"I'm sorry. Have you seen Geoff since our last study session?" she asked with exaggerated casualness.
I aimed my spoon at her. "I know it was you who told him I'm sick, so don't play innocent with me. He admitted it."
"Wait, he talked to you? And you didn't tell me?" She looked betrayed.
"Last week. And I didn't tell you because you opened your big mouth and told him about my cancer."
"Oh, come on, Cora. He's been mooning after you all semester," Lisette said. "And you weren't going to do anything about it. Somebody had to."
"It's my life," I grumbled.
"And it's his, too," she pointed out. "Anyhow, you've been weird ever since you came back from your last appointment with Dr. Robeson. It's not healthy."
"I'm not healthy," I returned.
"So, what did Geoff say?" Lisette was not to be distracted. "Dish! I can't believe you guys have been studying with me for three days now, and I had no idea."
I sighed. "He's still interested, okay? And believe it or not, so am I."
Lisette made an absurd squealing noise, and I treated her to a glare.
"After Christmas," I said. "If the treatment's worked."
"So you're going to go for the treatment? For sure?" Lisette asked.
"Yeah," I said. "I can call and make my appointment in two days. As soon as finals are over, I'm doing it."
"I know you'll pull through," Lisette said staunchly. "It's going to work. It's got to."
"Yeah," I said.
I hesitated for a moment. I didn't want to hurt her. I didn't want my memory to hurt her. She already cared far too much, far more than I deserved. But there were things I had to say. Just in case.
I said, "But if I don't-"
"You will!" Lisette said sharply.
"Listen," I said. "If I don't, I just want to say…thanks. For everything. You're the best friend I could ever have, and I've been a pretty shitty one these last two years, with Gramma and then the leukemia."
Her face crumpled. "Don't you dare say that, Cora Shaw. You're my best friend, too. You're like the sister I never had."
I laughed at that, dispelling the tears that had begun to prick my eyes. "But you have a sister. Actually at UMD, in fact."
She smiled with palpable relief. "Yeah, but you're not like that one. So, after Christmas?" she prompted, steering the conversation back to safer shores.
"Then Geoff and I try to pick up where we left off. More or less."
She rolled her eyes. "Where you left off was making longing faces at each other over your textbooks and lunch trays. You've got to do better than that."