Among the Stars (Shidge AU) [Book 2]

Chapter Twenty-Three

Matt heard his alarm go off. He groaned as he turned in off. 6:30 am. Monday, February 10th. He promised his mother he would go to school today.

He rolled out of bed as he got ready. This was going to be the first day he'd go school without his sister. He dreaded this day. Shiro had already gotten up early to leave for school. He left at five in the morning with Matt's dad for the Garrisons. Matt had gotten dress as he saw his and Katie's bracelet on his dresser. He let out a sigh as he put on his bracelet. He than grabbed Katie's as he put it in his pocket.

He exited his room as he passed by Katie's door. He stopped. He than opened the door as he entered in. He turned on her light as he walked in. She still had an unfinished project on her desk as her tools were sprawled everywhere. Her bed wasn't made, and clothes were still all over her floor, along with a couple of empty jars of peanut butter.

He let out a sigh as he walked over to her desk as he saw a picture of him, her, and Shiro when they first met, except there was a small piece of paper tapped over Shiro to cover him up. Matt picked it up as he chuckled. It all happened so fast... and now she was gone. A tear fell down Matt's face as he set the picture down. He than walked over to her bed and he sat down. He looked around the messy room, recalling all the memories with her. This was so hard for him.

He than heard a knock on not Katie's door, but his. His mother than called, "Matt, are you awake?"

Matt stood up as he turned off the lights, exited the room, and walked over to his mother. "Yeah, I'm up."

She was a little startled, as she expected him to be in his room, but than said calmly, "I made breakfast. Feel up to some food?"

Matt nodded as he headed for down stairs. Colleen walked behind him. He was doing much better than when he first found she was gone. She wanted to forget that day, but somethings, you can never forget, no matter how much you want to...

She was crying as she rested her head on the steering wheel. She sobbed at the news she had just received. Her daughter... was gone... Tears fell as she didn't want to move anymore... but than she heard from outside her car, "Mom!" It was her son. "Where's Katie!?" She looked up as she saw Shiro holding Matt back as tears were streaming down Matt's face. Her chest ached as she saw him. "Let me go!" He yelled at Shiro. "Please! I need to know where Katie is!"

Colleen exited the car, the bag with Katie's bracelet in her hand. She closed the door behind her. Shiro let Matt go as Matt ran up to his mother. She still had tears on her face as she handed the bag to Matt. It had some dried blood stains on it. Tears continued to fall down Matt's face as he looked at the bag, then up at his mother. She than said, "Matt... Katie is gone..."

Matt looked back at the bracelet as stared at the blood stains. Tears fell onto the bag. "No... You don't mean..." He trailed off as he looked up at his mother.

Colleen nodded painfully. "Dead..." She finished.

The expression on his face was painful for Colleen to see. She hated to see her son like that. He was devistated as he stared at his mother. His chest tightened and then he fainted. It was too much for him. The bag was still in his hand.

Shiro looked down at the ground. He wasn't too close to Katie, mainly because she wouldn't let him, but he still cared for her. Shiro walked over to Matt as he picked him up. He didn't say anything to Colleen as he headed back inside.

Colleen just stood there as she watched him walk inside. She just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. She felt so overwhelmed...

A tear fell from her eye as she remembered it. She walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. She placed a pancake on a plate as she handed it to Matt. His appetite had slowly been returning, but he still ate little compared to what he usually ate. Matt smiled a bit as he thanked her. He than sat down on the table. Colleen grabbed a couple of pancakes for her self, grabbed the syrup, and sat down at the table, in front of her son.

Matt looked at his food as he poked it with his fork. He did that a lot recently. Colleen let out a sympathetic sigh. She hated to see her son so depressed. She poured some syrup on his pancake than hers. Matt always loved pancakes. He especially love chocolate peanut butter pancakes, but Colleen was afraid it would remind him too much of Katie and decided to just make regular pancakes.

Matt took a bit as he slowly ate it. He looked at his mother as he said, "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She responded as she started to eat hers. It was silent between them. It wasn't an awkward silence, just a kind of silence of depression. One where no one spoke, because everyone was too sad to speak up.

Colleen wanted to be happy and to strengthen her son, but it was extremely hard... especially when she suffered from depression. She was diagnosed with it around when she was a teen. Though, if she didn't have her husband to help her with it, she doesn't know where she'd be now.

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Matt left to school as he rarely spoke to anyone. Sometimes, if someone said, "Sorry about what happened to Katie..." He wouldn't even look at them or even acknowledge that they spoke. It all felt fake to him. And at some points of the day, he was about ready to burst into tears, but he held it in.

Brandon wasn't there today. From what he heard, he and his friends were currently in juvenile detention until they were held on trial. They were in big trouble. Matt had secretly hoped they'd be sentenced to death... but he knew that wouldn't happen.

Matt avoided as much interaction with anyone as possible. Well, he was like this for weeks on end. He wasn't the bright nerd that all the teachers loved anymore... and the teachers noticed it. They tried to help him, but he wouldn't let them close enough to help him...

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~KanGian