It Was Him

Ch. 4: Kacey's News

Kacey
      Hey gurl hey

I smiled as I typed my response.

Wahzuhp B-)

Her response came almost immediately.

Wellll, I just wanted to check up on ya. You doin ok?

Please tell me that she's not talking about the Seth thing.

What do you mean? Of course I'm ok lol

Yes, I'm playing dumb.

This morning, when we saw Seth with Rachael, well, you looked pretty down in the dumps the rest of the day

Ugh, why does everyone think that this is all because of Seth?!

Well thanks for checking but I'm fine lol

I powered down my phone after that. The last thing I needed was for all this pointless pity to make me even more depressed.

Besides, I needed to finish my homework anyways and get to bed. So, I did just that.

As I fell asleep, I did my best not to think of Seth. But, I just couldn't get that image of him and Rachael out of my head.

What is wrong with me?

Before I had enough time to delve further into that topic, my tiredness overwhelmed me and I fell into a dreamless sleep.

*

"Just thought I would warn you this time, Seth's coming over after school today," Zack announced, a smirk on his face.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, thanks, now I have extra time to hide my baby pictures," I responded sarcastically.

This earned a laugh from Zack, and my dad who just so happened to pass by. With impeccable timing.

I smiled and rolled my eyes. "Okay, you guys, I'm off to school. And Zack," I pointed my finger at him. "You better leave soon, too, if ya don't want to be late."

Zack chuckled. "Sure thing, sis."

I smiled and waved goodbye to Zack, Dad, and Mom; who had just stepped out of her bedroom, clad in her robe; before heading out the door.

As I arrived at school, I expected to be greeted by Kacey, like usual. But she was nowhere to be found.

I looked everywhere, and asked everyone who knew her if they'd seen her. All I got were no's, or "She's not with you?" Um, obviously, if I'm asking where she is, she's not with me! Some people, my goodness.

I panicked. Kacey is never absent. Like, ever. And if she is, then she would call or text to tell me what was going on.

Wait a minute...

I fished for my phone in my backpack until I found it. I hurriedly powered it on, impatiently tapping the screen as the logo appeared, seemingly mocking me.

When my phone's home screen finally appeared, the notifications started flooding my phone.

20 missed calls, 17 unread messages, and 14 IM's. All from Kacey.

"Oh, crap," I muttered to myself as I shakily tapped the messages icon. I clicked Kacey's name and skimmed through her messages. The majority were like this:

Hey, are you there? I really need someone to talk to

Stella! I need to talk to you asap

Please, call me as soon as you get this

Stella! Please, come on, what the heck?

I hastily clicked the call icon next to Kacey's name.

She picked up on the first ring. "Stella, hey. What happened to you? You never ghost me, or anyone for that matter."

Her voice sounded like she had been crying for a while. "I turned off my phone last night and forgot to turn it back on this morning. Now, Kace, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

Kacey sniffled. "No, no I'm not okay," she said, her voice cracking.

"Kacey, what is it? You're scaring me!"

"It's...it's my grandpa. He's not doing well at all. We found out that he has cancer, and it's going for the worse. The doctor says he only...has..," Kacey was sobbing by this point, unable to finish her sentences.

She quickly composed herself, though, and continued. "The doctor says he only has a week left to live."

"Oh my gosh, Kacey, I'm so sorry," I held back sobs of my own. Kacey's grandpa was like my own grandpa. My real grandpa died before I was born, and Kacey's grandpa was always there for me.

A hand on my shoulder made me jump. "Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you," Seth's voice sounded from beside me. "You looked like you were about to break down a few seconds ago. Is everything okay?"

"Hang on, Kacey," I said, before turning to face Seth.

"I appreciate you checking, Seth, but now is really not a good time," I blurted.

"Uh, okay, see ya later," Seth muttered, turning on his heel and walking away.

"Sorry about that, Kacey," I apologized.

"No, you're good," she sniffled. "And I won't be coming to school for the rest of the week, as you might've guessed, so could you get my homework for me?"

"Yes, if course I can. And I get it, spend as much time as you can with him. I wouldn't come to school either. And I'll visit him with you tomorrow if you want," I offered.

"Thank you, Stells! You are amazing! And yes, we would love it if you could visit. He misses you, ya know," Kacey admitted.

"Oh my goodness, I miss him too! It's settled then! Just text a time to me later that would work, and I'll walk over to your house and we'll go visit him. I'm certain that my parents would let me take the day off from school," I said.

"Alright, that sounds great. I'll talk to you later, Stella. And I'll keep you updated," Kacey continued.

"Okay, bye! Love you Kacey! Stay strong, Gramps needs it," I breathed.

"Love you too, Stella. And I'll do my best," Kacey responded, before hanging up. She sounded like she was going to cry again, and I didn't blame her.

"Hey, don't you even think about talking to my man again," a voice sounded from behind me as a hand shoved me forward.

I turned around to meet Rachael's piercing glare.

Oh, she chose the worst time to be messing with me, and she's gonna regret it.

~

Okay. Woah. I don't have much experience writing sad things like that, but let me know what you guys think about the whole thing.

And what do you guys think is gonna go down between Rachael and Stella? Leave your thoughts in the comments, and vote if you enjoyed this chapter!

I promise that there's not gonna be a whole lot of scenes dealing with death and things like that, because I know it's a sensitive subject. Any of you out there who have lost someone, you have my love! I know it's not easy and it's pretty much the worst thing you can experience. I love you guys!
                                                         ~R.J.♡