Six Feet Under The Stars

My whole life I had been far too determined for my own good. Once I had my mind set on something there was no going back, I was going to get what I wanted one way or another. My mother had loved that quality in me because it showed I was strong and I think it proved to her that no matter what happened to her; once she was gone I would be okay.

And I was going to be okay, eventually.

“Oh my god, I’ve found you.”

I glared silently down at my shoes. Was it not obvious that I wanted to be alone?

“Your dad and Cole have been calling like everyone you know, they’re worried about you.”

I scoffed quietly, sure they were worried enough to want me gone for good. I knew I was being unfair to Colby but my mind was foggy and I couldn’t really think straight.

“I just guess I’m the only one who knows you well enough to figure that you would come here.”

The girl had a point there, not even my own family could realise that in my hour of need the one person I would want to see and talk to was my mother. So there I was staring across at the black marble headstone that declared what a loving wife and mother she had been.

I felt the movement beside me as my companion took a seat on the damp ground. “I guess no one told you why I left,” I mumbled angrily as I picked at the grass.

“No just that you had. Colby sounded pretty pissed off at your dad though, what was that about?”

I let out a groan before starting the story, leaving out most of the seriously ugly details. “...basically he wants me to move over there, for good.”

Her stunned silence spoke volumes. Kendra was hardly ever lost for words; she almost always had something to say about absolutely everything whether it concerned her or not.

“I-I just can’t believe it. After everything you’ve been through together he’d rather you were half way across the world. What on earth for?” she asked incredulously and I shrugged in response. I didn’t need to burden her with my over dramatic problems.

“Well what are you going to do?” she asked after a long awkward silence and once again I kept my response down to a simple shrug of the shoulders.

The truth was I had no idea what I was going to do; the belongings that I had packed into my small holdall were nowhere near enough to survive with and I had next to no money on me; in all honesty I was screwed. I didn’t have a hope in hells chance of going back to that house without my father convincing me to stay and frankly that was the last thing I wanted.

“Can I borrow your phone?” I asked quickly holding out my hand. Kendra nodded her head slowly before handing me her mobile. I dialled the familiar number quickly before holding the phone to my ear and walking away from my best friend.

“Have you found her?” were my brother’s frantic first words.

“Relax Cole, I’m fine but don’t let dad know it’s me okay.” He didn’t respond but I could already imagine him nodding his head as though I could see him. “I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything,” he answered quickly and I proceeded to ask of him what I needed. “Consider it done,” he finished before hanging up on me.

In the short distance away from me I could see Kendra looking at me questionably. I smiled over at her in reassurance before spinning away on the balls of my feet. I had to regain some composure before I spoke to her again; I needed to get my story straight.

It was all starting to seem like I was a fugitive trying to escape prison for a crime I had committed. I was asking Colby to meet me in private and I was keeping things from the people who cared about me, but I honestly thought it was for the best.

“Thanks,” I said as I handed Kendra back her mobile phone. She looked at me closely as she accepted it, silently probing me for answers. I remained silent however as I took my seat once again.

“Well?” she asked and I turned to face her.

“I just spoke to Cole; I let him know that I was okay but that I needed some time alone. He’s calling off the search party as we speak,” I answered dropping a small but obvious hint.

With a nod she stood up before leaning back down to give me a tight hug. I tried to return it awkwardly before pulling away and smiling up at her. “I’m only a phone call away okay. Keep me updated yeah?”

I nodded once before looking back at my mother’s headstone with a sigh. She always used to tell me not to make promises I wouldn’t keep.

--------------

“You have a lot of crap.”

I jumped a little startled as Colby dropped down onto the bench beside me. He had around four large bags with him and I immediately realised why.

“Colby you cannot be serious,” I uttered a little flustered. He grinned at me sheepishly before handing me two of the bags.

“I thought this would be the most appropriate of your items to bring,” he mumbled trying to change the subject as he shouldered one of his own bags and pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. “This is our flight confirmation; we need to be there by seven.”

I was still a little surprised. I knew that Colby would have had a hard time letting me go but his solution was just ridiculous. There was no way our father would allow Colby to just leave too, he was probably having a hard enough time letting me do it; our dad was a control freak.

“Stop looking at me like that, you’re creeping me out,” he whined and the thought that my brother could possibly have been gay crossed my mind.

I shook the thought from my head before speaking, “Don’t you think that dad will realise both of us are gone long before we even get on the plane? Then what are we supposed to do, we’ll both get dragged back and I’ll forever be stuck with the thought that my own father can’t stand the sight of me,” I ranted.

Colby looked at me sympathetically before pulling me into a hug. “I think you’re being irrational but that’s okay because I still love you.”

I laughed softly into his chest before heaving a sigh, “I guess we better get going then before dad realises we over charged his credit card.”