Free Fall

Chapter Thirty-Two

Kendall

The way Erick looked at Nikki was too much. Without thinking, I darted through the front door, ignoring Kelsey's calls. Angry tears blurred my vision as I rushed to my car. I guess I could expect this from Nikki; I hardly knew her and wasn't nearly as close with her as she is with Kelsey. But Kelsey knew exactly how I felt about Erick. Wiping my face, I peeled out of the parking lot and drove to the one spot I could finally visit alone.

The graveyard was technically closed since it was almost ten o'clock at night, but the big iron gates at the entrance were still open. I drove slowly towards the spot I could drive with my eyes closed. 

The shiny granite of the grave reflected the moonlight, letting me see the name written in fancy italics better. Charlotte Renee Royce. I crumpled into a ball, running my hand over her name and letting the sobs overtake me. "Charlie. Charlie, why can't you be here?" The mucus and tears in my throat made the whisper come out as a gurgled sob, but I didn't care. 

I've never felt more alone than I did in that moment; sitting by my dead best friend's grave as my other 'friends' set up my roommate with the love of my life.

----

I slept in my car that night. My phone wailed in my purse until it eventually ran out of battery, but I never once touched it. I have to run my fingers through my hair and attend classes in the same clothes I wore yesterday, but I couldn't care less. I was not going back to that apartment until I absolutely had to. 

English was my first class at 9:30; the only class I had with Kelsey. I lingered in the bathroom until the bell rang before rushing into the class, earning an annoyed glare from my professor. I ignored Kelsey's obvious stares for the entire class period, struggling on focusing on how to diagram prepositional phrases and appositives. 

When the bell finally rang, I scooped up my folders and books and darted through the door, speed-walking towards Anatomy on the other side of the campus. Kelsey had Sociology in the building by the English building, so maybe she'll leave me alone. But my luck ran out.

Kelsey must have sprinted to catch up with me because I heard her strained voice behind me. "Kendall! Kendall....stop right now!"

Anger seeping into my toes, I dragged a breath through my nose and whirled around to face her. "You have some real nerve, Kelsey. Some real nerve. If you're gunna set up Nikki with Erick while I'm in the apartment..." I couldn't even finish the sentence because I was laughing. Kelsey really does look utterly stupid. 

Surprise was evident on her face, but it quickly vanished and was replaced with anger. "How could you run away like that and not return my calls? Don't you know how worried we were-"

Shaking my head, I turned and started off towards my class but Kelsey tagged along. "-about you?"

I bit my tongue, refusing to say something that could possibly ruin things between me and Kelsey for good. She wouldn't take no for an answer though. 

"Kendall. I did not set anyone up with anyone! I was talking to Cole about baseball for God's sake. You act as if I'm responsible for Erick's actions. He's a guy, he made his own decisions. I was waiting for you to come out and surprise him, he was there maybe fifteen minutes before you stormed out and disappeared like a crazy person!"

Kelsey's voice was a little toward's the loud side, and we earned annoyed glares as we reached my Anatomy class. Without saying a word, I opened the door to my class and shut it on Kelsey's exhausted face.