She Died Too Young by Lurlene McDaniel Read Free Book Online Page A

me. It’s written all over your face whenever DJ walks in a room.”
    “Honestly, that’s just not true—”
    Jillian pierced the air with a squeal. “Friends know what friends are thinking. And real friends don’t deny the obvious.”
    Chelsea bowed her head guiltily. Jillian was right. What good did it do to deny what Jillian had already surmised? “Okay … so I’ve got this teensy-weensy little crush. But not to worry, he’s safe enough from me. I’m sure he doesn’t know I’m alive, what with his big romance with Shelby and all.”
    “Don’t remind me. I’d much rather have him interested in a girl as special as you.”
    “You think I’m special?”
    “I pick my friends real carefully. I liked you from the first minute I met you at that therapy session. And after we talked, I liked you even more. All my life, I’ve been the odd one, the sick one. People are sympathetic toward me, but no one really understands what it’s like to be sick one hundred percent of the time.”
    “I know what you mean,” Chelsea added. “Until I went to Jenny House this summer and met Katie and the others, I felt lonely and left out too. Everybody in the whole world seemed healthy except me. Kids on TV, in magazines—they’re all the picture of glowing health.”
    “You got that right. If it weren’t for telethons to raise money for some disease or other, the rest of the world would never think twice about people like us. Let’s face it, our lives have never been normal. What I’m wondering is, if we get these transplants, will our lives be normal then?”
    Chelsea pondered Jillian’s question. “Katie seems normal,” she said slowly. “But I know she can’t be completely normal. There’s stuff going on in her life she won’t even talk about with me.”
    “What kind of stuff?”
    “I’m not sure. But I feel that her transplant is somehow mixed up in it.”
    “But she’s all right?”
    “She’s all right in the physical sense.” Chelsea searched for a way to put her intuition into words.“She’s sort of at loose ends. Distracted. I can’t explain it.”
    “Loose ends?” Jillian repeated. “Like unfinished business? You know, like your crush on DJ?”
    Chelsea had hoped that Jillian had forgotten her earlier observation. “Your brother’s a cute guy. I don’t get to be around all that many. Plus, he’s so sure of himself. And friendly.”
    Jillian blew air through pursed lips. “Well, if I had my way, he’d notice you instead of Shelby.”
    “I don’t know this Shelby, but what have you got against her? You always seem down on her, and I know that you’re really a caring person.”
    Jillian flashed Chelsea a look that said,
Sure-that’s-me, Miss Nice-nice
, and both girls giggled. “Shelby’s a real pain,” Jillian said once they’d recovered from their giggle fit. “She treats me like I’m an untouchable.”
    “Explain.”
    “I guess there are people in the world who because they are physically perfect can’t abide people who aren’t. Shelby’s one of them. She’s a knockout in the looks department.”
    The information sent a sinking sensation through Chelsea’s stomach. She recalled how pretty Lacey was, but even Lacey hadn’t acted stuck-up about her beauty. Maybe because she had an incurable illness. Chelsea didn’t know. “So, Shelby’s drop-dead pretty. How does she treat you?”
    “Like I’m some kind of freak. Oh, she’s nice enough to my face when DJ’s around, but theminute his back is turned, she’s downright hateful. You’d think what I’ve got—bad heart and lungs—might be catching or something.”
    Chelsea saw that Jillian was trying to act as if Shelby’s attitude only made her angry. But she could tell that although Jillian hid her feelings behind a mask of humor, she was hurt by Shelby’s rejection. “She’s ignorant, that’s all.”
    “Don’t you think I’ve tried to educate her? I really have tried to like this girl, Chelsea. She and