Ariana had brain cancer. Had.

Before I can tell you dear readers about the accident that I caused, I should explain to you the events that led up to it.

Ariana Richard is a classmate of mine who lives in the same town as me, which is Forlot. She had long and curly blonde hair with a dark blue bow in the middle. She always wore her dark blue jacket, red pants, and black boots.

I should mention that she was one of the popular girls at school. Well, she used to be, but we will get to that part very soon. As I was saying, she was among the popular. All the boys, from the athletic to the nerdy, took a liking to her and hoped that she would ask any of them out.

Ariana did not allow popularity to corrupt her mind. She was not like those popular girls that you see in shows or movies and always treated the people around her with respect. So it was not much of a surprise that she was not interested in any of the boys. According to her, they liked her because of her popularity and her good looks, not her personality or her as a whole.

Ever since that my parents and I moved to Forlot and I attended school two years ago, I had always loved Ariana. Like, I truly loved her. Not only was she beautiful, but she had a great personality.

Before and after school, Ariana and I would chat for a bit in the halls, and she commented one time that I knew more about her than all of her closest friends! I chuckled nervously, assuming that she was kidding. Little did I know that was far from a harmless joke.

The year that I moved to the town of Forlot was the same year that Ariana was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer. More specifically, brain cancer.

When I found out about the horrific news, I felt that my life was over. I know, I know. I was not the one who had the cancer, but...how would you feel if a friend of yours was diagnosed with such a terrible condition?

I tried my hardest to not panic. I researched on the Internet and discovered that brain cancer can be cured. Since that day, I prayed to God that Ariana would survive.

As if things could not get worse for Ariana, they did. Way before the diagnosis, Ariana's biological mom and dad had passed. How? She never told me that.

Because of that, she and her younger sister, Laila, had to be transferred to an orphanage, the only one in Forlot. Ariana still attended school, however, I never saw Laila. Not even before their folks died.

The only good thing that came from Ariana's diagnosis was the fact that no money was necessary for the treatments. Her doctor explained to her that she would need chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. The surgery was attempting to remove the large tumor that was in her brain.

I was not surprised that all of this frightened her so much. She became worried that she would die during surgery or that something along the way would go wrong.

I caught on that her "friends" were not supporting her in the time that she desperately needed, so I confronted them and asked what the heck was going on.

"Ariana has brain cancer," one of the girls stated.

"Yeah. I know that," I said, feeling annoyed. "Why are you not speaking to her anymore? It is like that you are avoiding her."

"Duh. We are avoiding her," another girl answered.

"You are avoiding her? Why? She is your friend."

"She was until she got that tumor," the third girl explained. "We cannot be friends with someone who has a tumor. Why, she could pass that tumor onto us!"

I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth. I really wanted to punch them until their brains fell out. However, I knew that I would get in trouble for that and instead said this:

"The top mystery has been solved. Now I know why you are failing all your classes."

I was proud of my snappy comeback and strolled away with a huge smile on my face.

Two and a half years. Two and a half years was how long it took for Ariana. At one point, doctors told her that she was not going to make it. They were wrong. She did make it. And today was the day that she would be discharged from the hospital once and for all.

I was just outside of the hospital and sitting on a wooden bench. I was kicking my legs back and forth as I kept my eyes on the front door. I could not wait to see Ariana being rolled out by a wheelchair and hug her.

Before I arrived, I had called her and suggested that we go somewhere and celebrate. The library. The mall. Anywhere. She said that the mall was fine, and we planned on going there after I picked her up from the hospital.

I drive extremely well, but I do not own a car. At least, not yet. So my mom and dad allow me to borrow theirs because they are aware that I would never smash it.

Boy, were the three of us wrong.

I leaped to my feet when I spotted Ariana. She was in a wheelchair, and a nurse was rolling her out. When they both were outside, Ariana hopped out of the wheelchair and ran to me. We met halfway and hugged each other.

"It is a miracle," she whispered in my ear. "The tumor is gone. My cancer...it is gone."

"And that is exactly why we deserve to celebrate," I reminded her.

As we pulled away from each other, I heard a voice - not Ariana's - in my ear.

"You had better be careful...or the ghost will come to get you!"