Chapter 4
Arianna turned around slowly, her stomach dropping at the sight of Jayden’s face–pure rage mixed with something that looked almost like panic.
Her throat felt like it was closing up. After what felt like forever, she managed to whisper: “Because I’m dying.”
The entire gym fell silent. Even the cheerleaders stopped their obnoxious giggling.
But instead of shock or concern, Jayden threw back his head and laughed–a sound so bitter it made her flinch.
“Oh, come the fuck on. You’ve been pulling this ‘I’m dying‘ shit since we were in kindergarten. Don’t you ever get tired of being such a drama queen?”
The words hit her like a slap. Her face went bone white, but she couldn’t defend herself because–God help her–he wasn’t wrong.
She’d been circling death her whole life. While other kids were learning their A what “code blue” meant. She’d flat–lined more times than she could count.
he was learning
The day they met in kindergarten, Jayden had wanted to race her to the top of the jungle gym.
She’d shaken her head, tears in her eyes. “I can’t. The doctor said it might kill me.”
Five–year–old Jayden didn’t really understand death, but he understood that it was the worst thing ever. He’d given her his entire lunch and promised, “Then I’ll never climb anything either. I’ll stay with you forever so nothing bad happens.”
Now that same boy–her self–appointed protector, her best friend, her everything–was looking at her like she was something disgusting he’d found on the bottom of his shoe.
“You know what, Arianna?” His voice dropped to a whisper, but somehow that made it worse. “When you finally do die, make sure you stay the hell away from my dad. He’s been through enough because of you.”
He turned on his heel and walked away without looking back.
A cold wind swept through the courtyard, and despite the blazing summer heat, Arianna felt frozen to the bone. She stood there clutching her chest, feeling like her heart was literally breaking apart inside her ribcage.
When she finally looked down, her mom’s necklace had cut deep enough into her palm to draw blood.
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“Okay,” she whispered to no one. “I promise.”
When her time came, she’d make sure to stay far away from Mr. Hiddleston. She owed them that much.
Back in homeroom, college prep worksheets were scattered across everyone’s desks like fallen leaves.
Mrs. Peterson stood at the front of the room, practically bouncing with excitement. “Eighteen days, people! Eighteen days until you walk across that stage and into your futures! These might just be practice
applications, but I want you to take them seriously!”
The classroom erupted into excited chatter about dream schools and safety nets.
The second Mrs. Peterson left, Harper Portman materialized at Jayden’s desk like she’d been waiting in the wings.
“So,” she said, sliding into the empty seat next to him, “where are you thinking for college?”
Half the class turned to eavesdrop. Jayden was that kind of magnetic–even when he was falling apart,
people couldn’t look away.
He barely glanced up from his worksheet. “New York. Pre–med.”
“Oh my God, that’s incredible!” Harper’s voice went up an octave. “Why medicine
This time Jayden did look up, his eyes sweeping across the room before landing somewhere near the
front. Near Arianna’s desk.
His voice was flat, emotionless. “Someone needs to fix what’s broken.”
The entire room went dead quiet. Everyone knew he was talking about his mom, who’d been catatonic
since the funeral.
Arianna’s pen snapped in half in her fist. Her chest felt like it was being crushed by an invisible weight.
She remembered being fifteen, lying in a hospital bed after her worst surgery yet. Jayden had climbed through her window at 2 AM, his eyes red from crying.
“I’m gonna be a doctor someday,” he’d whispered, holding her hand like she might disappear. “I’m gonna figure out how to fix your heart so you never have to be scared again. I promise, Anna. I’m gonna save
you.”
She’d almost died that night–technically, she had died for four minutes before they got her back. Jayden had spent those four minutes screaming at every nurse and doctor in the ICU, demanding they bring her
back.
Now he wanted to be a doctor for his mother. Not for her. Never for her again.
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Chapter 4
Harper beamed like she’d just won the lottery. “That’s perfect! I was thinking NYU for nursing. We could study together!”
The tension broke as their classmates started making jokes.
“Ooh, Dr. Hiddleston and Nurse Portman!”
“You guys are gonna be like Grey’s Anatomy!”
Harper giggled and actually blushed. Jayden didn’t shut them down.
Every laugh felt like a knife twisting in Arianna’s chest. She wanted to scream, to throw something, to
make them all stop talking about the future she’d never have.
Instead, she stared down at her completely blank worksheet and tried not to fall apart.
Nobody noticed that while everyone else was planning their lives, hers was already over.
Over the next few days, Arianna’s body started giving up faster than anyone had expected.
After her third trip to the ER in a week, she looked at her mom through the fog of
masks.
phine and oxygen
“I want to drop out,” she whispered. “I’m not taking the SATS. I can’t… I can’t go back there.”
She couldn’t keep watching Jayden plan a future with someone else. She couldn’t keep being the reason. he skipped class and got into fights.
As long as she was at school, he’d keep destroying himself, and she couldn’t live with that. Well–she
couldn’t die with that.
Her mom’s face crumpled, but she just nodded through her tears. “Okay, baby. Whatever you need.”
The paperwork was filed that afternoon. Arianna Carter officially became a high school dropout.
They moved her to the hospice wing that same day. Room 247, with a view of the parking lot and a bed that adjusted so she could sit up when the fluid in her lungs got too bad.
Three days later, her phone rang.
When Jayden’s name flashed across the screen, Arianna thought she might be hallucinating. The morphine made everything fuzzy around the edges.
Her hands shook so badly she almost dropped the phone.
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“Hello?”
“Arianna.” His voice was cold, controlled.
Furious.
“Why the hell did you drop out of school?”
