Watch You Cry

“How are you today?” Came the weary voice of Catherine Slade.
As Declan sat at the head seat of the dining table, she refrained from rolling her crystal blue eyes. Nearly eight years now and her mother was still tip-toeing around the real question.
Do you think you’ll live another day?
“Feeling good, Mom.”
“Oh... Well that’s good.”
It was quiet in the Slade kitchen, Declan and Catherine both not bothering to carry out any conversation that was effort-necessary.
Declan gazed over at her mother as she prepared herself a cup of coffee. Catherine Slade had aged significantly, and not well. Beneath her greying blonde swirls of hair and wrinkles of concern lay the beautiful woman she was known to be. Was known to be.
Declan always held empathy for her mother. Her mother whose husband died so early into the beginning of their life together. Her mother who got up everyday knowing she would eventually be alone. Her mother, who was slowly but surely dying, herself.
“I might head off to school now.” Declan stated delicately.
Catherine looked up hastily from the coffee maker to take in her daughters words.
“Oh. Oh, right, of course. Have a good day with your... friends.”
The younger of the two walked over and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek. Right, all my friends.
Declan noticed the glaze taking over Catherine’s eyes and could only imagine the thoughts running through her mind. Leaving. Declan could see the depression in her mother’s emotion. The dead, defeated look that sent chills through the spine of the onlooker. This was a look you would never wish to see on the face of your mother.
“I feel really good today, Mom. Really.” She stated softly, making sure to get through to her mother before those thoughts ran wild.
At that moment, Declan knew that while she couldn’t save herself, she would do whatever she could to save her mother.

• • •

Media, Math, Gym, English... No. Media, Gym... Science?
Declan was suffering from an intense headache. One which would have usually edged her to go home, but not today. Today she would soldier through the day and arrive home with the biggest smile she’d ever worn since she was eleven years old. Her mother needed something positive, and as of today, Declan had decided it would be her attitude.
On her way down the empty hallway her headache had evolved into a sharp pain plus a throbbing in the back of her head. Nothing to worry about.
Passing each locker felt longer than usual, so much so that Declan actually wondered if the school had undergone renovations recently.
Maybe it was her slowed pace or the draining feeling that had occurred, but suddenly Declan knew she could no longer lie to herself. Something was wrong. Not today. Not here.
Coming to a halt and placing one small hand on the wall to support herself, Declan tried to regain her breath.
Lightheaded and confused, she began walking again. This time, instead of her Media class, she was on her way to her car. Just to sit, she wouldn’t go home to a worried mother.
Perhaps it was karma for being so hard on everyone around her, maybe it was fate, or as horrible a thought it was – Maybe this was it. This feeling she was trapped in was overwhelming and heart-wrenching in itself; Not just the sick feeling she had, but the suffocating feeling of what she would, and wouldn’t leave behind.
Before Declan could muster another thought, she was both relieved and embarrassed as she heard footsteps coming toward her slumping figure.
“Hey!” Male.
“Fucking great.” Declan muttered sarcastically as she closed her eyes. Knowing her own luck, Declan would presume that the boy coming to her ‘rescue’ was Alex Gaskarth, but she didn’t have the chance to look up before she was out cold.

• • •

‘I Miss You’ by Blink 182 was playing extremely softly in the confined space Declan Slade found herself in.
With her eyes still heavy from sleep she tilted her head and recognized her surroundings as a car. A messy car, at that.
“Thank God!”
Declan jumped at the gruff voice from beside her. Sitting in the driver’s seat was a tall, lanky boy with large, dark eyes.
“I thought you were dead!” He exclaimed with a frightened look on his face.
‘You take dead people to your car?” Declan blurted out with a playful look in her eye.
What am I doing?
The look on the boys face was a mixture of shock and joy.
“You’re Declan Slade, right? The girl Alex is messing himself up ov--”
“Wha—Wait. Nevermind.” Declan straightened herself out, removing the seatbelt she was unsure why she had on and placed her hand on the door handle, ready to leave.
“I’m Jack. Alex’s bestfriend and not a dead body thief.”
Declan almost laughed at his introduction, but this was no laughing matter. She had passed out. At school.
“Thank you for looking after me; I must have been dehydrated.” She lied quickly, opening the door and stepping out.
Jack exited the car also, walking around and meeting Declan on the other side.
“Where you off to?” he questioned with a friendly smile.
Friendly. Declan sighed, but something went off in her mind. Friends.
Friends were normal. Her mother wanted everything to be normal and alright.
“Was just going to go home. What’s the time?” She questioned curiously.
Jack checked his phone quickly before replying with ‘two fifteen.’
Declan looked around shyly. As isolated as Declan had made herself, she was still a teenager, and asking a boy to do something was something Declan found to be quite the challenge.
“Do you... Want to, maybe...” She racked her brain for something she could see this boy doing.
“Do you want to go to the movies?” Jack asked excitedly, as though going to the movies with Declan Slade was entirely normal, and extremely thrilling.
“Oh... Uh, sure.” The blonde replied awkwardly.
Jack nodded happily before telling Declan to follow him in her car, which she complied to.
The lanky boy was rather unsure about the girl he had just invited to the movies, but as far as he was concerned anyone could be a movie-buddy.
As he placed himself in his car’s driver’s seat, he pulled out his phone and sent a quick text message to his best friend.
’Hey, man. I’m going to the movies with Declan Slade. Weird, huh? Anyway, I’ll just meet you at Rian’s for band practice.’

And as he sat in Science class, Alex Gaskarth would never have expected to receive such a message.