Chapter 2: Hysteria

                Kendyl pushed past a greasy kid in a black trench coat and almost tripped over a teenybopper flipping through a magazine. The girl just glared over the glossy pages and snapped her gum before returning to articles like "Boy Speak Translation Guide".  Kendyl didn't even glance her way; her eyes kept searching the crowd of high school kids for a bright blonde head of hair. 

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                For the last few days, Kendyl tried talking to Kate, but most of the time she avoided her calls and if she did talk to her, it was very clipped and short. Then last night, while she was away for a military training course, Kate called her crying.

                "Kate?" Kendyl pressed the phone to her ear, trying to block out the sound of grunts from other cadets as commanders ran them through the exercises. "Kate? Slow down....I can't understand you."

                Kendyl could only identify a few words. "I can't...kid..." Kate's sobbing gets louder and her words get harder to make out. "...LOVES YOU!" A loud crack sounded through the phone and the line went dead. She stood frozen in shock, listening to the dial tone, a dead and final sound.

                

                The Lieutenant granted Kendyl leave as soon as he saw the frantic look on her face and she hopped into her car. She drove all night and morning to get back home. She arrived at the high school, just as the teens came streaming out.

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                Kendyl whipped her head around at a flash of yellow and a giggle, but it wasn't Kate. She peered closer at the group and recognized a few faces. Kendyl strode up to them, growing more anxious as the students outside the school began to dwindle.

                "Have you seen Kate?" She asked, interrupting their banter. The Kate imposter wrinkled her nose and then smirked at the girl next to her.

                "Kendyl?" She turned and saw a freckly face standing just beyond the circle under a tree. Caleb... "Is something wrong?"

                "I...um...I'm looking for Kate. Have you seen her?"  Does he know? Has Kate told him about the baby? Kendyl searched his face, but only saw puzzled concern.

                "She left earlier this afternoon. She said she had a doctor's appointment or something." Oh no...she wouldn't. Maybe it's just an appointment for the baby...  Kendyl looked past the group toward the hospital though it was not in sight.

                The imposter snorted and said, "Yeah, skipping more like it." Again she smirked at the other girl and continued, "Probably getting hot and heavy with that mystery guy she keeps talking about."

                Kendyl watched as Caleb frowned at his shoes. She wanted to tell him everything at that moment; she didn't want him to be strung along and not even told about his baby.  Kate can't do this to him!  "What time did she leave school?" She said, a bit too briskly.

                "About an hour and a half ago." Caleb replied, not lifting his eyes. Before he could finish, Kendyl turned and ran toward the hospital. Regardless of what the situation, Kate needed her; she needed someone to support her through this.

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                Kendyl nearly flew past Kate, right into the hospital, but quiet sobs made her turn. Kate was bent over her knees, hair spilling over her face. Kendyl's heart plummeted into her stomach. I'm too late...

                She slipped onto the bench beside her sister and touched her shoulder. Kate jerked in response and looked up at Kendyl, eyes vacantly trying to identify her. "Kendyl?" She threw her arms around her neck and Kendyl made soothing sounds and smoothed her disheveled hair.

                Kendyl let her cry for a few minutes, but she had to know. "Did...you...?" She was unable to complete the sentence.

                "I couldn't! I made the appointment, but I couldn't even go inside the building!" Kate balled her fists and released them. "I can't tell how I feel about it; one moment I'm mad at myself and the next I'm relieved." She let out a hysterical bark of laughter before crying again.

                "You are a good person, Kate." Kendyl tucked a stray hair behind her sisters ear. "It's not in your nature to do something like that."

                "But I can't have a baby; I'm just a kid..." Kate trailed off as she felt Kendyl's arms tense around her and glanced up at her face.

                Kendyl was staring toward the entrance of the hospital. Jeffrey was walking hand in hand with Celine and they were laughing. A sharp fragmented pain radiated in her chest as all the nightmares of Jeffrey and Celine together became focused right before her eyes. Please just walk right on by....please...

                As she uttered those word in her head, Jeffrey locked eyes on her, eyes wide. "What's wrong?" He ran up to them. "Is someone hurt? Are you parents okay?" He was only about a foot from Kendyl and the warm spicy scent of sawdust assaulted her, transporting her to a day about three months ago.

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                "Kendyl! Don't eat that! Those are Mrs. Crumplebottom's prize apples!" Jeffrey reprimanded her.

                "Oh, live a little! She won't miss this one, plus I don't see why they'd win a prize, they are kind of sour." Kendyl stuck out her tongue. 

                Jeffrey laughed. "Well, that's because they are crab apples." Jeffrey turned back to the garden plot he was working on. "Can you bring me another box of mulch?"

                Kendyl hefted the box from the truck bed into her arms, glad she wasn't some dainty girl who never built up her muscles.

                She inhaled the dark rich scent of the mulch as she kneeled down and placed the box beside Jeffrey. Making sure Jeffrey wouldn't notice, she leaned over and discreetly smelled his neck as he spread the mulch around a tomato plant. She closed her eyes and smiled, loving how his hard work with wood and gardens permeated his skin.

                When she opened her eyes, Jeffrey was smirking at her. She blushed and said, "Oh, I...uh...love the smell of this stuff. Uh...how do you make it?"

                He laughed and ran the back of his hand across his cheek, leaving a smear of dirt there. "A bit of this and a bit of that. I tend to have a lot of stray pieces of wood laying around and I shred it up for mulch."

                "Mister Resourceful here." Kendyl joked. She wiped her finger in the dirt and swiped it across his clean cheek. "There. That's better; I needed symmetry." She shrugged and gave him a lopsided smile.

                "Oh I'll give you symmetry!" Jeffrey tackled her, trying to wipe the dirt off onto her.

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                Kate yanked out of her arms and shoved Jeffrey in the chest, disturbing the sweet memory. "You jerk!" She shoved him again as Kendyl looked on with shock. Jeffrey backed away, eyes wide, seeming to see Kate for the first time. "You told me you loved Kendyl and now you are putting the moves on Celine?? Who does that?"

                Jeffrey's face paled and he glanced toward Kendyl, who was frowning. He said he loves me? Or maybe Kate misunderstood...he probably just said he loves something about me... She looked up at him, a silent request for more information. Kendyl watched as Jeffrey opened his mouth to reply, his eyes pleading, but she never got the clarification she needed. 

                Kate twisted to face Kendyl and snarled, "You said I should tell the father, right?" She turned back to Jeffrey and said,  "Congrats, you are going to be a daddy."  Then her fist came crashing into his face.