Heart Shaped Blood Stains (Jeff the Killer love story)

Chapter 26.

[unedited]

Chapter 26.

Weeks pass, but no visits from Jeff. Just like I hoped, he kept his distance and hasn't barged in to rip me away while I try to mend my life back together. I felt awful for wanting him gone, but to have your life destroyed without control over it was a rotten feeling. I wanted to better myself, and that left no room for Jeff at the moment.

I had a lighter step to my walk. My over-look on my days seemed brighter. I was the weird, goofy Kate that I had been a long while ago. My hair had returned to its natural shade of brown, and my contacts had become old, and were trashed weeks ago. I'm sure it was weird for Andrew to watch me transform back into the person I was ripped away from. It was weird for me as well.

And as I hop down the stairs to greet my lovely aunt, I did so with a smile -- a real smile -- that I had longed for for several weeks, even months. To reconstruct yourself to the point of forgetting was exhausting, but the outcome was far worth it.

I make my way to the island in the kitchen, and grab myself a glass to pour myself some orange juice. Aunt Cassie was at the slicing tray, getting ingredients prepared for tonight's dinner. Green and red peppers were chopped into juicy slivers, then being packaged in a zip-lock bag to keep them fresh. Just before she sticks them all in there, I grab one and start munching on it as I search for some breakfast.

"Good morning," she says in response to my pepper-snatching.

"Morning."

She cuts up another one and watches me closely. "What are your plans for today?"

"I'm going to the movies later on tonight."

"With who?"

"Andrew.... And my friend Maicey, and her boyfriend."

I slurp down another drink of orange juice, nearly choking when she shouts, "You're dating Andrew?!"

"No!" I say, ruining her excitement. She contorts her happy face into a disappointed face, and sighs with great dismay. "You want to though."

I set down my glass and try to look at her seriously, but a smile cracks onto my face and leaves my disguise useless.

"You do!" she giggles. "You've spent about a month together, hanging out nonstop, talking about books, playing video games, goofing off..... That boy is made for you and if you don't like him, you're crazy."

I fall silent, tapping my finger on the cool, marble counter top. Then another smile breaks loose and Aunt Cassie does her victory dance.

"Okay, okay, I do."

"I know." she smiles proudly.

Then we hear the door open and close and we freeze and look to each other in panic.

"Does my hair look okay??" I ask as I frantically flatten out any messy pieces.

"Yes, yes, you look fine!" she whispers back as she flails her arms excitedly. Butterflies rile up in my stomach as I wait in anticipation, still trying to act natural while I wait for Andrew to walk through the door.

But, instead, my uncle James strolls through, looking at the mail he had just retrieved from the mailbox.

"Ugh!" Aunt Cassie and I huff as soon as we see him, and he looks up to us with his brows creased.

"Well hello to you too," he says to us both. We laugh.

"It's 7:14," Aunt Cassie says. "You better get going."

She hands me a wrapped up peanut butter sandwich, and I pull my jacket over my shoulders and sling my bag around my neck.

"Yeah. Bye, I love you."