Almost Lovers

Chapter 3

Three weeks have passed since the start of summer break. Kassielle and Angela had taken a week off from work and went on a vacation with Angela's relatives in British Columbia. Kassielle had always loved her mom's side of the family, while her dad's family made their life a living hell after his death.

Being back in BC though, brought back the memories of her dad. They were staying in a city that was not too far from their old town of Crystal Ridge. Christopher's death left a void in her heart that Kassielle knew no one else could fill. She missed him so much. She missed having a dad. Christopher was an artist just like her. He would spoil Kassielle with books and canvas and paint. He used to paint Angela a lot too. Kassielle had always felt lucky to grow up knowing that a love like her parents' is real and not just a depiction in novels. She had witnessed it. She'd seen it with her own eyes and felt how it is to be part of such love—to be the centre of it. But his death also made her see the scary reality about love. She had witnessed how her mom's heart broke, how in her smile lies a pain not seen yet so palpable. She would often ask herself why terrible things always happen to people who are deeply in love. It is scary that way.

They returned to Whitecrest after a week, and the twelve-hour drive exhausted Kassielle even though she didn't do anything but sit and listen to music. Lili had planned to do some ab-workouts with her as soon as she's back home to prepare for their trip to the mountains with her friends, but that never happened. And now, it was time for them to go.

"Do you think we should bring chips?" Lili asked, munching on Doritos and sitting cross-legged on Kassielle's bed. They were going camping at noon, and Lili came to Kassielle's house all prepared, her bags placed on the floor of Kassielle's small, carpeted bedroom. They were just waiting for Kyle to pick them up while Kassielle did some last-minute packing. 

"Well, the boys said they're bringing all the food. We're just in charge of the blankets and pillows," she replied as she put her moisturizer and OFF lotion inside her bag. The boys didn't usually deal with food. It was always her that used to plan what foods to bring, and assign everyone tasks. It made her happy thinking the boys might actually be more responsible now.

Lili stopped munching and closed her eyes in frustration. "Crap, I need to go home and get some blankets then."

Lili lives only a block away from Kassielle. They both don't have a car yet, so it was convenient that she can just walk all the way to her best friend's house.

"You don't have to. We only need six and Piper's already bringing three. We have extra here. You can just help me carry it."

"Sounds good," Lili went back to eating her Doritos.

After an hour, Kyle's SUV parked in front of Kassielle's house. They dragged their things outside the while Killian got off the car to help them load their stuff at the back of Kyle's SUV.

"Shotgun!" Lili exclaimed, running towards the car before Kassielle and Killian could even finish loading the bags. Lili always liked to be in the front seat. She liked taking charge of the car stereo, picking songs on a road trip, and taking videos of their travel so she can post it on social media.

"Hey, that's my seat!" Killian groaned as he closed the back door.

"Sorry man, she's fast!" Kyle called out from the window.

Kassielle got in the car and was about to sit at the very back seat next to Piper.

"Sorry Kass, Killian wanted to be at the back." Piper said with a shrug. "He was gonna reach for out stuff in the trunk if we needed anything. Just sit with Liam." Piper said, pointing to the empty seat in the middle row. Kassielle thought she saw her wink. She looked at the seat, then to Liam, who gave her a smile. You're dead later Pipes, she thought.