Familiar Faces

Chapter 20 - The Lock

Sometimes roadblocks come out of nowhere when everything is going well.
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The door opened, and Josie walked into her and Kenny's house.

   "Josie! I made your favorite dinner!" Kenny said, setting a dish on the large dining table in their house.

   "Josie?" Kenny frowned, watching as she ran past him without a glance. She ran down the hallway to her room and closed the door behind herself.

   "Josie?" Kenny called again, worried look on his face. "Josie are you crying?" He asked, walking down the hallway to his best friend's room.

"Go away please." Josie said in between sobs.

Kenny frowned. "Jo?" He asked, worry in his voice.

"Kenny, I'm fine. I just...was thinking about Henry again tonight." Josie replied, her voice wavering slightly.

Kenny was quiet for a minute, then sighed softly and walked back to the dining room.

Over at the park, Landon still sat on the park bench, looking at the empty spot beside him.

Josie had made a quick excuse about not wanting to break his heart, then ran out of the park in tears.

"Did she really not like me?" Landon asked himself.

On the other side of town, Missy sat down at the table in her mom's apartment. "Mommy, when can I get me ears pierced?" She asked Melody.

Melody looked over at her as she stirred the pot of macaroni on the stove. "Why do you want your ears pierced?" She replied carefully.

"Cause earrings are pretty. You and Josie have your ears pierced." Missy said.

"Well, you can get your ears pierced when you are older. I'll have to figure out when with your dad." Melody told her daughter as she set a plate in front of her.

"How old were you?" Missy asked, holding onto the plate.

"I was ten when I got my first piercing, and eighteen when I got my second." Melody replied, putting some macaroni and cheese on Missy's plate.

"Well I only want one piercing, like Josie." Missy proclaimed.

Melody looked over at her daughter. "Well that's a good thing because you aren't getting more than one until you move out." She said.

Far away from everyone else, Ida sat down and looked at some pictures in her old photo album.

   She traced her finger over her parents wedding photo, sighing as she did.

    "You aren't going to have any grandparents." She said to her stomach.

   "Ida, tell me you aren't talking to the baby again." Josh said his eyes twinkling, as he sat down beside her on the couch.

   Ida smiled. "You know I was." She said, kissing Josh.

   Josh grinned and put his arm around Ida's shoulders. "Did you talk to your cousin while I was gone?" He asked.

   Ida nodded. "I wish I would have done that long ago." She said softly.

   "Did you tell her about us?" Josh asked gently.

   Ida shook her head slowly. "Was I just suppose to say, 'Oh and by the way Josie, I'm married'?" She asked.

   Josh shook his head. "Give it time I suppose. It's not like she's going anywhere." He said.

   "How did I ever find someone like you?" Ida asked, looking at her husband.

   Josh chuckled. "I suppose it was a good thing your stepmother suggested counseling." He said.

   Ida smirked. "I bet she didn't expect me to run off and elope with my councilor."

   Josh kissed her. "Well, not everything goes her way." He replied.

   Josie sat in her room, packing up a suitcase as quickly and quietly as she could.

   She looked over at the locked door and sighed quietly as she readjusted her wig.

   Josie walked over to her bedside table and used her pink key to undo the lock, so she could slide the drawer open.

   She opened her bottle of prescription painkillers, and took one, then dropped the bottle into her suitcase. She dropped most of the contents of the drawer on top of the small stack of clothing, then closed up her suitcase.

   She slowly pulled out the notebook from the drawer, looking at all the letters she had written in it to her friends and family.

   "These are going to be the last ones." Josie whispered, tearing out a couple sheets of paper before putting the notebook back into the drawer and locking it up, then setting the pink key down on top of the table as she began to write.

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   Merry Christmas! Yep. Another sad ending to a book. Sorry not sorry!

The epilogue will be out later tonight, so keep watch for that because I promise you'll like it. <3