***
55

"He keeps asking all the questions" i whined to Nicole as I sat on the counter as she straightened her hair.

"Dude, just tell him. It's not like he's going to feel obligated to fuck you" I slapped her arm and she laughed.

"Not funny. I just don't want to tell him; we've known eachother for like not even a week and I'm going to tell him I'm about to die?" Nicole froze and set down her straightener. She wrapped her arms around me for a solid minute before speaking again.

"No. Don't say that, Joey." She said. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat my condition. I don't want you to either, okay?" She bit her lip but nodded.

Well... Might as well tell Daniel.

Maybe....

But maybe not...

***

I was showing Daniel around the neighborhood, sense he was new and all, I basically told him which neighbors to ignore and which ones were creepy.

"Okay that blue house over there," I said, pointing to hit as we approached it.
"That's the Kelly's house. Well, Kelly. She's pretty nice. Her names Tori. Don't see her too often, but she's very very friendly" he hummed in response.

"Oh, and that house over there, the white one, that's the Grassi-Hoying house. Cute couple. They have a cat too, named Wyatt who is an outdoor cat. But don't get close to him cause he's usually elusive" I chuckled. He chuckled too and nodded.

"Okay, I have a question" he said, I nodded and looked at him, as we continued to walk down the sidewalk, passing houses.

"Well, a few. Why is your sister so protective of you? And why can't you fix your phone? Oh, and why did you say that there wasn't any point in getting a dog?" He asked.

I swallowed nervously and cleared my throat. "I'm not sure I should tell you. It's not that big of a deal, it's just no point." I said quietly.

That made him even more curious.

"Okay. Please tell me. I won't judge you or anything; I'm too curious for my own good" he pleaded.

"You know what curiosity did to the cat though, right?" I joked. "Oh, come on. Just tell me" he begged.

I sighed and closed my eyes briefly. I might as well, I mean, what do I have to loose?... My life for starters.

And...I don't wanna spend the rest of my life lying and keeping secrets from people...might as well start getting a clean streak.

"I only have a short period of time here" I said. He tilted his head slightly.

"Are you moving or something?" He asked. I chuckled. I wish I could swap with that instead.

"No no, I'm-" I sighed and stuffed my hands in my pockets.

"I only have approximately fifty-five days to live" his mouth opened slightly. He didn't say anything, so I decided to keep the conversation going.

"I have lung cancer for the second time, and they told me there wasn't anything they could do to treat it this time, minus some pills and some radiation therapy which didn't seem to help. It's spread to the lymph and the majority of my body. So I got around fifty-five days. Maybe longer, maybe shorter.

That's why I can't get a dog because I'll only be able to really have to for a short time, I guess I could replace my phone but I don't really care, and my sister moved in because she wants to spend to before... Y'know. I die"
I chucked at the last part, surprisingly.

I never thought I would be saying that, you know? It's just weird, sad, and scary. But it's inevitable. We all die some day, I just get less time.

"Oh god, I'm so-" I cut him off, I don't need pity. It just makes it worse.

"No biggie. It's not that big of a deal." Ha, just death, ya know, no biggie!

"Oh, that over there Connor Franta's house, he is so Instagram goals" I said continuing on. He must've felt super guilty, but hey? I was feeling great...mostly.

***