The drone of shoppers filled Chloe's head as she sat in the Deepoak shopping centre's food court, with her friends; Ruby, who at that moment was frantically tapping at her phone, and David, who was looking out of the corner of his eye at her with a worried look on his face, pretending to read a book.
She stared blankly at her milkshake, wondering if it could explain to her what had just happened. It didn't.
She felt hollow. She was missing something. Something that shouldn't have gone missing in the first place. She'd felt panic in the morning at the realisation. Now, she felt nothing. Chloe was sure it was a dream, and at any moment now she was going to wake up at the sound of him laughing at her. She didn't.
"Hey Chlo are you okay?" David asked, sounding worried, "Youv'e never sat this still before..."
"I'm...fine." She choked out. Then she began sobbing uncontrollably. David got out of his chair and sat down next to her. He lifted her head out of her arms and looked her directly in the eye.
"No you're not. You're not Chlo. You're not meant to be." He said quietly, then he stood up, grabbed her hand and walked her out of her food court, telling Ruby to meet them in the car park.
They sat down on a bench at the bus stop outside. David then took his earphones out and put them in his ears. Chloe sat there for a while, not doing anything. Then she turned to David who had been ignoring her the entire time.
"Thanks..." she whispered
He took one earphone out and smiled, "What for? I didn't do anything."
Then Ruby came dashing up to them, waving her phone in the air. Chloe stood up with a start. "Have they...?" she began.
"I don't know. But your mum called me, and just then I got a text from your dad."
The next moment Chloe was running down the street in the direction of her house. By the time David and Ruby had reached the house they were both puffing and wheezing, clutching their sides.
"Damn that girl can run fast." Ruby managed to say in between heavy breaths. David nodded with his hands on his knees.
They half-walked half-dragged themselves up the verandah, and into the house, through the open front door.
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