The hardest thing...

[supernaturalgirl]

Lucas was sick and tired of the unit they were studying in Science and decided that he would leave the lesson and not actually go back. He had asked to be excused, put his bag over his head and walked straight to the gents bathroom. He would do the work here so he couldn't be distracted or caught.

He walked to the sink unit and looked into the mirror. His eyes were read and blotchy from where he had held back the tears. He ran the tap, cupped his hands and splashed his face with the water. He then placed his bag down on the floor and joined it, pulling his knees up to his chest. He sighed and reached into his bag. He grabbed his notebook and started writing:

Practise Question

Question: What do you think it would be like to live with a serious illness?

Answer: I think that, to live with a serious illness, is like being handed a death sentence for a crime you didn't commit. It's like being told to wait a little bit longer every single time. It's like being told, you've only got one shot at this... so make it count. It's like being handed your worst nightmare on a plate with a note saying, "Tough Luck, had to happen to someone".

Lucas read his answer and nodded, it described exactly what it was like. He knew that, from that answer, he wouldn't be caught out and even if he was, he felt he needed someone to talk to...

[Ethan James Richmond]

i’m halfway gone and i’m on my way
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After waking up this morning, Ethan had realized that he'd slept in his clothes from the day before. They didn't smell, which was odd, but he didn't care. He took the Febreze bottle and sprayed it a few times in the air and let it drop on him. Then he was off to school. He had the first couple periods off because he had a job, but he'd had the day off so he didn't have to show up to either of them.

When he got to school, it was in the middle of the period he had off and he went straight for the men’s room. This was where he hid before he had to actually go to a class. Usually he was there alone except for the occasional freshman that can in to pee. Normally he would sit there and listen to his iPod and catch up on homework he was missing, but he knew today was going to be different.

And it was. When he walked into the bathroom and saw someone sitting on the floor doing work. Ethan stopped and said, “Hey.” He walked over to the counter in front of the sinks and hopped up to sit on it. This was his spot. He’d indirectly called dibs on it over everyone in the school.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

TAGS! LUCAS
OUTFIT! BAMM
NOTES! NONE
MOOD! TIRED
WORD COUNT! 219
CREDITS! SAM-A-LAM
LYRICS! "HALFWAY GONE" BY LIFEHOUSE

[supernaturalgirl]

Lucas felt a wave of nausea was over him and he placed his book down crawling quickly to the cubicle. He threw up and flushed the chain, sighing... He wasn't going to get any better so why was he bothering with cures. All they done was make him sick and tired.

He crawled back to his sitting post and picked up his book again. This was his everything is OK, it's all good pose. This way, any people who see him just think he is a working student. He was rather enjoying the peace here, it stopped him from being upset in class.

A while into his sitting, and just about to answer another question, he heard the door open. A young guy walked in and he sighed, that was his peace and quiet gone. He looked up at the guy as he sat on the counter and smiled, "Hey, I'm Lucas Jonas" he said, holding up his hand for the shake, but he had to withdraw it quickly. His nausea had come back. He dashed back into the cubicle and threw up again, great he thought, a great way to meet people.

[Ethan James Richmond]

i’m halfway gone and i’m on my way
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ethan nodded at the boy who introduced himself as Lucas Jonas. He took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, stuck on his in mouth and through his lips that couldn’t move, he said, “Ethan Richmond.” He lit the cigarette and took one big inhale in then letting it out without taking the cigarette out first. Soon, the lighter was back inside of his pocket and he took the cigarette out of his mouth with his finger tips. “What’cha dreading over?” he asked, referring to the book he had.

If it was one thing Ethan hated—well, there were actually a lot of things he hated—it was school. But he wanted to graduate so he would get into a good college and get a degree for a good career. Maybe he would change his ways in the next few years, but for now, it was all play and no work. (Well, some work was involved, but not much.) He was getting a 2.9 GPA but it was like, so close to a 3.0. His efforts would probably never get it to that point, but that was ok. At least he wasn’t failing. He had about a C average. Whatever got him by was just dandy for him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

TAGS! LUCAS
OUTFIT! BAMM
NOTES! NONE
MOOD! TIRED
WORD COUNT! 209
CREDITS! SAM-A-LAM
LYRICS! "HALFWAY GONE" BY LIFEHOUSE

[supernaturalgirl]

Lucas watched as the guy lit up a cigarette. Ever since he had got cancer, he hated anyone who increased their chances of it. He stared at the stick like offender with disgust and shook his head, "That's bad for you. It can give you cancer". He sighed and looked back at his work, deciding he should answer the boys question, espeically as it was related to what he had just said, "Science work, about Illnesses and stuff". He handed the boy his sheet, "Read it, my answer is extremely accurate".

Lucas had considered taking up smoking when he was diagnosed as it couldn't get worse but he decided to choose a life preserver to live longer. He sighed and allowed his legs to fall flat to the floor, "Sorry to be so snappy, just I don't agree with smoking".

[Ethan James Richmond]

i’m halfway gone and i’m on my way
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Um….o-kay, Ethan thought when Lucas confronted him about smoking. What the fuck does it matter to you what I do? If I get cancer, oh well. He ignored him on the outside and listened to him when he told him it was science he was working on. Out of the blue, he just about shoved his paper at him for Ethan to read. What the fuck is this guys deal?! “Uh, o-kay, then.” He put the cigarette back in his mouth and took the paper.

As he looked at it, Lucas spoke again. He didn’t agree with smoking? No shit! Ethan took the cigarette out of his mouth and handed the paper back to him. “Well, no offense, but it shouldn’t really matter to you what I do. If you don’t smoke then that’s your choice.” He coughed and covered his mouth with the hand that held the cigarette. Upon stopping, he cleared his throat and put the cigarette back in between his lips and inhaled once more. Then he took it out and put it out with some of the water in the sink, then threw it in the waste basket. Ethan had never been one to actually finish a whole cigarette.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

TAGS! LUCAS
OUTFIT! BAMM
NOTES! NONE
MOOD! TIRED
WORD COUNT! 203
CREDITS! SAM-A-LAM
LYRICS! "HALFWAY GONE" BY LIFEHOUSE

[supernaturalgirl]

Lucas thought he had freaked the boy out with his rant about smoking. He hated smokers, ever since he got cancer and he hated people smoking around him. His wasn't from smoking but still. He sighed and rested his head against the wall of the sink unit. How could someone be so inconsiderate and smoke inside anyway.

Lucas took the paper back and sighed, wondering whether the guy understood any of it or took any of it in. He sighed after listening to Ethan speak and shook his head, "You know smoking kills right. If you knew someone who had an illness from smoking, you would stop. If you got ill from it, you would stop... Trust me". He shook is head again as Ethan coughed and laughed, "Wow, you smoke when you really can't handle it... Coughing like that".

[Ethan James Richmond]

i’m halfway gone and i’m on my way
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ethan gave Lucas a dirty look with his eyes. “Well, my habits are no one’s business. And I don’t stop them without legitimate reason for myself, not other people. As for my coughing, I have a little bit of a bug right now, so it’s not just the smoking.” He was lying just a bit, but it was believable. The coughing was in fact from the smoking, but why was that any of Lucas’ business? Who did he think he was to try and give him the “don’t smoke or you’ll die” lecture. Ethan hadn’t been smoking for long. Just since his dad died in Iraq.

“Look, I get that you don’t like smoking, but you’ve got a real problem if you try to get people to quit just for that reason. You can’t change people. They have to do it on their own. The “you’ll die” thing doesn’t scare me.” This sounded exactly like the speech his grandmother had given him about his mother’s depression, only with slightly different wording. Ethan wasn’t going to try and convince Lucas of anything, just let him know what he thought. As for the “you’ll die” thing not scaring him, it didn’t. Death was not something he feared. He embraced it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

TAGS! LUCAS
OUTFIT! BAMM
NOTES! NONE
MOOD! TIRED
WORD COUNT! 208
CREDITS! SAM-A-LAM
LYRICS! "HALFWAY GONE" BY LIFEHOUSE

[supernaturalgirl]

Lucas really didn't like this kid, but the thing that annoyed him most was that he couldn't tell this kid why he didn't like him. He shook his head and started to scribble on the paper he had in his lap, "Well, maybe you should think about all the stuff science class teaches us and hope that one day, you don't have to worry about an illness you have through smoking". Lucas laughed when Ethan claimed he had a bug and nodded, "Right, but if you have a bug, why are you smoking? It's not going to get better".

Lucas shook his head again and blinked back the tears, "I don't want to stop people smoking for that reason, I have others. I just don't want people to go through what I have". He knew he might have pushed it to far but he didn't care, he felt himself getting braver when it came to his secret. He sighed, "Well at least death doesn't scare someone". In all truth, Lucas was absolutely terrified about dying and knowing it was going to happen soon, he was scared each day would be his last.

[Ethan James Richmond]

i’m halfway gone and i’m on my way
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“What?” Ethan asked. “Lose a relative to lung cancer? Dude, you don’t know what I’ve been through. I think mine’s probably a hell of a lot worse than yours.” My God, this kid is relentless. Can’t he just keep his nose out of other people’s fucking business? He was about ready to get up and leave, but it wasn’t even close to the time to go to another class. Maybe he could text his girl. Maybe he could just leave school completely. Yeah, that was really showing his mom that he was responsible.

Ethan sighed. “Look, let’s just leave things as you don’t like smoking and I do. Okay?” It was a lot better than arguing about his bad habits. Smoking made him feel better so he was going to no matter what some anti-smoking freak said. It was his fucking life! Get the fuck over it! If he was going to die, then it was fate, not an accident.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

TAGS! LUCAS
OUTFIT! BAMM
NOTES! NONE
MOOD! TIRED
WORD COUNT! 160
CREDITS! SAM-A-LAM
LYRICS! "HALFWAY GONE" BY LIFEHOUSE