As promised, I came back to Kristine’s house the next day. I paid some special attention to my hair and clothing today. Always have to look good for that special someone, don’t you think? I skipped my way back from school on the same path. The bright red leaves on the ground flew as I kicked them while skipping. I wanted to get to her house as soon as possible.

Not long later, I reached the green gate of her house. I slowed down a little and walked to the gate and looked inside. She was sitting on the front porch again, on her rocking chair, staring at nothing. She soon caught the sight of me at the gate and focused her vision in me. She waved. I smiled.

“Come on in. The gate is not locked.” She said.

I pushed the gate and walked in.

“Mom. He’s here.” She called out for her mom as soon as I made my entrance.

I walked slowly on the stone steps that were arranged carefully on the green, lush, carefully trimmed grass. I climbed up the stairs and walked slowly toward her.

She looked up at me and said, “Take a seat. My mom will be here in no time.” She pulled the chair from behind her weakly. I quickly took the chair from her and moved it myself. She seemed pretty weak. From up close, she looks pale and sick. Her lips, however, were surprisingly healthy looking with a natural and soft petal pink color. Her eyes were dim, almost as if she was so depressed that her eyes also lost its shine. I sat down after a while of observing her.

“It’s a bit chilly today, right?” I started the conversation with that classic line.

“Mid-Autumn air.” She said with a sigh. I looked over, looking for the reason for the sigh. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the chilly fresh air of a mid-Autumn afternoon.

“Autumn is my favorite season.” I smiled while looking at her. She opened her eyes and turned to me at my comment. I quickly looked away. “Such a pretty garden you have here.” I tried to break the ice between us.

“My mom organized and planted them all by herself.” She smiled as she looked over at the patch of tulips at the far side of the garden. I quickly caught up to where she was looking at.

“Is tulip your favorite kind of flower?” I asked, still gazed at the blooming tulip.

She looked at me and smiled, “No. I like daisies. Simple and wild.”

I looked back at her, confused. I had caught no sight of a single daisy in this garden.

“There’s a patch of dairies right behind those tulip. My mom planted them especially for me.” She seemed to have noticed my confusion. She explained while smiling gently as she turned to look at the tulips’ direction. I nodded. “By the way, what’s your name? I never got a chance to ask.” She turned to me and asked, eyes widened.

“Oh. Sorry.” I laughed. I really forgot to introduce myself properly. “Sorry. I almost forgot. My name is Wu Yi Fan.” I smiled.

“Wu Yi Fan? You’re Chinese?” She repeated my name and asked.

I nodded.

“My mom is Chinese, too.” She smiled, surprised that the coincidence.

“But you look…” I was surprised as well. She looked 100% white.

“My dad is white.” She laughed at my reaction. “My name is Kristine Wilson.” She said gracefully.

“Kristine.” I repeated with a nod.

“It’s Kristine with the ‘K’ not the ‘Ch’,” she added with a giggle.

“I’m sure many people made that mistake already.” I said jokingly with a laugh.

“I will call you Yi Fan since Fan is a bit short, eh?” She smiled as she tugged her hair behind her ear.

“Sounds great.” I smiled. People at school only called me by ‘Fan’. I had to admit, Fan is a pretty short name. I guess only Chinese people would say my name with the middle name. I laughed at the thought. At the corner of my eyes, I saw her looking at me as though she was trying to figure out what was behind my laugh.

“Oh. You’re here!” Her mom came out. I stood up and bowed a little. Common manner. “Aw. Come on in. It’s a bit cold out here don’t you think?” Her mom said cheerfully as she led me into the house. I went in first and waited for Kristine to come in. She walked in with a quiet cautious manner. I didn’t quiet understand why.

“So what is your name?” Her mom asked me as she offered me some water and biscuits.

“Wu Yi Fan.” I said and took a sip of the lukewarm water.

“You’re Chinese?” Her mom had the exact same reaction as she did.

“Yes. I was born in Guangzhou.” I smiled and put the cut down.

“Nice. I was born in Beijing.” Her mom nodded and pushed over the plate of biscuits. “How old are you?” She asked.

“I’m sixteen.” I took a biscuit. It was warm and delicious. “By the way, these are delicious.” I added.

Her mom laughed and so did her. “My mom makes the best biscuits.” Kristine giggled.

“Thank you.” Her mom took a biscuit and passed it to her, who was sitting next to the window on a chair with a cushion placed on top. She was just looking at the street again. “You’re the same age as Kristine then.”

“Really?” I was surprised because Kristine did look a bit older than I was. “How come she doesn’t go to school?” I asked out of instinct.

“She’s a bit sick at the moment.” Her mom said quietly. I looked over to Kristine; she was looking at us but then she looked away as soon as out eyes met.

“You can just tell him that I have cancer mom. No need to hide it.” Kristine said bluntly, almost in a bitter tone.

“C-cancer?” I stuttered with the surprising statement.

“To be specific, Leukemia.” Kristine said, still looking elsewhere.

I looked over to her mom and she got teary eyes. That was when I knew that they weren’t joking. Out of instinct, I put my hand on her shoulder, tried to comfort a helpless mom with a sick child, and that child happened to be Kristine.

“I’m sorry.” Her mom said in between the sobs. I sighed, still shocked. My mind refused to operate. It completely stopped. I looked over to Kristine and she was sitting with head down, staring at her fingers. She obviously felt guilty about what she did.

“Sorry. That came out too strong, didn’t it?” Kristine looked at me with her dim eyes and said bitterly. Under the weak ray of sunlight of a late afternoon, her skin suddenly appeared even paler than before and her eyes were almost of a gray color. She smiled weakly.

“It’s a bit late already. I think I will head home right now. My mom should be waiting for me.” The atmosphere had became thicker and heavier so I figured that it would be best if I leave right now and leave those two to talk it out.

Kristine’s mom stood up and led the way. I followed her. Half way to the door, I stopped and headed to the window, where Kristine was sitting, and smiled. “Don’t lose hope,” I said before leaving. There were tears in her eyes when I said that.

Her mom escorted me to the gate by herself. When we reached the gate, she turned to me and said, “Can you help my daughter?”

“Excuse me?” I didn’t exactly understand what she meant.

“I had never saw her smiling and talking like that to anyone for the last three weeks. After we came back from the hospital with the doctor saying that she only has six months to live, she completely broke down. She stopped talking for the first two weeks and only cried.” Her mom explained. I could hear the pain and desperate in her voice. “I think she had lost all hope. She refused to take any treatments until she absolutely needs it and that will probably shorten the time. It really hurts to see my only child being like that but not able to do anything.” Her mom broke down into tears as she continued.

I hugged her, “I would do anything to help out,” I said and I really meant it.

“Oh thank you, thank you.” She exclaimed in tears. “Please help my daughter get her hope back.” She whispered.

“I promise you right now that I will.” I ensured her. I looked over to the window and saw Kristine looking at us with her sad, weary eyes and I knew I just had to do something. I may not be able to save her, but I would help her to at least live her life to the fullest with her last six months.