Lola knew that Kitzie didn't go home very often, but when she did, she had to stay for a few days because she was almost always grounded whenever she saw her parents. Kitzie avoided her parents a lot for that exact reason. Lola remembered many conversations they'd had about them, about how much she hated them and how every single time she saw them, they would just punish her. They didn't care that they hadn't seen her in four days, they cared that she had gone when they told her not to.
Kitzie had been grounded for the past couple of days, but had been complaining to Lola about it the whole time. So when Kitzie hadn't replied to any of Lola's messages, she started to wonder what was going on.
Kitzie's house wasn't far from where Lola lived, but it was still a decent enough walk.
Even for March, it was still cold. Lola pulled the hood of her jacket over her head in an attempt to keep her frozen ears warm. It didn't work. For once, it wasn't raining, but it felt like the kind of day where rain would have suited the atmosphere more. Something told her that Kitzie wasn't going to be in the best of situations when she got there, but she just had to hope that Kitzie had just left her phone in another room.
Lola approached a house that appeared to be perfect. The lawn was mown and a perfect shade of green, the flower beds along the brick walls were immaculate, and even the drawn curtains seemed to be perfectly placed. Lola didn't think she'd ever approached the house when the curtains were open, and she didn't know what to make of that.
She sent a message to Kitzie: Are your parents home? I'm outside.
Even after a few minutes, there was no reply. The house seemed unnaturally silent. Quickly, she crept round to the side of the house, peeking into the garage. The car wasn't there, so hopefully Kitzie's parents weren't home. Lola wasn't in the mood to face them today.
She opened the back door, which was a sign that someone must have been in the house, because Kitzie's parents never left the empty house unlocked.
"Hello?" She called out, praying that Kitzie's parents wouldn't answer. Instead, she got no answer.
Where the hell was Kitzie?
The house was perfectly clean and tidy, so much so that it almost looked like no one lived there. She wondered how much time they spent cleaning the house, and how much it compared to the amount of time they actually spent living in it. She poked her head through the doorway leading into each room, but no one seemed to be there.
She found Kitzie in the bathroom.
"Fucking hell, Kitzie, what are you doing?"
Lola stood in the doorway, staring at her friend with concern. She had gone to Kitzie's house to check she was okay since she hadn't returned any calls or texts. She hadn't actually expected Kitzie to not be okay, sprawled on the floor unconscious.
Blinking, Kitzie sat up. She didn't say anything.
"Did you pass out again?" Lola knelt down to Kitzie's height. She looked a little dazed, but it didn't seem too bad anymore.
Kitzie shrugged, "If I did, I hit my head as well because ow." She brought a hand to her head a squinted her eyes. Lola just looked at her with dismay, like she was trying to work out what to do with her friend.
Kitzie was trying to play it off like she was okay, but honestly, she was shaken up. She hated fainting. It was always so scary, and she always woke up wondering whether she'd just dreamed the whole thing. But why would she dream stumbling around as everything started going fuzzy? Why would she dream the tight grip of fear as she began to lose her vision? Why would she dream the moment where she knew she was going to fall but couldn't do anything because she was by herself?
