Lost Stars

Chapter 3

>>Chapter 3<<

Her name was Adalyn April Baker. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. She had sun kissed hair that lightly tumbled down her back. Her eyes were the color of the ocean; you could see the darkest parts of her mind just staring into them. They were kind, but also cold and hard, as if all the world had dumped it's cruelties on her. Freckles dotted her skin like stars that formed little constellations. She traced dark eyeliner under her eyes and curled her eyelashes, but honestly, she didn't need it.

I guess what made her beautiful is that she didn't even think she was beautiful. She slunk through the shadows and insisted on playing the role of the dark, mysterious girl with secrets tucked away into every corner of her mind.

Whispered rumors floated through the hallways. She didn't even seem to know. Sorry, let me rephrase that. I knew she heard them, but she didn't care. The words shed off her like rain tumbling off an umbrella.

Maybe she was too hurt to care. Too numb with pain. Too scared to let her walls down. Too afraid to let anybody in. You didn't have to know her to recognize that she'd seen the battlefield. She walked as if she were stepping on glass. She kept her head down, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. She acted as if she were alone. As if she were the only person in the universe.

I knew that she was broken. Her eyes bursted with sadness but she was too strong to cry. She had learned long ago that crying got you nowhere. She distanced herself from everyone; pushed everyone out until no one looked at her twice. She wanted to see who would break down her walls. She was waiting for her Prince Charming who would never come.

It came as a surprise to no one when her death was ruled a suicide. "She had it coming," people would say. "She was already headed down that path." But her decision always bewildered me. Just by staring into her eyes, you could tell she had overcome mountains. Why would she give up now?

I guess that letter confirmed my doubts; she was alive. She had called me out, as if this were a game. I could almost hear her voice taunting me, "Come on, Casey. It's just hide and seek." But somewhere deep inside me, I hoped to God it was just a prank. Someone wanting to watch me dance and make a fool of myself.

So I pushed the letter aside. Addy was dead. I wasn't going to let her ruin my life. God, I wish I wasn't so ignorant.