Addicted To You .L.S.

Twenty Eight.

Now (June)

Racheal leaves for her dads, promising to call as soon as she got the thumb drive open. I start my morning yoga practice, but I pushed myself too hard yesterday. After my knee buckles for the fourth time in warrior pose, I roll up my map and put it away.
It's important to know when your beat.

My jeans are still on the floor where I tossed them last night, and when I pick them up, the envelope the thumb drive had been in has fallen out of the pocket. There's a piece of folded notepaper inside that I hadn't noticed last night. I unfold it and see unfamiliar handwriting:

Please, babe, just answer the phone. We have to talk about this. All I want to do is talk, I promise, just answer the phone. If you keep ignoring me your not going to like what happens.

I turn over the note, but it's not signed.
It doesn't matter. It has to be Kylie.
If you keep ignoring me your not going to like what happens.
I read the sentence over and over again, stuck on it, like it's and endless loop in my head.

"Louis?"
I look up from the paper in my hand. Dads standing in the doorway, frowning.
"Sorry. Yeah?"
"I was just saying I'm heading out," he says. "I've got an early lunch with Rob. Your mum left already. Hey, are you going to be okay? You look pale. I could cancel—"
"I'm fine," I say, but my ears are ringing. Already, I'm cycling through the possible places Kylie would be right now. "I just pushed myself to much. My knee hurts."
"Do you want some ice?"
"I'll get it. You don't have to cancel, Dad. Go to lunch, say hi to coach for me." I need dad out of the house. I have to find Kylie. Where would she be right now? At home?
"Okay," Dad says. "You'll call me if it gets bad?" I smile, which he seems to take as a yes.

I wait, Kylie's note crumpled in my fist, until Dad drives off. Then I pick up my phone and punch in Adam's number. I pace across the room as it rings. When he finally picks up, I can hear laughter and barking dogs in the background. "Hello?"
"Adam, hi. It Louis."
"Hey, what's up?"
"I was wondering if you knew where Kylie'd be right now," I say. "I found some things of Harry's that I think she gave him. I wanted to give it to her to make up for being a jerk last week. I wasn't sure where or when she'd be working this summer."
"Yeah, she's probably at work," he says, and someone says his name, followed by more laughter. "Wait a second, guys," he calls. "Sorry Lou. She's at her dads restaurant, not the dinner, the one on main."
"Thanks."
"Yeah no problem," Adam says. "Hey, give me a call next week. The teams having our bonfire at the lake. We'll hangout."
"Sure," I say, not taking it seriously. "I've got to go. Thanks again."

I drive to fast, gunning it as the yellow light switches to red, barely pausing at stop signs, careening around corners. Our downtown isn't much because our town isn't much. The good and bad parts are kind of squished together; the courthouse and the jail are a block apart, the liquor store and schools. I slow down once I see the terribly run down motel.  The restaurant is right next to it, so I quickly park and bang through the doors, not caring if I'm drawing attention. Kylie is leaning on the counter, watching the flat screen on the far wall.

The restaurant is almost empty, just a few tables full. I march past them and up to Kylie as her mouth tightens. "I need to talk to you."
"I'm at work." She glares at me through her floppy blond hair. "If you go psycho in here—"
"Take a break to talk to me or you'll find out how psycho I can get."
She glances around at the people at the tables. "Come on," she says and I follow her through the kitchen and out the back way, behind the restaurant. It smells awful out here, like grease and garbage, I breath through my mouth trying to block it out.

"I can't believe you." Kylie rounds on me as soon as the door closes."What's your problem?" I hurt the note at her, slapping the note on her chest. "Want to explain that?"
She grabs it from me, scanning it. "So what?"
I fold my arms and plant my feet. "Tell me what you and Harry fought about the night before he died."

Kylie's the definition of an open book. She's crap at hiding her emotions, and her mouth drops for a second before remembering to close it.

"It's none of your business."
"It is when you leave threatening notes right before he gets murdered!"
"Bullshit," Kylie says. "That wasn't a threat, I just wanted him to call me back."
"You threatened him. 'If you keep ignoring me your not going to like what happens.' Who says that to their boyfriend?"
Kylie goes red, her puppy-dog eyes hardening. "Shut up. You don't know what your talking about."
"Then explain it to me. Tell me what you guys were fighting about."
"You need to leave it alone," she warns.
"Not gonna do that."
"Fuck you." She starts towards the door and I plant myself in front of her and push her hard. She's not as tall as me, but she's strong and full of muscles, it felt good to shove her. As she stumbles, I move towards her again, but she regains her balance and grabs my wrists easily. "Stop it, Louis." Then she let's go of me and steps back, holding her hands out in front of her. "Your gonna hurt yourself."

I lunge for her again, but she darts out of the way. I come down to hard on my leg and nearly fall. "Your such a pain in the ass," she mutters as she grabs my arm to steady me.

"Tell me," I insist. I'm panting, adrenaline running through me. "Why were you fighting?"
"Don't," she says. "Just don't."
"What did he tell you that makes you so angry? What were you threatening him with?" With every question, I push her, and she just takes it. I'm right in her face, inches away. I have to grasp the chain link fence behind her to stay steady. My legs shaking, but I try to ignore it. I won't fall in front of her. "He cared about you. He let you sleep with him! You know how he—"
"Shut up!" She yells, and I gasp, flinching at the raw note of her voice. Her brown eyes shine, like she's about to cry. "Shut up! There's only one of us here who was fucking him, and it sure as hell wasn't me!"