Deadly Double Love

Deadly Double Love 19

            We walked back to my house, hand in hand, and by the time we got there Addie and my dad were just getting ready to leave. Addie glanced at me, then did a double take when she saw that there was someone with me.

            “Who’s your friend?” she asked.

            “This is Scott,” I said.

            “Why is he here? Doesn’t he have to go to school?” Addie said as she leaned down to tie her shoes.

            “We are going to figure out who took my mom,” I told her.

            Something flashed across her face, something that looked a lot like panic, but it was so quick that I wasn’t sure if I had imagined it or not.

            “I think that you need to deal with the fact that she’s gone, Kaetlyn. She left,” Addie said, annoyingly using my full name.

            “No. Someone took her, and I am going to find out who,” I said firmly.

            Addie’s fingers tightened on her shoelaces.

            “Don’t,” she said simply, but there was a hint of fear in her voice.

            She stood up, gathered her belongings, and walked out the door with my dad, all the while very purposely not looking at me.

            Annoyed that Addie was trying to tell me what to do, I went into the kitchen and pulled out the milk, hot chocolate mix, and marshmallows. I grabbed a mug from the cabinet and started pouring the milk when Scott came up behind me and peered over my shoulder.

            “Don’t I get one?” he asked with a smile.

            “This is for you,” I replied.

            “Then where is the mug for you?”

            “Oh, well, you know…” I trailed off, not sure what to say.

            Scott just looked at me.

            “I don’t drink milk,” I told him.

            “And why’s that?”

            “Well…” I didn’t know what to say, as I hadn’t exactly told him about my not eating. He knew that I didn’t eat a lot of lunch, but he didn’t know why. But surely saw what a fatty I was, surely he would agree that I had to diet. I was down to 110 pounds after weeks of hardly eating anything, but that wasn’t good enough. I wanted to be 100 pounds. But I knew that when I got to 100 pounds, I would want to be 90. I sighed.

            “So have some toast instead, then,” Scott said.

            “I’m not hungry,” I mumbled.

            “Did you even have breakfast?”

            “Yes,” I lied.

            “What did you have?”

            I paused, not sure what to say.

            “You didn’t eat,” he said softly.

            “That’s really besides the point,” I told him. “We aren’t here to discuss my eating habits. We are here to find who took my mom.”

            “How often do you eat?” He asked, ignoring me.

            “It doesn’t matter.”

            “Yes it does. How often do you eat?”

            “Too much!” I cried. “Obviously I eat too much! I mean, look at me! I’m fat!”

            “Do you really think that?” he asked in a whisper.

            “Yes! And you do too! Everyone does! Everyone knows I’m fat!”

            “Kitty, you are not fat. You are perfect and you are beautiful.”

            “Don’t lie to me!” I shouted.

            “I’m not lying. I honestly think that you are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on. I mean, just look at yourself. You have beautiful wavy blond hair, gorgeous silvery gray eyes, and a smile that blows me away.”

            I was stunned. No one had ever described me like that before.

            “Please eat,” Scott said, holding out a piece of bread.

            I silently took it and nibbled on a corner. Scott smiled and we walked into the living room together.

            We sat on the couch facing each other.

            “So how are we going to find out who took your mom?”

            “I don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t really have a plan; I just know that if we find whoever took her, we’ll find her too. I just need her back.”

            “Kitty…” he began. “What if we find whoever took your mom, but your mom isn't there?”

            “No,” I said. “She will be there and I will find her and she will come back home with me.”

            “But what if she’s… you know…” He didn’t finish his sentence; he didn’t have to.

            “She’s not dead, Scott.” I tried to sound like I was sure of what I was saying, but I until Scott had said that, I hadn’t even thought that she might be dead. It hadn’t even crossed my mind. Quickly, I dismissed the idea that my mom could be gone forever. There was no way that could be true.