The Missing Years - a kissing booth fan fiction

Black Out

Elle

The Jenga tower that was my life started to get a little wobbly in October. After...everything that happened at the end of summer, I had constructed a pretty solid replacement life for myself. Okay, it might have been a little bland, a little safe, but it worked for me. I was pretty much just marking time until I could start school in spring anyway.

The first wobble came at the end of the second week. After dropping Brad off and running some errands, I drove to Dunes and worked the lunchtime shift as usual. It wasn't busy, the cooler weather starting to drive the tourists away from the beach. I'd cleared the last table and swept the sand off the deck when my manager approached me.

"Elle, can I see you for a minute?"

Whatever May wanted to talk to me about, it couldn't be good. I wracked my brain, trying to figure out what I'd done wrong. Had I been too short with one of the customers? Was I dragging my feet during service?

I mean, it had definitely become harder to get up everyday and put on a happy face, but I thought I'd done a pretty good job of faking a smile over the last few months. As it turned out, my guilty conscience was being overactive as per usual. May's desire to have a little chat had nothing to do with my performance and everything to do with the dwindling clientele. She could no longer afford to keep me on.

"I'm sorry, Elle, but it's only going to get slower between now and the start of winter. You've been an absolute life-saver but I have to let you go." She tried to soften the blow by adding, "I've written a reference letter for you and of course I'd love to have you back next summer if you're still around."

I swallowed hard and tried to be gracious. "It's okay May, I really appreciate the opportunity you've given me and I'm sure I'll be able to find something closer to home." I think I sounded braver than I actually felt. I drove home then, my final pay check and May's recommendation letter sitting on the passenger seat.

The second wobble came at the end of the next week. It was the anniversary of my mom's death, which was always a super hard day for me. I missed Mom every single day, but that day in particular hurt so much more than all the others. Lee had always gone out of his way to make me feel better each year, even skipping school to spend the day at the arcade one time.

So when the day arrived and I didn't hear from Lee first thing in the morning, I was surprised. I tried to shake it off though, thinking he'd just assumed I was sleeping in with no intention of facing this day. Normally he'd have been right, but I'd still had to drop Brad at school that morning so I was wide awake.

I wasted some time at the coffee shop, picking at my blueberry muffin while scanning job ads on my phone. When there was no putting it off any longer, I drove to the cemetery and placed the bright bunch of flowers I'd bought against Mom's headstone. I sat with her for a long time, telling her about all the little things that made up my life these days. I tried not to dwell on the big things that were missing, but it was hard. I'd never been able to hide anything from Mom.

I was at home, making a bit of extra effort to prepare a nice dinner for Dad and Brad, when Lee finally called. "Elle, I'm so sorry, I meant to call you this morning but I had an exam and I was super stressed and I feel awful, I'm a terrible friend." The words tumbled out of him and I could tell he felt really bad.

"Lee, Lee, calm down. It's okay, I swear."

"Yeah, but it's rule number 16, Shelly."