Kat Wells is the perfect student, cheerleader, and daughter. But that's not who she really is, not truly. The real her is hidden behind a perfect mask that nobody sees, except him.
Wally Clark was the perfect jock, friend, and son. But everything ch...
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Monday arrived faster than she'd expected.
Seeing the hallway full of people had already made Kat nauseous, but it was the headmaster's voice announcement that sent her to the roof for some peace. A wake would be held tonight in her honor. That meant she would officially be dead to everyone. However, that stuff was never really about the dead. She wasn't ready to move on yet.
Therefore, she decided not to think about it and focused on something else - the list. Wally had told her to decide what she wanted them to do first. Kat took a deep breath, looking at the field below her. She noticed Rhonda and Charley sunbathing near the football team, both seemingly very interested in the workout in front of them. She was glad to be able to still go to the roof, but something was different from before.
The warm and hopeful feeling she used to have was no longer present. In an attempt to get it back, she did what she always do. She stood on the edge and wondered if she should jump. She closed her eyes, cleared her mind of all distractions, and waited.
When she was about to give up, she felt it come back. The warmth in her hand and the buzzing feeling made her let out a breath of relief before opening her eyes to discover the look of worry on Wally's face, his hand in hers. "I know you won't die again from that jump, but I should warn you that the experience is not painless, Kit Kat."
She didn't answer, still looking at their hands, and finally let him lead her back down to safety. She suddenly felt truly embarrassed and let go of his hand. "I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to—you know." His brows furrowed as he questioned her silently. "How did you know I was there anyway?" She laughed it off, changing the topic.
He seemed to understand that she didn't want to talk about it and offered her some sunglasses with a bright grin. "I know what to do first."
"What?"
"Let's drive."
And that's how Wally convinced Kat to drive the school's mini car, though the school. At first, the girl was terrified at the idea of hitting someone until she came to her senses that it was impossible.
Then she decided to let go of any fear she had of driving. What was the point now that she was dead anyway? So she took the wheel, and sped as fast as possible past the field, heading to the parking lot. Their laughter was so loud they couldn't hear anything past that. Wally held onto her seat so tightly that with every bump they encountered, her head would hit his chest, but she didn't mind. As she tried to make a risky turn, the mini car finally showed weakness, throwing them harshly on the grass.
Wally was right. You could still feel pain as a ghost. It reminded Kat that she wasn't completely dead yet. She could still feel, be happy, sad, hurt, hopeful.
In worry, the boy rushed to her side, "Are you in pain ?" She lifted her head up, showing him the massive contagious smile on her face, eager to see his. They stood there, smiling like two drunk idiots. "Wow, Kit kat, you really are fearless."
If all the things she wanted to do would turn out like that, she couldn't wait for the next one.
Some dark clouds forming above their heads began to rain, and they rushed into the school.
As they ran through the corridors, still drunk on the adrenaline, Kat froze when she heard her name from a half-closed classroom. She took Wally's arm, leading him towards the sound, and they stood there, listening.
"What if they found out?" a girl whispered. "No one will. It was an accident. She fell," a boy answered.
"Maybe she wouldn't have if I-" the dialogue became muffled as if the boy was covering the girl's mouth. As Wally started to get closer and found out, a gasp made Kat turn around. Nathalie was there, behind her, and had just heard it all.
Footsteps got closer on the other side of the door and Kat screamed at her friend to leave before they found out what she'd just heard. And she did, running away in shock. Kat was conflicted between following her best friend and finding out the identity of the two people on the other side. But she had to know because it would change everything.
Suddenly, the door opened, and it was like all of the air was sucked out of her. Liam got out and walked away as if nothing had happened, followed by Clara. The girl who had given her coffee that day and the girl who had failed to catch her during her fatal fall.
She remembered how she had felt that day, the exhaustion after lunch, the nausea, the anxiety. The feeling that something was off. She had been right all along.
Clara and Liam did something to her, and she died because of that. All traces of joy were erased from her mind as she entered the empty classroom and fell silently against the wall.
She buried her head in her hands, bringing her knees close to her. Wally sat down next to her, and when she finally looked up, she said, "I need to know what happened to me," and he understood. She moved closer, allowing him to wrap his arms around her as she cried against him. And they just stayed like that, waiting for the storm to pass.
Kat asked Wally to skip the wake tonight, and he agreed. As he went looking for a comfort snack, she decided to put on his jersey again and settle next to the window, watching as everyone left the gymnasium.
She caught sight of her mother and wondered if this was the last time, she would ever see her. It didn't hurt as much as she thought it would. She had been dead for a couple of days already, and it still felt unreal to her. She heard the door and turned to Wally, who was carrying an entire pot of strawberry ice cream with two spoons.
"Perfect," she said, smiling. She really needed that.
He joined her by the window and sat down in front of her, staring at the storm raging outside.
"I need to confess something," Kat spoke. "That thing on the roof. I used to do it a lot when I was alive." She watched him, but he stayed silent, waiting for her to keep talking. "I wasn't doing it because I wanted to die. I mean, I thought about it for sure at first, but-" She took a deep breath, and then she began explaining all about the warmth she'd felt and how she got addicted to it.
While she was talking, Wally realized it. She was able to sense him, she could feel his hand in hers. He really did make a difference. He had helped her. A feeling of pride mixed with something he couldn't describe rose in his chest as he took her free hand in his. "Was it a feeling like that?" he demanded, and Kat's eyes widened in amazement.
"Were you there? With me?" "I never understood why you kept returning to that roof but never jumped. It scared me every time," he confessed in return.
"I guess I just wanted to feel you again,"
⋆☾⋆
Oh my, oh my, the plot thickens. what did they do to her ? what is Nat going to do about it ?
