Whoo, we're at ten chapters! And this plot has an actual direction! I have a general storyline and events planned (up to a certain point) and I'm excited to see where things go from here! What's going on with Kasey? Maybe you'll find out soon. Potentially even in the next chapter. Ya girl has some spicy things planned for the summer arc. Hopefully you lovelies enjoy! ~Shaymie

Molly

She hates how easily tired she gets nowadays.

Fatigue was supposed to be a common symptom of recovery, but she didn't expect it to be kicking her butt like this. Molly could feel herself drifting off at the bar, Kathy's words fading into the background. She hopes Kathy doesn't think she's rude. It just took all her energy to even make it to the bar, her body feeling like it was weighed down by lead. She briefly thought about telling Angela, but didn't want to ruin her sister's fun. Angela was currently fawning over the newly installed karaoke machine with Owen and Luke.

"You on meds again, Freckles?" Molly's eyes opened—when had they even closed again?— to see Chase setting a glass of lemonade and a plate of spaghetti in front of her. She wasn't sure how he knew when she (accidentally) skipped meals. She really was trying to do better. Maybe chefs just have some sixth sense about that sort of thing. He even knew to give her a smaller portion. Angela kept forgetting that her stomach isn't what it used to be.

"I'm just tired," she murmured, holding back a yawn. "But I wanted to come see you."

"I'm hardly worth losing sleep over," Chase scoffed, rolling his eyes. Molly thought otherwise. Underneath the surly attitude, he was actually nice. He makes sure she's eaten but unlike Angela, he's not annoying or overbearing about it. She wanted to get to know him more, but he seemed to hate talking about himself. Sometimes he'd even duck into the kitchen to avoid the conversation. No bother. She'd find out how to get him to open up.

"So Molly, I heard from Maya that you used to dance," Kathy said with a grin, leaning against the counter. Molly's fork clattered onto the plate. Chase raised an eyebrow at her reaction. She sighed. She should've known Maya would go bragging about her trophies and medals. To the people on Castanet, dance competitions must seem like the most extravagant things out there. She hoped nobody found out about the box of recordings of her performances sitting in the back of her closet.

"Y-Yeah. I also did show choir for a bit. I, um... had to stop." She had even started dabbling in musical theatre. Sometimes she wonders where she'd be if Kasey and Angela hadn't forced her to stop after the incident. If she had pushed a bit harder to be allowed to keep performing after recovering, would they have let her do it? Maybe at most, they would have made her change groups. Too many bad memories associated with her old one...

She can't even think about Chelsea and Mark without feeling so many conflicting emotions that she probably needed to work through with her therapist.

"Hey Blondie, you should probably stop your boyfriend before he breaks that thing." Chase gestured to the karaoke machine where a drunken Owen was struggling to pull one of the microphones from its hold. Kathy groaned and slammed her serving tray down, stomping over to Owen and pulling him away by the ear. Angela and Luke were hunched over in laughter. They'd both had significantly less to drink than Owen. Angela didn't want to be hungover for the last harvest of the season, and Luke had work in the morning.

Molly stared down at her plate in thought. It was almost summer, the first full season she and Angela would be spending on Castanet. They had meant to move here at the beginning of spring, but some complications led to them showing up halfway through the season. She hoped summers on the island were more bearable than in the city, but she doubted it. She's never been able to handle extreme temperatures well—

"...ckles? You in there?" She was brought back to reality by Chase snapping his fingers in her face. Her cheeks flushed. She could only imagine what she had looked like. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, offsetting the hair clips. "Maybe you should go home. You were out of it for a second there. I thought I was gonna have to call your sister over."

"N-No, I'm fine! That just... happens sometimes." She sighed and looked down at the plate, her spaghetti looking less appetizing. She was embarrassed Chase had to see that. It was one thing having it happen at the doctor's office, but she was kinda hoping to keep it hidden a bit longer. Possibly forever. "It's... called an absence seizure. It's probably the least dangerous type of seizure out there. I just space out. Sometimes if I'm holding something, I'll drop it. But it's fine. I mean, Angie got plastic cups and stuff so it's not like I'll break anything..."

"That's what you take medicine for." Chase's voice was full of disbelief. She nodded, not wanting to explain the rest of her issues and the medicine she had to take to deal with those. That could wait until later. "You... spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Isn't that dangerous if you have seizures?"

"Yeah... Kasey and Angie tried to keep me from baking, but I put my foot down. I couldn't let something else be taken from me. It's fine, I'm really careful. The medicine helps a lot but it doesn't fully prevent them from happening."

Molly had argued with them about it for days on end, the nurses kicking Kasey and Angela out of the hospital room if she got too worked up. It was probably the first time in her life she had actually gotten legitimately angry. She let herself give in to being barred from performing since even the doctors had advised against it, but she refused to let anybody stop her from baking.

"You ready to go home, Molls?" She looked up as Angela walked over, a slight flush on her cheeks. Angela frowned at Chase, who was looking at Molly with an indecipherable expression on his face. He shook his head when he noticed her stare and went into the kitchen, muttering under his breath. Molly nodded, leaving some money on the counter for her food. She hadn't finished it—or even ordered it—but it felt wrong to get things for free just because she was friends with Chase.

"Are you gonna try calling Kasey again?" she asked, hopping down from the barstool, stumbling slightly. Angela caught her before she fell. According to their friends at home, Kasey had gone off on an impromptu vacation. He didn't tell anyone where he was going, and he wasn't answering his phone. Only Jack, his best friend, knew where he had gone and he refused to tell anybody. The only thing he'd told Angela was that Kasey was safe and dealing with some personal things.

"Hell yeah, I am! He can't hide forever!"