//chapter//\\six\\


"I'll see you guys later!" I waved at Scott, Clint, Bob and Dave as I walked up the sidewalk to my uncle's house. They hollered there goodbyes as I entered the front door.

"Hello, house." I smiled, closing the large wooden door behind me.

"Hello Gwendolyn." The walls answered. I whipped around to find myself face to face with a stranger. A woman, a little shorter than me with long brown hair and bright green eyes. She was a little shorter than me, and looked as if she weighed a little more, but all in all, if need be, I could take her.

Instead, I screamed. "AHHHH!!!"

She screamed too. "Stop screaming! It's okay!"

"Who are you, and why are you in my uncle's house?!" I demanded, staying as far away from this strange girl as possible.

"Are you okay?!" Scott yelled, busting in the front door.

"NO! This.. this,.. LADY is in here.. and I don't know who she is!" I screamed, still panicking.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Scott confronted her.

"I'm the nurse." She explained. "My name is Kirstyn. And I'm sorry I scared you."

I let out a huge sigh and walked over to the couch, letting a load off. I had never been so frightened in my life. Why didn't anyone tell me that there was a nurse?

"I didn't mean to scream at you." I told Kirstyn apologetically, "wait a minute, why are you here?"

"To care for you and Mr. Carter." She smiled sincerely.

"Me?" I questioned, not fully understanding.

"Your mother sent me. She said that you would be needing me to give you your shots, and Mr. Carter has been seeing me at the hospital during his checkups, so I can just do them here now." Kirstyn smiled.

"Is he that bad?" Scott asked with a frown.

"I'm afraid so. He doesn't have much longer, but we're trying to make it as comfortable as possible in his last days. I will be moving in starting next week. For now I'm going to be making daily visits to get to know you better, Gwendolyn."

Daily visits? To give me shots? Moving in? My mind raced. Was I that bad? Was that why I was here? So my mom wouldn't have to put up with me? Because I needed a professional?

"Why do you need shots, Gwen?" Scott asked, looking worried.

"Don't worry about it, Scott. I'll tell you some other time." I told him quietly, "Can you leave now?"

"Sure." He nodded. With out another word he left, shutting the door behind him. I watched him walk back to his house, and then I turned to the nurse.

"You aren't here for my uncle, are you?" I accused.

"Of course I am. What do you mean?" She said innocently.

"I don't care what they say. I can take care of myself!" I yelled, running off at high speed towards the stair case. As I reached the landing I turned around, "I don't need you!" I screamed, then took off up to my room. I slammed the door and collapsed onto the bed, tears streaming down my face and soaking Bren's pillow. Why me? What did I deserve this? I picked up the hot pink phone next to the bed, punched in my phone-card number, and dialed.

"Hello?" A sweet voice answered.

"Becca." I sniffled.

"Gwennie!?" She exclaimed.

"Are you okay!?"

"My mom shipped me off, supposedly to take care of Uncle Roger because he's dying and he wanted me to come stay with him while my aunt and uncle were on vacation but it's really because I'm sick and she can't deal with me and they even hired a nurse to come live here and give me my shots because they don't think I can handle it myself or something, I mean, I've been doing it for years, my mom never did it for me, so why shouldn't I be able to do it now!?" I let it out in one breath. "Do you think I'm dying?"

There was silence on the other end of the line. I desperately wanted my best friend to tell me that I was going to be fine, and my mother was just being stupid, but she didn't. She didn't comfort me, she didn't even attempt to.

"Gwennie, I love you." Becca said softly.

"I love you too, Bec.. but do you think I'm dying?"

"Do you feel like you're dying?" She asked hesitantly.

"Sometimes. I mean.. some days are great, but sometimes I faint, you know that. But I don't feel worse than usual on the average, so why should I need a nurse now?" I demanded.

"Look, I only know what your mom told my mom. I have to go now though, so I'll call you later. I love you Gwennie." Before I could say anything, she had hung up. I set the phone back into the cradle and drug myself to my feet. I stood in front of the mirror for a few moments looking at my eyes. Still full of drama, and very mysterious. I didn't look any different than usual. Did I feel different? That was a question that I couldn't honestly answer. I was too afraid.

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