A Secret on Raven Block - Raven City Part Two

12

A week after meeting Kameron, Kendall invited Jade to come over so they could hang out one on one. It was the first time they were hanging out without Hannah or Stephanie.

They spent the whole afternoon binge-watching their favorite shows together and eating popsicle sticks in her front yard and talking about anything that was on their mind. It was simple but Kendall was happy to be doing this with her and it was peaceful.

As they sat on her front porch, Kendall told Jade about her older sister, Taryn. Taryn had gone to the University of Arizona and Kendall missed her terribly. Even though they talked on the phone and FaceTimed, it wasn't the same. They were so close and it was hard for both of them when Taryn moved to Arizona. Kendall had always looked up to her big sister and was her number one best friend next to Hannah and Stephanie. Her sister was her role model and was like a second mother to her. When she got accepted to the University of Arizona, Kendall was happy for her, of course, but also incredibly sad since she had to move across the county to attend school. And on top of being a college student, she also had to work to keep her scholarship and afford her apartment. Since Taryn was so busy, they couldn't talk as much. They did call each other week to check up on each other and Kendall understood her sister was so busy she didn't have much time to talk but she missed seeing her sister every day. Taryn was able to come to visit once every three months when there was an extended weekend for school and she was going to visit in August and Kendall and the rest of the family would meet Taryn's new boyfriend.

"Your sister's really cool," Jade said as she ate her popsicle. "I only met her once but she was nice to me."

Kendall smiled. "Yeah, she is really nice. She's always the first one to be friends with a new kid at school or stand up for someone who's being bullied."

Jade was quiet for a long moment before blurting out, "I had a sister."

Kendall stared at her in shock. "You do?"

"Did," Jade corrected. "I haven't even told Hannah this, but I had an older sister at one point. She was two years old when I was born. I was only a few months old when she died. My dad had taken her out to go to the playground while my mom stayed home with me and they got in a car wreck. My dad was okay but the other car hit my sister's side and killed her instantly."

Kendall stood there, frozen in shock by this revelation and the only thing she could say was, "I'm so sorry, Jade." She knew that was such a lame and generic thing to say but she didn't know what else. She reached out and put a hand on the other girl's shoulder.

Jade gave her a small smile. "I don't know why I told you this, but I guess it's because I think I would've loved having an older sister like Taryn."

"What was her name?" Kendall asked without thinking and mentally kicked herself the second the words came out of her mouth. "I'm so sorry, I didn't -"

"No, it's fine. Her name was Madison." She sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring all this heavy shit up."

"No, it's totally fine. I'm sorry that happened to your sister. I don't mind you telling me this."

Jade looked out to the front yard, her eyes distant as she was thinking about something. "This is kind of random, but I was close to my mom at some point, before. . .you know. Like what happened with the families at Sterling Manor, she just snapped out of nowhere. My grandma and I don't get along at all and I can't wait until I get to move out."

"You know, if you want, if you ever need to get away, you can come here."

"Thanks." She took a deep breath. "We have been starting to get along better, and I hope it gets that way. I just wish my Pop-Pop was around. It'd make things a lot easier."

Kendall opened her mouth at the same time Kameron walked outside and checked his mailbox.

Jade stiffened in her chair, staring at him with wide eyes. "Who's that?"

"Kameron Patterson. He's going to our school." She frowned at Jade's expression. "Are you okay?"

Kameron looked over at them and made eye contact with Jade. They stared at each other for a long moment before Jade looked away and Kameron turned and quickly went back into his house, both of them having strange expressions on their faces.

"What was that all about?" Kendall asked.

"Nothing, I - sorry." Jade stood up. "I have another show we can try."

"Ooo-kay," Kendall said, rolling the O's as she wondered about that weird encounter. She got up and followed Jade inside, trying to make sense of what just happened. She thought about asking Jade but she knew she didn't want to talk about it so she let it go. She sat down with Jade on the couch and let her surf through the TV channels to find the show she was talking about and wondered what might've caused that weird interaction.

Maybe they know each other, she wondered. She had no idea where or how, but could they have met before? Maybe they had a history. She had no idea and she was curious as could be.

They watched TV for a while before Jade had to go home. They agreed to make plans again and Kendall was glad they got to know each other better. She was thrilled Jade opened up to her and their friendship was getting stronger. She did want to know what that interaction with Kameron was about.

When her parents came home, they had dinner and watched a movie together before everyone went to bed.

As she got ready for bed, she glanced out her window at the Patterson's house. She knew, deep down, that the interaction between Jade and Kameron had a deep significance like the dreams she kept having and Kameron's fox tattoo as well as the feeling they were all intertwined. She wanted to get to the bottom of it and hoped she would figure it out soon.