"Kate, Kate honey, what are you doing on the couch?"
I blinked, unable to process what Aunt Hilda had just said.
I found my Aunt's face hovering above me, once again that worried expression plastered on it.
Couch?
What was I doing on the couch?
Pieces of what transpired the night before came to mind.
"Um," I started, still disoriented. My eyes caught the television set and uttered the first thing that came to mind. "I uh watched movies." I lied, then stared at the television safely unplugged and not running.
My Aunt stared at me, brow raised. I cleared my throat.
"Then I got too lazy to get to my room, so I decided to sleep here." I shrugged and stared down at myself.
Eff, who am I fooling? I was wearing a full going-out attire except for my sneakers which had been taken off and placed on the carpet.
"Hmm," Aunt Hilda eyed me, smelling the little white lie.
I bit my lower lip.
"Sorry," I said, sounding really guilty. Aunt Hilda shook her head at me and smiled brightly.
"It's okay. Just don't fall asleep on the couch next time, and hey, I would allow you to meet up or date someone or something. Just don't be secretive about it. Okay?"
"Okay," I said, not even trying to defend myself.
"Go shower and change; we'll be having breakfast in a while," I nodded and followed orders.
I let out a sigh of relief upon reaching my room. It wasn't a complete lie; it was close to the truth but still slightly skewed.
I grabbed my towel by the back door and fished my phone from my back pocket. I was about to place it by the mirror when I accidentally pressed the lock button and saw that I had one message.
I instantly opened that one and smiled upon reading it.
'Katie, you fell asleep. But don't worry. I'll see you again soon.'
-Kyle
--
The whole morning passed too quickly. I didn't even realize it was already six in the evening until Aunt Hilda knocked on Allen's door and broke our chess game. He was about to win anyway, so I didn't mind the interruption.
She poked her head and beamed at the two of us.
"Dinner's ready," she announced.
"Just a minute, Mom," Allen said while I bounded off his bed and had the chess board tumbling through the floor, making my cousin let out an annoyed sound.
"Fat face, you're not playing fair, " he whined. I shrugged and ran towards Aunt Hilda's side for defense.
"You already won two games, and you said it yourself; it isn't nice to keep the food waiting." I laughed and rushed for the stairs knowing Allen would never let me off the hook until he got his revenge.
He could easily forgive people who tripped him and pulled his hair, but he will never let you get away when you have destroyed his chance of winning.
"Fat face! You're going to get it this time. I swear!"
I heard my cousin's voice coming closer while Aunt Hilda barked a laugh.
I ran outside and let Allen chase me by the pool. It went on for a few minutes, but eventually, he caught me holding my stomach securely and lifted me off my feet which sparked images to pop into my head.
This time they were clear, crystal clear.
There was Kyle. He chased me at a playground and caught me as Allen did. I laughed, enjoying this significant moment with him.
The images receded, leaving me light-headed.
I knew for certain now that yesterday's blurred image was also of me and Kyle.
The way he greeted me yesterday and the images I saw right now made us a couple. That one came clear already. The question of how I knew a lot of things about him was finally answered.
But if Kyle was my boyfriend, why wasn't he at the hospital when I woke up?
Why does my family seem to be keeping many things about him and the accident from me?
"Kate, are you okay?" I felt my feet touch the ground. I stared at my cousin and forced a smile.
"Yeah, I am."
--
"Hello?"
Kelsea's voice sounded tired. Obviously, she just got out of bed.
Early morning in California while late in the evening here, but I had to confirm my theories which had started to scare me and wouldn't allow me to close my eyes even just for a second or two.
"Hey, Kels, it's me, Kate," I almost heard the phone fall from her hands.
"Kate!"
She practically shrieked.
"You freak! Why did you call just now? If Aunt Hilda didn't update us on your whereabouts and whatnot, we would have no idea how you are doing there. You almost gave me a heart attack!"
I sighed.
"I sort of wanted Mom and Dad to suffer for their decision to ship me here, but I guess that was a wrong move." I bit my lower lip and stared at my toes.
Aunt Hilda was already snoring, and Allen was not home. He and his friends went out to get wasted.
He offered to take me, but I declined.
Aside from hating disco places and bars, I was waiting for Kyle to contact me. I needed more than him reminding me about us meeting each other.
I needed him to tell me what had happened that night and asked him about something else.
But I had second thoughts on that one, so I decided to go for my sister. Even when I knew there was only a 20 percent slim chance that she would tell me the truth, I'd like to take the risk.
"Oh, I don't blame you, but I wish you did not include me."
I felt guilty, but I had my reason not to contact any of them aside from the rebellion act, and yes, it was all about Kyle.
Why was it so hard for them to tell me what had happened and about Kyle being my boyfriend?
"You were part of it. You wouldn't talk to me about Kyle, about anything. You all know something I don't."
I wasn't surprised by the sudden silence. I was right.
From the very beginning, they all shut me off. They only told me that I had an accident and that I should be grateful I was still alive and breathing, end of story.
"Kate, it's very complicated."
I groaned.
"Could you just tell me anything? Anything at all just to clear the fuss in my head because Kels, I might go crazy if I don't find out what happened."
I listened carefully, knowing that in her silence, my sister was already contemplating either telling me the truth or keeping the pact with Mom and Dad about the secrecy.
"Okay. Just one. Just this one."
I knew I had a slight chance on that risk.
"Okay," I bit my lower lip for the nth time, bracing myself.
"That night, you were begging Dad to allow you to go and watch movies with your friends. But it was pretty late, but you told Dad that Kyle would be there and he won't let anything happen to you."
My sister paused, and it sounded like she was stopping herself from crying.
"Dad would never have allowed you if Kyle wasn't there. He trusted Kyle enough to let you go." Kelsea sniffed. I remained silent.
"You were riding his bike Kate, but you never made it to the movies," Kelsea said in a whisper. Then I heard her break down into sobs.
So on the way to the movies, Kyle and I met with an accident. And then what?
"Okay. I turned out fine, just a little crack in the head, but what about Kyle?"
My heart hammered hard against my chest.
He's fine. He's fine. Please say he's fine because if Kelsea told me otherwise, that would make me question who I was talking to last night and all sorts of others headed for my sanity.
"I'm so sorry, Kate," I stared at the telephone, hearing the loud tune of being hung up on.
Calling my sister was a big mistake. My hands trembled, and I felt like the world was spinning beneath my feet. The muscles holding my legs steady turned to jelly. Tears streamed down my face before I could fully process what that meant. My chest felt tight, and as I fell to the floor, I hugged my knees, sobbing bitterly. The truth was a hard slap to the face. Time made no difference right now. However, I couldn't make any noise and wake Aunt Hilda. Explaining what was going on and why I was crying could lead to me spilling the truth. The last thing I needed was to complicate the matters at hand. But should I really think about that right now? I just learned that Kyle, my Kyle, gave his life to save mine. And yet, he was here. That was the part that I couldn't grasp. Wiping the tears angrily, I took a moment to consider what to do. I wasn't sure what the next steps were. In my mind, all I wanted was to hug Kyle and forget I even called my sister. That would be easier to
PART 2 Death is a fortuitous event, unstoppable and cannot be undone. What death had taken, it could never be returned. But what if you were given a second chance to live? A second life with no restriction except for one: You can never go back to how your life had been. Would this second chance to live be worth living? — KYLE Some people would need a gun pointed right into their skull or a death threat before lying to someone they love. But me? All I needed was my fear and selfishness in order to justify what I did to Kate. Well, truth be told, I wasn't even supposed to see her. I wasn't even allowed to talk to her. Hell, I should have remained dead in her knowledge. But I defied all those restrictions. And for what? The answer was quite obvious. I needed Kate. I needed her more than I did when everything was normal. I scoffed. Normal. I don't think I would be able to feel that way ever again. From the moment I opened my eyes and realized that I was not allowed to retur
The first week of May would have been a roller coaster. The penetrating heat was sometimes so high that I found myself irritable. If not for Kyle, I think I would have gone psycho. I smiled and felt the tingles all over my body just thinking about him. I was love drunk and madly deeply crazy for him. I could go seriously insane if I don't tell someone. Sadly, I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about him. Not my Aunt, not my cousin and especially not my sister. In fact, I haven't even called home and neither did they try to call me back. Well, I already figured out that Kelsea had spilled the beans to our parents about my recent call. And I would put my bet that they felt guilty about shading me from the truth and would prefer to give me some space right now before dropping the phrases, "we're terribly sorry; we're only concerned about you" and "it was for your own good". I sighed. But despite the secrecy, my unkempt happiness and enthusiasm had not escaped my Aunt's keen observ
Another Kyle-induced evening and I was worse than a hyper one-year-old by daylight. I cooked breakfast, which, believe me, never happened in LA. I run through some classic but lively and meaningful CDs stacked beside the player and let them hum around the house. Aunt Hilda and my cousin Allen agreed that Matt was a good influence despite the fact that I hadn't even talked to the guy or just said Hi. It was ridiculous, but I would let them assume whatever they wanted. Just as long as they don't hit the right chords, I'd be fine; ecstatic even. But then again, too much won't be good, and I have proof of that. My Aunt decided to set me up with Matt. And Allen, the ever generous alien, had called the person mentioned immediately, telling him that the gang planned to meet at Bob's Café in Lacson Street by four in the afternoon. So basically, despite my outward protest and insistence that I couldn't meet up with him, I had no other choice. At precisely 4, I was fairly seated outside Bo
There's a fine line between pretending and not telling anything. With no telling, it would be easy to just shut up and change the topic, but that would be called avoidance, and my Aunt doesn't like to be evaded. On the other hand, if I play pretentious, I might get caught in one wrong move, but I could also hide how I was really feeling. So upon arriving home, I pretended to have a happy mood and told them that I had fun and would love to see Matt another time, then gave them the excuse to go to my room and change. The fake smile and glee faded as soon as I had the door closed. I leaned on it and rested my head, closing my eyes. "This is bad. And this sucks," I muttered, sighing heavily as the weight of that decision sat on my shoulders. I knew I had to tell Kyle. It was not my nature to keep secrets from him. Doing so made me feel trapped. Plus, I associate it with cheating. Technically, he was dead. Like everyone else's mindset, I should be free, single and have no other a
I woke up with a start. Kyle wasn't able to come last night, and I dreamed about him dying, which made me shiver despite the heat. I threw the covers off of me and found the house eerily silent. I raked the whole bed for my phone and found it lying under my pillow. The time read 9:02 am, and there was no single call or text. I sighed and again shivered at the haunting silence. Usually, by this time, Aunt Hilda would be singing downstairs, in the shower, or somewhere else. The house wasn't soundproof, and my Aunt's singing voice was shrill and off-key. I'm afraid that even the mouse hiding in her ceiling could hear it. So waking up in a silent house was saying something. I knew for a fact that Allen would either be in bed or had not come home yet from last night's partying at the club. He went out with his friends, and typically, he would be home late or crash at one of his friend's places. But Aunt Hilda was here. I got out of bed, finger-combing my hair. I padded towards
I did not know what to feel. I was numb inside and out. Aunt Hilda and I were like robots inside the funeral home. To be precise, I was the robot. My poor Aunt was left daze, unable to function properly. I took it upon myself to assist the guests despite some of them avoiding me at all costs. It was evident that the language barrier was a thing. But Aunt Hilda was seated at the first pew, blankly staring at my cousin's coffin. I wanted to ask what happened. However, I didn't even have the heart to do so. I picked up a few words from the discussion buzzing around his closest friends. But those who were with him stayed silent. They sat by Aunt Hilda's, mimicking her blank stare at the coffin. I chewed on the inside of my cheeks. Comforting Aunt Hilda was all I could do. There was nothing else I could offer other than my presence and helping around while battling the heavy feeling inside my chest. Sometime later, the atmosphere inside the funeral home became too heavy for me
I would have stayed with Aunt Hilda at the funeral home, but most of the adults there told me that I should get some rest and be back tomorrow. The adults I meant were mostly siblings of Aunt Hilda's late husband. Some of them were already children of one of the siblings. My brain was too dysfunctional to tell whether I wasn't introduced or barely paying attention. Either way, I wanted to stay and make sure Aunt Hilda was taken care of. However, I was left with no choice when half of them forced me to go home. So, home we went. I didn't try to have a conversation. I hardly knew anyone considering I hadn't even met them until today. Hence I went straight to my room and locked the door. It was when I was alone that my legs wobbled. I had to sit on the bed and slump my shoulders. I couldn't decide whether to cry or scream. Both options would be a nice way to express everything I felt. It didn't matter if anyone heard me or not. All I wanted was to release the bottled-up emotion