“Here,” she said handing me a black cell phone.
“Take care of it, it was Nick’s so he has my number and your dad’s also,” she explained. Mom caught me off guard so I couldn’t thank her properly for the gift she was giving me.
“Thanks,” I said. I put my new cellphone in my pocket and headed for Amber.
I wanted Amber to be out fast I screamed and screamed her name until she finally came out.
“You’re excited aren’t you?” she asked. I nodded trying to act cool about it. I didn’t want to admit but I was really excited, as we got closer I began walking faster. I would have run if it was just me but knew Amber wouldn’t be able to keep up. We finally made it to our new school and I was dazzled. Teenagers filled the school’s yard and field. I saw some boys climbing a tree and other already looking at their text books. For a moment I forgot Amber was walking beside me and before I knew it she was gone. I looked all over for her, I called her name but with so many around me it was impossible to find her. I looked around for her, scared she might have ditched on her first day.
The bell rang and I was dragged inside by the crowd. I pulled out my schedule and headed for the only class on it which said ‘HOMEROOM’ Room #351. I asked an eighth grader where the room was but his directions were too confusing for me to follow. I followed those my size hoping when of them was going to the same room I was. The halls soon began to look emptier. Everyone had made it to their rooms except for me and a couple of others who had the same concerned face as I did. I looked at the classroom closest to me and saw the number 205 on it. I didn’t want to be late in my first day so I ran looking for a teacher who could assist me.
“Can you please tell me where room #351 is? I asked a tall man standing next to the library.
“Over on that hallway take a left it should be around the middle,” he answered.
“Thanks,” I said and ran down.
“Don’t run!” screamed the tall man. I made it to the hallway just in time. Many 6th graders still filled the hallway while some teachers stood outside their rooms carrying their name and classroom number. I looked around for room #351 and finally saw an old teacher holding up the word ‘ISE’. He seemed confused and looked around for his students. I walked close to him and saw the room he stood next to was empty.
“Excuse sir,” said a girl next to the old man.
“You’re holding the sign upside down,” she added. The old man must have been hard of hearing because he didn’t answer.
“Mr. I think you’re holding the sign upside down,” I said close to the man’s ear.
“Thank you, everyone with homeroom #351 in here please,” he said with a voice only me and the girl next to me could hear.
“Everyone whose homeroom is 351 it’s in here!” screamed the girl. Some that surrounded the room stepped inside and the old man began writing his name on the board. Mr. Williams he wrote on the green board. The cursive letters made his last name hard to read but his soft voice confirmed that I had read it correct.
“Mr. Williamson, history teacher,” he said. There was silence in the room. I sat on the front row and looked behind me. A total of fourteen students filled Mr. Williamson’s classroom. Every minute or so someone would poke their head inside and ask if this was room #351. Only a few who spoke loud enough got a response from Mr. Williamson, others got welcomed inside by those of us closest to the door. Mr. Williamson cleared his throat and began speaking.
“This will be your homeroom,” he said in a short voice. Those who had just arrived raised their hands but Mr. Williamson ignored them.
“You will come here every time you are asked to,” he added. A girl sitting close to me raised her hand and shook it to try to get Mr. Williamson to see.
“This old man can’t hear anything,” said a boy in the back.
“I bet he can’t even see us,” said a boy next to him. The girl with her hand in the air stood up and began waving both of her hands in the air.
“Mr. Williamson!” she screamed. He turned slowly and looked at the girl who had screamed his name,
“My sister was a student last year here, and she told me if you were my teacher to always speak loud to you!” she screamed.
“Yes, correct. I’m hard of hearing you will have to really scream at me if you want me to hear you,” added Mr. Williamson.
The rest of the class went slow. Mr. Williamson had us all introduce ourselves and we all yelled across the room for him to be able to hear us. I memorized almost all the names. The troublemakers were Damian and Rodney they had a blast in Mr. Williamson’s class all they did was make fun of him and talk about videogames. The nerds were Natasha, Miley and I. I learned the girl’s name that had told Mr. Williamson sign was upside down too. Her name was Isabella and she was a nerd that didn’t want anyone to know she was.
I sat in front of all my classes, I couldn’t be happier with all the classes I’ve had. Monday I had Homeroom History, English, Math, Foreign Language, Literacy, P.E, and last Science! I was glad the rest of my teachers weren’t old like Mr. Williamson. I didn’t mean to be rude but how would he expect us to learn anything if he could hardly hear us? Finally it was time for P.E and lastly Science my two favorite subjects at the end of the day. I knew where the Gym was. I walked and heard all the bad words and the nasty things the 7th and 8th graders said in the hallway. I stood outside the Gym waiting on the bell to ring to step inside.
“Hey!” I heard a familiar voice say from inside the gym. It was Amber, she smiled at me and I was glad she was enjoying her first day.
“P.E for this period?” I asked. Amber nodded. ..Check!
“Me too!” I screamed.
I was happy to see Amber enjoying her first day, I moved around the gym to get a good spot around the center of the court where Mr. Stewart had us all sit down. Mr. Stewart was an athletic man. His calf muscles were huge and he wore a head band that looked sweaty.
“Bring comfortable clothes, you will have ten minutes to change before the class begins,” he said.
“Today you will learn the rules of this gym,” he added.
“Numbe,”
““I’m sorry I’m late!” a boy screamed running inside the gym. Mr. Stewart frowned and inspected the boy from head to toe.
“What is your name?” he asked.
“Levi Goldberg,” he answered.
“I’m sorry to say you owe me five laps tomorrow Mr. Goldberg, GYM rules sit down and listen to the rest of them,” said Mr. Stewart. The boy sat down and I saw the girls near me turn to him and just stare. Even Amber stared at him and I didn’t like it. I heard two girls near me giggle on how cute he was and I couldn’t see it.
I didn’t like P.E as much as I’d expect. Mr. Stewart told us all the rules and it was finally time to leave. I rushed to room #180 where I would be having science. I was one of the first ones in and Mrs. Smith thanked me for being on time. She told us all about the school year we would be having and it all sounded great.
“By December we would have already dissected your frogs and we will begin with a new project,” she explained. Almost everyone was excited about the frog but I was more excited about the entire school year and on what I had to do to be the best one in the class.
“You will be working in partners,” said Mrs. Smith.
“So choose wisely, the partner you choose will stick to you all year long,” she added. Those around me got up and found someone they knew. I looked around and saw no familiar face. I was stuck with a short boy standing on the far end of the class or a girl whose makeup was more important to her than choosing a partner.
“Will you be my partner?” asked someone poking my back. I turned around and found Isabella from homeroom looking desperately for me to say yes.
“Sure,” I answered.
Mrs. Smith had us write down all the classroom rules and had us talk to our partner for the rest of the class.
“I’m Isabella Collan,” said Elizabeth.
“Noah Do
xon,” I replied.
“I like your name, Noah Doxon. Sounds important,” she said. It only took me half an hour to learn a lot about Isabella. She was very mature for her age. She talked like a grown up and often looked away when I stared at her. It was obvious she was insecure; she loved school but still sat in the second row on all her classes. I insisted for us to sit up front, but she took the decision of sitting in the third row. I spoke little about myself I wanted to tell her about Amber but all I talked about was school and outer space.
The bell rang for the end of our first day; I looked around for Amber and found her standing outside close to the field. I was getting ready to tell her all about my day but something seemed to be bothering her.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. Amber grabbed her stomach and squatted down.
“I don’t feel so good,” she said. I remembered the gift mom had gave me and called her for her to pick us up. I didn’t say much while mom drove us to Amber’s. Her face often shrugged and I heard a small suffering sound coming out of her every time mom took a left.
“Almost there,” I said slowly. Amber didn’t answer, she had her eyes closes and her jaw pressed down. Amber opened her door and didn’t say goodbye. She rushed inside her house as if she were going to throw up.
“I’ll call you later,” I said. Amber didn’t say a word and mom drove me home.
“I hope she’s okay,” mom said.
“It’s just a stomach ache right?” I asked her.
“I really hope so,” she answered.
At dinner I told dad all about my new school and the entire family seemed to be excited.
“Wait till you go to college,” said dad.
“That’s where the fun really begins,” he added. Before bed mom called me from the living room.
“Noah!” she screamed. “Noah! Come down here!” she screamed again. I rushed downstairs and saw mom standing next to our house phone.
“It’s Grace,” she said slowly.
“Hello,” I answered.
“Noah, its Amber she’s in the hospital,” said Grace.
“Is she okay?” I asked stupidly.
“We still don’t know,” said Grace. I didn’t know what to say, I knew it was too late to go see her.
“I’ll call you tomorrow as soon as my parents tell me more,” said Grace.
“Okay,” I answered. I told mom about Amber being in the hospital hoping she would ask if I wanted to go see her but she didn’t. Tomorrow was a school day and mom had me go to bed at around eleven. I stood awake for a while thinking about Amber and wondering if she was thinking of me as well. I couldn’t sleep, I didn’t want to wake up and walk to school all by myself. I tried everything to go to sleep but nothing was helping, I walked to the kitchen and served me a glass of milk that did the trick. I didn’t realize what time I had finally fallen asleep but mom waked me in the morning saying I was already late for school.
“Hurry up, get changed I’ll drive you,” she said. I got changed as fast as I could and calmed my hair to look a little presentable.
My second day at middle school wasn’t much different from the first. I tried to pay as much as attention as I could but it was hard not to think of Amber. It took me a few seconds to realize Mrs. Hall was calling Amber’s name in third period.
“Amber Sanders,” she said. I wanted to raise my hand and tell her why was absent but knew it was best no one to know.
“Absent on the second day,” said Mrs. Hill disappointed.
After school I walked fast back home, I jogged a couple of blocks and made it home right before four. I called Grace from our house phone,
“Answer, c’mon answer,” I said slowly.
“Hello,” answered Grace.
“Grace, how’s Amber?” I asked.
“I don’t know but you can come see her if you want,” she said.
“I’ll see you there around five,” I said. I hadn’t thought about that, I had visited Amber the last time she was in the hospital and I wanted to visit her again. I told mom about it but she insisted to tell Nick to drive me once he got home. Nick helped me most of time I asked him too, but somehow he always ended up charging me one way or another.
“Nick I need a favor,” I said as he stepped inside.
“What’s in it for me?” he asked.
“I’ll pay you when I’m older,” I said. Nick agreed but said I needed to ask dad for gas money. I waited until dad got home and asked him not only for gas money but also asked him for more money so I could get Amber something that could cheer her up.
“I’ll pay you as soon as I turn eighteen and get myself a job,” I said.
“How much do you need?” dad asked laughing.
“Fifty,” I answered shortly.
“Fifty dollars, what are you going to do with fifty dollars?” he asked.
“Buy her something nice,” I answered.
“Here you go,” said dad handing me a fifty dollar bill.
“Don’t waste it all today,” said dad.
I had Nick drive me to see Amber but first asked him to stop at the same store where I had gotten the ‘Get Well Soon’ balloon the last time. I stepped inside the store and got her the best balloon I could find. As I stood in line I saw something in the counter that I knew Amber would love. Half heart necklaces with initials on them. I stepped out of the line and found half a heart with the letter ‘A’ on it. I looked through the counter and tried finding the one with my initial but there wasn’t any. I looked around and spotted the ‘N’ on the far end of the counter. I paid eleven dollars for each necklace and four dollars for the balloon.
“Eleven dollars for this?” asked Nick. He looked at it carefully and then looked back down on me.
“This is the kind of stuff boyfriends and girlfriends get each other. You can’t give this to Amber you two are only friends,” he suggested. I didn’t care what Nick thought. I knew Amber well enough to know the necklace would make her feel better.
It wasn’t hard finding Amber’s room. She was on the same floor and Grace was sitting right in front of the elevator.
“Over here,” she said walking down the hall.
“Grace,” I said trying to stop her. She looked back at me and raised her eyebrows.
“I got this for Amber,” I said. Grace looked down on the necklace and looked surprised.
“Give her the one with the ‘A’ on it, that way she won’t find it awkward,” she said.
“Awkward?” I asked.
“You two are only friends,” she said walking away. I saw Mr. and Mrs. Sanders sitting and discussing. Mrs. Sanders didn’t look well, her sad eyes met mines and she wiped her tears quickly almost in time for me not to notice. I stepped inside and saw Amber discussing with Grace.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey,” she answered. I placed the balloon close to Amber as I thought of something else to say. I didn’t like seeing Amber like this. But I disliked the idea of her knowing that too.
“How was your second day?” she asked.
“It was great!”
“I think we have a second class together!” I added.
“Which one?” she asked.
“Health Class and Mrs. Hall is awesome!” I said trying to sound excited. I reached inside my pocket and felt both necklaces begin to tangle up.
“I’ve been saving up for this for a long time,” I lied getting nervous of the idea of giving Amber something only boyfriends gave their girlfriends.
“Don’t get me wrong I just wanted to get you something that me and you can share. That way no matter where I am you’ll be reminded I’m there with you,” I said.
“I love it,” she said as she opened the small box with both necklaces. I grabbed the one with the ‘N’ on it and asked Amber to put on me.
“Never take it off,” I said as I placed her necklace on her.
“As long as we have these on we will always be together,” I added. I saw Amber smile and decided it was time to ask her how sh
e felt. Amber always answered the same thing when I asked her how she felt. I didn’t insist on asking her why she was here. Instead I told her all about my teachers and we talked a little about hers. Mom called me at around eight and said it was time to leave. I wished Amber the best and hoped to see her tomorrow after school.
Nick was talking on the phone when I got down. He didn’t look happy and by the way he talked it was obvious that Judy was on the other line. I didn’t want to ask Nick anything but when he finally placed his phone down to start driving. I saw his eyes red and watery.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Everything’s fine,” he answered shortly.
As soon as we got home, Nick walked straight into his room and skipped dinner with us. Mom told me everyone had some problems and that Judy talked to her while Nick and I were gone. I didn’t ask for further details and went to bed right after dinner to have plenty of rest for tomorrow morning.
Chapter Seventeen
Amber: I woke up to a hungry stomach and bad headache. I was slightly afraid every ache I felt in my body would turn up being cancer. Hunger took out the worst of me. I wanted to be out here already I couldn’t stand another surrounded by four white walls, I was tired of being here, tired of seeing my mom sleep in a hard couch and tired of being poked at.
“Please tell Dr. Nahal that I want to go home,” I begged mom as she left my room. Mom came back and Dr. Nahal was with her.
“I have some bad news and some good news, which would you like to hear first?” asked Dr. Nahal.
“Give me the bad news,” I said expecting him to say I’d be stuck here another day or two.
“The bad news is you will have to start another chemo, and it should be starting next week. Saturday like I promised,” he said.
“What’s the good news?” asked mom.
“The good news is that you’ll be leaving home today,” said Dr. Nahal looking at me.
“Finally,” I said with a big smile. I was so ready to get home but as soon as mom and Dr. Nahal stepped out of the room my stomach ache returned. It was slightly there and it hurt me more when I tried to get up. I forced myself and sat ready for what Dr. Nahal had to say. He removed the needle from my arm and said I would be free to go at three. I prayed for the small ache to go away. It didn’t hurt as bad but it was still there, bothering me. I walked inside the room and in the hall, mom followed close behind at all times making sure I wouldn’t fall.
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