RED: Welcome To Fayetteville | Complete ✔️

Chapter 28: The Butterflies

Kathrine didn't even let herself think. She didn't know what to do. She stared at the phone's screen like it had her in a hypnotic trance. She couldn't stop the bright pixels from seeping into her brain. She slid the name to the left and hit delete.

Gone. The messages were gone... but the truth wasn't. Yes, Kathrine was running from what happened in Florida, but it was chasing her.

-----

"His funeral was awful. They didn't do him justice... you know that?" Natalie said, hitting her steering wheel in the parking lot of the high school after classes let out. Her car was next to Evelyn's and it was one of the last few there.

"I know... He was such a good person. He grew up dealing with so much, but he didn't let any of it stop him. He never gave up..." Evelyn turned the vent away from her. It was freezing outside, but Natalie's temperature was boiling. She was blasting the AC. "I wasn't as close to him, but I know you were... and I haven't gotten to tell you this yet. I just want you to know how sorry I am. I couldn't imagine what you're dealing with. I miss him. I'm terribly sad. But, he wasn't my best friend like he was to you."

Natalie lost it. It was more than tears... snot and saliva were covering her face in spite of her effort to wipe it from her face.

She took a deep breath. "I don't think he was just my best friend. I took him for granted. Derrick wasn't right for me... Jasper was. And he told me--" she bolted out a cry.

Evelyn let her catch her breath again.

Natalie turned to her, showing her bloodshot eyes resting in dark circles. The AC was the only sound roaring in the car. "He told me he loved me right before. I left him alone. I was there and walked out..."

"It could have been you..." Evelyn said.

"I didn't even think of that. I didn't even care. What's crazy is that I left him alone... just like he had spent his life. Alone. And what's even more twisted... I think I loved him, too."

"Natalie, I'm-" Evelyn started to try to comfort her, but Natalie cut her off.

"No. I have to go," she said as she popped the locks open on the car.

"If you need anything-"

"Please."

Evelyn reached down and pulled the handle. She stepped out into the brisk air and got into her car. Natalie pulled out of the parking lot as soon as she closed the door. She took a left at the light, headed toward the police station.

-----

Kathrine sat in the coffee house at the wooden table in the far right corner of the building. She spun her phone on the table by her index finger. Then, she opened it and pulled down on her 'Messages' screen to make sure there weren't any more of those invasive text bubbles. She was constantly checking even when she knew she deleted them.

You here? Zach texted her from the parking lot. They were about to get hot chocolate together. Somehow, in the middle of all these emotions, he still had butterflies. Those butterflies.

***Author Question: If Zach has a crush on Kathrine, do you think she would entertain it? Does she like him back? Or will the messages from Florida keep her mind on something else?

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