Waiting

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Stephen Gaghan, but he made them so wonderful I just had to borrow them.

Author's Note: Julie is the girl who is always in the library, played by Melanie Lynskey. I don't think they mentioned her name in the film, but she was listed in the credits as 'Mousy Julie'. I loved her little character. This fic is set right after Harrison goes missing.

***

"Harrison disappeared today," Julie tells Embry cheerfully, tugging her sweater tighter around her body. Their conversations always begin like that, with a statement, not with greetings. Julie likes to think that this is because Embry never said 'hello' to her before. Before what Julie calls the "incident," even though she never talks about it with anybody else, not even Embry. Because, shh, it's a secret, and she mustn't ever tell.

Julie likes having secrets, she likes looking at Katie and thinking that she gets to keep a little part of Katie quiet inside of her.

Julie settles down cross-legged at the bottom of the steps – gingerly, because it's wet and slightly grimy – and continues. "I don't suppose you know anything about that, do you?" Julie already looked, though, through graffiti-covered hallways and cobwebby rooms, with Katie safe in her library corner. Harrison isn't here, which was a mild disappointment. Still, Julie had carried the knowledge of his disappearance with her all through the day, gleefully singing 'this makes two' to herself until she was finally able to talk to Katie in the evening.

"Poor Katie," Julie says mournfully. "She was very upset. And then," she says confidentially, "she went to see that detective again."

Julie runs her hand across the damp concrete floor, over the stone that was once stained dark red even though time and water has faded it. "Don't worry though," she says soothingly. "She doesn't love him like she loves you. She's just confused right now."

Julie has watched Katie, seen her race terrified between the library shelves, seen her stumble sleepily across campus. Seen her enter the guidance counselor's office. Julie knows that Katie needs someone to talk to, but the school's psychologist won't help. Katie needs someone who understands everything. And Julie does. She knows everything, and she understands. And she's trying to be so nice, waiting until Katie realizes, until Katie notices her.

But no, Katie never notices quiet little Julie. Katie never tries to be nice. Julie is getting tired of waiting. It's so frustrating.

"I'm so glad I have you to talk to," Julie sighs, giving the concrete a gentle pat. "You understand how difficult she can be sometimes."

Julie considers Katie, the way her dark hair falls across her face as she types, how focused her eyes look when she looks at Julie. How she is always picking at her fingers and how Julie always wants to grab her hands and hold them so she stops.

Julie nods. "I can wait though. She's worth waiting for." Julie tells herself stories of what will happen when Katie realizes, when the waiting is over. She can see Katie's happy smile in her mind, and hear her laughter. The thoughts make her fidget anxiously in the darkened, dripping room. "Embry?" she asks, her voice small and hopeful. "How much longer do you think we'll have to wait for?"

The room falls quiet and there is no answer, because Julie is just a girl sitting alone in a big, deteriorating building. And Embry is just silent, ashen bones hidden away beneath piles of rubble.