Class is Now in Session

Billie Joe and Mike spent the rest of the day sitting around Tre’s room, asking him questions about his injuries and things like that. I sat on the window ledge and looked out at the snowy landscape below; it was very peaceful and relaxing. I felt like one of the biggest burdens I’d ever held had been miraculously lifted off my shoulders. Everything could go back to normal now; no more hiding, no more deception, no more lies, just normalcy from now on.

Later that night, we were all just sitting around, looking for something to occupy our time.
“Hey Carrie, why don’t you take Billie and Mike to visit Lily?” Tre’ offered.
“Who’s Lily?” Billie asked, looking over at me.
“She’s a little girl I met here. She’s a big Green Day fan and she already met Tre’,” I told them. “In fact, it seems like she and Tre’ are sharing a secret between them, something about me.”
“Seriously?” Billie asked, laughing a little.
“So, she’s a patient here?” Mike asked.
“Yeah, she told me that she has leukemia,” I said, growing a little mellower.
“Wow. Leukemia?” Billie said, raising his eyebrows.
“Yeah, but you really wouldn’t know it if you saw her,” I said. “I didn’t even realize it until after she told me.”
“Well, I say we should go and pay her a little visit,” Mike said, standing up from his chair.
I showed the guys where Lily’s room was and knocked on the door. I waited for the okay to come in and, when I heard it, turned back to the guys.
“Just stay out here for a second, okay? I want this to be a surprise,” I whispered.
“Gotcha,” they both said.
I turned back to the door and pushed it open.
“Hey Lily,” I said. She was just as I’d seen her last, sitting up in bed, writing feverishly in a notebook. At the sound of my voice, she looked up and smiled.
“Hey, Carrie,” she said. “Did you and Tre’ tell your story to the guys yet?”
“Yeah, we did. And it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” I replied, sitting with her on the bed.
“I told you it would be fine,” she said, smiling at me. “So I guess they were all right with everything?”
“Yeah, I would say so.”
“Good...now tell them to come in.” We both started laughing a little at her bluntness.
“Alright, hold on,” I laughed, getting up from the bed and going over to the door. “Hey, how did you know they were outside anyway?”
“‘Cause I saw you whispering to them outside my door a minute ago,” she said. “You need to work on your surprise tactics.”
“I guess I do,” I laughed. I opened the door and looked to my right. Billie and Mike were just sort of leaning against the wall, waiting patiently.
“Can we come in now, please?” Billie laughed.
“Yeah, you take too long,” Mike added.
“Shut up, you had to wait a whole of 40 seconds, big deal,” I said, smiling.

“You’re still awful slow,” Billie said, walking past me.
“Not as slow as you,” I replied, turning around and closing the door behind me.
“That didn’t really make sense,” Billie said, turning around with a confused look on his face.
“I don’t care, it sounded funny,” I replied, realizing that my comment, did indeed, sound stupid and was not the least bit insulting.
Lily immediately began conversing with Billie and Mike. The shyness in her seemed to pass after she met Tre’ and she just seemed to dive right into conversation. It was rather sweet, actually.
“So, you guys know that Carrie and Tre’ are a couple now?” she asked.
“Yeah, we found out earlier today,” Billie said. Then he turned to me. “God Carrie, even Lily knew about it before us?”
“I didn’t tell her, Tre’ did!” I replied.
“He told me more than that,” Lily interjected.
“Oh yeah, what else did he tell you?” Mike asked.
“I’m not allowed to say,” she said, smiling sneakily.
“Uh oh, I have a feeling this might get even more interesting than it is now,” Mike said, looking up at me.
“Yeah, and now my curiosity has been peaked,” I said, crossing my arms. “Why does nobody tell me anything?”
“You? Why doesn’t anyone tell US anything?” Billie laughed. “We’re the ones who were kept in the dark for months!”
“Good point,” I said. “Then maybe the little secret being kept from me won’t be held as long.”
“Hopefully not, ‘cause I wanna know what it is now, too,” Mike said.
“Then you’ll just have to wait for Tre’ to tell you,” Lily said, apparently loving the fact that she shared a secret with Tre’.

When it was time for the guys to say good bye to Lily, I’ll admit, I did expect a tear or two to be shed. But I was proven wrong when the time came; Lily stayed strong and kept up her cheery persona, despite the closing of a once in a lifetime event.
“Will you guys come back and visit me again?” Lily asked while receiving a good bye hug from Billie.
“Sure we will,” he replied. “A hospital really isn’t that entertaining of a place so we figured we’d pop in when we got bored and come bother you instead of somebody who could probably throw us out.”
“Or get you into trouble, at least,” I added.
“Or that,” Billie said, jerking his head in my direction.
“Okay, cool,” Lily replied, smiling brightly. “I’ll be looking forward to them.”
“We will, too,” Mike said.
“See ya later, Lily,” I said, opening the door to her room and letting the guys walk out.
“Bye Carrie, and thanks. Now I have a great story to tell my friends!” Lily said excitedly.
“Yeah, I guess you do, don’t you?” I said, waving at her as I closed the door behind me.