Gone

10.

Three weeks had gone by after Taylor's death. I remember thinking that there might be a chance that Taylor was still alive, that maybe Kevin hadn't killed her and he had only knocked her out with all the force he was using. I eventually realized that wasn't a possibility. She was dead and nothing could be done to help the fact that she wasn't coming back. Throughout the first week, Kelsey, Chloe, and I talked about things to distract us from the situations. We would talk about the most random topics, it would range from a lot of stuff; shows we had watched, people we liked, even SCHOOL! It was a form of trying to cope, I guess. Something would always bring us back to Taylor though. Chloe was the most affected. We would be talking about something, but then she would break down crying. Kelsey kept all her emotions bottled up, just like me, but I knew --just like a soda bottle that had been shaken up, if the cap was turned slightly, I would explode.

The second week after Taylor's death had begun, I started to take notice of the changes occurring around me. After getting our breakfast, I noticed Kelsey staring at a corner in the room as if something was over there.

"She's crying, Kassidy.." She whispered, I felt my heart jump from her words. At first, I thought she was talking about Chloe.

"Chloe's crying?" I asked her silently.

"No... the lady in the white dress..." her face appeared to have no emotion, just blank.

"Kels... there's no one over there..."

"Yes, there is Kassidy. She's sobbing right now, don't you hear it?" Again, there was no one in that corner. By this time, the lightbulb in the room had been working perfectly fine, so I could see everything in that room.

"Huh? What's happening?" Chloe snapped, just waking up.

"Shh, you'll upset her Chloe.." Chloe then made direct eye contact with me and mouthed the words; "What the hell?" I shrugged my shoulders, hoping this wasn't anything serious. She began to tell Chloe and me things she'd see and hear. As time went on, I noticed the three of us began to talk less and less. Maybe the other two ran out of things to talk about? There was a day, where Kelsey just wouldn't speak to either of us.

"What do you want to do after high school?" Chloe had asked me, trying another distraction.

"Haven't you already asked this?" I questioned.

"Hm, well what about you Kelsey?" Chloe asked hesitantly. She didn't even bother to raise her head up. Unfortunately, my brain's immediate conclusion for this, was that Kelsey was dead. Luckily, that wasn't true. The days went on, and I became used to Kelsey not talking, and I was pretty sure Chloe did too. Before I knew it, Chloe ended up the same way. There was one day where Chloe just didn't speak to either Kelsey or me. So, I decided to follow their lead and keep all my thoughts to myself.

By the third week, I had gotten used to the silence, even though I had been containing all the thoughts I had in my head to myself. There came a day when things shifted into a different light. Lukas had walked into our room and woke us up as the usual cigarette was sticking out of his mouth. We each got our daily breakfast as usual and ate. Neither of us said a word like any other "ordinary" day, I heard the side door open and close, just like I had heard it every day for the past few weeks; still wondering what the person was doing.

Hours later, it became lunchtime. Kevin gave Kelsey and Chloe their canned food, and Bryson brought me my food, just like every day before. Just before Bryson was out of the room, Lukas stopped him in his tracks.

"Bryson, Kev, and I are headin' out for a couple of errands, so watch them and give them dinner around 8 o'clock." Bryson simply nodded as he followed Lukas and Kevin into the hallway. About another hour had gone by after we ate, with neither of us talking. I took notice of what the other two were doing in the meantime.