Raven's Song

Be Okay

The house was empty for the first time since the cabin. Spencer and Tylor were meeting with their lawyer. Dad was at work. Amber, Izzy, and Dove finally left me in peace after spending the entire weekend at my house. I took the opportunity to go clear my head in my happy place.

It wasn't really my happy place anymore, though. The memories of being followed that I'd been able to ignore had been replaced with the truth. The truth was more painful than the scenarios I had thought up and then pushed from my mind. It was permanent. It was real. The stories I had told myself before hadn't been able to actually hurt me. Pain came from the truth. Heartache came from the truth. Everything had changed because of the truth.

I felt the fear of being followed. Of someone grabbing me in the dark. I felt my breath catch as I stood on the concrete path with families walking around me. It wasn't daylight anymore as my mind returned to that night. Tylor hadn't known then who was after me, but he knew now. I wondered if he would have killed the person or let them walk if he had known they were connected to his father. Would he have protected me? I could have been in a lot more physical and mental pain than I was in at that moment if he hadn't. I could have no longer been existent.

"Kenna!" a voice shouted. I spun around, my fists raised as my heart pounded in my chest. The person approaching me immediately stopped and raised his hands. As I breathed, the face slowly focused and Andre stood in front of me with his hands raised. "Sorry. I was just out for a run and saw you."

I pressed the palms of my hands to my eyes and let out the last breath I'd been holding in my chest. "Sorry. I'm just on edge. I thought I was okay to come out here." I lowered my hands and gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, I heard about that." Andre slowly closed the distance between us. "That shit is wild. I can't imagine how you're feeling."

"I'm not even sure how I feel. I'm fine. It just feels like a nightmare."

"Yeah, the rumor mill probably doesn't help any with that, either." I shook my head as I wrapped my arms around my stomach. "It feels ridiculous to have been trying to talk you into coming to a party when you were dealing with your boyfriend being the son of Clinton Zeilers."

"It's not ridiculous, Andre. It's just a different chapter of my life now." As I looked at him, though, I wondered what it would be like to have a night of normalcy. It was probably a bad idea. I shouldn't have even been in the park by myself, but I had survived the cabin. What was a high school party? "You throwing any bangers soon?"

Andre arched a brow. "For real?"

"I'm supposed to be back at Branson next year," I told him with a shrug, "might as well get reacquainted with everyone."

Andre nodded slowly. "I can arrange it if you really think you're up to it."

"I've never been more up to it to get back to normal, Andre."

"What about Zeilers?" Andre asked, his words coming out slowly.

"What about him?"

Andre glanced away from me. "The rumor mill says you're still seeing him. How would he take you coming to a party without him? I mean, I know they're saying he's innocent, but I don't think people would feel comfortable with him around."

That was completely understandable. Had I not known Tylor, I would have felt the same way. I probably would have felt the same way about his girlfriend, but Andre wasn't making me feel any different than I used to be. I'd been too harsh on them when I had met them in the grocery store. Humans put up blinders to protect themselves from the shit in the world. A girl our age dying was definitely a reason to put up blinders. We weren't self-centered. We'd been protecting ourselves.