♫ Kevz ♫
I went straight home after having a drink with my friends. Partner’s coming back tomorrow and I’m excited.
It was the first time I celebrated Christmas and New Year without her, so of course, I missed her. unfortunately, aside from souvenirs, it looks like she got some bad news with her too.
I wanted to sleep early but Drew just won’t let go of me. He called me late at night to ask if I know anything. If Lemon told me something. Even if I tell him over and over, that I know nothing, he won't believe me.
I told him something seemed wrong but I don't know the details yet. He asked if it was about him but I said I don’t know yet and that’s the truth. He seemed nervous so I assume there’s something he should be nervous about.
So here I am now, looking like the lead star of Walking Dead while giving instructions to Lyra as to what should be prepared. Lemon and David will go straight to the studio and will have lunch here.
I informed everyone about it since Lemon’s worried about her take-homes. She said they’re rice cakes for our parents and they might get spoiled if she’d bring them home.
Lemon's always been sweet, especially to our parents. That’s why our moms like her for each one of us, except Kip’s mom of course.
And that's one of the many things I love about her. When she calls you her friend, it’s not just you but your entire family as well.
It was only past eleven when they arrived, luckily, we were done with the preparations. Kip, Homme, and Roj are already here too and of course, Drew is still missing.
While preparing our lunch, Lemon prepared everything for us. It was funny how the count of each item is the same for everyone and everything was properly named. She's very detailed.
She also knows of our parents’ allergies, more than we do as always. It was a shame for us, but I really love that about her.
After the rice cakes, she took out plastic from her bag. When she opened it, she starts handing out keychains, one for each.
They are musical instruments with our names carved on their back and her initials. Sorry, I was wrong, not all of us. Because when I checked the one for Drew, it only has his name.
Speaking of which, she didn’t even look for him when they arrived. Even David didn’t ask where his brother is.
If I remembered correctly, I made it clear to him that he was supposed to be here for lunch. But that asshole is still nowhere to be found and we were already done eating.
Lemon stayed for a bit before bidding us farewell. We didn’t think twice about letting them go since we know they were tired of their travel too. Besides, it’s school day again tomorrow.
But before she left, she reminded us of her Dad's birthday celebration next weekend. According to her, it’s a small gathering but we must make it.
“Time really flies!” Roj exclaimed. “It wasn’t long when we started our first day in college, and now we’re about to celebrate Uncle Edward’s birthday, and in a few days after, our freshman year’s over!”
“Exactly! And I’m looking forward to our sophomore year!” Kip sounded romantically excited that we can’t help but laugh at him.
Our attention was caught though when Homme sighed. “Why? Are you missing Kellen again?” Roj teased.
“No, dude…”
“No?” Kip asked.
“No, I mean, I do miss her yes but that's not the reason why I sighed,” he explained. “It’s just that, there seems to be something wrong…” he continued before looking at us one by one.
“What do you mean?” Kip lifted a leg on the couch to face him properly.
“Didn’t you notice? Lemon’s eyes are puffy and though she's smiling, it doesn’t reach her eyes. She looks sad but she's trying her best to hide it behind her smiles,” Kip nodded at him as if he realized it too.
Roj suddenly sat up straight and leaned forward, “She didn’t look for Drew too…” he added.
I slowly positioned myself next to Homme on the couch, lifting both my legs and crossing them. They all then looked at me. “Do you know anything?” they asked almost together and I slowly shook my head. Roj even threw a crumpled paper at me.
“Jerk! Your slowmo made me think you knew something!” he spat.
“But you talked to her yesterday right?” Kip asked and I nodded. “Did she say why she’s not answering our calls?”
“Yes, I was able to talk to her. She was just checking on us at first, she even said she’s excited to go back. According to her, Uncle Edward’s place was very quiet and she was about to go crazy,” I started. “While talking to her, she does sound sad. She keeps sighing so I asked if something was wrong, she said she was not ready to talk about it yet. And since she said that, I didn’t ask her about Drew.”
They were so focused on listening to me that we were all startled when Drew stormed in, catching his breath. “Where is she?”
“They already left, David drove her home,” Kip responded.
He let out a frustrated sigh before slumping on the nearest bean bag. “She didn’t even wit for me?” he asked, obviously irritated.
“She didn't even look for you dude,” Homme informed me. “Did something happen?”
He slowly lifted his head and looked at him, “She didn't look for me?” he asked weakly and we all nodded at him. Again, he bowed his head before letting out a heavy sigh. “See? That's the problem! I know I've said a lot of stupid things after what happened between her and Zone. I even missed her call on Christmas Eve. But I tried my best to reach out to her the next day but she didn’t answer even a signle call,” he narrated while quickly wiping away the tear that escaped his eye. “I wasn’t able to sleep properly thinking of what’s wrong. Why is she shutting me out all of a sudden?”
“Can't you think of anything?” I pried. He paused for a while before slowly shaking his head.
“The last time we talked was that Zone incident. Before I left home, my parents are already there. I asked them about their holidays and he said it wasn't that good. According to him, Leslie locked herself inside her room on the 26th, the whole day!”
“Did he say why?” Roj inquired.
Drew shrugged at him, “He said they don't know. Even her parents know nothing. All Leslie said was that she wasn't feeling well so she wanted to rest. But when she was called out for dinner she didn’t come. The maid that assisted her told Aunt Tori that Leslie's been crying and her eyes are already swollen. When Aunt Tori went to see her, the door was already locked and she won’t let her in. But the next day, she went out as if nothing happened so they didn’t ask about it.”
We all fell silent. As if everyone’s thinking about what happened to her, why it happened. ‘Is that the problem she mentioned? The one she can’t talk about yet?’
If that's the case, it could be something heavy. Leslie doesn't just cry but when she does, that means she's in pain emotionally. ‘What could it be?!’