Lorelai

I felt the sweat trickle from my palms as I sat on my second living room's sofa. Yes, I have a second living room and yes I'm rich. You can't blame me for the fact that my dad is one of the richest people in Canada. Yes, there are those times I wish I was a normal teenage girl without all of this money but most of the time I'm grateful for it. I look at people around the world that my dad donates money to and go 'Damn I feel bad for you'. I actually have feelings and sympathy not like those totally utter 'not to be named' rich girls you watch on your shows you binge watch all the time.

Anyways back to the present, I felt the waves of nausea rolling and crashing against walls of my stomach as my head hurt from what was going on around me. The air felt tense, reminding me of the fact that this one thing that I'm waiting for, could change my entire life. Not in a small way but in a huge way. Like I might lose who I am and what I have. Being rich does come with your advantages like being able to afford cool stuff. But, even as a rich person, you couldn't avoid human things like stress and anxiety. You couldn't avoid things like rejection or the fear of losing loved ones. You couldn't avoid things like having to make friends or isolation. You couldn't avoid the fact that your dad was currently at the doctor's office. And you certainly couldn't avoid the fact that your mother passed away leaving you with a poem that still haunts your dreams as a 16-year old.

Now don't go all soft on me. I have a nanny, Aalia, who cares for me, gives me support, is my best friend, who is like my guardian, no scratch that, basically my mom. I have friends who are my lifelines, Siya, Alex, and Andy. These friends have been so understanding of me and my situations all the way from middle school to now in Grade Ten. I also go to a great normal high school in my neighbourhood. Let me emphasize n-o-r-m-a-l, not those rich kid schools you see on TV. Ok, my dad did want to send me to one of those but I managed to get him to let me go to a normal school so I can live my life like a normal teenage girl (and let me say it took a lot of convincing from me and Aalia).

Just as I think of Aalia, I look up and see her enter the living room. She takes up her defensive "I'm about to give you a real talk" pose and I fight the urge not to roll my eyes.

"Hear we go again", I murmur and look the other way. Now don't get me wrong, just as I said before this woman, that's about to go all crazy spiritual inspirational mom on me is my bestie. I love her talks. She's been there with me through thick and thin. She is my go-to adult but sometimes she needs to understand that you gotta leave a girl to her thoughts. You can't be lecturing her every five seconds when her life may just take an epic turn. So as you can see, Aalia got the words but never the right time.

"Oh come on don't give me the 'Hear We Go Again'. I've known your mom ever since she was fourteen. Your dad I've known longer, since he was five. I watched them fall in love and have you and everything. And I've supported them every single step of the way. And this is why I consider you to be my daughter. So, I'm gonna tell you off even if you like or not and trust me knowing you ever since you were born, I know that you're about to ignore every single word I say. But girl let me say, sulking around like that ain't gonna change your past, present or future. You gotta accept who you are and this one phone call that you're waiting for ain't gonna decide who you become. Sure, I know it will mean a lot to you and you might be upset and yes I know he's your father but I also know for a fact that he wouldn't want you to be sulking around all day. I mean I did convince him to let you stay home from school today but girl I didn't do it for you to be sulking around. Get up! Get some exercise!"

I groan. Aalia cuts me off breaking into her song 'Shut Up and Dance'.. I mean I do love that song but the timing and place are so wrong. I am here at sixteen waiting for a phone call that could potentially ruin my life, and in front of me I have a woman who is like thirty eight or forty, is amazing but doesn't understand time telling me to shut up and dance. No, leave me alone.

Seeing that I'm not paying attention to her, Aalia goes back into her serious mode and continues to lecture me, "ok maybe I went a little overboard there but come on girl, this phone call may change your emotions and feelings but you can't be sitting there pretending that it's gonna change your life and that your gonna have no future. You have to snap out of it. And just remember everything happens for a reason and everything is already planned by god. You sulking there isn't gonna change anything that's supposed to happen but instead, it is certainly changing you."

"Oh, really how so?" I ask. " Girl look at your messy bun and bags under your eyes. You haven't showered or changed out of your PJs. Like personal hygiene lady. Not to mention you haven't eaten or done anything but sit there on that couch with your blanket staring at the window with your thoughts. You are a depressed pillow child. And you're asking me how this is not affecting you.

"I mean yes I get it your anticipating something very important and something really crucial in your life and I'm not saying that I'm oblivious to the fact that this is very important to you but all I'm saying is that no matter what happens you can't let this take this huge of a toll on your life. Imagine if you get the bad side of the news, are you gonna let this take a worse effect. Oh god, I can't even imagine you being worse than this and now I'm scared about what's gonna happen."

Maybe she is right. Maybe I am overreacting. But for a girl that loves her father more than anything or anybody in this world, it isn't overreacting. I'm sixteen years old. My mother passed away from blood cancer. He's the only one of my parents left and he's legit my everything. If anything happened to him god knows what I would do.

My name is Lorelai Chantelle Martins. And I'm here on a Tuesday morning waiting for a phone call from my dad to see if he has cancer.