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with you all. I'm starting at my new school tomorrow, and I'm kind of worried that they won't like me or won't want to hang out with me like you guys did."
    Jody was taken aback. Who wouldn't want to hang out with someone as cool as Missy?
    "I know that we had to move so I could get better treatment, but I'm still depressed about leaving. I miss you all."
    Better treatment? What was she talking about? Jody began to worry. Missy continued.
    "Let's face it, the chemo wasn't working very well. All it did was make me sicker and make my hair fall out. I really don't want to go through surgery again, either. Dad says there's a clinic here that might be able to help me, so off we went. I guess I'm never coming back, but I'd really love it if you folks would keep texting me and sending me videos. I'm going to keep trying really hard to beat this disease, and when I do I'll get my parents to fly me back to Cally and we'll head out to the beach like we used to before all this happened. So stay in touch, okay? Love to everybody." Missy leaned forward and extended her hand towards the PC. The video faded to black.
    Jody was stunned. She hadn't said what was wrong with her, but if it involved chemo and surgery, then it had to be really, really bad. He guessed that if her parents were willing to pick up and move just to get better treatment for her, she might even be dying. Initially, an overwhelming sadness took hold of him. He felt sorry for her. He worried about her.
    He tried to stay focused on empathy for her, but he couldn't stop his thoughts from straying to more selfish considerations. He felt betrayed. Now he knew why she had picked him to hang out with. It was just his luck that the only girl who had ever held his hand might be dying. This was the story of his entire, incredibly unlucky life, and it was never going to change, was it? Why hadn't she told him up front about her disease?
    He wallowed in self-pity for a while, until another thought occurred to him. He still had a girlfriend. Who was he to judge her, when he probably wasn't going to make it out of his teens either? Beyond that, if her new treatment worked, she would outlast him by decades. He came to a decision. If she wanted to be with him, he would be with her. She needed support and friendship and so did he. They could help each other, maybe even love each other. He clicked on the next video.

Chapter 5
    Jody learned much about the girl he hoped would be his girlfriend. He sat glued to the computer viewing her photos and reading her blogs, to the point where he felt almost perverted for wanting to learn so much about her. What would she be able to learn from his Facebook site? Not much, he thought sadly.
    She liked rock more than hip hop, but that was all right. He wasn't really sure whether he liked hip hop because it was good music or just because it was cool. Before her illness, she had actually done some surfing. There were a few pictures of her riding her board out in the ocean. She seemed so tiny and frail now that he had a hard time picturing her as the same girl on the surf board. She had a book tablet that she had downloaded hundreds of books to. Jody was still taking old-fashioned print books out of the library. She had been on the dean's list at her old school in California. Jody had never made the Dean's list.
    He heard the creaking of the door hinges below. His mother had returned from work. Footsteps echoed down the hallway. She poked her head into his room.
    "How was school today?" she asked.
    "The usual," he answered falsely.
    "Who's that?" she asked, pointing to Missy's picture on his computer screen.
    "Just somebody I met at school today," he replied, misleading her again.
    "Oh, that's nice. Are you two texting?"
    "Naah, I just thought I'd check her out online," he fibbed again.
    "Oh, okay," she said, sounding a bit disappointed. "Well, I'll have dinner ready in a half hour. We're having hamburger casserole tonight."
    "Okay, Mom, sounds good.