Halfway Gone

It was only a few hours after lunch when Kim decided to meet up with Nick in the hallway at school. She figured out that the majority of the school would be in the cafeteria eating lunch. So when Kim arrived at the hallway, she was somewhat surprised to find Nick already leaning against one side of the row of lockers, as he stared down at his phone, pressing a few buttons.

Kim approached the curly haired man and sat opposite him as she greeted him.

“So what’s this theory you have?” Nick asked, getting straight to the point as he pocketed his phone.

“I’ve told you already – over the phone,” she reminded as the pair began walking towards the cafeteria. “There were bruises on her neck.”

“Yeah, I remember,” he sighed quietly and looked away from the dark blonde, frowning. “I just wish I was there in the morgue with her,” he mumbled. “I just want to see her one last time.”

Kim raised an eyebrow, disagreeing with him. She was sure that he wouldn’t want to be in a morgue – surrounded by dead people just to confirm a dead body. She felt chills run down her spine as she thought about the morgue. But she didn’t tell him that – not wanting to hurt him any further – so Kim stayed silent, letting eerie silence take over the pair.

However, the silence was quickly broken when Nick suddenly cleared his throat and slowly turned back to Kim, getting back to topic. “Those bruises on R-Ro… h-her neck,” he said.

The dark haired blonde suddenly felt sympathy towards the young man. It was obvious that Nick had trouble saying Rosie’s name, but Kim didn’t blame him. Just even thinking about Rosie pained her – like there was a hole in her heart, missing. Something that could never be replaced.

Nick didn’t need to finish his sentence, because just as he opened his mouth again to speak, Kim got there first, answering his not-asked-yet question.

“There were three,” Kim explained. “She was badly bruised.” She waited for Nick to speak up, but when he didn’t, she decided to continue. “I’ve been thinking about it actually – all of last night. It drove me nuts for a while, but the more I thought about it, the more I had a hunch that it’s a set of fingers… like someone tried to grab her by the neck.”

As Kim looked down at the wooden floors, the pair stopped walking, and Kim awaited her best friend’s boyfriend’s reply. She saw Nick’s hand curl into a fist like he’d want to hit something, and it was only when Nick let out a short groan of annoyance he began talking again.

“Who’d want to do something like that to her?" he asked frustrated, referring to Rosie. “She doesn’t deserve any of this! She never did! What did she do to deserve this?”

“No one deserves any of this, Nick,” she said softly, feeling tears build up.

She looked away, trying her best to fight them away – just talking about her best friend wanted to make her to curl into a ball and cry. Oh god, she missed her so much. If Rosie were still around, she’d know the right thing to say to cheer her and Nick up, but this time, she wasn’t here. She’ll never be there for them. Not anymore at least.

Kim quickly remembered why the pair decided to meet up in the first place and discreetly wiped her tears away. “Maybe her parents will let you see her body with them,” she suggested, but the idea sounded ridiculous, making Kim feel like a fool.

“Did you tell the police what you thought?” Nick asked eagerly.

Kim nodded. “Of course I did,” she said.

“But?” he pushed her to go on, noticing the stress tones in her voice.

“But…” she said slowly. “But they didn’t believe me. Well, it was more like they laughed it off – like the bruises meant nothing to them.”

“But why wouldn’t the police look further into something like that?” he questioned.

Kim shrugged, who was trying to think up of a reasonable answer, but before she could talk again, Nick was already talking.

“It’s so hard to handle this,” he said softly. “I mean, I can’t imagine how her family feels right now. Time goes by, slowly without her – I just want to see her so I’d have the chance to say all the things I want her to hear that I never said before she… left. God, Kim, I miss her, so much.”

“Nick,” Kim croaked, then quietly cleared her throat. She was sure that she saw tears building up in his eyes. “This is only the beginning for all of us. Don’t give up now.”