Chapter 1
October 17, 1997
My big day had finally arrived. I was 18 years old as of 3:20 that afternoon. At that time my friends Melissa and Nicole were helping me load up my car with our suitcases, stereo system and bags of groceries. As part of my B-day present my parents had rented a beach house for me and my 2 best friends for the entire weekend. All of us were talking a mile a minute, and discussing what kind of trouble we were gonna get into since my parents, for the first time, were not chaperoning this trip.
"We have to spend most of the day on the beach and work on our tans. Plus, we have to check out the cute guys."
"Nicole, you have like a one track mind. You are always thinking about boys." Melissa said with a smile plastered across her face.
"Like your one to talk Mel, the last time we were at the beach you brought how many phone numbers back to the hotel room." Nicole said back to her.
"Yeah, I brought home the numbers, but who brought home the guys?" Melissa said with a devilish smile. For once Nicole was at a loss for words.
"Ok, you got me there." We all laughed as I closed the trunk of my car. My friends were the best. Nicole was 17 years old with long blond hair and brown eyes. She and I had met at work and had immediately become good friends. Melissa had brown shoulder length hair with green eyes and she was 21 years old. She and I had met over the net. We had so much in common, and had been good friends for about a year.
"Well, guys, I think we have everything. Ready to get going?" I asked as we made our way back in to my house.
"Let's move!" They said in unison.
"Ok, go get in the car while I tell my mom goodbye." So they went to my car as I went and got my purse, car keys and made my way back to my mom's office. I found her sitting at her desk with a worried look on her face.
"Mom, are you ok.?" She looked up at me quickly.
"Yeah honey I'm fine. You girls about ready to go."
"Mom, don't change the subject. You look worried and upset. What's wrong?"
"It's nothing Kimberly." By the way that's my name, duh. I have long brown hair that's naturally curly with big green eyes.
"Don't give me that mom I know there's something wrong." She looked at me for a second with a blank stare on her face.
"Ok. Look I wasn't going to tell you un-till after your trip cause I didn't want to ruin your birthday. I know how much you've been looking forward to this."
"Mom, just tell me."She was silent for a moment before speaking.
"We got your father's test results back early this morning."
"Ok, so what's the verdict."
"It's pancreatic cancer." My mind immediately flashed back to 4 years ago when my grandmother, who I considered my second mother, had contracted cancer and died. A thought that still plagued my mind every day of my life.
"Kim before you go getting all upset, we don't know if the tumor is malignent or not."
"What difference does that make, it's still there!" I yelled. "I'm sorry mom I didn't mean to yell at you."
"It's ok, just don't get out of control just yet. Besides you have 2 girls waiting for you out front and a beach house waiting for you in Daytona. Go and have a good time." I faked a smile gave her a hug and left.
On the car ride there, I told them what had happend. They were both very supportive and promised they would be there for me through the whole thing.....My trip wasn't as fun as I thought it was going to be. I spent a lot of time in the house watching TV and thinking. I couldn't get my mind off of my dad. The most horrible thoughts were running through my head and I couldn't control them. The girls were there for as much as they could be. And even though I was relieved that my friends wanted to help, I knew that in next couple of months, my life was going to change forever.
