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KIM FREAKED when she saw leo appear in front of her at the grocery store, she nearly screamed while trying to find hot sauce after school
"your principal got me killed," leo blurts out, but kim ignores that
"leo what the literal—? you friggin' scared the shit outta me, just now and earlier. are you okay?" kim questions, thankful that nobody else was in the aisle and couldn't hear her half-yell.
leo bites his lip, looking hopeless as hell. "i don't know anymore. seeing her felt like the same burning feel i had while in..." leo waved his hand about "whatever the hell i was in after i died." leo looked over at kim with wide eyes in sudden realization ~ "she must've been the one who killed me or something —you have to bring her to your house."
kim gave leo a 'what?' look before shaking her head frantically. "how the hell do you expect me to do that? principals just don't go around showing up at students' houses leo." she tries to rationalize
leo slumped in his stature suddenly, shaking his head while looking down at his shoes. "yeah i know. you're right, it's hopeless. i don't even know why—" he turned to face her, to fake a smile to remove the guilt-ridden look on kim's face because he didn't want to be a burden on her shoulders.
but then he saw them — two women, one middle-aged and tired, and the other elderly and delightfully distracted by her knitting. the middle-aged woman led the older one into the aisle in search of spaghetti meat sauce, the older woman knitted in the middle of the store as if the was the most normal thing in the world; cutting little strings of yarn to pick them up from the floor as fast as she could and put them in the little bag tucked around her covered arms. leo stared at them until his eyes burned, until all he could see was nothing except a blur. he was going to cry.
kim raises an eyebrow at him, eyes softening in concern as she was oblivious to the people behind her, "leo? leo, are you good?"
she didn't see that the older woman had snapped her head in her direction
she also didn't realize that the elderly lady was making her way towards her
"you see him too, young lady?"
kim turned around to face the voice, eyes widened in shock and her increasing confusion started to irritate her; nonetheless she still responded to the old woman in a soft voice
"see who?"
"him. you know who i speak of," the old woman clutches her knits close to her chest as her dark blues stared into kimberly's browns in curiosity, "the aura around you is the same as his; do you see his shadow in your dreams too? how do you kno—?"
"mutter lass das mädchen in ruhe" (mother leave that girl alone)
the middle-aged woman spoke sternly in german tongue before hurrying over to them and grabbing her mother's hand "i'm sorry, she has dementia." the younger woman says apologetically to kim
"i-it's fine," kim cringes awkwardly
"she knew leo, irmelin!"
the younger woman paused at the elder's words and stared at kim for a considerable period of time. and kim did not cower at the woman's gaze, her eyes were an ocean blue that she'd grown fondly familiar to
the woman lowered her eyes, forlorn
"gehen wir, mama" (lets go, mother)
the two woman left her in the aisle alone.
she wasn't surprised that leo wasn't there behind her, she wasn't surprised that he wasn't in her bedroom when she got home, she wasn't surprised that he wasn't there to distract her from her homework, what she did feel however, felt indescribable
she had read books about this; the girl missing the boy and how she couldn't wait to see him again tomorrow cause tomorrow is just a day away, sure but it still felt like trying to touch airplanes in the sky
she related her feelings to that and beyond, her loneliness brought her to realization
she called di.
"niña, you were supposed call m—" "i love him," "what?"
"i love him,"
her voice cracked from disuse as a tear fell down the hills of her face;
