Best of all, Leo and I spent most of our waking, non-school hours together, and so far, neither of us was tired of the other yet. If everything could have stayed exactly as it was then, life would’ve been perfect forever.
In mid-March, though, things began to change.
Lisa had gone through two grueling cycles of chemo, and she was finally ready for her bone marrow transplant. Her sister, who lived in Philadelphia, was the donor, and everyone in the family had high hopes for her recovery once this procedure was over. But I knew Leo was anxious about it. His mom was going to be in the hospital for a long time, possibly several months, and there were risks. He didn’t like to talk about it, and when I tried to bring it up, he changed the subject.
At the same time, spring football began. After months of relative freedom, Leo was once again committed to daily practices and weekly games. Of course, the spring session wasn’t as intense or as important as fall was, but it was still time-consuming. It also meant that Leo was spending more and more time with his football buddies, and there were more parties, too.
Parties were on my mind one Friday afternoon in late March, as I sat in the newspaper office with Gia and Jake, brainstorming about our next several issues. Leo had told me that morning that Matt had invited everyone over Saturday night to celebrate the spring season. I was less than enthusiastic, and as Jake brought up story ideas that afternoon, I was still preoccupied, brooding.
“Q, you know, you’ve been sitting on that series about bullying.” Jake quirked an eyebrow at me. “This might be the perfect time to print it. I think enough time has passed that no one’s going to link anything to Nate’s incident. And it’s something that needs to be brought up.”
“Yeah.” I sighed, playing with a tiny scrap of paper on the desk. “I know, but ... you know, the football players aren’t going to like that. I know most of those guys now, and they don’t see themselves as bullies.”
“But it’s not just them.” Gia spun her chair around, turning in slow circles. “Bullies come in every shape and size. I say we do your series and then we start talking about cyber-bullying. That’s becoming a real problem, too.”
“Hey.” We all three turned at the sound of Leo’s voice. “Quinn, you ready?”
I frowned. Leo liked both Gia and Jake, and he usually came in and sat down with us for a few minutes when he stopped to pick me up after school. Today, though, he hovered in the doorway, his jaw tight.
“Uh ...sure, I think.” I glanced at Jake. “Are we done?”
“Yeah.” Jake glanced at Leo. “How’s it going, dude? Team working hard?”
“Yep.” Leo’s voice was clipped. “Quinn, let’s go.”
“Okay, okay. Sheesh. Give me a break.” I smiled at him, so he’d realize I was teasing, but he didn’t even meet my eyes. An odd sort of dread began to swell in my chest as I followed him out the door and down the hall. He walked so fast that I had trouble keeping up.
“Leo. Hey, slow down. Some of us aren’t record-breaking runners.”
He looked down at me as if he’d forgotten I was there. “Sorry. I need to get out of here.”
“What’s wrong?” I grabbed his arm. “Leo. What the hell’s going on?”
He didn’t stop moving, but he did slow his steps a little. “Simon just texted. Something’s going on with my mom. She’s rejecting the bone marrow, or something like that. I don’t know, I don’t understand it. But I need to get to the hospital.”
“Oh, God. Of course. Why don’t you just go, and I’ll call my mom to get me?”
He shook his head. “No, it’s fine. You’re on the way, anyway. I just—” He raked his hand through his hair. “I need to get there.”
We drove in silence to my house, and I jumped out of the car as soon as it had come to a halt. “Leo, do you want me to go with you?” Only immediate family was allowed to see Lisa at this point in her treatment, so I hadn’t been over to the hospital in weeks.
“No.” His hands gripped the wheel. “Thanks. But they wouldn’t let you see her anyway.” He glanced at me and then back at the road. “I’ll text you later, okay?”
“Sure.” I leaned back into the car to kiss his cheek and then jumped back, slamming the door as he raced away.
I kept my phone close to me the rest of the night, but I didn’t hear from Leo. My mom hadn’t gotten any news from Leo’s father, either, and we were all worried. Finally, the next morning, I messaged him.
Are you okay? What’s going on with your mom?
Nearly two hours went by before he responded.
Not sure. Call you later.
Later turned out to be about seven that night, and when I heard Leo’s voice through the phone, I wasn’t sure whether to be hurt or furious.
“Heyyyyyy, Quinn. Come on over, babe. I’m at Matt’s. It’s a party.”
I had been sitting at the dinner table with my parents when the call came in, and I marched out of the kitchen and up to my bedroom.
