Chapter 13
I closed my newly repainted black door, locked it, and headed off to work, vaguely aware of the fact that Kara, the Chelsea-double from the other day, was waiting for me just a few feet away. She smiled at me, and shook her head when she saw my door.
"So. You repainted it."
I dropped my keys in the pocket of my apron. "Yep."
"What was wrong with the tye-dye? Too bright?"
I shrugged. "I'm not a very bright person."
"Ha. You said it, not me."
I rolled my eyes. You may be wondering why I was talking with the maniac door thief. You may be wondering why she was waiting for me outside my house, and how I'd found out her name was Kara. Simple.
I was forced to work with her at the bakery I was temporarily employed at.
In all honesty the job wasn't bad. I was in charge of baking the cookies and cakes and Kara was in charge of making them look artistically decorated. I'd found out she was a local artist, which explained why she was painting outside my house the otherday...
She grabbed my arm as we walked down the street.
"So, you're gonna come, right?"
"Don't know."
"Oh come on! You're like the only somewhat sorta friend I have!"
"I'll think about it."
Apparently some of her stuff was put in a gallery, and would be shown in an art exhibition. She wanted yours truly to go. Not that I minded (what else was there to do?) but it was strange, voluntarily hanging out with Kara. She still reminded me of Chelsea, and it still made me feel weird looking at her. But the more I did hang out with her, the easier it got. They might look alike, but they were pretty different. And those differences were helping me to slowly forget.
Take how they dressed, for example. Today Kara was wearing a red pleather jacket, a green and yellow polka dot skirt, and bright orange boots. With the mandatory green apron thrown on top. I have to admit I liked it. There was absolutely no one else in the world who could actually wear something like this, and it somehow look okay.
x-x-x
We made it to the bakery and took our places in the baking room at the back of the store. I sighed and picked up a huge sack of flour, dumping a generous amount in one of the many giant mixing vats. If a few weeks ago someone had told me I'd be working here, I'd think they were nuts. But I wasn't going to complain. I was just glad to have a job, and I wasn't going to do anything to mess it up.
Kara shoved a cookie shaped like a duck under my nose. "Look, I gave the duck a mowhawk."
You can tell she takes her job seriously. I gave her a quick grin, then focused on my work. I went about my business for almost a full two hours before the manager, the red haired lady who'd given me the job, came in to check on my progress.
"Not bad, not bad…" She said, inspecting a tray of cookies I had just taken out of the oven. "I'm going on my lunch break. Want to take over the counter while I'm out?"
I nodded, wiping my floury hands on my apron, and went to stand behind the counter. For some strange reason we hardly ever had customers during lunch hours. We got mostly afternoon buyers, stopping in to pick up their order for a cake then running off. Which was fine with me. It made this job even easier.
I'd sold a total of two cookies when I saw him.
I didn't really notice him the first time he walked by the shop….But then he backed up and pressed his face against the window. It took me a minute to recognize him as he walked through the door.
I narrowed my eyes. What the hell did he want?
Denny walked up to the counter, smiling. "You were hard to track down, you know that?" He glanced around. "A bakery, huh?"
I crossed my arms. "What brings you here?"
He sighed, his eyes staring directly into mine. "Okay... I know I have no right to, but...I have to ask. Can you come back to the island?"
"What?" I glanced over my shoulder. Kara seemed too into her icing to pay me any attention. I lowered my voice. "Why would you want me to come back?"
"Not…For me. For other people."
I knew what he was getting at. I couldn't help smirking. For old time's sake. "What, you two aren't back together?"
"She doesn't hang out with me anymore... And I know she likes you, so I didn't want to try…I mean, I know you and me didn't get off on the right foot, but…" He shook his head. "Look, you've gotta come back! She's all depressed without you there!"
I took a breath. I hadn't given much thought to how miserable she might still be, and the guilt started to return. I slammed a fist down on the counter. There was just no getting past this, was there? Just when I thought I could finally get on with my life….
Denny saw how hesitant I was. "Come on man, why not? You can't pretend you don't miss her, even a little!"
I glanced to the side. That was the whole problem, wasn't it? That I couldn't stop missing her. I took another breath, determined not to let my emotions overtake my reasoning.
"Sure I miss her. But I'm doin alright here. Not great, but ok. I don't want to go back and deal with all that crap again. Not just with her, but with everyone else. I want a fresh start."
Denny started to say something else, but he glanced over my shoulder and froze, his eyes widening.
"What's-" I started to ask, but he cut me off.
"Just promise you'll think about it, alright? Please!" He gave me a hard stare and quickly turned and ran out the door, just as Kara joined me at the counter. She started at the spot where Denny had been standing just a few seconds before.
"…Who was that?" Her voice was strangely flat.
I tried to refocus my thoughts."Uh, j-just a guy. I used to know. Came in to say hi."
"Oh?" She looked at me, her eyes emotionless. "…Denny?"
I blinked. "You know him?"
"Oh, I know him…." Something in her eyes changed, and she pushed me to the side. She ran out the door, slamming it shut behind her with so much force one of the glass panels broke.
I could only stare after her blankly, and slightly breathless, wondering what I was missing, and whether I should chase after them…
Or chase after Chelsea.
x-x-x
Author Note: Sorry about the crappy ending here. I wanted to post this chapter as soon as I finished editing it, before it turned into a whole month before I updated again. See? I'm trying to update faster! :D
Anyways, the story's going to end at around Chapter 16, since some of you are probably wondering. I'm hoping this story can make it to 50 reviews by then! (wow that's a lot XD) Think it can do it?