"Ben then threw a bloody temper tantrum and flipped the entire table before storming out! It was mental." Susan cackled as she continued without rest to shove handful after handful of chips into her mouth. A sight that, as I watched her mountain of food swiftly dwindle in the blink of an eye, left me wondering where she could possibly be storing it all.
"I swear, after what happened with Adam, the whole school seems to have become even crazier than before. If that was even possible." Sam remarked, clearly put off by the dreadful table manners he found himself seated next to.
It amazed me how he had yet to figure out that Susan only acted in such a barbaric way when seated next to him. I swear it had become Susan's favourite hobby to make Sam as uncomfortable as possible whenever she could. Something which, as spectators, amused both Helen and me to no end.
"So, I'm to blame, is that what you're saying?" I asked with mock offence, raising my eyebrows high in question.
"Exactly." Helen exclaimed with a smirk. A smirk that vanished upon the chip I threw, bouncing off the right side of her head and back onto the table.
"Oh ho, so that's how you want to play it?"
Hearing the mischievous tone of her voice and seeing the cat-like grin that appeared on her face, I quickly threw my hands towards hers, intercepting her attempt at grabbing the pile of chip-like ammunition off her plate to her apparent dismay. I let out a small chuckle at her futile attempts at escape. A chuckle which rapidly transitioned into a horrendous cough; a cough that sounded more at home coming from a broken-down car than a human being.
I instantly let go of Helen and reached into my pockets, grabbing the tissue I always kept within before placing it over my mouth, trying in vain to dampen the noise that had rapidly attracted the attention of everyone in Tops Cafe. It also served the purpose of catching any droplet of blood that might fly out, something which had worryingly been happening with increased frequency over the past week.
After the umpteenth cough, and as it finally started to dwindle down in intensity, I became able once more to open up my bleary eyes, wiping away the tears that had formed as I did so. As I did so, I noticed how Sam looked toward me with sympathy and grief, with him being the only one to actually know what the frequent coughs truly meant. Susan and Helen, on the other hand, besides the slight look of worry on their faces, did not share the same looks of distress, believing it was still just a regular cough, as I had told them weeks ago. In response to their looks, I offered a weak smile to show I was alright as I folded the tissue back into my pocket. However, not before I took a quick peek inside and grimaced at the small pool of blood I could see within. A pool I was sure was larger than the last one I produced.
"Bloody hell, you really need to get that cough sorted out. You've had it for almost a month now." Susan commented, having already gotten back to devouring her fish and chips in front of her.
"Yeah you're right. If I still have it after a week or so, I'll go get it checked at the hospital." Wincing at the soreness of my throat and hearing the raspiness of my voice, I tentatively rubbed the side of my throat while I scanned the table for my drink, my expression dismayed upon the sight of the empty glass to my side.
"You said the exact same thing last week! You need to stop putting it off and get it checked out." As Helen angrily spoke, she passed along to me her cup of water, which I gulped down greedily in relief.
"Thanks." I managed to finally say, in between the rapid gasps of air I sorely needed. "What would I do without you?"
And with that, I wrapped my arms tightly around her, bringing her into a rib-breaking hug while, to her embarrassment, I proceeded to make kissing noises next to her ear. An act that resulted in a barrage of slaps to the shoulder and a plethora of creative insults as she eventually managed to break out, her face a scorching red. A red that seemed to get even brighter after the playful mocking of Susan from in front, earning her a chip to the head in retaliation. Seeing this play out, I let out a secret sigh of relief, thankful that the talks regarding my health had been all but forgotten.
Yet as I gazed towards Helen and the impromptu food fight, she, Susan and Sam had found themselves in, Sam simply due to his proximity to the warzone, I knew that I was running out of time. Running out of time to do what I knew I had to, despite how desperately I wished I didn't. To finally break things off with Helen before it was too late and she realised the truth. Something I had unfortunately realised I would have to do soon.
I could still remember the moment. The moment I knew that what we had could only be temporary. It had only been a week since Helen and I had started dating, and I had been on cloud nine the entire time. We had found ourselves that day at her place while her parents were away, relaxing and chatting on her bed as we pressed ourselves against one another. Then, before I could even react, a sudden onset of nausea and tiredness permeated every inch of my body, making me almost faint in the process.
I had forced myself off her bed and rushed with all that I had to her bathroom, closing the door and leaning against the toilet just in the nick of time before I began to violently throw up for close to five minutes. It was then, as I finally finished, managing to sit back up, looking down into the toilet bowl filled with a mixture of blood and vomit, that I knew that I didn't have long left. And when I heard Helen's panicked voice on the other side of the door, asking if I was alright, I knew I had to end it between us, for her sake. So she wouldn't have to suffer with the truth of my upcoming death.
But even with such a realisation, I still hadn't done so, even though I knew it wasn't fair and that it was cowardly. The reason for which was simple. It was because I was selfish; because I enjoyed being with her far too much to just throw it away, even though I knew it was for the best. Nevertheless, as I felt my body getting closer and closer to its end, and I started to - not come to peace with my death - but at least marginally accept it, I knew I had to end it soon, in a way where she wouldn't want to see me ever again. So hopefully she wouldn't even hear about my eventual passing. A thought that both deeply saddened me and brought me a small amount of relief.
"Hello. Earth to Adam." Suddenly, I was broken from my thoughts by a lone chip smacking me squarely in the centre of my head, making me look up and spot the smirking face of Sam as he sat in front of me.
"If I were you, I would hurry up and finish your food. I wouldn't be surprised if we got kicked out because of those two soon." He said, pointing to the side where the food war seemed to have ramped up in intensity, leaving the surroundings an absolute mess with broken and injured chips left scattered along the table, with the odd ketchup and salt packet thrown in the mix.
As if on cue, the sound of Eileen's shrill voice came echoing down from the other side of the room. "Ya little twerps! Either quieten down and clean that mess or get the hell outta here!"
To the absolute embarrassment of Helen, we once again drew the attention of all the other patrons, making her dip her head low and out of sight. Susan, on the other hand, looked as if she couldn't have cared less, even throwing a mock salute back towards Eileen in acknowledgement. Seeing such a scene, both Sam and I let out a small chuckle in amusement. That was until I felt a solid shoe from Helen's direction make heavy contact with the side of my leg, making me let out a yelp in pain, earning another clearly unamused look from Eileen.
After spending a minute or so cleaning up the mess Helen and Susan had made, we went back to actually eating, chatting as we did so, but at a quieter volume than before. Helen and Susan seemed to quickly get into an intense discussion about a football match that was apparently on the night prior, something which I learnt both were very passionate about. I, on the other hand, simply let my gaze wander outside as I observed the passersby that littered the streets, who there were many of, on account of it was midday on a Saturday.
Suddenly, my eyes froze as in the distance I saw a group of people I had hoped I would never see again. There, just on the other side of the street, was Jamie, side by side with both Lewis and Clark and with Cindy and Alice, both a few steps behind. Immediately, I wanted to look away and hide out of sight. However, as the seconds slowly passed, I found myself unable, my eyes transfixed on them with every step they took.
Praying in my mind, I hoped that they would quickly pass by, remaining unaware of my piercing stare. Unfortunately, it seemed that lady luck had something else planned, as just as they were about to exit my line of sight, Lewis started to stretch, rotating his waist from side to side, looking around as he did so.
It was then that I found myself making direct eye contact with him as he wound up looking in my direction. Immediately, I wanted to shout in frustration, cursing my luck as I held my breath, waiting for some kind of reaction from him. Yet to my surprise, no reaction came, with Lewis turning back around as he finished his stretch, continuing his walk with the others before promptly disappearing from view.
Even still, despite no longer being able to see him, I waited with trepidation, expecting them to suddenly reappear back into my line of sight. It was only after almost thirty seconds of waiting had passed and I still saw no sign of them, that I let myself let out a sigh of relief, thanking my lucky stars and assuming that Lewis hadn't been paying attention when he glanced in my direction.