The Truth

Chapter Two

I shut my eyes and let the smoothness of the car ride calm me. I could feel the car start to slow down and then the engine finally stop. I slowly opened my eyes and instantly regretted it. A big neon sign that said Helena's Diner flashed in front of me. My heart instantly jumped into the pit of my stomach. My palms tingled and I could feel them starting to become sweatier.

"No. No. No! We can't be here." I pushed myself back into my seat frantically trying to get as far away from the diner as I could.

I never wanted to see another diner in my life. Every time I thought about one, chills were sent down my spine.

"Kally, calm down!" Mark grabbed my hands and held them tightly to his chest.

I leaned into his arms and started sobbing uncontrollably. He pressed his cheek to my forehead and rubbed a circle on my back with his thumb like he did in the hospital. I pulled back and wiped my cheeks of my warm tears.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Mark asked cautiously.

"My best friend was just shot in a diner. No, I don't want to talk about it," I snapped, "I'm sorry. It's just been a rough night and I haven't slept and I lost the one person who meant the world to me and I don't know what to do."

"Don't worry about it. I know that this must be really hard on you and- " Mark's phone began to ring.

"I'm sorry. I have to answer this." He picked up the phone.

"Yeah, I'm kind of busy right now," Mark said looking annoyed.

"Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"Yes, I'm aware of that."

"Fine. I'll be over in ten."

He hung up his phone and I could tell that he was annoyed.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I have a meeting to go to over at a friends house. Do you mind if we stop over there for a little bit? They have a guest room that you can rest in for a little while. I know that you must be really tired."

"Yeah, sure."

Mark turned back the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. He switched on the radio and one my favorite songs came through the speakers.

"You like Cage the Elephant? They're one of my favorite bands." I said.

"Yeah, they're a great band," he gave me a half smile and turned up the song that was playing. I softly hummed along to Cigarette Daydreams.

We drove for a little while. The sun was starting to come up and I realized that it was nearing 6 AM. The upcoming sun sent a warm pink glow over the city. The air was still fresh and cold from the rain from that night but it felt nice. I noticed the tall city buildings were starting to disappear and were being replaced with nice built brick homes. The homes started to become more and more dispersed until we finally pulled into a long driveway. Mark cut the engine and quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and jogged over to my door to open it.

"Thank you, " I gave him a soft smile and stepped out of the car.

I looked up and was absolutely amazed by the view. The house that stood in front of me was huge and the brick pattern was absolutely beautiful. There was a garden that contained many different types of flowers and bushes. There were clusters of gorgeous quaking aspen trees surrounding the house. The golden leaves were still dripping morning dew and glowed from the sun rise.

"Wow. Your friend lives here?"

He just chuckled and said, "come on."

I followed Mark up to the porch and he rung the doorbell. We stood in an awkward silence as we waited for the door to be opened. Finally, a tall man with shoulder length blonde hair opened the door.