34

A Friend In Need is a Friend Indeed

It was a cold September's day; my family and I were going to a birthday party for our family friend. After we got ready we jumped in the car as fast as we could, being that we were late. When we got there we pulled up to a big brick beautiful house. We entered the doors a a huge mansion where warmness filled the room. I kind of noticed everyone was hugging Steph's mom a lot. I know it sounds stupid, but at first I thought someone had died, but I ignored it. As usual, I hung out with my friend Stephanie. Stephanie is pretty tall, slim, and has long wavy dark brown hair and big brown eyes. She is always saying how ugly she is but everyone knows she’s really pretty. We decided that we were going to play hide-and-go-seek with the littler kids. They were so hyper they were bouncing off the walls. Saying, "nah nah nah nah nah nah. You can't catch me! We all laughed and were filled with joy, but sadness filled Steph's eyes. She looked as sad as a funeral. Something was wrong, I could tell, but I decided not to say anything. When we were done playing and everyone was watching T.V. she told me she had to tell me something, so we went into the other room and she was going to tell me. "Uh, Christine, I have to tell you something serious." she muttered softly. "Yeah, you can tell me anything Steph." I assured her. "Well the other day my mom went to the doctor and, she..." "It's ok, you can tell me." I told her. "She found out she has breast cancer." She cried, the salty tears dripped down her cheek onto her lips. "Oh Steph! I promise I'll be here for you whenever you need me" I promised her. "Thanks, you’re the best." she said softly. "Come on, let's get back to the party!" I cheered. That night was just the beginning of our journey.

The next day was a Monday so Stephanie and I, as usual, went to school together. As I was getting ready I saw Steph's mom pull up in her teal-colored mini-van, I ran out the front door and jumped in the car. The ride to school was quiet and sort of awkward. As we got out of the car, since we were late, we jumped out as fast as possible and the door to the car slammed shut and we ran. Somehow everyone at school knew about Steph's mom. As they say, Gossip is like a racecar, it travels really fast. People kept on asking questions like, I heard about your mom, I'm so sorry or, "Hey Steph, I'm sorry to hear about your mom. It made Steph sad because it just reminded her more of the situation at hand. As for me, it made me kind of mad because, seriously, can't they give the girl a break? I just told the kids at school to stop talking about it to her because it was bothersome. I knew I had to help her through this because if it was me, I know she would do the same. The day went by really slow; it was one of those days that felt like it would never end. Class by class felt like hours just because I was thinking about Steph, was I being a good friend, or was I being to in her face? Finally when the bell rang, "RING", it was time to go to 2nd period. As Steph and I entered the colorful classroom filled with posters, and our spunky science teacher Mrs. Babs, we took our seats before she could yell at us. During class we were learning about viruses and then somehow we started talking about cancer, Steph started crying. The tears flowed endlessly down her cheeks. No one, except me, noticed, but I was there to comfort her. I told her that she shouldn't cry and that her mom will be fine. She was ok the rest of the class. Finally it was time for lunch. As I walked into the wide-open baby-blue lunchroom filled with crazy kids throwing food and yelling across the room, Steph yelled, "Hey Christine, come sit over here!" "I'm coming!" I replied. We sat down on the cold lunchroom-table's seats and put our lunchboxes down. "So, I was wondering, would it be ok if you slept over on Friday all through Sunday?" she asked "Really? I'm sure our moms would let us. Why so long?" I questioned. Finally I realized what a stupid question that was; she wanted me to sleep over so I could be there for her. "Um, well..." she mumbled off. "I get it. Of course I will." "Great! I can't wait!" she cheered.

"Mom! I'm home!" I screamed as I quickly entered through the door of my tan and tall house. "Hi hunny. How was your day?" She asked kindly "Same as usual." I replied. I sat down by the kitchen table to have a snack. "Hey Mom, can I sleepover Steph's tonight?" I asked hastily "Sure, are you sure it's ok with her Mother though? I was just talking to her mom on the phone and she didn't mention anything about a sleepover." "No I'm sure it's ok, actually I think the reason she wants me to sleep over is because of her mom. She asked me to sleep over all through Sunday." "Well that sure is a long time. I guess if you really want to go over, let me just call Margret." she assured me. Margret is Steph's mom, the one with cancer. She's short yet thin, and has very dark hair. Her mom and my mom talk all day, non-stop. "Thanks Mommy, I love you so much! You’re the best!" I said in a sweet innocent voice. "Nice try hunny, but you can score brownie points with me." After my mom was done talking to Steph's mom, I decided to call Steph and talk. "Hey, it's me." "Oh, hi, what's up?" "I was just calling to ask what I should bring and stuff, being that I'm staying for the WHOLE WEEKEND!" "Yeah, it's going to be awesome, we'll be like sisters." "Yup, well I got to go pack, see you later!" "Bye!" I kind of felt excited that I was sleepingover her house, I mean I've been over her house before to sleepover but this was for the whole weekend. I picked out my cutest pair of pajamas, a toothbrush, two outfits for the following days, and a good movie we were going to watch. I stuffed it all in my Betty Boop sleeping case with my matching sleeping bag, and I was all set to go! That night Steph call me back right when I was about to leave, she was saying that she was worried and wasn't sure she was in the mood for a sleepover. I asked her if she wanted to cancel, but she said no because she didn't want to ruin the night. I was kind of happy because I was in the mood for a sleepover for some reason. When I got to her house we set up our sleepingbags downstairs in her big basement with blue carpeting and purple walls. In her basement she has a playroom with all her and her sister's toys, an excersize room with a lot of equitment, and a plac with a big wide-screen T.V. with really comfy coffee-brown sofas. We were just about to watch a movie, but then Steph's parents told us that they were going to bed and to make something that was in the freezer. Instead of eating and watching the movie we wanted to play truth-or-dare. Steph dared me to go outside in my pajamas and scream that I was in love with Orlando Bloom, she wanted me to do it because she knew I hated Orlando Bloom and she's obsessed with him. After we played for two hours more we forgot about the movie and dinner, we were so starved. "I really don't feel like eating leftover pasta..." Steph moned "Me niether, what should we do?" "I know, how about we order pizza!" she said with an exciting grin on her face. "That would be a good idea if it wasn't 1:00 A.M!" I replied "Yeah, but Rico's is open 24/7 even with delivery." she said with a "I'm so smart" kind of tone. "Oh yeah, I forgot, lets call right now." "I'm way ahead of you." She pulled out her cellphone and ordered one large everything pie. After about 30 minutes, the delivery guy came, we payed him, ate our pizza, and watched a really funny movie. That night we had such a fun, festive, far out sleepover ever!

The next morning Stephanie and I were going to the doctor's office with her mom. We drove for 50 min. just to get to the hospital. When we entered the doors of the extremely white hospital. The smell of the hospital was potent, but strangely, in a good way. Margret signed a form that the secretary gave to her. The secretary was old and had a big mole on her cheek. She was extremely obscene. After Margret went into the doctor’s room, we decided to stay in the waiting room. The waiting room was quiet and filled with burgundy-red comfy sofas and black chairs. There was the secretary’s desk and two doors opening to the doctor's office. If we said one word the old secretary would yell, "Stop it you hooligans!" We would reply with a, "Sorry." "Don't let me catch you fooling around again or you'll be crying to your mommy." She sneered. This was a weird situation because normally secretaries are nice and kind to people, not this one. After a while of laughing and giggling I noticed a worried look on Step’s face so I decided to cheer her up by doing something funny. "Hey Steph, I have a plan." "Yeah? What is it?" "How about we play a trick on that mean old secretary?" "Seriously?! What kind of trick?" She said with a maniacal grin on her face. "Um, we should do something really funny like..." "I know! How about we prank call her! That'll be hilarious!" We thought long and hard on what the perfect prank call would be to pull on the mean secretary, when we finally got it we went into the bathroom so she wouldn't notice us, I got out my cell phone and got ready to do my southern accent. "Hi, this is Charlie Blair, founder of Blair Mustard. I have a document here that says the secretary at your office ordered 500 pounds of mustard, when and where would you like us to drop off, uh, the mustard?" "I never ordered 500 pounds of mustard, I'm allergic!" "Well our records here say that you did and it's going to cost you 900,000 dollars plus intrest and tax." "WHAT?!?!?!?" Finally we couldn't hold it in anymore, we bursted out laughing, hahaha, snort snort, hahaha. The lady finally realized it was a prank call and hung up, her face pale as a ghost. This defiantly put a warm happy smile on Steph's face. Her face lit up with joy, as did mine. We went back into the waiting room and texted each other, so the mean old secretary wouldn't say anything, the rest of the time. A few moments later Margret came in happy as a clam. "How did it go?" Steph asked hastily. "It went great, in a few weeks, after a few tests and treatments, I'll be fine!" "Oh Mom, you have no idea how relieved I am!"

The next day Steph and I finally walked into school with a happy face. The day just seemed to be brighter. The birds were chirping louder, the sun was shinning brighter, and everyone seemed to be smiling. The day was perfect. We walked into homeroom together talking, as usual. "So Christine, I was wondering, do you want to go to Tony's Bakery after school today? I asked my mom and she said yes." "Um, sure, I just have to call my mom and ask." "Ok." "See you second period!" I called off to her. "See ya!" She responded After school we met out in front of the big brick building we call our school. As we walked to the bakery along the sidewalk. We talked and sometimes sang crazily as cars rushed by. We were cheery as can be. Finally we got to the bakery. The bakery was a perky shade of pink and a toothpaste like sparkling shade of white. The bakery was filled with friendly customers and bright pastries of all kind. We knew the owner so when he saw us he gave us a big welcome. He was a short and plump mad with perfect white teeth and gray hair. "Hello ladies, what can I do you for today?" He joyfully asked "Uh, I'll have a crasaunt please." I asked politefully "Make that two please" Steph responded "Coming right up!" As we were waiting for our order we sat down at one of the tables. "Hey Christine, I've been meaning to tell you something all day." "Yeah?" "I just wanted to thank you for being with me this whole time. I know that you’re a good friend and I can depend on you." "Well, that’s what best friends do, they're always there for you, and they always got your back."