came here today and I saw you crying so I asked what was wrong. Are you ok?” He asked me. I nodded.

“Yeah, I’m ok.” I said. I looked up at him. He was actually pretty cute. He had short brown hair with green eyes and high cheek bones. His skin was tan and dark.

          He looked around and saw the box.

“What’s that?” He asked. I stared at my shoes.

“Just some pictures, you can look at them if you want to.” I told him. He leaned forward and opened the box. He took out the album that I was looking at. As he flipped through it, I picked up my camera and started taking pictures of the wildflowers.

“What happened here?” He asked. I turned and saw that he was on the funeral picture.

“That’s my Papa’s funeral.” I said solemnly. Then I went back to taking pictures.  I had some pretty ones that I would give Nana next week but I needed something to keep my mind busy while he was looking through the pictures. He set the album down.

“Why do you come here?” He asked me. I sat back down next to him.

“So I can take pictures for my Nana. She was the one taking all those pictures.” I told him. I reviewed the pictures on my camera.

“Why do you take pictures for her? Can’t she just come see this place? She seems like she lives here.” He said. I kept looking at my camera as if the fact that she was hospitalized because of her cancer was nothing.

“She has cancer. The doctors won’t let her out of the hospital for anything. So I come here and take pictures of this place.” I told him.

“Why this place though?” He asked. I sighed as I started to explain.

“She always used to come here to think, like I do. She brought me here when I was little and I’ve always come here since she was hospitalized.” I told him. He nodded.

“I’m sorry about your Nana.” He told me. I just shrugged then I looked at my watch. It was about 2 so I had to go to the hospital.

“It’s alright. It isn’t your fault that she has cancer.” I said standing up.

“Where are you going?” He asked me. I gathered up my stuff.

“I have to go see her now. It was nice talking to you.” I told him. He nodded his goodbye. He was still sitting on my blanket.

“Umm, I kinda need the blanket.” I said. He looked down at it and jumped up.

“Oh..uh sorry.” He said. I held back a smile as I folded up my blanket.

“It was nice talking to you.” I told him. Then I walked to my car, put everything in it and drove away.

 

CH 3

“And you know this how?” My Nana asked. I had just told her about Mama and Eddy wanting to put her in a nursing home.

“I heard them talking this morning. Nana, the nursing home is all the way in California. There is no way that they can do that!” I told her. I was close to tears.

“Relax baby duck.” She said soothingly. “They can’t send me away. How are they supposed to get me there? On a plane? The hospital wouldn’t allow that.” She said. I thought about her logic.

“You’re right Nana.” I said. I felt so much better. Then the wildflower fields came into mind. “I found a box in the garage today Nana.” I told her. She smirked.

“Well I would hope you would find it in the garage. Isn’t that where all boxes go?” She asked. I rolled my eyes at her smart aleckness.

“It was a box of all the pictures you took.” I told her. The smirk automatically went away.

“They took those out of the house?” She asked. I nodded.

“Mama looked so happy.” I said. “She looked like she didn’t have a care in the world with Papa beside her. Then, after she met Sweaty Eddy, the life went out of her. It shows in the pictures. Her eyes are dull and her smiles were always forced.” I told Nana. She nodded.

“Sounds about right.” Nana said. I looked at her. What did she mean?

“It shouldn’t be that way though Nana. I stated. It should be where she is happy. Her smiles shouldn’t be forced. They should be natural. She shouldn’t be with Sweaty Eddy. She needs a different man Nana.” I said. Nana just listened.

“I know baby duck but sometimes life doesn’t exactly give you what you think you should have.” She told me. She was right. If life was supposed to be perfect then it wouldn’t have taken Papa away. It wouldn’t have made Nana get cancer.

“You’re right Nana.” I said. I handed her the pictures that were in my purse. “I know it’s a bit early but I went there today and I just had to take some pictures. She took them and looked at one. It showed the flowers with two shadows over them.

“I see two shadows baby duck. Yours and someone else’s. Who was with you?” She asked. I blushed at the thought of Dylan.

“Just some guy from school.” I told her. She smiled.

“From the look of your blush, it doesn’t seem like some guy from school.” She said. I was just about to start telling her about Dylan when the nurse came it.

“I’m sorry to interrupt ladies, but it’s time for your Chemo.” The nurse said.

“And, that’s my cue to leave.” I said, getting up. The nurse looked at me and smiled.

“I’ll see you tomorrow baby duck.” She said. I nodded.

“And I will tell you all about the guy from school.” I told her. She grinned at me as the nurse had her sit up and get into the wheelchair. I let them go first and then I walked out. My Nana had chemo therapy three times a week. It made her suffer. That’s why I never stayed for it. I couldn’t bear to see her in pain. She was like my real mother. I couldn’t bear to see her hurting. I couldn’t bear to see the cancer take effect on her like it did. As I drove home I thought about everything that happened.  I thought about Papa’s death, Sweaty Eddy moving in, Nana’s cancer, everything. It was starting to get dark. I haven’t driven in the dark for a while. I turned on my lights as head light after head light passed me. I saw the wildflower fields and I decided to make a quick stop there. I pulled over on the side of the road and turned into the fields. The moonlight was shining down on the flowers. It looked so beautiful. Nana would love this. I took out my camera and took picture after picture. Finally when I was done I went back to my car. I got in and drove home. I pulled into my driveway and got ready to face Sweaty Eddy. I opened my door and walked into the kitchen. Mama was sitting at the table, her head on her arms. She was fast asleep. The brochures were spread out around her. I walked up. They were brochures for nursing homes and boarding schools. Under her arms were two applications. One for St. Georgia nursing home and Riverside Boarding school. I slid them out from under her. She had them completely filled out. I slipped them into my purse and grabbed all the brochures. I took them up to my room. I sat down and looked through them all. I found the one for the places they were planning on sending me and Nana. Riverside Boarding had a picture of a giant castle looking building. I read the information.

 

Riverside Boarding.

Here at Riverside, we will make sure your child gets the educations he or she needs without distractions.

Even though riverside boarding is a co gender school, we have strict rules about keeping the boys and girls away from each other.

We will keep your child safe from any danger imaginable. It is the best place to send your child.

My mind was racing. The last line was flowing through my head. “Best place to send your child.” They really were trying to send me away. I looked at the other brochure. It basically said the same thing. Boarding schools were pretty much the same thing as nursing homes. Your every move was watched, your every need taken care of. No freedom, nothing. My Mama wanted to send me there. Me and Nana. There is no way that I can let her do that. No freaking way. I ripped up the applications and the brochures and shoved them in my purse. Then I took a shower and opened my window. I climbed out on the roof. The stars shined down on me as I leaned against the roof. I let my mind wander. I thought about my Mama, my Papa, my Nana and most of all Sweaty Eddy and how much he hated me. I heard footsteps on the stairs. It was probably Mama just waking up from the table. There was a knock on my door. I looked at it in wonder. What would she want this time of night?

          I climbed back into my room and opened the door. It wasn’t Mama standing there though. It was Sweaty Eddy.

“What do you want?” I asked him, not bothering to hide the hatred in my voice.

“Why are you still up?” He asked, obviously not bothering to hide the hatred in his voice either.

“Because I want to be up. Now leave me alone.” I told him. A look of pure anger stuck on his face.

“I don’t like your tone.” He said grabbing my arm.

“Ow. Let me go your hurting me.” I said. His fingers gripped harder into my arm. “When Mama finds out about this she’s gonna get rid of you so fast.” I growled.

          He gripped my arm harder.

“She isn’t going to find out, right Kaylee? She’s under enough stress as it is, you don’t want to put her under more do you?” He asked, faking innocence.

“She would kick you out. Not be stressed out about it.” I said, trying to get out of his grasp. He shoved his face close to mine.

“You don’t tell her a word or your out of here faster then you can say bye.” He growled. His breath was filled with alcohol. I crinkled my nose.

“Do you think I’m scared of you?” I spit. “Your just a drunk that’s taking refuge of my Mama. I’m on to you. One wrong move and Mama’s going to find out faster then YOU can say bye.” I said. I wrenched my arm out of his grasp and slammed my door in his face.

          I looked at my arm. I knew there were going to be bruises. I knew what I said to him probably wasn’t the best to get on his good side but whatever. I didn’t want to be on his good side. I hated that man with a fiery passion and if he thinks he can boss me around he’s got another think coming. I heard him clomp down the stairs. I heard him wake up Mama and tell her what happened, but different. He made me sound like I attacked him and told him that I hated him and that I wished he would die and all that. I quickly shut off my light and threw myself into bed. Soon my Mama was knocking on my door. She opened it and looked in the room.

“Eddy, she is sleeping. How could she say that stuff if she was sleeping. Stop being ridiculous.” She said grumpily. Then she shut the door and went to their room. I smiled to myself. I made Sweaty Eddy look stupid. Boy was I happy. I wanted to jump around with joy.

“Kaylee 1, Eddy 0” I murmured. Then I was asleep.

 

Ch 4

The next morning, I woke up and got dressed. It was Sunday. Usually Nana and I would go to church on Sunday but we don’t anymore. Usually I just sit around the house and do nothing. Today though, I knew wasn’t going to be a good day. Mama worked on Sundays. Eddy didn’t. After last night it probably wasn’t good to be in the house with him alone. I got dressed in a short sleeve shirt and some shorts. Then I saw the bruises on my arm. I rethought my short sleeve and changed into a long sleeve. Then I pulled my light brown hair back into a ponytail. I put some eyeliner on. It made my chocolate eyes pop. I was thinking about blush but I decided against it since it didn’t look like the sun was going to be out and I didn’t want my pale skin to look out of place. I was going to do some shopping today. I smiled at the thought of shopping. I grabbed my cell phone and call my best friend Stephanie.

“Hello?” She answered.

“Hey, do you want to go shopping with me today?” I asked.

“Of course! How could I turn down shopping with my best friend!” She practically yelled. I chuckled at her anxiousness.

“Well I’ll see you in a few minutes then ok?” I asked.

“Okay. I’ll be ready.” She told me. Then she hung up. I thought about Nana. Maybe Stephanie would like to see Nana today. She hasn’t seen her in a while. Nana would like other company then just me, plus she loves Stephanie. Its almost like me and Steph are sisters and Nana is our Mama. I smiled at that thought. Then I snuck downstairs and into the kitchen.

“Where are you going Sugar?” Mama asked, making me jump.

“Just to the mall with Stephanie and then to see Nana” I told her. She nodded. I looked around.

“Where’s Swe- I mean Eddy?” I asked. I mentally kicked myself for almost calling him Sweaty Eddy.

“He is still asleep.” She told me. Then she looked at me closely. “Sugar, tell me what happened last night. I know something did but Eddy likes to twist things.” She said. I was jumping for joy inside. I was going to tell her exactly what happened last night. After I told her, a look of surprise came on her face.

“For some reason I don’t think you believe me.” I told her. She shook her head.

“Its so far from what Eddy said.” She murmured. Then I remembered the bruise. That would get her for sure.

“Mama he grabbed my arm. He left bruises.” I told her, looking her straight in the eye. She looked shock.

“Let me see baby doll.” She said softly. I showed her the bruises. Anger filled her eyes. “He did this to you?” She asked angrily. I nodded. My Mama was believing me. “He is going to get it.” She muttered under her breath. She pulled my sleeve back down. “Go to the mall now baby girl. I’m going to talk to Eddy.” She said. “It’s probably best if your not here.” She said. I nodded and went into the garage. I heard her practically run up the stairs. Then I heard yelling. I was grinning by the time I actually got in the car and down my driveway. I looked in the window and Eddy was standing there glaring at me. I gave him the middle finger and sped off. He wouldn’t see me anytime soon. That’s for sure. I went and picked up Stephanie and we headed off to the mall. On the way there I told her what happened.

“So you just told your Mama and she yelled at him?” Stephanie asked, her Georgia twang coming out to match mine.

“Yeah. I just told her what happened and showed her the bruises.” I said. She gasped.

“He left bruises?” She cried. I nodded, keeping my eyes on the road.

“Do you want to see?” I asked.

“Of course!” She practically screamed. I slid down so I could drive with my knees and lifted up my shirt sleeve. I felt her cool hands on my arm.

“Ohmygosh.” She said. I pulled my sleeve back down and put both my hands on the wheele. “What do you think is going to happen?” She asked. I smiled.

“Mama is going to kick Sweaty Eddy out. I know it.” I told her. She nodded.

“That is totally what he deserves. There is no way that jerk is allowed to push you around like that.” She said. We pulled up to the mall.

“What store do you want to go to first?” I asked. She looked up at the sky, acting if she was thinking. I knew what she was going to say.

“Hot topic.” She said. I smiled. That was her favorite store. Mine too. We walked in the mall to Hot Topic. She looked at the belly button piercings while I looked at the tongue ones. I was going to get a tongue piercing that was something other then just a stud. That’s what I have now.

“Can I help you find what your looking for?” A voice asked. Just then I saw the one that I wanted.

“ Nope. I got it.” I said. Then I realized who’s voice that was.  I turned around. “Are you stalking me?” I asked. Dylan just shook his head.

“No. I work here.” He said laughing.

“Oh. Well then get that one for me please.” I ordered him, pointing to the one I wanted.

“Ok miss bossy.” He joked.

“Well I am the customer after all.” I told him, smirking. Stephanie waved me to come over there. I gave her the one minute sign and got my tongue piercing. Then I walked over to her.

“Which one?” She asked me pointing to two different ones. One was a green jem and the other was a zebra print heart. I pointed to the heart.

“That one.” I told her. She nodded and Dylan unlocked it and handed it to her. We went up to the counter and payed for our stuff.

“I’ll see you in science” I told Dylan as he bagged my stuff. I looked at Stephanie.

“Where do you want to go now?” I asked her. She thought for a while.

“Victoria’s Secret?” She asked. I nodded.

“Here is your stuff.” Dylan said. I took our bags and nodded my thanks. Handing Stephanie’s bag to her, we walked out of Hot Topic and continued our shopping.

“Who was that guy?” Stephanie asked. “It seems like you knew him.” She said.  I smiled.

“Dylan. That’s Dylan.” I told her. Then I went into my bag to get out my piercing. There was an extra piece of paper in the bag. I pulled it out and looked at it. It was a note. With a phone number and a sentence on it.

Call me sometime.

_Dylan

I blushed. Dylan wanted me to call him. Stephanie saw me blush and grabbed the note from my hand.

“OOOHH looks like you have a secret admirer.” She said. I just smiled.

“Seems like it huh.” I said.

 

CH 5

“Good morning Kaylee.” A voice said. I opened my eyes. Sweaty Eddy was standing in my doorway. Why was he still here? Mama surely kicked him out didn’t she? Mama knew he bruised me. “I hope you slept well.” He said.

“Why are you still here?” I asked him. He just smiled. Man he was creeping me out.

“I promised your Mama that I wouldn’t bruise you anymore.” He said. “I also promised her that I would be nicer to you.” He said. I didn’t believe him. This was a trick. Mama wouldn’t let him stay! Does she love him that much!

“Where’s Mama?” I asked. Sweaty Eddy just grinned.

“At work.” Then he looked at the clock. “Shouldn’t you be getting to school soon?” He asked. I looked at the clock and noticed what he said was true. I jumped up out of bed and hurried to get my clothes. I closed the door in his face and started getting dressed. I did my hair and makeup and grabbed my bag. I opened the door and jumped like 5 feet in the air. Sweaty Eddy was still standing there.

“Um…excuse me.” I murmured, pushing past him. He turned and followed me downstairs.

“I made you breakfast.” He told me. Sure enough there were waffles sitting on a plate in my spot.

“No thanks. I’m not hungry.” I told him. I was getting pretty creeped out by this guy.

“C’mon. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!” He said. I shook my head.

“I don’t really have time.” I said. I knew I had actually enough time to eat two helpings of waffles but I didn’t want to eat anything that Sweaty Eddy made.

“Yes you do. Sit. Eat.” He said, coating his words with sugar. I shook my head and started going to the door. I opened it and he put his hand there to stop it.

“Please, I really have to go.” I told him. What was his problem?! They were just waffles.

“I’m really trying Kaylee.  I made a promise to your Mama and I can’t exactly keep that promise if you don’t cooperate.” He said casually. “Now sit and eat your breakfast.” He ordered. Those last words had a lot of force in them. He was scaring me. He grinned at me. It wasn’t a normal grin though. It was a scary evil grin.

          I put my stuff down and sat at the table. I took a bite of the waffles. They tasted fine I guess. I ate one waffle and then sat back.

“I’m full.” I told him. He smiled.

“See that wasn’t too bad was it?” He asked. I shook my head. “You can take your car from now on. I filled it up with gas for you.” He said.

“Thanks.” I murmured. He grabbed my arm.

“What was that?” He asked, breathing in my face.

“I said THANKS” I  said, yelling the last part in his face. He jumped back and let go of my arm. I ran into the garage and got into my car. I quickly backed out and started driving to school. I got on the freeway and my vision started to go blurry. I shook my head to make the blurry vision go away. It went away. Then I noticed that I started driving into the other lane. I pulled over and rested my head on the wheel. What was wrong with me? Then I realized why Sweaty Eddy had been being so nice. He poisoned my food. He was trying to kill me off! Suddenly there was a churning in my stomach. I threw myself out of the car, and vomited all over the side of the road. My breathing got heavy and I noticed that there was blood in my vomit.

“That can’t be good.” I said out loud. I sat back in my car and laid down across the seat. I felt like crap. I took out my phone and called the first number that was on my speed dial. It rang a couple times. Then a voice answered.

“Hello?” It asked. It sounded almost robotic. I couldn’t recognize it.

“Help.” I said. My voice sounded weird too. Like raspy. I looked around and noticed that I was by the wildflower fields. Odd I always end up by this place. My hands flailed around for my camera as I started getting extremely dizzy. I found it and looked at the pictures. It was so beautiful. A thought came into my head. If I was dying I wanted to at least die in the wildflower fields. I got out of the car and started wobbling to the flowers. I couldn’t stand anymore so I started crawling. My phone and my camera were still in my hand.

“Hello? Kaylee?” The voice said. I ignored it. Soon I was in the fields. I laid down on the ground, the flowers covering my whole body. I was in heaven. I curled up into a ball and clutched my camera to my chest. I don’t think I would mind dying here. It was a nice place. That was the last thought that I had, because after that, my vision went black.

 

CH 6

There was a beeping and a prickling in my arm. It was getting really annoying. I opened my eyes to find myself in a hospital room. It was the same one my Nana was in. She was sleeping in the bed next to me. I sat up and a voice stopped me in my tracks.

“You probably shouldn’t do that.” It said. I looked and saw Dylan sitting there with his head against the wall. He opened his eyes and looked at me.

“What happened?” I asked him. He scooted the chair closer to my bed.

“Well I was driving to school a couple days ago and suddenly you called me and only said help. Then I drove by your car and saw you collapse in the wildflower fields. So I called 911 and stayed with you the whole time.” He said.

          It all flooded back to me. The food poisoning, the car drive, the phone call, everything. I threw my head down on the pillow and groaned.

“Do they know what was wrong with me?” I asked. Dylan nodded. You had been poisoned. They did some tests and found some poison in your stomach that had seeped into your bloodstream and almost shut off your brain. My nana stirred in her bed and then she sat up.

“Oh Baby Duck you’re up!” She said. I smiled at her.

“Hey Mama Duck.” I told her. Dylan looked at us like we were crazy. I just laughed.

“Ok then.” He said. I just shook my head. Then I realized that Dylan and my Nana had met, and that my Nana had probably told him all about the Sweaty Eddy thing. I turned to Dylan. Now I knew I could trust him. The door burst open and my Mama and Sweaty Eddy came rushing in.

“Oh Baby doll.” My Mama said rushing to my bedside. Sweaty Eddy just stood there.

“We want to know who poisoned you.” Sweaty Eddy said, with a glint in his eye.

“Oh yes baby girl please tell me what you ate that day!” She said. I just said 4 words to her.

“Waffles Eddy made me.” I said. My Mama gasped and Eddy glared at me.

“You poisoned her?!” Mama cried. Sweaty Eddy faked surprise.

“Of course not! Why would I do such a thing?” He asked innocently. “The poor girl is still delusional.” He said. Then I glared at him.

“Can I have a word with my Mama alone please?” I asked the room. Dylan nodded.

“I was just going to get some soda anyway.” He said. Then he got up and walked out of the room. Sweaty Eddy followed him muttering something about going to have a cigarette. Once they were gone, I looked at Mama.

“How could you let him stay?” I asked. She just shook her head.

“Baby girl he is helping pay the bills. He needed too.” She said.

“Mama I could help pay the bills. Just don’t let him stay anymore! He really did poison me! I woke up that morning and found him standing in my doorway then I got downstairs and he forced me to eat his stupid waffles and was being super nice. It was creepy and then I started driving and then the whole thing happened.” I explained. My Mama looked at me with wonder.

“You probably are delusional. I should call the doctor.” She said.

“Lillian listen to the girl. What she is saying is the truth.” My Nana interrupted. My Mama locked eyes with me.

“It’s the whole truth?” She asked me. I nodded, hoping she would believe me. Mama nodded. “Alright. I’ll tell him to get lost today.” I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank you Mama. Once I get out of here, I’ll get a second job and help pay the bills and everything.” I said. My Mama just nodded. Then she leaned forward and kissed my forehead.

“Good. Now I have to get to work. I’ll see you later today ok?” She said. I nodded and she left. Dylan came back. Then I realized that there was still school.

“Why aren’t you in school?” I asked him. He just smiled.

“I wanted to make sure you were ok.” He said. “Plus I wanted my face to be first one you saw when you woke up.” He said. Curiosity filled my mind.

“Why do you care so much about me?” I blurted. Then I blushed. “I didn’t really mean to say that out loud.” I said, staring at the blue mountains that were my feet. Dylan didn’t say anything for a while. Finally after what seemed like hours of silence, he locked eyes with me.

“I care because I like you.” He said. My mind went blank. Did he mean what I thought he meant?

“Oh.” I said. Then I mentally slapped myself. Out of all the things I could have said, I said oh. I’m so stupid. I looked up at Dylan and he looked sort of sad.

“It’s cool if you don’t feel the same way, I mean this has happened to me before.” He said.

“No, no I meant to say I like you too.” I told him. His eyes lit up.

“Really?!” He cried, I could tell he was happy. I loved the fact that I could make him happy like that. The doctor walked in.

“Oh, Kaylee your awake.” He said. I nodded. “Well it seems as if you were poisoned. We can’t exactly figure out what poison that is in your body, but you almost died-“ He started, but I cut him off.

“Wait, what do you mean by ‘is in my body’? It’s still in there?” I asked. I was getting worried. The doctor nodded.

“Yes it is. This is a type of poison that we have never seen before but it seems as if it doesn’t want to leave your blood stream. It is still very deadly. You won’t be able to leave for a while.” The doctor said. The first thing that popped up in my head wasn’t my school work, or my friends, it was my photography.

“What if I have a nurse go with me?” I asked. I really wanted to be able to take pictures still. The doctor shook his head.

“I’m sorry but you can’t leave the hospital until the poison is all gone. We can get you your own room, or you can stay here with your Grandmother.” The doctor said. I didn’t even have to think about it.

“I’ll stay in here.” I said. The doctor nodded. He took some blood from my arm and then left. Dylan looked at me.

“You look worried.” He stated. I glanced at him.

“I won’t be able to take pictures of anything.” I said.

“Oh.” Was all he said. Then I got an idea.

“Where is my camera anyway?” I asked him. He stood up and walked to the door, closed it partially and handed me my bag.

“It’s in there.” He said. I thanked him and took it out. I wanted to show my Nana the photos of the flowers that I took that one night. I went to my pictures and looked for them. Usually, they would be the thing that would show up first. Instead of the flowers, they were pictures of me. Sleeping. Normally I would be creeped out by this, but for some reason, I mentally died inside. I looked dead. I looked pale and cold.

“Dylan, did you take these?” I asked. He nodded. I don’t know why I did. Something inside told me to, you can delete them if you want to. I shook my head.

“No, I kinda like them.” I said. I know that’s probably a really demented thing to say about pictures of a dead me, but something about them really struck me deep inside. I went passed them and found the pictures of the field. I stood up and went over to Nana.

“Look at these they are so beautiful.” I said. My Nana turned her head and looked at them. While she was looking at them, I really looked at her. I noticed for the first time how the chemo was affecting her. Her eyes had dark circles under them, her skin was sunken in so bad that her cheek bones were showing. Her once bright blue eyes had gone dull and her wrinkles were starting to show. Then I looked at her hands. They were bony and just skin and bone. Anger rose up in me. I don’t really know why. I guess it was because my Nana, someone so strong, was getting weak. Maybe it was anger at god. That he could even dare to make my Nana, the one who I loved the most in the whole wide world, sick like this. So sick that she could die at any moment. I wanted to scream, cry, anything.

“Baby duck?” My Nana called, ripping me from my angry thoughts.

“Huh? Oh. Do you like them?” I asked. She nodded and smiled. Even her smile showed how the chemo was affecting her. I smiled back all the same though. Then I went and sat down on my bed. My idea came back into my head. I know the doctor said I couldn’t leave the hospital, but what if I took pictures IN the hospital. I know that probably sounds like a crazy idea, but something inside me really, really wanted to do it. I stood up and walked to the door. I looked out for any doctors, and when I saw that there were none, I slipped out. Dylan followed me.

“What are you doing?” He asked. I just grinned at him.

“I want to make a collage.” I said. I walked the whole hospital looking for good pictures. I got a couple good ones. Sometime during my picture scavenger hunt, Dylan decided that he needed to go home to get some sleep, since he had school tomorrow. I just said good bye then continued on my hunt. After I found what I wanted, I went back to my room. Just as I climbed back in my bed, the doctor walked in. He looked pretty serious.

“What’s up doc?” I asked. I saw him try not to smile at my cheerfulness.

“I saw you walking around and taking pictures.” He said. I shrugged. “Photography is my life. That’s why I wanted to know if I could leave the hospital. I don’t care about anything else, but if you take photography away from me, I would die. So I thought that since you said I couldn’t leave the hospital, I would just take pictures in here.” I said. I looked at his name. Tommy. Nice name. He smiled.

“You found a loophole.” Tommy said. I grinned and nodded. Then he shook his head. “Alright. You can take pictures in the hospital, but don’t take pictures of patient’s faces and DON’T get caught by the security.” He said. I grinned even bigger.

“Thank you so much Tommy!” I said. I was so happy. Then I started wondering why he let me off the hook so easily.

“You’re welcome. You know I normally wouldn’t let you do this, but you remind me of my little girl. She would always find loopholes in my words, and she was just like you.” He explained. I noticed he said was.

“What happened to her? If you don’t mind me asking.” I said. He just smiled and shook his head.

“I don’t mind, and since you’re going to be here a while, we might as well become good friends.” He said, smiling. I just smiled back. Then he continued. “She had cancer, like your Nana here. She was a writer. She always wanted to find things to write about and she had so many articles that no one had ever read. The cancer got to her when she was just 17. You remind me a lot of her.” He said. I smiled. Then I remembered the poison in my body. I suddenly felt really scared. Nana was asleep so she didn’t see my fear.

“Tommy, am I going to die?” I asked him. He looked solemn.

“I don’t know Kaylee. We still haven’t been able to identify the poison. Whoever poisoned you, was very smart about it.” He said. I felt sadness wash over me. I looked up at Tommy and he looked pretty sad to. It was the perfect picture. I sneakily pointed my camera at him and snapped a picture. He looked at me surprised.

“That was a good picture moment.” I said giggling. “Can I have Dylan bring my laptop and some stuff for my picture project?” I asked. Tommy looked puzzled.

“Picture project?” He asked. I nodded.

“I want to make a collage of this experience. I don’t really know why but something is telling me to.” I told him. He just smiled.

“Just like Amy.” He muttered. I held back a giggle. Tommy walked out and I  laid back on my pillow. My Nana rolled over and gave me a look.

“What’s that look for? “ I asked.

“You seem to have that doctor wrapped around your finger.” She said. I giggled.

“He’s nice Nana.” I said smiling. Then I rolled over and fell asleep.

CH 7

I opened my eyes to a nurse shoving a needle into my arm. I gasped as she pulled it out and I saw how long it was. Then I saw all the blood that was in the needle.

“Why so much blood?” I asked her. She looked up at me. Then she held the needle upright so that the blood wouldn’t drip out.

“Well, we are doing some studying on the poison. Ill let doctor Tommy explain more to you.” She said. I nodded and she left. I watched her leave. Suddenly longing came over me and I wanted to leave. I missed seeing the fresh blue sky. I missed smelling the air, the summer day. I missed it all. Now I was just another stupid hospital patient cooped up in this giant building, waiting to get better. My Nana coughed, pulling me out of my thoughts.  I looked over at her. She was double over in bed having a coughing fit.

“Nana?” I asked. “Are you ok?” She flapped her hand at me, signaling for me to ignore her coughs. The medical machinery went off as her coughing got worse. The doctors and nurses came rushing in. I started to get worried. They brought all kinds of stuff on trays with them. They ran in and started closing the curtain around my Nana. I stood up and left the room. I didn’t want to see whatever it was they were going to do to her. I walked up to a window and noticed that it was raining outside. I had my camera in my hand. Next thing I knew, I was taking a picture of the rainy outside. I left the window and aimlessly wandered around the hospital. I passed an empty hospital room. The door was wide open. I looked around for any doctors then when the coast was clear, I slipped in and silently closed the door behind me. I sat on the empty bed and looked around. Then I stood up and took some pictures of the empty bed. I aimlessly took some shots of the room then slipped out and found my way back to my own hospital room. The doctors and nurses were gone. So was my Nana. There was a bit of blood left on her bed sheets. I cringed at it. I gingerly closed the curtains and went back to my bed. On it there was a box. I picked it up and looked at the tag.

                “People come and go. I hope you stay.”

The tag got me wondering. Who wrote this? There was no name on the tag. Just a little heart. I shook my head and opened the box. Inside was a bunch of pictures and a little camera. The pictures were of wildflowers. Of the wildflower fields that I usually go to. A tear rolled down my face as I realized how much I missed them.

“Knock knock.” A voice said. I quickly wiped away a tear.

“Come in.” I called. Tommy walked in.

“I have some good news and some bad news.” He said. “Which do you want to hear first?”

Author's Note

Ignore the grammar just tell me what you think of the story (it isnt finished)

Reviews

[Passion]

Very good read. It kept my attention and I felt a bit of a connection to the main character. Would love to read more when you finish. Keep writing you're really good. 

[pinpen]

Nice read, kept me reading on. Like the characters and imagery very nicely done. Like the detail as well.