“You don’t want anyone to know, do you?” I asked, knowing how awkward it had been for me on previous birthdays.
“No,” she answered, fast and faced down.
“Okay,” I said, winking. The present in my backpack was going to have to wait. Amber didn’t want anyone to know, and I had to respect that.
Ms. Flowers seemed not to know of Amber’s birthday either. She continued with the lesson from yesterday and said nothing. Things couldn’t have gone better. After twenty minutes of class, I saw Emily’s seat empty. A little before lunch, Ms. Flowers announced she had stomach problems and wouldn’t be in today. Daniel and I had discovered that stomach problems were a nicer way to say she had diarrhea.
After lunch, I pulled the pink sticky notes I had stolen from mom and started writing happy birthday on some of them. I choose the one with the best handwriting and handed it to Chloe. Chloe was one of the coolest girls in my classroom and I knew she wouldn’t bother to look inside.
“For Amber,” I whispered for no one to hear. Chloe did much more than I expected. Instead of passing the sticky note down the row, she got up and dropped into Amber’s arms herself. I saw Amber open the sticky note and she tucked it in underneath her chin. She read it and folded it back again. I rocked my chair and couldn’t wait for her to look at me. I saw her cheeks turn red, and that drew a smile on my face. I had given her more than a letter, I had told her to meet me at the soccer field after school so I could give her the teddy bear and chocolates.
I ran around the school and into the field and waited for Amber. Something inside me told me she could come. But after a few minutes, I began doubting. I was getting ready to leave the field when I saw walking from the other side. She still had her red cheeks on and seemed to struggle to walk. She finally reached me and looked down.
“Happy birthday,” I said.
“Thanks,” she answered fast. There was an awkward silence for a moment so I began pulling the teddy bear out of my backpack, but it was stuck. I pulled hard for the bear to come out, but the only thing that came out was a furry ear. “Oh no,” I whispered. I had ruined the teddy bear. I tried hiding the ear in my hand as I pulled the rest of the bear out. It wouldn’t come out; I pulled from its body, afraid its head would come off if I pulled from it too. The bear looked hideous with a missing ear. I stretched it out to her and said nothing. She would probably think I had bought it at a yard sale. She took it from my hands and pressed it on her chest. I handed her his missing ear and pulled the chocolate box from my backpack and handed it to her as well.
“I’m sorry I must have pulled hard on his ear and that’s why it came off,” I said.
“I love it,” she said, smiling. I hugged her goodbye, feeling the teddy bear in between us. She tucked her bear’s missing ear into her pocket and waved goodbye. I saw her sprint to the parking lot and into her mom’s car.
Chapter Eleven
Amber: Our thanksgiving dinner was splendid. I got some really nice pictures of the entire dinner, and Ms. Williams said they were pretty good. Dad and his colleagues watched the football game in the living while mom and Ms. Williams talked about woman’s stuff. Grace and I hanged in between, we heard dad complain a touchdown and heard mom talk about how much she loved Boston. Ernest came up to and demanded me to lift him. He licked my face and begged me to play. I stood up and felt dizzy. I tried grabbing on to my chair, but the floor spun around me. I felt like throwing up. It was a matter of time before I’d hit the floor. Grace noticed me first, she ran up to me but it was too late. I was falling and eventually I hit the hard ground. Grace running up to me was the last thing I saw before I woke up in dad’s arms. Mom was driving and cursing at the traffic. Dad’s face seemed worried, I wanted to tell him I was awake, but I felt tired. Dad saw my eyes open and told mom I was awake. I soon realized Grace was also in the car and felt her hand touch my face. It felt warm and soft. We reached the hospital and dad placed me on the stretcher that was already waiting for me at the emergency room. The white doors closed and mom, dad, and Grace stayed behind. I was afraid. I had several doctors all over me. They checked my eyes with a bright light. They finally backed off and left me to rest. I had fainted. The youngest doctor explained to me why I had fainted.
“I’m Doctor Nguyen,” he introduced himself
“Fainting is a side effect of cancer,” he added as I listened closely.
“Did you feel dizzy before you fainted?” he asked. I nodded in response.
“We can try changing your medication so it won’t happen again,” he said.
Mom and dad walked in, but Dr. Nguyen asked to have a word with dad out in the hallway.
“How do you feel?” asked mom.
“Tired,” I answered. Mom sat next to me and hugged me. This was hard for her, I couldn’t imagine how I would feel if she was the one resting in the bed instead of me. The young doctor and dad walked back in and dad told me I’d be alright.
“You’ll have to stay over the weekend,” said Dr. Nguyen. He had mom and dad sign some papers, then walked out. The room I was in was big and cozy. I didn’t mind staying over the weekend that would give me a lot of time to read and go over all the photos I had taken on Thanksgiving.
Mom stayed with me the first night. Dad and Grace arrived early in the morning the next day. Dad had brought me all I had asked him for, and Grace had brought me my camera. The TV in my room had all the channels you could think of. I watched close to ten movies on Saturday and would have watched the same on Sunday, but something odd happened.
“Honey, you have a visitor,” said dad around noon. Everyone that could visit me was already here. Mom looked at me and raised her eyebrows. The first thing I saw was his muddy shoes. He wore blue jeans and held a balloon that said ‘Get Well Soon.’ It was Noah.
“Hey Amber,” he said, looking around the room.
“Hey,” I answered, surprised. Grace walked in right behind, and she was getting ready to say something, but mom stopped her.
“Let’s go out in the hallway,” mom said. Noah stood in front of my bed and just looked at me. It took me some time to realize what he was staring at was my head.
“My hair is already growing,” he said, handing me the balloons.
“I can tell,” I answered. There was an awkward silence as I didn’t know what to say.
“I went looking for you on Friday morning,” he said.
“I wanted to help you walk your dog,” he added.
“I fainted on thanksgiving and I’m here since then,” I explained.
“Yeah, your dad told me. I’m sorry I couldn’t come yesterday. I just didn’t know what bus to take,” he said.
“You took the bus here all by yourself?” I asked, surprised. He nodded in response.
“My brother Nick and his girlfriend told me which bus I should take,” he explained.
“You’re really nice, Noah,” I said. I wanted to tell him what dad and Grace had suggested, but I didn’t know if telling him I didn’t like him was a good idea.
“You want to know something funny?” I asked him. Noah nodded and waited for me to speak.
“My birthday isn’t really on November 28th,” I shrugged. Noah raised an eyebrow and waited for me to continue.
“We actually share birthdays,” I added.
“Wait, your birthday is also October 25th?” he asked.
“It is,” I answered. Noah giggled.
“You can still keep the bear and chocolates,” he said.
“I would keep them even if you asked for them,” I joked.
“Were you able to sow his ear back on?” asked Noah.
“I won’t sow it back, that makes him unique,” I answered.
“Unique, just like you,” said Noah, causing me to blush. I begged for mom or dad to come in. This conversation was turning out weirder than I thought. I wouldn’t want to confuse Noah, I didn’t like him. I appreciated his friendship, but that was it.
“I have to go,” he finally said.
“Thanks for coming,” I said.
“Maybe I can go visit you and we can walk your dog when you get back home,” he suggested.
“Sure,” I said.
Noah left my room and the balloons he had brought me floated in mid-air. I tied them down to the bed and watched the yellow smiley face bounce around. Mom and Grace walked in and started teasing me about Noah.
“I don’t like him,” I said.
“Oh, but he definitely likes you,” said mom.
“That boy Noah seems really nice Amber,” said dad walking in as well.
“Yeah, much nicer than your other friend you told me about, Emily,” said Grace.
“I didn’t see his parents out in the lobby,” said dad.
“He came here all on his own,” I said.
“On his own?” asked mom.
“Yeah, he said he had got the bus to come here,” I explained.
“Amber, it takes more than one bus to get here from where we live,” said dad.
“Let me get that kid home,” he added. Dad rushed out of the room screaming Noah’s name.
“That kid is too nice to you, Amber,” said mom.
“Yeah, I wish a boy my age could be that nice to me,” said Amber. I thought about what they said and figured out they were right. Noah was nice, he’d done a lot for me and I had done nothing special for him. Mom left to get something for lunch, and I told Grace I wanted to do something nice for Noah.
“Grace,” I whispered.
“Yes,” she said.
“I came to think about it and Noah is really nice to me,” I explained.
“He really is Amber. Believe me, boys turn into jerks as soon as they reach middle school,” said Grace.
“I want to do something nice for him, something that tells him I appreciate all he does for me, but that tells him I only like him as a friend,” I tried to explain.
Grace didn’t seem too happy about my proposal, she wanted me to like Noah; I knew she did.
“I hope you don’t regret it,” she said.
“But I’ll help you get him something,” she said.
***
I got home on Monday afternoon. I felt much better and really wanted to go to school the next day. Mom suggested staying home tomorrow, but I really wanted to go. I hadn’t come up with anything to give Noah. I wanted to invite him myself to a walk at the park.
“I’m going,” I told mom on Tuesday morning. I thought twice about wearing my wig to school, I wanted to do something nice for Noah, but going hairless to school was still something that frightened me.
Noah was sitting and talking to his best friend Daniel when I came in. The entire class looked at me funny. I could guess that any day I was absent they imagined it was because of the cancer inside me. They weren’t wrong. A normal healthy person wouldn’t have fainted like I had.
Ms. Flowers welcomed me back, and I sat next to Emily as I usually did. Emily immediately asked me what had happened. She was a good friend. If she knew where I’d live, she would have probably visited me as well. The day went slow and boring, Ms. Flowers seemed ill and she didn’t have the joyful spirit as she usually did.
At lunch I told Emily all about what Noah had done, and how he had taken the bus to the hospital to go see me.
“I don’t like him,” I told her.
“But I’m going to invite him over to my house today,” I added. Emily remained silent. It was clear she didn’t like what I had said. I had never invited her to my house and didn’t plan on doing it soon. Emily said goodbye to me and I waited for Noah to finish talking to his friends so I could invite him over. He saw me and started walking my way.
“I’m glad you’re doing better,” he said.
“Thanks,” I said. Noah was walking away, but I stopped him with my left arm.
“Wait Noah, I wanted to invite you to the park today. We can take my dog Ernest, I really could use a walk,” I said.
“That’d be great,” he said, smiling.
“I’ll see you at my house today around five, okay?” I asked.
“Definitely,” he answered. I waved goodbye and looked for mom’s car. I turned around to look at Noah and he was jumping up in down with his arms in the air.
Chapter Twelve
Noah: Nick and Judy baked a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. Mom told them it was great, but I saw her make a funny once she tasted it. Mom cooked dinner for us but dad joked saying she had bought it. I didn’t eat my pumpkin pie, and neither did dad. Nick had two slices and mom had half of one. The main topic at dinner was Nick and Judy. Dad was concerned about how much time they spent together. Nick’s grades hadn’t come down yet, but according to mom, that would happen at any time. After dinner, there was a loud knock at our door that made dad jump off his seat.
“What the h…” said dad, almost cursing. The knocks were much louder and dad’s face frowned.
“Help, please help!” someone screamed. Nick jumped off his seat and beat dad to the door.
“It’s Judy’s mom!” he screamed, opening the door.
“Please help, there’s a fire in my house!” she screamed. Dad and Nick sprinted next door. Judy’s second floor was on fire, and both her mom and dad were trying to stop it. Mom called 911 and dad grabbed the fire extinguisher in our living room. He tried keeping the flames under control, but it was useless. The flames came out of Judy’s bedroom and almost reached their oak tree outside.
“It’s my entire fault!” screamed Judy.
“If I hadn’t kept that stupid lamp on, none of this would have happened!” she cried. Nick went to our backyard and got a ladder for dad to stand on. Dad tried reaching the fire, but the fire extinguisher couldn’t keep up. The fire truck zoomed in on us, and a big firefighter asked dad to step aside. They worked minutes on the fire and they finally stopped it.
Mom and I could hear the lead firefighter discuss to Judy’s parents about what had caused the fire. Judy sobbed as she looked up to her room. The fire had eaten up most of it, and all of her things inside had vanished.
“We’re staying at a hotel tonight,” said Mr. Evans.
“Dad, all of my things are gone,” said Judy.
“We’ll get you new clothes,” said Mrs. Evans. Judy said goodbye to Nick, and her parents and she left to spend the night at the nearest hotel.
The next morning I woke up early thinking it was a school day, I walked to mom’s room and heard her still snoring. I then remember we had a long weekend thanks to Thanksgiving. I wanted to see Amber, so every time mom asked Nick or me if we could run to the store, I would volunteer myself to go. I ran to the store and around the block to walk by Amber’s house. The first time I walked by her house, it seemed empty. It was 10 AM, so I figured they could still be in bed. I volunteered to run a second chore at around 3 PM and found Amber’s house exactly as before. “Could they have left on vacations?” I asked myself. I went a third time around six and finally saw Amber’s dad, Mr. Sanders. He looked busy and walked fast to his car.
“Hello Mr. Sanders,” I called. He looked at me weirdly and stepped fast into his car. He hit reverse and almost ran over my foot.
“Mr. Sanders!” I called again.
“What is it, boy?” he asked rudely.
“Is Amber around?” I asked.
“No she’s not, she’s in the hospital,” he said in a worried tone.
“Is she okay?” I asked.
“She is now,” he answered. I stepped back and Mr. Sanders pulled out of his driveway. I wanted to ask more, but he seemed to be in a hurry.
“Where is she staying?” I asked.
“Children’s Hospital,” he answered taking off. I ran home without stopping. I put mom’s bag down and knocked hard on Nick’s room for him to open. I knocked harder and harder and he wouldn’t open.
“Keep it down,” said mom. I knocked repeatedly until Nick opened.
“What do you want?” he asked, yawning afterward.
“Where is the Children’s Ho
spital?” I asked.
“Why do you want to know that?” he asked.
“Amber’s there!” I shouted. Nick frowned, but asked me to come in. He opened his laptop and looked for the Children’s Hospital and pointed it out for me with his finger.
“There,” he said. I looked into the screen and had no idea what he was showing me.
“We live here,” he said, pointing to the left of the screen.
“It’s a half-hour drive,” he added.
“I need to go see her,” I explained.
“Ask mom or dad to take you,” he suggested. I knew that wasn’t a good idea since mom and dad were having problems. They discussed that entire night, so I waited until the next morning to go visit Amber.
The next day I told mom I was going to the park and instead walked to Amber’s. No one was home. I sat down on the sidewalk and waited to see if Mr. Sanders came back home. I waited close to an hour, and then the brightest idea struck my brain. I was going to take the bus. I sprinted back home and into my room and counted out the change I had left. Eight dollars. I had only taken the bus twice in my life and had no idea how much the trip fee was.
“Nick, Nick!” I screamed as I knocked at his door. He didn’t answer, so I opened it. He almost punched me out; Judy and he were inside watching a romantic movie.
“Haven’t I told you to knock!” he screamed, shutting the door in my face.
“I’m sorry, I just need your help,” I said.
“Let him in,” I heard Judy say.
“What do you want?” he asked, rolling his eyes at me.
“I want to visit Amber at the hospital,” I said.
“So?” asked Nick.
“I can take the bus, I just need to know if eight dollars is enough,” I explained.
“The bus is two dollars and you need to take two buses to get there, and two more to come back. Do the math and you tell me,” he said. I counted and subtracted, trying to remember what Nick had just said.
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