Another Cancer Story | Teen Ink

Another Cancer Story

January 20, 2017
By McKaylayork BRONZE, Clarkston, Michigan
More by this author
McKaylayork BRONZE, Clarkston, Michigan
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

A somewhat scandalous yet, heartwarming love story taken place in Malibu California. Jack green and Amanda johnson were both born and raised in Malibu. In other words, they are filthy rich, and have been their entire lives thanks to their parents occupations. Jack's parents were both lawyers but his mom died when Jack was 10. Amanda's parents are the best plastic surgeons in America. Even though Jack and Amanda grew up in the same city they did not meet until they were adults. Amanda was 23 and Jack was 40 (quite an age gap.) They both were interested in completely different things at the time they met but that is what was intriguing to them. Amanda was still attending college at Pepperdine University. She was there studying marine biology. It is amanda's dream job to one day become a marine biologist so she spends most of her time reading books and studying. Jack on the other hand went to college on a full ride scholarship for football. In highschool he was the captain of the football team and it was basically the only thing he cared about. Because of this, he ended up dropping out of college because he couldn't focus on his academics. Luckily for him, his talents won him a few job opportunities. Many NFL teams wanted him but he ended up joining the Los Angeles Rams when he was 22 so he could stay close to home. His career ended when he was 37 due to an broken leg he got on the field. Now, jack is working at a used book store. He realized since his football career is over he should start working out his brain. Jack was at a standstill in his life. He spent his whole adolescent years obsessing over football so he didn't really open himself up to anything else, he's never even had a girlfriend. One day he had the idea to maybe go back to college. So after working at the bookstore for 2 years since his injury jack started applying to colleges. Jack always knew that if he went to college, Pepperdine university would be his first choice because both of his parents went there. He applied to many, just to make sure but of course he got into Pepperdine. Jack wasn't sure if it was because of his parents legacy or not but he didn't care, he was too excited to begin the next chapter of his life. He didn't know what he wanted to major in so he was just taking core classes. Jack was obviously an older guy at college so he wasn't there for the college “experience” he was there for his education. As jack started getting used to the place, stumbling aimlessly around campus, he noticed a girl that caught his eye. Everyday she would sit on an small brown bench in the center of the courtyard reading a large book with an picture of the ocean on the cover. This girl was thin, she had long dark hair and light brown skin, she wore black rimmed glasses and, when she stood up she looked about 5 feet tall. Whenever jack saw this girl he was in awe but much too afraid to say anything to her. He thought to himself she is the most beautiful girl i've ever seen.  The girl was always too busy reading to look up from her book, much less notice jack. Day after day, jack would admire the pretty girl on the bench and she would still be reading until one day she wasn't there. Jack was upset because he didn't get to admire her but he assumed she would be back the next day. But, as days went by the girl wasn't there. Jack started to get worried about this girl that he's never even talked to before. He started asking around the school if anyone has seen her by describing to people what she looked like. One day a girl heard jack asking around. She came up to him and said “hi, excuse me my name is Caroline but i was wondering, what does this girl you're looking for look like?” he responded, “Hey i'm Jack and she has dark brown hair, she is about ye high and she wears black glasses.” “yeah, thats Amanda.” “Amanda? You know who she is?” “She's been my best friend since kindergarden. How do you know her?” “ Um..i don't really know her..i see her in the park everyday and i'm astonished by her beauty. I know that probably sounds creepy but, i swear i'm not creepy shes just the most beautiful girl ive ever seen and i need to talk to her.” Caroline looked somewhat flustered hearing all this at once. She said to Jack hesitantly “That's..kind of cute i guess.” “Well do you know where she is?” “Yes i do but, you're a stranger and it's kind of personal. I don't know if i should be telling you.” “That's okay i will respect her privacy.” “Maybe i'll see you around,  it was nice meeting you.” “Yeah, you too. Thanks for telling me about Amanda.” As Caroline and Jack went their separate ways jack was still pondering about Amanda. She was the only thing he could think about. Caroline was wondering if she made the right decision by keeping Amanda's whereabouts private from Jack. Caroline thought to herself i can tell he's a good guy and wont do any harm. I should just talk to Amanda about him and see what she wants me to do.
About a week after that conversation, Jack still couldn't stop thinking about Amanda. One afternoon, he was driving home from school and decided to stop at the McDonalds across the street from a small hospital. Jack parked his car, walked into McDonalds and ordered his food. As he was waiting for his food to be made he looked out the back window and began to people watch. He noticed a small lime green slug bug. He watched the person get out of the car. It was Caroline. Jack was very confused but also concerned. A million thoughts were going through his head but, the one thought that continued to ring was if she was there to see Amanda. Jack quickly grabbed his McDonald's and bursted out the door. He drove across the street to the hospital and continued inside. He sprinted up to the front desk and said to the women sitting there “Is there a girl named Amanda staying here? I don't know her last name.” “I'm sorry sir i cannot give out that information to strangers.” Jack rolled his eyes, and walked to the waiting room to sit down. He was determined to wait until caroline came back. Jack waited and waited for about 4 hours until finally she came back. Once Carolina noticed him she started walking over to him faster with an angry look on her face. She said with a frustrated voice, “Jack what are you doing here!?” “Carolina, i'm sorry but i was at McDonald's across the street and i saw you walk in here. I can't help but think you’re visiting Amanda.” Caroline sighed and sat down next to him. Maybe it's time that i tell him, it's not like i can hide it forever if he's not going to go away. “Okay jack you're not going to like what you are about to here.” Jack stared intently, ready to listen. “Amanda is sick. She has been battling cancer for most of her life. She knows she might not be here much longer but her dream was to go to college for marine biology. She was in remission for a month until she relapsed about a week ago.” Jack was speechless. He felt defeated because he knows there's nothing he can do. “All i want to do is help her and be there for her Caroline.



Similar books


JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This book has 0 comments.