Cape Hawthorne Vol. 1

Chapter 20: Peace Offerings... Among Other Things

Peace offerings come in many different forms, manners, and words. They're highly personal, in most cases. Being the one to present the peace offering is the universal sign of being 'the bigger person'.

Luckily for Christina, Allianne was always the bigger person. And Allianne's peace offering came in the form of offering Christina the gym shoes she'd found under her backseat.

Exceptionally heartfelt and personal, no?

Christina, ashamedly aware of her behavior, teared up and hugged her best friend, thankful beyond words to have something to cover her practically frost-bitten toes other than her heels that were now safely stowed in the seat of Wesley's bike. It's never easy to be told that you're in the wrong, Christina in particular loathed such knocks to her pride with a disdain she could never quite articulate, but at least she was ready to acknowledge that she wasn't upset at Allianne, but rather Annabelle. And most importantly, herself, for allowing her resentment to grow to such an extent that she hurt the friends who had been there for her through it all.

She was certainly quite the sight with the addition of Allianne's gift, with her appearance being a reasonably accurate reflection of her emotional state. Old gym shoes with rolled up socks (courtesy of Samuel, who apparently, always carried an extra pair), a vintage red dress now covered in dust and tiny pulls in the delicate fabric, an old sweater about three sizes too big for her, and hair completely fallen out of the style she (and Fletcher) had so diligently worked at keeping in place.

Christina didn't care, though. None of her companions did either. They all understood that time was of the essence and appearances really couldn't take up a single second of it.

So as soon as her shoes were laced, she was sticking the helmet onto her head and climbing onto the back of Wesley's bike.

She watched her friends shrink into the distance for as long as she could before Wesley turned onto the road that would lead them to the outskirts of town. To say that the new wetness in her eyes was from the wind and not the heartbreaking possibility that she may never see them again wouldn't have fooled anyone.

Not even herself, this time.

-*-*-

Evening fog had set in, adorning the rural streets and encompassing the sparse travelers in its thick haze. Wesley had to drive slowly in the low visibility. There were hardly any homes on this side of town, and definitely no more trick-or-treaters. They'd all retired to their respective homes and done their best to stash their loot before their parents decided to hold onto it for them.

Christina sighed, remembering the last Halloween she'd been trick-or-treating. She recalled every heartbreaking detail.

"What's on your mind?"

"Just remembering all the Halloweens I didn't have to worry about myself or anyone else being murdered."

"Those were the days, huh?" He chuckled softly. "Now what's really on your mind?"

Christina exhaled. This was going to be a long conversation. "The day Annabelle and I stopped being best friends."

Wesley was quiet for a minute. "I didn't know you guys were close," he said carefully.

"Like sisters. At least, she was to me."

"What happened?"

And just like that, Christina was transported back to a time when hair chalk and wearing rubber bands on your wrists was considered stylish.

"We'd been drifting apart for years already, I didn't realize it, though. Eventually, we got so far apart I just couldn't hold her back any longer," her arms tightened around his torso, much like her throat did as she began to relate the story. "I was thirteen, but just barely. Agnes had just been born and I couldn't see Anna a lot cuz I was helping Mom with Fletch and the baby. But whenever I saw her, man, I was so excited. We'd been planning that halloween together for weeks over the phone. I was going to spend the evening with her family going through the neighborhoods, we'd have a sleepover, we coordinated costumes... The whole nine yards.