One last summer

PREFACE

It’s a beautiful morning, isn’t it?

Hi! My name is Evie. But guess what? I’m a vampire.

Just kidding!

I’m human, just like everyone else—or am I?

I’ve been diagnosed with Stage 1 abdominal cancer. I know it’s still Stage 1, but the problem is that the procedure for the surgery is extremely dangerous. It’s a fifty-fifty situation. Either the cancer could kill me, or the surgery could.

Since I’m in my final year of high school, I’ve decided to do some crazy things before—well, you know—in case I don’t make it.

So, I created a bucket list containing twenty things I want to do.

Come with me and find out what’s on the list.

CHAPTER 1

Learn how to cook, even if it’s just one meal

Something about me is that I come from a really, really wealthy family. I don’t even get to lift a finger, especially now that I’m really sick. But I’ve always had a passion for cooking.

My parents don’t let me cook, so I plan on learning when I go to college. But since that might not be possible, I might just learn at my best friend’s house.

My best friend’s name is Zainab. She and my other best friend, Diego, are the only ones in school who know about my illness. Since I wear a wig identical to my real hair, nobody knows I’m sick. The only giveaway is the fact that I’m getting thinner, but I lied and said I was on a diet.

So, on Monday, when I get to school, I plan on telling them about my bucket list because I know I can’t complete it without them.

Monday

I woke up to the worse day of the week: Monday.

I got out of bed, cleaned up with the help of my maid, dressed up, and ate breakfast before my big brother, Ethan, dropped me off at school. He’s in college close to my school and always insists on dropping me off.

Apart from him, I have two younger siblings, the twins, Zoey and Brandon.

If this cancer doesn’t kill me, I have a feeling they will.

Walking into school, I met my best friend, Zainab. Zainab is an average-height girl, and she’s a hijabi. Apart from the fact that we’re always together, both at home and in school meaning I got the chance to see her without the cover, it was still obvious that she’s a walking model. She has the most perfect shape and body—one that any girl or guy would love to have.

Underneath her hijab is long, flowing brown hair, unlike my dull blonde hair. I’m one of the prettiest girls in school, but Zainab is always covered, so we can’t really be compared.

One thing I like about her is that, even though we have an extremely small number of Muslims around us, she never wavers or throws away her values just to fit in. I sometimes envy her for that.

Sometimes, I want to be a Muslim too, but nah, I’m too lazy. I can’t however, learning how to pray like a Muslim is the next thing on my list. So, I went up to her and told her about my plan to learn how to cook. She was ecstatic and told me to meet her at home after classes.

We didn’t run into Diego all day until we discovered during recess that he was down with the flu. So, we decided to cook some soup and take it over to him.

I couldn’t wait for classes to be over so we could get the cooking started.

After school, I went home for a change of clothes. Even though I have a lot of clothes over at Zainab’s place, I had to go home to take my medication because I had left it there that morning.

At last, I was done, and I headed to her place.

Zainab also comes from a wealthy family—not old money like mine—but unlike me, her mom lets her cook, clean, and do a lot of work. You wouldn’t even know that they have maids.

All in all, she and I are complete opposites, and that’s what makes our friendship awesome.

Like I always say, “Polar opposites attract.”

She said that today we were going to make soup for Diego and any other meal of my choice. I decided to pick spaghetti and meatballs since that’s my favorite.

Zainab was a good teacher. She didn’t really help me much, but she guided me on what to do, how much of each ingredient to use, and gave me ideas for alternative ingredients in case I couldn’t find the exact ones required.

I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that we made the soup, and it was delicious.

Now, the bad news comes with two pieces of good news.

While frying the meatballs, the kitchen caught on fire, and the fire service is here. So, thank goodness it was the last batch, and thank goodness her parents are away on a business trip.

Awkwardly laughing.

At least, we can fix everything before they get back.

After that, we went over to Diego’s place, and he looked better after taking a sip of my soup.

Yes, my soup (which was made with Zainab ‘s help).

Diego isn’t normally a sugar-coated person, so for him to say, “It’s yummy,” then it really is.

So, yay!

Guys, I can officially make two meals, all thanks to my best friend.