The Highest Summit © | ✅

Chapter 2: Time to heal

Sam

"What's going on?" Alex asks his parents.

"I'm sorry, everyone. Barbara, uh, she doesn't feel well," Mrs. Moore says.

"But what is wrong with the poor thing? I thought she would be happy coming back," Liz's mother asks.

"She is," Mr. Moore answers.

"What happened?" Mr. Williams, Alex's uncle, asks.

"Dad, now's not the time," the tall, bulky guy says, who I now realize must be Alex's other cousin.

"Matt, what is going on?" his father insists.

"Cam, suffice to say it is bad," Mr. Moore answers for his nephew.

"Did something happen to my niece?" Mr. Williams keeps asking. I know I don't know Alex's sister, but even though they've lived apart for some time, he always spoke nicely of her, although they acted like any other siblings, bickering and fighting. He loves her and was very happy to have learned that she would be back home and would attend school with us. She is the same age as Chloe and won't be in any of our classes. But I feel she will fit in nonetheless. The girls, especially Chloe, were happy to hear she was coming back and didn't stop talking about it for days.

"Dad, please, what happened to my sister?" Alex asks.

"Barbara lost a few friends," her mother says vaguely. What's that supposed to mean?

"So, she freaks out because a few shitheads won't talk to her anymore?" Chloe asks.

"Chloe," her mother scolds her.

"It's not like that," Mr. Moore says still vaguely, but looking sad.

"Uncle John, what the hell does that mean?" Liz asks exasperated.

"They died," Matt says. Everyone in the room falls silent and stares at him shocked. They died? How? Where was Alex's sister?

"What?" Liz, Chloe and a few others ask. I'm speechless. I look around, especially toward my friends and see the same reaction I had. Chloe looks close to tears, Alex's mouth hangs open and each time he tries to close it, it falls open again. Liz's eyes are wide and shocked, as if someone just told her something terrifying. What am I thinking? Someone did say something terrifying. Alex's sister lost friends; they died. All I can think of is, how?

"Let's drop this. Bee needs time to process everything. She needs our help and support. This means no stupid questions. She didn't want to talk about it at all," Matt says.

"I expect everyone to not ask her anything. Barbara will open up when she's ready," her dad says with a finality to his tone.

"But John," Liz's mom protests.

"No, Ellie. She needs time to heal. I know what I'm talking about. Annie, I think we need to talk about what will happen next," he says to his wife and she nods.

"We should probably all leave," Liz's dad says.

"No, please stay and enjoy the food," Mrs. Moore stops them from leaving.

"Cameron, Joe, Matt, please join Annie and me in the study," Mr. Moore requests. "Ellie, will you please take care of our guests?" he asks and she nods.

The small group leaves us behind looking dumbfounded and curious as to what is going on. I have to admit this is one strange occurrence.

"What do you think is going on?" Justin, my best friend, asks me.

"I have no clue," I answer him honestly.

"What do you think happened?" Chloe asks no one in particular.

"Don't know," Liz answers looking toward the door where the select group of the Moore family disappeared.

"What happened that friends of your sister's died?" Derek, Justin's younger brother, who is also a sophomore just like Chloe, asks curiously.

"I don't know," Alex answers, obviously at a loss of words.

"Your sister is a mountaineer, isn't she?" my dad inquires. Alex nods. "They might have had a rough climb," he says absentmindedly.

"But she just went hiking," Alex says confused.

"From what I've learned from your dad is that your sister is quite the mountain enthusiast," dad comments, looking at us. None of us know exactly what he means by that and he doesn't seem to be in the mood to elaborate. Liz's mom comes over with some snacks and we quickly change the subject.

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