The Boy That Hates Books

Final Goodbyes

In which we watch Kirsten say goodbye to her two best friends. The ones she thinks she knows like the palm of her hand, but in reality she doesn't. In reality Kirsten doesn't know a lot of things.

But this will be uncovered. In time. And the only person who can help her do so is The Boy That Hates Books.

Kirsten is going to be heartbroken when she says her final goodbye's, but one thing is for sure. Not a second goes by from this point on wards that The Boy That Hates Books does not cross Kirsten's mind. And they will most certainly be crossing paths again sometime soon.

"Kris!?" Alice's face was a picture of panic, "Where on earth have you been?"

"I'm sorry I'm late," I began, "I was reading a book at the library and I lost track of time..."

"I should've guessed," Alice gave a dramatic sigh, "No worries!" She beamed.

"Where's Austin?" I wondered, hoping that he hadn't disappeared somewhere like he did earlier. If there was any bad air between us I wanted to clear it before he left.

"Inside!" Alice practically sang, "Now come in before the pizza get's cold."

"Pizza...?"

Alice grabbed my hand and practically dragged me into the house. I laughed, I could never quite keep up with Alice and her ways. I wondered if she ever got tired of being the happy-go-lucky person that she was, because I sure would.

The bright lights and the exaggerated interior of the house made me squint, and I knew that it would take awhile for my eyes to adjust. They always did. The twins seemed to like the colour white, from the walls to the carpets, the marble tables and the furniture. Everything was either cream or white, but they somehow pulled it off.

"What's happening to your house when you leave?" I asked Alice, who still had tight grip of my hand as she led me through the corridor and into the sitting room.

"Nothing's happening," she smiled a little too brightly, "I told you before, we're coming back."

By the way she couldn't hold my gaze, and the way her voice faltered, I found her promise hard to believe.

"Please don't promise me promises that you know you can't keep." Sadness washed over me.

Suddenly Alice stopped. She turned around to face me, eyes glassy with tears.

"I will try my best Kirsten," she breathed, "-to come back. Because I can't leave you here."

"Alice I feel like there's something you're not telling me..."

"There's so much you don't know, there's so much even I don't know. But it's for your own good okay? All you need to remember is that me and Austin...we never did you any harm to you and we never wanted to. You mean the world to us."

"Why now? Why all of a sudden? It seems that ever since that new boy arrived..."

"Look Kirsten, it has nothing to do with him," Alice snapped, "we lied to you. There is no new boy okay?"

"What do you mean you lied to me?"

Why did it always seem like everyone knew something and I was the only one kept in the dark?

"Because the boy we saw at The Highway Cafe the other night," Alice stumbled over her words as if she was finding it hard to speak, "he was the fugitive. Not a new boy."

"Oh my god." I lifted a hand to cover my mouth, stifling a cry, "Why didn't you tell me!?"

"Because we didn't want to scare you, you were already so upset."