Chapter 2
Guilt
Jessi's P.O.V
To say that he was surprised by my outburst was a bit of an understatement. One of his confused faces appeared, as he opened his mouth to say something. Nothing came out. The silence was killing me; I knew I shouldn't have told him. If I had just kept my mouth shut. I scowled at myself, muttering under my breath so low that he couldn't hear me unless he really tried to. But by the look on his face, I could see that his focus was elsewhere, debating on what to do next. I stood up, turning away.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you. It's fine. I'll figure it out myself." I gave him a way out.
"No, I'm sorry." I heard as he rose as well, and then felt his hand gently touch my shoulder.
"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings; I was just taken off-guard." He said in a soft voice.
"Of course I want to help you; there is nothing I wouldn't do for you Jessi. You know that right?"
"Yes." I turned around to face him. Happiness filled me as I knew he wouldn't give up on me.
"But, this isn't going to be easy." He continued. "And I don't want you to get your hopes up to high, only to crash back down again if we don't succeed." Oh Kyle, I thought.
"Don't worry, I will be fine. And I will find her." I said convincingly, not sure if it was him or myself I was trying to convince. All I knew was that I needed to find her, I was not about to give up so easily. I hadn't even begun trying. Though, the answers I was looking for wasn't waiting for me here, but in New York, the city that never sleeps. I was finally leaving Seattle.
"We need to go there." I wanted to go right now.
"I know, but we need to talk to the family first. Okay?" I nodded, and grimaced in disappointment. Then I heard Kyle making strange noises, only to finally burst out in laughter as I looked at him.
"What's so funny?" I said dryly, not understanding the humor of it all.
"Nothing!" He started to calm down again.
"Well, it's good that you find it so amusing. I have to go now; I have a table to set." Irritated, I walked past him and straight into the kitchen, feeling the anger disappear as quickly as it had arrived. I couldn't stay mad at him for long. I knew he didn't mean any harm by it. As I picked up the plates, I sensed that someone was standing behind me, the heartbeat loud and clear.
"Kyle, I don't want to…." I began as I turned around, only to see that it wasn't him standing there.
"Hi, Nicole, I was just about to set the table." Embarrassed I hurried into the dining room and set the table, putting a lot more effort into it than necessary. I felt quietly for what I was about to do to them, causing me to be extra nice. When Nicole came in with the salad, she gasped at the view.
"Jessi, you didn't have to do all of this. It's just another dinner." She put the bowl down.
"I wanted to." It'll be the last dinner here for a while. I adjusted one of the flowers in the vase.
"Well that was really nice of you; now please go tell the others dinner's ready would you?" With a smile she left the room, and I walked up the stairs to hunt down the rest. With both hands in front of Josh's and Lori's door, I knocked at them at the same time.
"Dinner's ready!" I yelled, not waiting for them to reply. Instead I headed downstairs, placing myself outside of Kyle's door. I listened to see if he was there, what I didn't expect was the sound of another heartbeat inside. Amanda. I hadn't heard her come in which meant that she had come through the window. From the sound of their voices, it looked like they were in the middle of something. I didn't want to interrupt them so I backed away and sat down at the table with the rest.
"Nice work with the table Jessi" Lori smiled at me, as she passed the salad.
"Yeah, with flowers and all." Josh remarked, receiving an angry look from his dad.
"Josh, eat." Josh went silent and started digging in on the lasagna.
"Where's Kyle?" Nicole asked, and four pairs of eyes were on me.
"I didn't want to disturb him, he seemed very busy. Can't we just save some for him?"
"Okay, he can eat later I suppose." The conversation ended and we began eating. Meanwhile, I was trying to find the right words to break the news to them. To tell them I was about to leave.
Thank you for you positive feedbacks on this story. Please, don't hesitate to let me know what you would like to see happen in the future. I know things are a bit slow right now, but things will start to happen soon. The story has bearly begun!
