Cliché: the hottest guy in town is completely enchanted by a girl who has nothing typically "enchanting " about her for the average guy and girl is totally repulsed by him though ultimately they get together( do they have a shorter name for this, lol)
Note: this story is the story of Augustus Waters and Hazel from the fault in our stars where Augustus is not wonder struck by Hazel, in fact, it is the other way around.
I will spare you the details of Patrick's gory ball cancer and go on to talk about something of much greater interest as he continues his embarssing narration "literally" in the heart of Jesus. My mother thinks that support group is supposed to help me. It doesn't . All I do from the moment I step into the support group is wait to go home. But today, today was different. There was a new addition to the group. Not that this was a rare happening or anything, the support group featured a rotating cast of characters in various states of tumor driven unwellness. Why did the cast rotate? A side effect of dying. It was a competition, who stayed alive the longest , and every new child was a win. Not an enthusiastic win though. A painful, realisation of a win that our loss wasn't that far away. This new guy, however, wasn't a painful realisation , instead a happy welcome. I know that's an awful thing to say, yet there he was, tall and lean, and secretly I was glad he was here.
Every so now and then , he would glance in my direction (glanced everywhere really) , and our eyes would meet. Not to sound too dramatic, though I did feel my heart skip a beat each time his green eyeslocked with my grey ones. He , however , seemed to convey a feeling of disgrace, one that would break the heart once it got its beat back. Not that he would be rude or make a face or anything. He would simply glance away, eyes freckled, nose wrinkled , and lips with the slightest of frowns, trying to effectively mask a probable feeling of disgust. I would look away, suddenly aware of my myriad insufficiencies. I was wearing old jeans, which had once been tight but now sagged in weird places , and a yellow T-shirt advertising a band I didn't even like anymore. Also my hair: I had this pageboy haircut , and I hadn't even bothered to like , brush it. Furthermore , I had ridiculously fat chipmunked cheeks, a side effect of treatment. I looked like a normally proportioned person with a balloon for a head. This was not even to mention the cankle situation.Was that it? I wondered as I tried to straighten my ruffled T-shirt. Seriously? I grimaced at myself. I was dying and that was what I was thinking about? Perhaps he found me uninteresting or perhaps I disgusted him. He could keep his feelings and I my sanity.
Patrick continued and then it was finally time for introductions. "Isaac , perhaps you'd like to go first today. I know you're facing a challenging time." Patrick spoke to Isaac , the only redeeming facet of support group. "I'm Isaac . I'm seventeen. And it's looking like I have to get surgery in a couple of weeks , after which I'll be blind. My girlfriend helps though. And friends like Augustus." He nodded towards the boy, who now had a name."We're here for you , Isaac", Patrick said.
Michael was next, followed by Lida, and five others before they got to him. He smiled a little when his turn came. His voice was low, smoky and dead sexy. "My name is Augustus Waters." He said. "I'm seventeen. I had a little touch of osteosarcoma a year and a half ago, but I'm just here today at Isaac's request.""So how are you feeling?" Asked Patrick. "Oh, I'm grand." Augustus Waters smiled with a corner of his mouth."I'm on a rollercoaster that only goes up , my friend."
Once the group reached its end , I leaned against the wall outside the literal "heart of Jesus" waiting for my Mom to pick me up, which was unusual , because Mom was almost always there waiting for me. Issac stood opposite me , with his girlfriend as they exchanged the lover's jargon that always makes me throw up. I look the other way and Lo and Behold! If it isn't Augustus waters walking right towards me! I watch as Issac embraces his girlfriend in a kiss , and moves his hand up her chest. I grimace as he does the unbelievable , and then does it again, and again. Augustus leans next to me. "That's got to hurt", I blurt out. "Yes, it's difficult to ascertain whether he is trying to arouse her or perform a breast exam." He said , uninterested.
Then Augustus Waters reached into a pocket and pulled out, of all things, a pack of cigarettes. He flipped it open and put a cigarette between his lips.
"Are you serious?" I asked. "You think that's cool? Oh, my God, you just ruined the whole thing."
"Which whole thing?" he asked, turning to me. The cigarette dangled unlit from the unsmiling corner of his mouth.
"The whole thing where a boy is not unattractive or unintelligent or seemingly in any way unacceptable and points out incorrect uses of literally. But of course there is always a hamartia and yours is that oh, my God, even though you HAD FREAKING CANCER you give money to a company in exchange for the chance to acquire YET MORE CANCER. Oh, my God. Let me just assure you that not being able to breathe? SUCKS. Totally disappointing. Totally."
"A hamartia?" he asked, the cigarette still in his mouth. It tightened his jaw. He had a hell of a jawline, unfortunately.
"A fatal flaw," I explained, turning away from him. I stepped toward the curb, leaving Augustus Waters behind me, and then I heard a car start down the street. It was Mom. She'd been waiting for me to, like, make friends or whatever.
I felt this weird mix of disappointment and anger welling up inside of me. I don't even know what the feeling was, really, just that there was a lot of it, and I wanted to smack Augustus Waters and also replace my lungs with lungs that didn't suck at being lungs. I was standing with my Chuck Taylors on the very edge of the curb, the oxygen tank ball-and-chaining in the cart by my side, and right as my mom pulled up, I felt a hand grab mine.
I yanked my hand free but turned back to him.
"They don't kill you unless you light them," he said as Mom arrived at the curb. "And I've never lit one. It's a metaphor, see: You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing."
"It's a metaphor," I said, dubious. Mom was just idling.
"It's a metaphor," he said.
"You choose your behaviors based on their metaphorical resonances . . ." I said.
"Oh, yes." He smiled. The big, goofy, real smile. "I'm a big believer in metaphor, Hazel Grace."
"You are?", I asked , shocked. " I am", he said , smiling with me. As I went ahead to open the door of my car, Augustus stopped me. " Would you like it if we could be friends? I don't have that many. And i'm not in the business of denying myself the simpler pleasures of life." His smile widened. I could "literally" feel my heart beating. "Sure", I said. " Here", I said handing him my copy of The Imperial Affliction lying in my car."A token of friendship"."A book Hazel Grace? You know me so well." " Are you an ardent reader?", I asked. He was becoming more attractive by the minute. "I am, Hazel Grace". "Great, tell me how you liked it once you finish reading it". "Okay",he said, and proceeded to go. Not wanting the conversation to end, I called out after him. " Wouldn't you need my number for that though?". "I strongly suspect ypu wrote it at the back of the book, Hazel Grace", he replied, half smiling. I finally get in the car, smiling. I did.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
