"Today we will be starting a new piece," Mrs. Jacobs informed us.

Well after finishing our Love and Peace artwork, it was only a matter of time.

"This theme is on childhood dreams," Mrs. Jacobs said, with a content sigh, a small smile spreading across her face.

This woman was way too into her art.

"That's it?" Clayton called out, after a few moments.

"Think about your childhood dreams," Mrs. Jacobs advised. "Maybe you could paint the stars and the moon to represent your dreams of being an astronaut. Or the balance beam if you dreamed of being a gymnast."

Clayton just scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Or stadium lights to represent your dreams of being a jock Mr. Johnson."

I couldn't help but laugh, and Clayton just smirked at her.

"You have three days," she informed us. "So chip-chop."

"Have an idea?" Kylie asked me, as I gathered up my paints.

"I do," I said, dipping my paintbrush in the purple paint.

Steven came into class late, flashing Mrs. Jacobs his tardy pass. She filled him in on our new project before he came up and took Bryce's seat between Clayton and me.

"Nice game last night," I stated, smiling at him.

"Shut up."

"I really thought you nailed the top of the fifth, when you hit the third baseman and walked your fourth player of the night."

"So Bryce Harrison?" Steven asked, looking over at me. "That's the guy you slum around with?"

"Slumming would've been being seen with you," I retorted, as I painted the background of my canvas purple.

Kylie laughed next to me, and I reached over and high-fived her.

"Where is Bryce anyways?"

"Sleeping," Clayton answered.

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I was literally just texting him five minutes ago and he dropped off," Clayton defended. "So he's either taking a really long shit or he fell asleep."

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Or he was taking a really long shit and fell asleep in the process," Kylie pointed out.

I patted her head. "You're a special one."

"When's he coming back?" Steven asked me.

"Why? Afraid you're going to lose your starting position just as quickly as you got it?" I asked, offering him a snarky smile.

Steven rolled his eyes. "As if. I can take Bryce Harrison any day."

"You're too cocky after the game you had last night," I said, shaking my head at him. "You need to learn when to admit defeat my egotistical ass."

"You said my," Steven said, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

"Next time I'll choose my words more carefully. I should've said that you need to learn when to admit defeat because you're an egotistical asshole. And I can't wait to see you run this team into the ground."

"Hey," Clayton called out, clearly offended.

"Especially him," I added, pointing my paintbrush in Clayton's direction.

And accidentally flicking some paint in the process.

"Watch it Allen," Clayton warned, his eyes flickering over to Mrs. Jacobs. "I'm not above dying your hair today." He picked up his pallet of paints. "Are you feeling the blue or the white?"

"You put on speck of paint in my hair and you will die a slow and painful death," I informed him.

"Do you guys always do this?" Steven asked us. "Because it gets old really fast."

"Well you're always welcome to move," I muttered.

"I will," Steven agreed, causing my eyes to snap up in surprise.

Did he just say that he was going to move? Like move to a different seat? I could jump out of my seat in celebration.

"But the day I do, you'll be moving with me," he added.

I knew that was too good to be true.

~*~

"So tomorrow is the day?" I asked Bryce, as my Quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, stepped back to make a pass on Madden '15.

"Tomorrow is the day," Bryce confirmed, jumping up to try and bat down my pass.

The pass was completed for a first down.

"Oh yeah!" I sang, smiling at Bryce. "Beat that."

"I am beating you," he pointed out.

"Shut up."

He chuckled as I went for a running play, getting tackled behind the line of scrimmage.

Loss of yards for me.

"I don't even like this game," I pouted.

"After we get the news tomorrow," Bryce said, ignoring my pouting, "let's go to the drive-in."

"The drive-in?"

"Yeah," he agreed, jumping up to intercept my pass.

And succeeding this time.

"Poop," I complained, dropping my controller and folding my arms across my chest.

"Like we used to," Bryce added, as his player ran the interception all the way back for a touchdown. "We can load up in the back of my mom's Escalade, and I bet I can even find that old battery-operated radio."

"Okay," I said, leaning into Bryce as he kicked the extra point for his touchdown.

He put an arm around me, kissing the top of my head. "We could see that new movie that just came out about the frickle frackle."

"Sex Tape?"

"No, that movie's old. I don't even think it's in theaters anymore."

"Then what movie about sex?"

"I don't know, aren't all modern day movies about doing it?"

I rolled my eyes, giving him a good shove as I sat back up. "I'll pick the movie."

"I figured you would."

We were both silent for a few moments, our game temporarily suspended.

"It's going to be okay though, right?" Bryce asked, looking over at me.

"Of course," I promised.

Though I wasn't all too sure I believed that myself.

"Because don't they usually give you negative biopsy results over the phone?" Bryce continued.

"Depends on the case babe. You had a follow-up with your doctor anyways, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but I just feel like if it was good news they would've told me over the phone to put me at ease."

I reached over and ran my fingers over his back before kissing his cheek. "There's no use in getting worked up over it."

"I'm really worried about it," he confessed.

"Whatever comes our day, we'll handle it," I said, taking his hands in mine. "Just like we always do."

"But cancer is a whole new game," Bryce said, his eyes wide with fear.

"You're jumping to conclusions," I pointed out.

"Just humor me for a minute?"

I nodded. "So it's cancer. I've always thought you'd look cute bald anyways."

"That's awful."

I leaned forward and pecked him on the lips. "Okay, bad joke. But know this Bryce Harrison, whatever they tell you tomorrow morning in that doctor's office, I'm going to be waiting right outside for you. And we'll get through it together, because that's just what we do."

This time he kissed me, pulling me into his lap.

"Careful there big boy," I said. "You're still recovering."

He pulled my lips back towards his, and in that moment I let all of the responsibility wash out of my body.

~*~

My eyes flickered over to the analog clock.

We were now well into hour three.

Bryce and his mom were still back with Bryce's doctor, receiving his biopsy results and his treatment plan from here on out, so when he can return to school and baseball and just a basic timeline.

I'm not sure when the appropriate time to start worrying was, but I'm pretty sure I was nearing it.

I flipped through another issue of Home & Garden, my eyes flickering over to the clock every few minutes.

As another half an hour ticked by, a familiar figure came out of the back room.

"You had me worried," I said, standing up.

And then I paused, taking in Bryce's disheveled appearance, the tear stains on his cheeks.

He opened his mouth to say something, anything. And then closed his eyes, his eyes snapping up towards the ceiling.

I felt my breath catching in my throat, my heart feeling as though it was being ripped into thousands of pieces.

Bryce looked back at me, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"Cancer," he said, quietly. "It's cancerous."

And then he broke down into tears.

I wrapped my arms around him, holding him as his shoulders shook with his sobs.

Cancer.

I shut my eyes as tightly as possible, trying to keep the tears inside. But I couldn't keep them from leaking down my cheeks.

A nurse came by a few minutes later, offering us a box of tissues.

I gratefully accepted, offering Bryce some before taking some for myself.

"Now what?" I asked, my voice breaking.

Bryce took in a few deep breaths to calm himself back down, to regain control over his emotions.

"Chemo," he said, his eyes boring into mine.

No.

"Oral chemo," he corrected.

"Oral chemo?"

"Instead of having the poison pumped into you, you just take it in pill form."

Oh.

"It has less effects," he explained, his voice still a bit shaky. "And I can play baseball on it."

Baseball. Of course.

Bryce closed his eyes for a moment, dipping his head low.

The word cancer burned itself in my brain, making me feel nauseous.

"After the chemo," Bryce said, his eyes flickering back up to meet mine, "once the remaining tumor has shrunk enough, they'll kill it with radiation."

Not only is it cancer, but brain cancer. A cancerous brain tumor that's invested itself inside of him.

Now I felt dizzy.

"Where's your mom?" I asked.

"She was a bit upset," Bryce explained, with a wry smile. "They wanted her to wait and calm down a bit."

We were both silent for a few moments, the weight of the news heavy.

"I hate the word cancer," he blurted, his eyes boring into mine. "The words brain cancer and brain tumor and all of it, I just hate it."

"Me too," I confessed.

Brain cancer, that's what it was. My boyfriend has brain cancer.

A small smile spread across Bryce's face.

"What?"

"Basically it's a brain alien."

I couldn't help but laugh, pressing my forehead to his chest.

It felt good to laugh.

"Brain alien," I agreed, wrapping my arms around his torso.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, letting out a sigh.

And we embraced that moment of peace and tranquility, even though our lives were far from it. It may be the last of its kind for quite some time.

So what did you guys think about the banter between Steven, Clayton & Sophie in the beginning of the chapter? What about Bryce's nervousness about his doctor's appointment, did it make you nervous too? And then his results of course, did you see it coming?

So I think that I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz captures the essence of this chapter quite well. Give it a listen and let me know if you feel the same.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

I'm so tired guys, I'm falling asleep while I type this Author's Note. So sorry that it's so lackluster.

Teaser: Bryce & Sophie head to the drive-in. And Sophie does a little research.