Knowing You're There

Chapter 18

The storm was relentless into the next morning, leaving Emmit and I with an unexpected snow day and nothing to do.  I ate a bowl of cereal while listening to the TV, then sat next to Star as she ate her breakfast.  I noticed a few weeks before that she was eating a little slower instead of gobbling the whole bowl down in seconds.  At this point I was ready to kick myself for just assuming it was old age, but that wouldn’t make time go in reverse. 

When she finished, I went downstairs and sat behind my drums.  While lying in bed awake all night, I decided that playing at the coffee shop again would probably be better than just sitting around the house and lamenting.  Kurt promised when we came in from the driveway that he would do his best to learn Tune You Out, one of my favorite songs from Rayvn.  The tradeoff was that I’d learn this song by the Mystery Men called Fallen Angels. 

I put one of the earbuds in my right ear and did my best to follow along with the song.  The drummer held a pretty easy beat the entire time.  It appeared that this particular piece was more guitar-focused.  I played and played until Mom called me upstairs for lunch, which was slightly warm cheese on burnt toast. 

I smiled and ate it anyway, telling Mom that she did a decent job before going upstairs to my room.  When I walked in, I grabbed my phone off of the dresser.  After what happened, talking to friends wasn’t my number one priority.  When I pressed the main button, the voice said: “Five texts from Sarah. Three texts from Kurt.” 

I rolled my eyes.  “Read texts from Sarah.” 

“Message one: Lia, OMG I saw your blog post, hope everything is OK.  Message two: Lia it’s been an hour.  Nathan blew me off and I need someone to talk to.  Message three: Li, answer your damn texts.  Message four: Please just get back to me.  Message five: I’m guessing you’re shutting everyone out again? That doesn’t solve anything.” 

I groaned and pressed the button again. “Send new text to Sarah.  Tell her that Kurt came over and I was busy.  Also that I’m sorry too.”  It pinged in response.  “Read new messages from Kurt.” 

“Message one: Good morning sweetheart.  How are you feeling today?  Message two: I’m going to be at the coffee shop for a bit today.  Message three: Just let me know if you want me to call later.  I miss you already, pretty lady.” 

I blushed and hugged the phone to my chest, then pressed the main button and said, “Tell Kurt that I can talk to him at any time and I started learning Fallen Angels.  It’s really easy.” 

*          *          *

            It was hard to decide if Star would be going to school with me the next morning.  My parents wanted me to let her stay home and let me practice with the cane, but when Star saw me getting ready to leave and was eager to go, I put her harness on anyway. 

            Sarah was waiting for me in the crowded hallway when I walked in.  She called my name and hugged me by the exit, then walked with me to my locker.  I opened it and started feeling around for my books.