The Mixed Clique

I burst in to tears the moment I saw Jared taken in to the ambulance. How would you feel if you saw your life long friend covered in blood and taken away on a stretcher? Especially since I had bad experiences with car crashes.

I can't help it when urgency overwhelms me sometimes.

Shane kept trying to convince me that he was going to be alright, and that he was sorry for hitting me. I knew it wasn't going to be alright. It wasn't alright for my parents.

Denny wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me in to his chest. That's what I really liked about him; he was a great shoulder to cry on.

"It's going to be alright. His injuries weren't that bad. I'm sure he'll be out in a matter of days," he said softly in my ear.

"Not that bad? Don't give me this shit, Denny. His was twisted up under my seat! He was practically covered in blood! Don't tell me anything like that if you didn't even see anything!"

I felt bad for shouting at him. Still he just stood there, letting me cry in to his arms. "I promise, nothing will happen to him," he whispered.

"Oh just shut the fuck up, Den. Don't lie to the girl," Connor snapped. "We don't know what's going to happen. Don't try and convince her with lies. It will make things worse if something bad really does happen."

"Jeez, Connor. I'm just trying to make her feel better!" Denny growled.

"Dude, it's not working! She's still crying!"

"Ugh, Connor, just let her cry it out," Ethan sighed. "She'll feel better no matter what happens."

"You don't know that!" Connor roared. "Shane, what do you think?"

When I glanced over at Shane, he was staring at the ground. I saw a tear trace from his eyes to the tip of his nose, then hit the road. When he looked up at Connor, his eyes were blood shot.

"Everyone shut up!" I shouted through my tears. "Do you think any of you are making this better?"

"I'm sorry," Denny apologized.

"Stop saying sorry! You didn't do anything!" Connor screamed.

"Calm down..." Ethan sighed again.

Denny grunted. "We can't do anything but wait and see what happens. After all, there really is nothing I can do..."

Well, Jared didn't die. But something much worse happened.

The next day, I visited Jared in the hospital with Shane. Since well, he was the only other one crying. And the only other one that wasn't busy.

When I walked into his room, I could tell something terrible had happened. I've seen someone who has been through a car crash before. They didn't have this many machines hooked up to them.

He grinned when he saw Shane and I walked in to the room. But his smile faded when he didn't see anyone else. "I'm sorry," Shane apologized. "No one else could come."

"Yeah. Sure, I bet it was that," Jared groaned. "Kylie, are you okay? You're shaking."

"W-what?" I didn't know what he was talking about until I payed attention; I was trembling, extremely noticeable. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's just-"

"It's alright," he cut me off. He let out a sigh. "Ugh. My parents are coming in soon. They better not smoke in front of me again."

"Let's make you look nice for them," Shane half laughed. He took a brush left near Jared's cloths and ran it through his hair.

Without even knotting, a clump of hair stuck on to the brush.

Shane stared at it, confused. His eyes widened. "What the..."

"I don't want to tell you this..." His voice was shaky. Tears spotted his eyes. "Damn..."

I stopped breathing for a moment. I knew what was happening. The same thing that happened to my sister. "Jared, no!"

"They found it in the scan, and put me on chemo right away. I'm sorry, Kylie. I didn't want you to see me like this."

"What kind of cancer do you have?"

"Lung cancer," he groaned.

Tears streamed down my face. "You're parents...oh my God Jared..." I sat down in a seat next to his bed. "It's all their fault, isn't it? They smoked around you too much, even when you were a little kid. Oh God, this can't be happening..."

"Kylie, it's going to be alright. It's not like they have never treated lung cancer before. Please stop crying," he tried to ease me. His quivering hand rested on mine. "This is harder then you than it is on me, I bet."

"How would that be possible?"

"Seeing your best friend with cancer in his hospital bed. What do you think?"

I sighed, and tears stopped flowing. But I wanted to cry some more.

"Look, I'm sorry. But I promise, things will get better." he sighed. He pressed his cold lips against my cheek.

Too bad I didn't believe what he said.