Disclaimer:
As you all know, I don't own Higher Ground or any of the characters from Higher Ground, but I do own Kylene, her family, and whatever other original characters that I might think up.Author's Note:
Wow, I'm really surprised at the positive reviews I got. Thank you all so much! Well, anyway, here's the second chapter. Sorry it took so long. You know how it is, with schoolwork and all. But, um, one thing…I can't help but feel I've got my time lining all wrong here somehow. If you think so too please let me know. And also, Juliette (I like writing out her full name, it's spelled so cool) and Auggie are a couple in this, and I'm sorry for you Shelby fans that I make her seem like a cold, heartless bitch in this chapter, but I assure you, that will change in later chapters. You'll understand why I made her a bitch when you read this chapter. Oh and also, I gave their school block scheduling for some reason. I don't know why. But anyway, without further ado, here's the second chapter…SCOTT'S POV
"Yo, Scott, stay awake," Auggie says, jarring me out of my half spacing out, half sleeping state, poking me with the end of his pencil. "Were you up all night last night or something?"
I look over at him with half-lidded eyes that were getting harder and harder to keep open by the minute. "What do you think?" I ask him, rubbing at the bags under my eyes.
"The homework wasn't that hard last night," he jokes.
"It wasn't that," I say slowly while trying to stifle a yawn at the same time. "I've got full moon fever, it seems. I just couldn't get to sleep."
"Ah, I've gotten that a few times," Auggie agrees, nodding. "But are you sure it was just that? Or were you thinking about the new girl?" he smirks, grinning wryly.
"Kylene?"
"Don't deny it. I saw the way you were lookin' at her during lunch yesterday."
"Nah, man. She's cute, but not cute enough to keep me up all night."
"Could've fooled me."
"Kiss off, Auggie." I open my mouth to say more, but am cut off by another voice.
"Now, none of that language." Auggie and I both turn to the right to see Mr. Harold walking towards our group sitting at one of the picnic tables outside. "If I hear anymore bad talk coming from you, Mr. Barringer, you'll have a half hour's detention with me after classes," he says as he walks over to one of the vacant tables and sets his book bag down.
I roll my eyes. Mr. Harold. The eleventh grade English teacher. He had to be one of the strictest and grumpiest teachers there were. And his class goes by the slowest. Through most of the class period he'd lecture, and he'd talk in this annoying monotone voice that nearly drives me insane. He looked more like a computer whiz than an English teacher, decked out in high water dress pants, dress shirt, socks and penny loafers and thick glasses. He's, what, in his mid-fifties? And he still hasn't learned how to groom his own hair--well, actually, more like the remains of what's left of his brownish-going-gray hair--which is always messy and wild.
"All right, class, please open your books to last night's assignment and get out your homework," Mr. Harold says, officially beginning the class.
"Hold up, Mr. Harold," Peter's voice comes from behind. I turn around yet again to see Peter coming toward us with Kylene walking by his side. "You've got a new student," Peter says once he's reached our group. He looks over at Kylene and wraps an arm around her shoulder. "Mr. Harold, this is Kylene Johnson. She just transferred here yesterday."
"Oh. Well, welcome, Kylene. I'm sorry, I totally forgot about you, Sophie told me I'd be getting a new student last night. I left your textbook back in my office. If you'll excuse me for a minute, I'll go retrieve it for you."
Kylene just kinda stands there awkwardly, not saying a word. Her dark, curly, shoulder length hair hangs freely around her shoulders, and she's wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, a white shirt and a green plaid long sleeved button-up shirt over that with a dark purple backpack hanging off one shoulder. Her brown-green eyes were surveying the area around her, looking at who was here.
"All right then," Mr. Harold says, clearing his throat. "Class, be good while I'm gone. Why don't you all introduce yourselves to Miss Johnson, hmm?" And with that, he walks away.
No one bothers to introduce themselves, of course. Peter stands there with Kylene for a little longer, whispering something to her. She nods her head and then he walks away. Still standing there awkwardly, she looks around expectantly, seeming to be waiting for someone to offer her a seat or just make room for her at one of the picnic tables. I willingly make space for her to come sit with us--us being, me, Auggie, Katherine and Ezra.
"Hey, Kylene," I say. "Come sit over here." I pat on the empty seat beside me, further encouraging her to come and sit. She walks over to us silently and sits down.
"So, how ya doin'?" Auggie asks.
"Fine," Kylene replies groggily.
"You look tired," Katherine observes.
"I am. I couldn't fall asleep till late last night."
"I wouldn't doubt it. You took quite a nap yesterday after lunch," Ezra says.
"Uh, yeah," she says, sounding somewhat uncomfortable. She licks her full lips. "I had a long trip yesterday…"
"All right, class, I'm back." Mr. Harold comes walking back with a textbook in hand for Kylene. He hands it to her and then walks back over to his book bag and takes out his things. "Did you all introduce yourselves to Miss Johnson?" When none of says anything, he lets out a sigh, rolls his big eyes that are magnified by his glasses and says, "Fine then. Why don't we take a minute to do that? Let's start over at this end," he says, pointing to the first picnic table on the right of us. "When I point to you, please stand up and state your full name." He points to a short black haired girl.
She stands up. "Anna Jackson."
I lean in closer to Kylene and whisper, "Major drama queen right there."
Next, a gawky red head with freckles. "Billy Randel."
"Pee Wee Herman wanna-be."
"Kristina Wilkins."
"She's cool."
And so on and so forth. It goes on like that until we've gone through all six of the other students, not including our little group of five, and I name the good or bad things about them, and each time Kylene nods and makes little sounds of acknowledgement. After that's done, Mr. Harold begins our lesson by telling us that we'll be starting Shakespeare's Hamlet tomorrow. He gives us a "small" lecture on Hamlet, practically telling us the whole story himself and ruining it for us all, and then he moves onto talking about the author, William Shakespeare.
Through out the lecture, I steal a few glances at Kylene from time to time, mainly to see what her expressions are, what she's thinking. I was curious as to how she was adapting to this place. Every now and then I catch her staring off into space and chewing on the inside of her cheek or biting her lower lip. I recognize that look. I've had it many times. When I'm craving a cigarette or whatever, I begin gnawing on my lips and I get that distant look. I used to have a really bad habit of it, as I used to crave them really bad, but it's been a few months since I started going to Horizon and I've become used to not having them, with only a few urges every now and then.
Another thing I notice is that she keeps tugging on the sleeves of her shirt, pulling them down over her hands, like she was trying to hide something. What could she be hiding? Cuts? I wonder. The thought surprises me. Is she suicidal? She doesn't strike me as the type. But that would explain her wearing long sleeved shirts in the warm weather and tugging on her sleeves all the time. "Aren't you hot wearing those clothes in this weather?" I question her quietly midway through the lecture.
She looks over at me, startled, from the question or that I'd asked it, I don't know which. "No," she whispers her reply, still tugging on her sleeves, trying to bring them over her knuckles. She notices my gaze on her arms and moves them onto her lap under the picnic table, hiding them.
And that is the last we say to each other for the remainder of the class.
----
I let out a sigh of relief when Mr. Harold finally tells us that class is over. Next is Physics with Mrs. Tanner, which is slightly better than this class. "Hey, what class do you have next?" I ask Kylene as I gather up my books and stuff them in my backpack.
"Um…" She stops gathering her things to take a small sheet of paper out of her pocket and examine it. "Physics," she reads from the paper before stuffing it back into her pocket and then finishing packing her books.
"Oh, yeah? Me too. I'll lead ya there," I say as I slip my backpack onto my back.
"Okay," she says, repeating my action.
We begin walking side-by-side, at first saying nothing. After about thirty seconds of silence, I can't stand it anymore and I ask her, "So, what do you think of Mr. Harold?"
She gives me a strange look and says, "He's boring, and I can't stand the way he talks."
I laugh at that. "Yeah, I hear ya. Mrs. Tanner's a little better though, she doesn't talk half as bad as he does."
"Ugh," she says disgustedly. "He sounds worse than that guy from the 'Clear Eyes' commercial. It's like he talks through his nose."
"Yeah, really," I agree. "Mrs. Tanner's voice is kinda airy and wispy, ya know?"
"Right now, anything would sound better than listening to his voice for eighty minutes," she says, shaking her head.
Suddenly, Kylene falls forward and lands flat on her stomach. "Are you all right?" I ask, trying hard not to start laughing at this odd predicament.
"Ow," is all she says as she rolls over and sits up. She looks up at me and rubs her stomach, where she landed.
And it is then, seeing her sprawled out on the ground, with her eyes wide and cheeks flushed a light shade of red due to her embarrassment, that I become fully aware of her. I become aware of just how beautiful her dark, curly hair really is, how it looks so natural and alive, and now nicely the red highlights accent it. I'm aware of the uniqueness of her brown-green eyes. Of the oval shape of her face and the creamy white of her skin and the fullness of her slightly parted lips, the dust of freckles over her pert nose and flushed cheeks. Of her long arms and long, artist-like fingers, her slender figure and her long, shapely legs. Why hadn't I noticed this before? Did it really take her falling down and sprawling out on the ground for me to notice? I mean, I did notice she was cute before when I first met her and during English class, but I didn't notice how truly beautiful she was until just now. How stupid can I possibly be?
"What happened?" I ask, forcing myself out of my current thoughts. I reach down to help her up.
"I tripped on some--ow, ow!" she cries when my hand grabs her upper arm. I back away quickly and look down at her in confusion. She hadn't fallen on her arm; she'd fallen on her stomach, right? And I hadn't grabbed that tightly onto her arm to cause her any pain.
"What's wrong?" I ask her.
"Nothing," she says quickly, looking away from me. She places a hand over the arm I tried to grab and stands up, keeping a little distance between us. "I-I have a bruise there from…from basketball…practice," she explains, her voice unsteady and wavering.
"Oh…" That's bullshit. She tried to cover it up too quickly, raising my suspicions, and then she made it worse for herself by stammering over her response. She's hiding something. I know it. But I decide to let it go for now. "Well then, c'mon let's go or we'll be late," I say.
She nods and we both head off to the next class.
KYLENE'S POV
Smooth, Kylene, real smooth,
I scold myself. It's lunchtime now, two hours after that little incident I had with Scott, and I'm still going on about it. I can't help it. Not only did I manage to completely embarrass myself by falling flat on my belly, but I also managed to get him suspicious of me, both during and after English class. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I mentally kick myself repeatedly, while at the same time keeping my eyes on my plate as I pick apart my lunch with a fork, not wanting to look at him, or anyone else sitting at our table, for that matter."Aren't you gonna eat?" Daisy asks me from her spot beside me. "You're gonna get yourself sick. You haven't eaten anything all morning."
"I had half of a granola bar this morning," I say, not taking my eyes off of my plate. By now I've completely mutilated the chicken breast sitting on my plate, the French fries are in a mess of their own on a separate little plate with the ketchup and my mashed potatoes are covered in salt.
"Yeah, only half. I could hear your tummy grumbling all through Spanish class." When I don't reply and just continue to pick at my food with the fork, she sighs and changes the subject, "Have you met Frank yet?"
"Frank…?"
"Frank Markasian? The head honcho at this place?"
"Oh yeah. Yes, I did. I met him right after you dropped me off at the office."
"What'd he have to say?" she asks.
"Not much," I say, shrugging. "He basically just asked me how things were going, if I was settling in okay and stuff." Daisy nods and goes back to her food.
"So, how do you like it at this place so far?" Juliette asks, her eyebrows arched in curiosity.
I hesitate on my answer. So far, I've had an awful day. The Nicotine patches aren't working very well, I've had a headache since I woke up this morning, truth be known, I am hungry, but I just can't get myself to eat right now, and now I'm beginning to feel sick, and to top it all off, I can't get over what happened between Scott and me. "It's okay, I guess," I say.
"Just wait it out a couple more days, you'll hate it here by then," Katherine says, winking. "Some of the counselors and teachers here can be real pains in the asses."
"Mmm," Daisy and Juliette say in unison.
All this school talk has me a little worried. None of the people here have asked me about why I'm here yet. They seem more concerned about me adjusting to this place in general. "How do you like it here?" "Is everything okay?" "What do you think about everything?" over and over. I'm just about ready to scream. Not for them to start asking about me, but for them to just shut up. Either that or talk about something different, anything different. Just not school.
"What are you here for, Kylene?" Shelby asks suddenly.
"Excuse me?" I ask, not quite believing that I heard her right. Well, that was very straightforward.
"What are you here for?" she repeats her question, sounding completely innocent, but yet I detect no emotion whatsoever in her voice. She looks me straight in the eye. "We've talked about just about anything else but that."
I look at everyone around me. Auggie, Ezra, Juliette, Katherine, Daisy, Shelby and Scott. They're all looking at me expectantly. I guess they've all been wondering too. "Well, I don't see any of you being open about yourselves, either," I retort, glaring at Shelby. Why was she asking me this? Was she trying to cause trouble? If so, then why? What did I ever do to her?
"You never asked," she says, her gaze still locked on me.
"Shelby…" Juliette cuts in, giving Shelby a stern look. She looks at me with sympathy in her eyes. "It's okay, Kylene. You don't have to tell us anything."
I ignore her. "Okay then, fine. What's your story?" I ask, deciding to play along with her little game and trying to sound just as unemotional at the same time.
"I asked you first."
"I…" I take one more look around at all their faces. They look expectant, curious and doubtful all at the same time. I feel a hot flush creep up my cheeks and tears threaten to fill my eyes. Fuck it. Why the hell do I have to be so damn weak? Ever since mom died, I cry so easily now. I never used to cry like this. I used to be strong. What happened?
"Kylene?" Daisy asks in concern.
"I have to go," I say hastily. I get up from my chair and bolt out the door before anyone can stop me.
SHELBY'S POV
Oh, my God! She just ran out on us! What a sissy! Okay, I'll admit, I was a little out of line asking her straight out like that. I mean, she just got here; I can't expect her to pour out about herself to us this soon. But I couldn't help asking. I'm curious. Scott told me he thinks she's suicidal. He said during his English and Physics class she kept pulling at her sleeves, as though trying to hide her whole arm. And he told me about the little incident he had with her outside, when he tried to help her up after she'd fallen, and she'd practically screamed when he laid a hand on her. He didn't know what to make of that, and neither did I, but I bet she is suicidal. I don't feel sorry for asking her. Why should I? I don't trust her. She's trouble. Her past, her present, I can tell it's deep. And the way she's been looking at Scott…the way he's been looking at her… I just don't trust her.
"What the hell was that, Shel?" Auggie asks once Kylene left the room.
"What?" I say, making it sound as though I've done nothing wrong. "I just asked her a question."
"A very inappropriate question," Scott says angrily, frowning at me. "What the hell were you thinking? You don't just ask her like that."
I flinch inwardly a little at Scott's tone of voice and harsh words.
"And you remember what Peter said, don't try to pry it out of her," Ezra speaks up.
"I wasn't trying to pry it out of her. I just asked her," I say to my defense, placing a hand over my chest in a mock gesture of hurt that he would assume such a thing.
"She's hasn't even been here for twenty-four hours, Shelby," Juliette says. "Did you honestly think she'd come clean that quickly?"
"I don't know," I lie. Of course I don't expect her to.
"You didn't come clean for a while after you came here. Neither did any of us."
"So?"
"So, why should that make her any different?"
I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. I have no come back for that. As much as I hate to admit it, she's right. Damn her. Oh well. I'm not going to go apologize to her if that's what they're thinking.
"I'm going to go talk to her," Daisy says, rising from the table. "She's my responsibility."
"I'll come too," Juliette offers, also rising from the table.
"No. It might be too awkward for her if too many people come. I should just go."
"All right," Juliette says as Daisy exits through the door. She sits down and leans back in her chair and Auggie drapes an arm over her shoulder.
"That really wasn't cool, Shel," he says.
"What, am I supposed to walk on egg shells just 'cause she's new here?" I ask, angry that everyone is taking her side.
"No, not just because she's new, but because she's a person. Respect that. We respected you, and you've respected us…to an extent…"
"I don't trust her," I say.
"You don't even know her."
"That gives me even more reason not to trust her."
"You won't even give her--"
"Is everything all right?" I turn around in my seat to see Sophie standing in the doorway. She walks up to our group and looks down at us with concern written all over her face. "I just saw Daisy wandering around outside looking for Kylene."
"What? Daisy lost her?" Katherine asks.
"Wait. What? Daisy lost her? What do you mean?" she asks, obviously confused.
"Kylene got upset and ran off…" Ezra explains, trailing off to glance over at me, but not saying another word.
"Over what?" Sophie asks, sounding even more worried.
No one answers. No one is going to speak for me. I don't expect them to. Finally Scott speaks up, "Let's go help find her."
KYLENE'S POV
Please don't let them find me,
I silently pray as I sit on a large flat rock somewhere out in the woods behind campus. I know they're looking for me. I can hear them calling for me. Please, please don't let them find me. I can't face them now. I'm making such a great first impression with these people. "Damn," I mutter to myself. I feel so stupid. I'm still biting down on my bottom lip, trying to stop the tears from coming. I feel like one of those pregnant women going through one of those "moods". But the thing is, I'm not pregnant, and I have these moods quite frequently. Ever since mom died. I can be tough just as long as no one mentions my mother or my family, and if they do all my walls come crashing down and I start crying or I just get mad or really upset. I don't know why. I really don't. It's just a thing with me. I'm mad, ashamed, sad, scared, confused, depressed about them. All those things. I wish none of it happened. Sometimes I wish I didn't have a family. Sometimes I wish I was an orphan and I had no one. Things would be so much simpler then. There wouldn't be so much pain. There'd probably be loneliness, worse loneliness than I feel right now, but I think I could take it."Kylene?"
Oh shit. They found me. I try to stay as still and silent as possible, hoping that they wouldn't see me and they'd go away.
I see Ezra creep from out behind a tall pine tree. He looks around for a bit before resting his gaze on me. His eyes widen and then switch to a look of relief. "There you are!" he exclaims with a smile on his face and walks over to me. "We've been looking all over for you!"
"I know," I say.
He sits down beside me on the rock. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah… No… I don't know."
"You'll have to excuse Shelby. She's not very warm towards people she doesn't know."
"I noticed." My tone is bitter and unemotional, but I can't help it. I'm so pissed at her right now, even though I shouldn't be this pissed. She was the one at fault for trying to intrude on my personal business, she had no right to try and question me and embarrassing me in front of all of them, but I'm sure she didn't know I'd get that upset. I did overreact. Oh well. What's done is done.
"But I'm sure when she starts to get to know you better she'll be nicer," he assures me.
I can't help but smile at his optimistic attitude. "Maybe," I say, trying to my best to conceal my doubt.
"You ready to go back now? They've got Peter and Sophie searching for you too."
Oh great. Now most likely I'll have to deal with them. "Yeah. Might as well, huh?"
"Yeah." He stands up and offers me his hand. I take his hand and allow him to pull me up. We both walk out of the woods back to campus. Juliette, who was walking around near the dorms, spots us and runs up to us.
"Ezra, you found her!" she exclaims happily. She looks over at me, her eyes searching mine. "Where were you?" she asks, her voice filled with concern.
"In the woods," I say, feeling suddenly guilty for making these people worried about me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you guys to send out a search party for me."
"Yeah, well, when Sophie told us Daisy couldn't find you, we all kinda panicked."
I bite my lower lip in shame. "Sorry."
"Oh good, you found her."
We all turn around to see Scott walking towards us with Daisy, Shelby, Auggie, Peter and Sophie following behind. Scott, Auggie, Daisy and Shelby stop some distance away from us, but Peter and Sophie approach us directly. Ezra and Juliette back away when they see the intensity of Peter's gaze and Sophie's concerned facial expression. I find myself cringing and biting my lower lip again too.
"Are you all right?" Sophie asks.
"I'm fine," I assure her. I look over at Peter. He doesn't look too happy.
"What happened?" Peter asks me, his gaze burning into me.
I look away from him and lick my lips nervously. "Nothing," I say, trying to keep my voice as steady as possible. "I just…I was just a little upset over a personal matter, that's all."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I'm sorry for making you worry."
"It's all right," Sophie says soothingly, stepping forward to wrap a comforting arm around my shoulder. "Just, please, don't go running off like that again."
"I'm sorry," I repeat, still not looking up at either of them.
"Okay, let's all get back to class, now, you're all late," Peter says sternly. He places a hand on my other shoulder. "Don't forget we have group meeting after dinner," he tells me.
I look up at him then. "Group meeting?"
"Yes. It's a requirement that you go."
"O-Okay…"
----
The end of the day came. The rest of my classes had gone by quickly after my little run-off into the woods. We'd just finished dinner, and I actually ate a full meal for the first time today. I felt better after doing so. But now I was craving a cigarette and a beer, or some other alcoholic beverage. If I was at home, I would've sneaked out my bedroom window after dinner and climbed up onto the roof to fulfill my needs. I was getting a little restless as I helped clear the dishes and clean up after dinner, but no one seemed to notice.
"So, we change kitchen duties with other groups every week?" I ask Katherine as I place more dishes into a cabinet.
"Yep. As well as other duties. But working in the kitchen has its advantages," Katherine says with a smile, wiping her hands on one of the dishtowels. "We get to make dinner and dessert too." She grabs one of the remaining chocolate brownies that were left and takes a bite. "Have you had one of the brownies? They're good. I made them myself."
"No, I haven't, but I'll take your word for it," I say, smiling.
"You guys almost finished in there?" I hear Peter call from outside the kitchen.
"Yeah!" Katherine calls back.
Juliette and Daisy walk in the backdoor from outside. "Brr…" Daisy says, shivering, running her hands up and down her arms, trying to get them warm. "It's cold out there."
"Mmm… But the fresh air smells nice," I say, taking a big whiff of the cool air that drifted in when Juliette and Daisy entered. I'd opened up to them a lot within the last few hours. I don't know how or why, but I did. I think it was what Ezra said to me in the woods. His kind, polite personality towards me made me think differently about today's events and try to make the best of it instead of sulking about how things had turned out.
"Need any help?" Juliette asks.
"Nope, we're just 'bout finished," Katherine says. "Where's everyone else?"
"Well, we saw Peter walk in here just a second ago. Sophie, Auggie and Ezra are in the main lobby. Scott and Shelby are walking around outside."
"Yeah, Peter just hollered at us a second ago. He's getting impatient," Katherine says, rolling her eyes.
"Yes, Peter is getting impatient," Peter says, suddenly walking through the kitchen door and surprising us all. "You guys plan on finishing up sometime tonight?"
"Done," I say when I've finished putting the last of the dishes away.
Peter looks impressed. "Well, well, well. You're catching on pretty well, Kylene," he says. "All right then, if you're all done, let's head on over to the main lobby and get this meeting started, eh?"
When we walk into the main lobby, I see Sophie talking with Auggie and Ezra over on one of the couches. Scott and Shelby still aren't back from their walk, and I hadn't seen them when we walked over. Almost as if on cue, Scott and Shelby walk in right behind us ten seconds after the thought leaves my mind.
"Ah, now we can get this started," Sophie says from her spot on the couch. "Sit down, everyone, and let's get this over with."
They start off the meeting by giving announcements about things that are going on around Horizon, things I'm completely clueless about until someone realizes that I am and fills me in. Once that's done, we're left to talk about anything we want.
"So, is there anything any of you want to bring up in this meeting?" Sophie asks, looking at each and every one of us. "Kylene? Is everything going all right? Are your classes all right? Everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything's fine," I say, forcing myself not to let out a sigh of annoyance. I've been asked that so many times today it's not even funny. But I must tolerate it. They're just trying to be kind and do their job.
"Is there anything you want to talk about?" Peter asks. "Anything you have questions about?"
I shake my head. "Nope." I had held my breath during his first question, at first thinking he was implying about my personal life.
"Oh, and one more thing," Sophie says. "Your dad called earlier. He told us to tell you that you forgot to pack something and he'd send it to you through the mail."
I frown. "He did?" As far as I can remember, I didn't forget anything. I'll have to check my bags later.
"Mmm-hmm. Well, I think that's all. You guys are dismissed."
I'm the first to get up, and I walk outside onto the porch. There is a gentle breeze coming in from the north. I can see the sun setting over the horizon, the sky lighting up in red, orange and pink hues and I can see the first sign of stars glittering the sky. It's beautiful. The soft chirping of crickets can be heard coming from the grass near the woods, and I hear the rustling of leaves in the trees. I haven't heard these sounds in so long. Where I live, in Chicago, the city, where you don't hear many forest sounds. I find I've missed it. I used to hear it all the time when we used to live in Virginia, before Dad moved there due to a really good job offer.
Dad… I can't help but feel a little uneasy. Something tells me that Dad is up to something. Although, I possibly could have forgotten something that I might need. I'll check right before I go to bed.
"Kylene?" I hear Daisy call from the doorway of the main lobby.
"Yeah?" I ask, not taking my eyes off the pretty scenery.
"Just checking on you. Everything okay?"
I close my eyes, letting out a deep sigh. Please, stop asking me that. I'm fine. "Yeah."
"Okay," she says, and then goes back inside, closing the door behind her.
I could really go for a cigarette right now.
