Leaving Laurabelle Falls

Chapter 17

Every damn day, I missed him.

We were soulmates. There was no way this kind of connection could be forged from one side.

He should have responded by now.

Even if he didn't remember me. He should have been looking for something, should have felt an empty place within himself where I should reside.

I pursed my lips together, and gave a tight sigh.

I opened my app again, and scrolled down to Maddie's name. Her contact in my phone was surrounded by two hearts, and didn't have any messages from the last month.

"Hey, can we talk?" I asked, and sent the message. Then, I followed it up, "I just miss you. It would be nice if we could spend some time together."

It didn't take long for her response to come through.

'Can't this week, I'm busy. I have to study for the ACT, I need to make sure I take it early enough that I can take it twice if I bomb it.'

'Okay, what about next week?'

'Let's shoot for Saturday. We can just hang at your place, if you want. I'd love to watch a movie.'

Well, it was better than nothing.

'Sure,' I typed back, 'Sounds great.'

~~~

Saturday night rolled around, and Maddie showed up in her new beater car. It was loud and the air conditioning didn't work. It was what she could afford after the insurance payout; her dad had taken good care of her older car, but the kelly blue-book value had been significantly less than they were expecting.

"Hey," She said, as soon as I opened the door. She was twenty minutes late, and looked frazzled. She held up a pair of slushies. "I got these for us."

Blue and red. I reached out, and immediately accepted the red.

Her wardrobe had more blue, and mine had more red. We had frequently joked that together, we made purple. It felt like a gesture of good faith.

I brought her into the living room. The pull-out couch was now relegated to a normal couch, with a cup holder cushion situated in the middle.

"What are we watching?" I asked.

"What do you feel like, a movie, or a marathon?" She questioned.

"...Well," I said, "You do know that the new season of Bethany Lawless is playing..."

She gave a deep sigh, shaking her head fondly.

"Alright," She relented, "But only if you promise not to give me any spoilers. I know you've already seen every episode."

"Twice." I reminded her. "I watch them once when they air,-"

"-And again before the next one airs, I got it." She shook her head.

"Unfortunately, the coma brain damage doesn't cancel out the brain damage I already had." I teased.

Maddie tensed up, and looked tightly away. She took a steady breath, and moved towards the other side of the couch. I was expecting some sort of laugh; some reassurance that she was okay with what had happened.

But that didn't seem to be the case.

"Have you caught up on the last season?" I questioned.

"Yeah," She said, "I watched it in your honor while you were... Y'know."

"I appreciate that." I said. I sat down, and grabbed the remote. I quickly navigated to the streaming platform where they aired the new episodes. I clicked on the beginning of the season, and started to let it run.