Chapter 2Unfamous but Cherished

Ever since the cancer diagnosis, my body felt like a rusted machine. One rainstorm was all it took for it to grind to a halt.

I had a fever. Lying in bed, lost in a delirious haze, I heard Ava’s voice cut through the fog.

“How did Cathy suddenly get a fever? Ethan, what kind of a job are you doing taking care of her!”

A cool palm pressed against my forehead, and the relief was so profound I instinctively leaned into the touch.

Ava and I had been inseparable since childhood. I was always the sickly one, thin as a stray cat, my face flushing after the slightest exertion. Ava would always press her hand to my forehead, worrying I was running a fever.

Back then, it was always Ava who walked me to the school nurse’s office. Later, it became Ethan who carried me there.

Ethan was a senior when I was a freshman. He hit me with a basketball by accident during a game, sending stars across my vision and twisting my ankle. He was consumed with guilt. From that day on, he took it upon himself to get my lunch and fill my water bottle. He checked on my ankle every single day without fail and carried me home on his back.

My ankle healed, but he never stopped getting my lunch, sprinting from his class the moment the bell rang just to grab my favorite dishes before they were gone.

Ava used to whisper in my ear, “No one is that nice for no reason. He’s up to something.”

“Cathy, you’re too trusting. Be careful, or a wolf is going to snatch you up.”

Maybe I’m just a creature of habit. Ava had been my friend forever, my only friend. Ethan took care of me, and I fell in love with him.

When Ethan found out, he was ecstatic. Ava was furious.

“What’s so great about that big oaf? Anything he can do, I can do better. Cathy, why can’t you just love me?”

I remember hugging a pouting Ava, repeating over and over, “I do love you. I love you, too.”

But you can’t be in love with two people at the same time. Ethan and Ava both saw themselves as the rightful main character in my life, and a bitter rivalry was born. Every time they met, the air crackled with sarcasm and thinly veiled insults.

That was one of the main reasons I made my video diaries—I hoped that after watching them, they might find a way to soften toward each other, to not blame one another for what happened to me.

You can’t blame anyone for a terminal illness. You can only blame bad luck. I figured that because I had been blessed with the two best people in the world, and the purest kind of happiness, Fate had to take something back in return.

“Ethan, did you give Cathy her medicine? She’s going to wake up thirsty and miserable. Go boil some water…” Ava’s voice was sharp, a string of commands fired off without preamble.

Ethan just said, “Okay, okay,” his tone lacking its usual defensive edge. It sounded more like… affection.

“Ava,” Ethan said her name softly. “Cathy got home right after you left yesterday.”

Ava’s voice disappeared completely.

I forced my heavy eyelids open just a crack and saw a hand snatch back from my bedside and Ava’s face, pale as a sheet.