Dead Girl Talking

Chapter Seven

I'm back! Sorry for the hiatus however exams have been approaching and I've had a few stressful months. But I am hoping to get into a publishing routine. My aim is to publish at least one chapter every week! Hope you enjoy the chapter! Please comment and vote!!

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Sunshine Cafe was a vibrant place, a safe haven for the youth that hindered the quiet streets of Ashbourne. Located next to Ashbourne High it soon became a place of worship and popularity. Little did I know that underneath the yellow painted walls lay a thick black. For me in particular it held memories of new beginnings and rushed endings,and as I pushed open the door and the bell of familiarity created a drift in the air I found myself looking towards table 15. If I close my eyes I can still hear the faint laughter of the first date that led to so many others. That was then. Past. Gone.

'Sophie.'

My head shot up and the hood of my coat fell back. Mr Cartell - the owner of the happiness - said my name with such delicacy I began to remember why I hadn't left the refines of my bedroom walls for so long. Then, as if a sudden reality hit, his eyes returned form the fog of shock and he smiled. The scar the was enhancing his face, just above his upper lip, creased along his skin. Age was unkind to Mr Cartell.

'The regular?' he asked. I shook my head and the first words I had managed to string together for weeks came back to me.

'I'll just have a coffee', a simple yet fitting choice. I take my coffee black. Like my heart.'Please.'

He nodded and turned away. Instinct took over my body and I was whisked away to the table Grace and I claimed as our own. Table 1. Grace had chosen it. According to her intelligence it provided the right view of the cafe to maintain all the gossip given away and still able to see the back door, where the staff and teenagers alike would go for a joint after the jagged days of life took their toll. Grace and I once tried a joint. I never tried one again. She tried many more.

As I sat on the blue chairs that had formed memory to my body I remembered the reason I came here. The next letter. The next piece in a rigorous puzzle I was at the beginning of piecing together.

'Where would you of put it' I muttered, supposedly to myself. It wasn't until Mr Cartell cleared his throat and set the coffee cup in front of me I realised I wasn't alone. I thanked him all the while scanning the room around me. It was only 3:30 therefore Ashbourne High was the cell that contained those who would threaten my discoveries.

'I'm just saying that if you become one of those girls who relates to her boyfriend as "we" I am officially saying Au Revoir to this friendship' Grace giggled as she flopped into the chair.

I clicked the lock button on my phone, switching it to silent in the process and smiled. 'If I become one of those girls I am officially saying Au Revoir to my life.'

Grace just smiled and turned her head slightly to the side. 'Soph, remind me again what you see in him.' I rolled my eyes.

'Grace, remind me again what you see in Dean' She held her hand to her heart in mock hurt.'What! I'm being truthful, I mean sure Jason has very limited faults, however at least my boyfriend has the guts to make it official.'

Grace adjusted her recently structured flower crown so it hung sideways on her head.'Okay. You've made your point. Jason is a good shoulder to cry on. Dean just has good shoulders.'

The laughter erupted from our corner yet again.

But for a split second Grace let her guard down. The smile faltered. 'Sophie, they're is something I need to tell you' she whispered as she pick at the slit in the side of the armchair.

Then Jason entered. It all turned to cloud.

The slit in her favourite seat was still prominent. Grace had devoted many hours of her week surveying and picking away at it. We would even discuss stories of how it had got there. That was until Grace had a sudden change of heart about the entirety of Sunshine Cafe. As if a switch had been flicked in her brain and she no longer enjoyed the sanity it had to offer. We no longer ventured here together after that.

I ventured here still though. Despite her protests.

It went from Grace and I to Jason and I.

I walked over and sat in her chair. Imagining a daisy flower crown around my head and nude lipstick smudging my lips. I would never be her. I was glad of that.

My hand wavered among it. It could just be miscalculation. What if this was just Grace playing her final joke. Yet the feeling of paper under my fingertips confirmed my fears. I was a avatar stuck in a game I couldn't win.

Tears that threatened to cascade my perfect vision were pushed back at the expense of my pride. My flaw. I no longer had control over my thoughts or my actions. In a way it was as if Grace was still here. And as the object in my hand unblurred itself, my fears multiplied. I knew a place of sanctuary was about to be punctured through my skin. That Sunshine Cafe was about to be juxtaposed.

All became nothing.

Letter two