A Secret on Raven Block - Raven City Part Two

2

"Basically, I think the move was a mistake and I feel terrible for convincing my parents to move," said Kendall via Zoom as she had her appointment with her therapist, Dr. Young.

On the screen, Dr. Young nodded with understanding. "It's perfectly normal to feel this way after moving from a place you've lived your whole life and find that fitting into this new place is challenging."

"I know that, but I just have this gut feeling that's screaming at me to go back, that I need to go there."

"Perhaps you could try to visit when you have the chance? Maybe seeing your friends will help."

"Probably, and I've tried to drive down there a few times but everyone's so busy that it doesn't work."

"Perhaps schedule a time with them or call or FaceTime them. Hearing your friends could help. I know this is a very troubling time but there can be a silver lining at the end of this."

Kendall heaved a loud sigh. "I guess."

Dr. Young smiled. "We're running out of time but we can meet again at the same time?"

Kendall nodded. "Yes. It was nice talking to you, Dr. Young."

"You too. Take care."

Kendall signed out and closed her laptop. She spun around in her computer chair and turned on the TV she had in her room. It turned on to the news and it was displaying the supernaturals were real. She rolled her eyes and turned the TV off. Ridiculous, she thought. Do people really believe this crap?

She glanced over at her phone and remembered what Dr. Young said about trying to talk to her friends. Even though she did text her friends, she'd only had maybe five conversations over the phone. She did get over her irrational anger at them over being possessed but for some reason felt uneasy talking to them. One good thing about the move to McGarrett was that it helped her get over her uneasiness about being around them but she still felt awkward talking to them. She felt like a huge rift had formed between them and she didn't feel like she could just pick up the phone and strike up any random conversation with them like they used to. A sharp pang of sadness over the fact made her pick up the phone and FaceTime Hannah. She knew she had to try to repair her friendships and she couldn't do that by sitting around.

She waited anxiously until Hannah picked up.

"Ken? Everything okay?" Hannah asked worriedly.

Kendall studied her friend for a few seconds. Hannah had dyed her hair a bright blue at the beginning of the summer before their sophomore year but the dye had faded back and her natural dirty blonde hair was back. She also had numerous dark circles under her eyes.

Kendall felt a huge wave of guilt crashing over her for not checking on her friend more. Sure, she'd been possessed, but the ghost had tried to kill Hannah on numerous occasions and had caused an entire shelf to fall on Hannah's father, causing him to have numerous injuries. Hannah had it hard as she had to take care of her dad and help out at her parent's convenience store while still dealing with the trauma of the haunting.

She forced a smile on her face. "Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to talk to you."

"Oh." Hannah seemed surprised. "Well, it's nice to see you. How've you been?"

The girls launched into an almost three-hour conversation about how their lives were going. Hannah told her that thankfully Mr. Carson was getting better and the money was starting to get better, so that was good. She mentioned how she and Jade Black had been hanging out a lot. She also said she hadn't been hanging out with Stephanie as much.

Those two tidbits of information caught her full attention.

"So you and Steph don't hang out anymore?" she asked during their conversation.

Hannah paused and Kendall could tell she was trying to choose her words wisely. "Ever since. . .you know. . .we aren't as close anymore. It's not that we don't hang out ever or anything, but she has a new friend group now and I've been hanging out with Jade. It just feels different between us."

Kendall felt her heart break hearing this. "Maybe you two can try to hang out more?"

"Maybe. It's complicated."

Kendall hesitated before asking the next question. "So you and Jade are getting close?"

Hannah nodded and a smile blossomed over her face. "Yeah. She's been helping me through a lot."

"Oh," said Kendall, the only thing she could think of to say. She didn't know how to feel about that. She didn't dislike Jade Black but she didn't exactly love the girl either. She felt bad that Jade had to grow up being bullied over her mother killing her father and the fact that it didn't sound like Jade had a loving relationship with her grandmother, but she felt unsure about the girl. Jade seemed so closed off, which was understandable given how much she'd gone through, but. . .she didn't know how to put into words that there was something off about Jade. Maybe it was because Jade wasn't as outgoing as Hannah or Stephanie. Maybe it was because she needed to get to know Jade better. Or maybe it was because she was being a stuck-up b with an itch at the end. She did have Jade's number but hadn't texted her since she moved but then again, Jade hadn't texted her either.

She forced herself to tune back into what Hannah was saying.

Hannah told her about everything that had gone on in school and how her dad was. Kendall expressed how she missed everyone and wished she could move back to Raven City.

A beep from her phone and her battery icon flashing yellow had Kendall stopping their conversation.

"My phone's dying," she said. "But we need to talk again soon. Tomorrow?"

Hannah nodded vigorously, beaming like a kid on Christmas morning. "Yeah, totally. Call me anytime."

They said goodbye and hung up. Kendall plugged her phone up into the charger and sighed. It'd felt good, talking to Hannah again. She needed to talk to Stephanie soon too.

She ate dinner with her family, did her homework, then got ready for bed. She was exhausted from the busy day she had and couldn't wait to get some sleep. Before she lowered herself into bed, she glanced at the framed photograph of her, Stephanie, and Hannah on her nightstand. They were sitting on Hannah's porch and making silly faces and making peace signs with their hands. It was the summer before their eighth-grade year and had on sunglasses and summer dresses.

Kendall smiled to herself and she laid back in bed. She thought about all the great memories she shared with her friends and how great it felt to be with them, to spend every summer with them, and how happy she'd been back then. Everything seemed so much more simple.

She fell asleep seconds later.