I was just standing there with Max. We were out on her back deck. It was starting to get dark. That meant that it get cold soon. I had to get her inside.
"Come on. It's getting dark and I feel better now." I lied. Not because I don't love her. Just because I wanted to get her inside.
"Ok." She said. She looked at me and frowned. Then pulled me inside.
When we got back into the living room, everyone was staring at us. They knew that we cried. I felt like they were judging us. It was really quite and awkward. Max was gripping my arm. She was tiny compared to me. Finally I had enough of the terrible silence. I walked over to Kyle and Molly and introduced myself.
"I'm Mark Hoffman." I said.
"I'm Kyle Smith and this is Molly Chestler." Kyle replied.
"It's nice to meet you."
"Aren't you that guy who got the science presidential award when Max got the observation award?"
"Yes I am," I turned to Max. "You got an observation award?"
"Yes I did. I told you I'm very observant." Max responded. I was pretty certain that Kyle thought I was going to hurt Max. He was a good friend.
Max was surrounded by people who loved her more than anything in the world. She was also surrounded by people who hated her guts just because she was different. None of them realized that she could change the world for the better. All she ever asked for was the support of her friends and family.
Max sat down on the couch with them. Every time she beat them in the video game, she would throw her arms up in the air and shout. She was just adorable. I loved this girl. I only wish I would have talked to her sooner, just got to know her. You know? I didn't though I waited until I didn't have a very long time ahead of me. I was dying, and dying quickly. I didn't have the disease ... er ... development, that Max had. I had something much much worse. And I didn't know how to tell her.
How do you tell someone you've known sense forever and loved more than anything, that you've been dying from cancer for two years, when they thought you had depression? The answer is you can't. It's impossible. But I had to.