"Morning sweetheart, did you have a great weekend? You seemed really happy." Her mom said as she poured herself some orange juice while she waited for Lauren to finish making herself some cereals.

Lauren nodded her head and she began filling her plate with cereal. When she finished making herself a bowl of cereal she sat down and started digging in.

"Can you call Ashley to come here? We wanna talk to her and your dad is still asleep and I don't want to wake him up." Her mom asked her and Lauren quickly picked up her phone.

A few seconds later, her brother's name appeared in her contact list. Lauren smiled at seeing Ashley's picture on her screen and quickly answered the call without saying hello, knowing that Ashley will understand her anyway.

"Hey bro. How are you feeling? You were sick yesterday afternoon right?" She asked.

"Yeah. I got really sick. But it wasn't that bad. I actually don't feel as ill this morning so it should probably get better pretty fast. Why didn't you pick me up yesterday Lauren?" Ashley asked her and Lauren knew exactly what he was thinking and she giggled.

"Oh come on dude. I couldn't bring you home. You had a fever. What if someone saw you? Besides I didn't have enough gas to drive you home. My dad offered me some gas money for the gas and my mom offered to drive me to school. They drove us home and we were supposed to leave at 10 but they stayed longer than they planned and so I called your parents asking for gas money so they gave it to me." Lauren explained.

Ashley chuckled and he asked her, "So are you going to the mall today?"

"No. You should've seen me last night dude. My hair was a mess and I looked so disheveled and dirty. My clothes were so gross! I haven't showered in days. I don't think there even is water in our apartment!" She whined.

"Wow. Well, that sucks. I'd like to see you when you're all clean and shiny." Ashley joked.

"You're so disgusting!" Lauren teased him and he burst out laughing.

Suddenly, Lauren heard her mom yell Ashley's name so she hung up the call and placed her phone in her backpack which she carried everywhere.

"Mom wants me to tell you to hurry because her car has been ready for almost three hours." Lauren informed Ashley and Ashley agreed to her words. "And tell my brother hi for me." She added before Ashley ended the call.

Lauren grabbed her backpack and walked towards the door to wait for her mother who was parking outside her house. A few moments later, her mom was opening the door and Lauren followed her into the house. Once both her parents were seated at the table, they were both lost in thought, wondering what to say. Lauren's mom, being the first one to speak up, just let out a sigh and told them the truth. That Ashley had cancer. The truth that everyone in this family knows.

They all remained silent as they listened to her parents explaining everything they learned yesterday and Lauren couldn't help but think that if only she knew what they were hiding.

"But we won't force you to tell us everything, we won't even push you into telling us or interrogate you. All we can do is support you. No matter what. We just want you to be happy honey." Her mother told her.