“Me too,” she agreed. “I wish you could’ve met them too. They have really great voices.” She sighed. “Why was it that Tina didn’t come today?”
“She had some friends come over,” he told her. “I think she planned it so she couldn’t come, Corey. I’m sorry. She didn’t even mention her friends coming over until after I said we’d be coming up for a visit.”
“It’s okay,” Corey told him. “I understand. She doesn’t want to be around me. She’s afraid of getting too close because knows I’m gonna -” She caught herself. “She knows the prognosis isn’t good,” she finished. She had resolved not to say she was going to die around Barry.
Barry nodded. “Something like that, I guess. I’m just afraid she’ll regret not spending time with you when you’re gone,” he said quietly.
She shrugged. “She and I were never as close as you and I are,” she told him.
“That’s true,” he agreed. He reached over and squeezed her hand. “You and I are good friends, aren’t we?”
Corey nodded. “Yep,” she agreed, returning pressure in his fingers. “Best friends,” she told him.
There was a silence between them. Finally, it was broken when Barry said, “You’re looking better today.”
She smiled. She figured he was lying, but it made her feel better anyway. “Thanks,” she told him.
“Really,” he pressed. “Your color looks like it’s coming back. And I think you put on some weight.”
“Oh, the horror,” she said sarcastically. Corey smiled. “Really, though, I don’t think I did. But, if you say so . . .”
He grinned, rubbing his hand on her bandanna as if he were ruffling her hair as he had when they were younger. “I say so,” he told her.
“Tell me about school. Jeez, I can’t believe you’re in the eleventh grade.” She laughed. “But, really, what’s going on?”
He shrugged. “Well, I’ve got my first composition paper due on Monday, and physics is really interesting. My teacher is really cool. And advanced algebra-trig is pretty easy. My Spanish teacher looks like a giant leprechaun.”
Corey laughed. “A giant leprechaun? I’m sure!”
“No, really,” he insisted. “He’s got red hair and his face is red. He wears a lot of green.” He grinned. “He’s annoying, but the class is fun.”
“Can you teach me?” Corey asked. “Some Spanish, I mean?”
“I don’t know much,” Barry warned. “But I’ll teach you what you I know, okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed happily. “Now, teach me.”
“Zac, why are you so bent on doing this anyway?” Taylor asked.
It was the day after they had visited Corey Jennings in the hospital. Isaac, Taylor, and Zac were all in the hotel room the people at Make-a-Wish had provided for them. Isaac was on the phone with the hospital, making arrangements.
“She’s only twelve,” Zac said quietly. “Same as me.”
“You’re almost thirteen,” Taylor reminded him.
Zac ignored his brother’s comment. “Tay, think of everything she’ll never get to do,” he said. Then, quietly, he added, “Think if it was me.”
Taylor shook his head, refusing to let the thought enter his mind. “But, Zac, it’s not.”
“But if it was,” Zac pressed. “Wouldn’t you want to help me do everything before I . . . Before I died?”
His older brother sighed. “Yes. Yes, I would,” he admitted. “But -”
“But what?” Zac demanded. “But she’s not me? But we don’t know her? Does that really make any difference?”
Isaac hung up the phone noisily. “Well,” he said, turning to his brothers, “it’s all set. Tomorrow, okay. We’ll do it tomorrow.”
Zac smiled.
