(FEATURED)
It's been months since the unceremonious fall of Kimie Sato's older sister. The whole of Ridgerock High knows it, and by now, the majority have moved on. But Kimie still watches those who had a hand in it continue to walk free, and the mo...
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I couldn't bring myself to drive, so I let Kairi do it. My eyes were fixed on the iced coffee cradled in my hands, and the breeze coming in through the rolled down window next to me was anything but soothing. I couldn't blink without feeling like I was going to cry, and every inhale was weakening.
The air in the car was thick and stifling, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kairi glancing at me. I let my hair fall over my eyes as I lowered my head, let it serve as a kind of protection.
"I'm sorry." Kairi's voice was way too soft for my liking, making me feel like I was the one who needed the apology the most when what happened affected the both of us. Honestly, it kind of pissed me off.
"I don't want to talk about it, Kairi. Please."
I peeked through the curtain of my hair and saw her pressing her lips together in obedience. She accelerated the speed, causing the breeze to rush into the car like it was the only escape it had for the summer.
My mind refused to erase the image of Axel's near-lifeless body on that hospital bed, and the lines appearing on the heart monitor next to him.
He's gonna die like the others, that little dark voice in my head reminded me.
I shook my head clear of the thought just as the car slowed down, then looked up to see where we were, the tension easing from my shoulders when I saw the glass door of Punch. Kairi incautiously stepped on the brakes after finding a parking spot, sending my head whipping forward suddenly.
When I relaxed in my seat, I realized why she was being so stern with the car: she was frustrated. I couldn't tell exactly what she was frustrated at, though.
She turned the engine off, then leaned her head back into the seat. "I'm sorry," she said. "I can't concentrate."
"It's okay."
Punch wasn't as busy as it was during the day, but the parking lot was full. Perhaps Kairi and I weren't the only ones in need of a breather. I stared through the windshield at the darkened sky, trying to count how many stars I could see twinkling in it, but my mind kept drifting to Axel and that sentence.
It wasn't something I wanted to continue thinking about, but the predictive side of me was wild at the moment.
"Do you think he's gonna be okay?"
I wouldn't have heard Kairi's question if everywhere wasn't so quiet. It was almost like she was whispering to herself, her voice similar to how it had been earlier, just as soft as it had been when she got out of the hospital a year ago. The first two weeks after she was discharged, I'd strain my ears to hear her and make sure I wasn't missing anything. Being reminded of that time was horrible.
I was tired of lying, and something told me that doing that wasn't going to help the situation much, so the reply I gave my sister was, "I don't know."
A whoosh of air escaped her lips, and her jaw clenched. She was trying to keep something in—maybe her words, maybe her emotions—and she had to use all her energy to do it. I saw how tightly her hands gripped the steering wheel, I saw the pulse in her neck ticking, I saw the tears transforming her childlike eyes into that of a lost puppy.
