𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 - kiara carrera¹

𝒙𝒙. 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖

"STEALING DRONES MAKES YOU HUNGRY."

Kiara glanced behind at Tatum again, who - surprise, surprise - didn't look back. What she looked was exahsted. Of what? Nobody knew. All day, they'd been trying to engage her into all kinds of conversation - all the things she usually loved to talk and rant about - but she didn't so much as mumble. She didn't tease. She didn't giggle. The pouges never realised how much they relied on that one sound. She didn't respond to a single thing. And Kie - she didn't even look at Kie.

In her mind, nothing was happening. It was like everything was slowly fading. Like she was dying all over again. Tatum simply stared at things, and felt herself zoom out of the world. She wasn't there. She wasn't in that van. She wasn't surrounded by the only people she had ever loved. Nothing was happening. Everything was disappearing.

"What I would do to have a beer and shrimp and grits right now," JJ agreed, climbing out the van and offering his hand to help Tatum out. She looked down at his palm - the same palm she'd held onto so many times. He never realised how much comfort she really needed. He never cared about what was going on inside her mind. She ignored it and stepped out herself.

"It would not be pretty," said Pope, looking at Tatum, desperate to hear her playful voice again.

Four teenagers, and the ghost of their friend, stepped up into the wreck. The memory of Leroy and her robbing the place flashed in Tatum's mind. That was the beginning of her end. She did that for Kie. By robbing her family and pointing a gun at her mother's head, she saved her life. She almost scoffed at her lack of sense - it was so stupid.

Tatum stood at the back, away from everyone in the small restaurant, as Kiara spoke to her dad and the boys watched from a distance. She didn't know what to do. Nothing felt real right now. And it wasn't in the thrilling, exciting way this time. It was in a horrible, dark way she just wanted to escape. But the door was locked from the outside.

"Sit down."

She didn't look at the girl who said it. She didn't look at the boys, either. But she did sit, at the end of the table, away from the others. Like she wasn't with them.

Kiara frowned. This was supposed to be fun. Happy. Tatum would've loved it. It brought physical pain to see the girl this way. It broke her heart. She would do anything to see her grin and hear her giggle again. She knew it would take some time, but Kie was determined to help Tate become herself again. Because without each other, the two girls were left alone, cold and empty.

The laughter and buzz of her 'friends' echoed through Tatum's mind. But still, she could not hear a thing. She didn't touch her food. She didn't drink her beer. She didn't even look up from the ground. Everyone watched her, sang her favourite songs, told her favourite jokes, but her face stayed blank. To the point where everybody was standing up, dancing and having the time of their lives, while Tatum stayed at her seat, sleeping with her eyes wide open. Like the ghost of her past self.

She made sure not to look at Kiara. Because she knew that even just one glance at the girl would bring all those unwanted feelings rushing back. All the happiness, all the pain, all the fear, all the desperation. Kiara Carrera was the only thing that could lead Tatum back to her soul, and the thought of it terrified her. The fact that a single person could ignite all those thoughts and feelings back together with her mind scared her shitless. She never wanted to be that young and niave again.

A/n: pretty heavy shit lol. im not even sure if it makes sense. probably not