«Madeline's POV»

I dropped the phone in shock. I let out a scream, and people started staring. Running into the bathroom, I collapsed into tears.

"What, did your nonexistent boyfriend break up with you?" Meghan said, looking up from her blush.

"I would slap you but I don't want to get slut on my hands." I retorted angrily.

"That's hilarious," She smiled fakely.

"Just like your life." I smiled back, composed myself, and strutted out of the room.

I walked the hallways, dangerously wobbly on my feet. But I somehow managed to make it to second block. Life Skills. To make matters worse, I was scheduled to present my project that day.

"Madeline?" Mr. Clyde asked as I stumbled into the classroom. "Are you okay?"

"Just peachy," I smiled and walked to my seat.

Gaige loped over to me. "What's wrong?"

"It's Flynn." I said. "He, uh... he-" I faltered, not being able to say anything else. I slid my phone out of my back pocket, flipped it open, and showed him the text.

His face paled, and his lip started to quiver. "No..." He whimpered. "That can't be true." No, Gaige can't freak out! He was supposed to be the strong one of the group! If he broke down, there was no telling whether I'd be able to live my calmness out any longer.

"Mr. Turner, please return to your seat." Mr. Clyde called out. Gaige rolled his eyes but did it anyway. "And Ms. Schultz, I believe it's your turn to present."

I staggered up to the front. "Okay, so I uh did my project on Flynn Blaise Chaste. Who, unfortunately can't be with us today. You can start it."

There we were, sitting on Flynn's balcony, the sun shining brightly behind us. Flynn had dug out a microphone (that he had for some unknown reason) from his work room. I did it like a talk show, so the first thing I said was, "Hey, how are you?"

"I'm pretty chill, how are you?" His voice came through loud and clear. I smiled.

"Horrible." I had replied truthfully. That was the morning after my dad had... well, you know.

"I didn't ask for how you looked." He smirked at me, his eyes twinkling with mirth.

I groaned. "I hate projects."

"And I hate you but it looks like we both have to deal with things we hate in life."

I allowed myself to giggle along while the rest of the class burst out in laughter.

"You're an idiot."

"Excuse you." He snapped his fingers in a Z formation.

I rolled my eyes. "Let's get started."

"Okay, okay."

"What's your name?" I asked, wanting to facepalm myself when I realized how stupid that sounded.

He gasped. "You don't know who I am? That hurts, Madeline. That hurts."

"You know what I mean."

"No, I'm afraid I don't." He said with a poker face.

"Okay, we'll skip that part then." My voice sounded shaky. I hated the way my voice sounded in videos. "When's your birthday?"

"May 6, 1997."

"Good boy!" I clapped my hands in mock enthusiasm.

I heard a few snickers around the classroom before they were drowned out by the sound of my phone ringing. I blushed. "Sorry, I have to take this." The video continued to play as I stepped out of the class and into the hallway. I put the phone to my ear. "Hey, uh it's not a very good time. I'm-"

"He flatlined." The voice on the other end said, and hung up. I fell to the floor. There was no way that was true. I jumped up to my feet and ran back into the classroom, grabbing my things. "I have to go!" I sprinted out to the car. I threw open the door, only to have someone else throw open the passenger door.

I looked over in surprise. "I'm coming with you." Gaige said. "And no, that's not a question. Either way, I'm not taking no for an answer."

I sighed in frustration. "Fine. Get in."

He fist-pumped the air and clambered in. "Nice ride."

"It's Flynn's." I replied curtly.

"I know," Gaige let out a nervous laugh. "By the way, what was that all about? What's wrong?"

"Flynn flatlined." I said, trying to keep my face void of emotions.

Gaige didn't even bother. His eyes widened and glossed over. "You've got to be FUCKING KIDDING!" The tears came rapidly. For him, and me. "NO!" He screamed, punching the dashboard. He buried his head in his hands and curled up into a ball, rocking back and forth.

The car was silent except for the sound of him muttering under his breath, "Nononononono it's not true. No." Suddenly, tears came to my eyes; the truth finally hit me. I didn't really process it before. Flatlining? Meant the patient died. Could they revive him? My thoughts were a blur. I was speechless.

We spent the whole car ride in an uncomfortable silence; I was lost in thought and Gaige was crying. Well, we'll say he was crying in the most manly way possible. I don't want to ruin his street creds. It was three o'clock when I pulled into the parking lot of the all too familiar hospital. Dashing in, I almost ran into the front desk. I faltered and leaned against it.

"Aw, honey," Alice ran around the side and pulled me into a hug. "He's alive. I'm just going to tell you that now. Luke didn't mean to scare you like that. The connection timed out, and he couldn't call or text you back."

I collapsed into her arms. "He's alive?"

"He's alive, and in the middle of surgery. We're removing the tumor right now." Alice said.

"Are we allowed to see him?" Gaige cut in. I glanced over at him, just now realizing how bad he looked. He was paler than usual, his eyes were red and puffy, and he just didn't look like his normal self.

"Sorry, but no. It's the same procedure as last time." Alice said.

"And that is?" Gaige asked with a confused look on his face. I realized that he wasn't there last time, so he had no clue what the procedure was. I pulled him over to the side and explained. Before I could stop him, he marched up to Alice and started yelling at her.

"Look, that guy in room 608 that you're doing all those weird and freaky operations on? That's my best friend. He's been with me through everything and I can't just sit here and wait for who knows how long until his surgery is done. He needs me by his side. I haven't been a very good best friend lately. He was always there for me but I've never been there for him. He's always pushed me away, but this time he can't. I NEED to be there for him. It's not a want; it's a need. It's a necessity that I stand by his side. At least for this. He's going through the hardest time in his life right now. He just lost his mom, his dad punched him in the face, and he has brain cancer. He needs a friend by his side. And I'm determined to be that friend. There's nothing you can do to stop me."

"I can arrest you for violation of the rules. Then you would be in jail. What kind of help would that be to your friend?" Alice questioned.

Gaige walked back to me with a defeated look on his face, as quiet as ever. He collapsed into the chair beside me and stared at the floor. Soon enough, he was asleep. I rested my head on his shoulder and relaxed.

-

I was so confused. Why was mommy screaming? Wasn't giving birth to a child supposed to be peaceful? Was Lux hurting mommy?

We rushed to the old car and daddy helped mommy into the passenger seat and strapped me into my car seat. He ran around back to the front and we took off. I nodded off, only to wake up minutes later to mommy's screams. I hoped she was okay.

"Daddy?" I whined.

"Hold on, Mad. Mommy is going to be okay."

"Daddy!" I screamed and he turned around in shock. The car swerved out of his control and we crashed into a tree.

"Roxanne!" Daddy exclaimed, tears pooling in his eyes. Mommy's breathing was shallow. Her skin was pale and sweaty. "Stay with me!"

"Mommy?" I cried. "Mommy!"

"I-I'm giving birth right now!" She stammered.

"We'll make it through this." Daddy declared. I looked away, tearful.

A few minutes later, my mother gave her last breath so Lux could give her first. And it was all my fault. If I hadn't panicked in the car, she would still be alive and Lux would've been safely born in the hospital. It was my fault and my Dad made sure I knew it. He started hitting me. He said that I shouldn't have been born. That I was a mistake.

I made it through seven years of that to my Driver's License. And that's when the nightmares began.

I was driving the car. I glanced to the right and saw my mother there. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. MOM! I wanted to yell. She looked to be in pain. I stared at her in shock. What was wrong? What was going on? All of a sudden, there was a loud scraping sound as the car ran along the railing to the side. There was a huge cracking noise as the railing snapped in half and suddenly we were falling. I had caused the death of my mom. Again.

-

When I reopened my eyes, it was growing light out. That had meant we slept through the whole afternoon and into the morning. Gaige, however, was still asleep. I carefully lifted my head off of his shoulder and wandered upstairs to his room. I stopped outside of the door. A doctor ushered out of the room but screeched to a stop when he saw me. "You can go in if you'd like. We finished the surgery about an hour ago and he's resting right now. Just, don't wake him on purpose."

With a sigh of relief, I plodded into the room. Flynn looked so peaceful, like he was in another world. His arms and leg were out of their casts and the bruise on his jawline (from his dad) was starting to fade. His neck was still in it's brace though, and he still had the burn marks up the side of his face. Otherwise, there were no signs that he had been in the crash.

His hair was newly cut, but it wasn't shaved off completely. I crept closer, peering closely at the bruise. His eyes snapped open and gazed at me with a look of surprise. There was a look of confusion on his face. He looked delirious. "Who are you?" He questioned.

"Haha, very funny Flynn." I grinned. "But that's getting old."

"I'm not kidding." His face was full of pain and uncertainty. "Who are you? And why are you here? I don't know you."

A/N: so how's life?

[aka don't kill me pls]

I SWEAR I DON'T MEAN TO KEEP PUTTING ALL THESE CLIFFHANGERS IT JUST HAPPENS