Page 6 of Fight or Flight
Restless, Katherine knew sleep was out of the question. She still kept a spiral notebook, though she didn’t have to hide it under the mattress now. Taking the red notebook from her nightstand and flipping through the pages, she read through a rough outline for the book she would start next. Disciplined, she could finish a rough draft in a month. Another week or two for an edit, then she was on to the next story. Satisfied with the outline, she glanced at the time and saw that it was after midnight.
She grabbed her phone, opened the Friendlink app, and went to her fan page. Maybe she’d find someone there to talk to. A message immediately popped up.
klcLUV/007: Hi! Can’t sleep either?
Katherine smiled and typed back:
Nope. Have a lot of homework tonight.
klcLUV/007: My dad makes me do homework the second I walk through the door!
Bigfan216: Wow! That’s not right! Why?
Katherine waited several seconds for an answer. Maybe klcLUV/007 had decided it was none of her business.
klcLUV/007: I dunno, he’s always been this way since my mom has been gone.
Bigfan216: Parents divorced?
Breaking her own rules by asking personal questions, she found she couldn’t help herself. She was curious.
klcLUV/007: No.
Bigfan216: Sorry, not my biz!
klcLUV/007: It’s okay. I lost my mom a while ago. I still miss her. Hope you don’t think I’m a big baby! I do miss her, though.
She knew exactly how losing a parent at a young age felt. No matter how absent her parents had been, she still felt their loss. They had been very different people, but you didn’t get to choose your parents, and she had tried to mourn them in her own way.
Bigfan216: I’m so sorry. I don’t think you’re a baby at all. Both of my parents are gone.
Too much info? Probably, yet for whatever reason, she truly felt bad for this girl.
klcLUV/007: OMG, I am so so sorry. It sucks, huh? Bigfan216: It was a long time ago. I don’t like to think about them much. Does that make me a horrible person?!?!
klcLUV/007: Absolutely not! Between us, I wish my dad had died instead of my mom. Does that make me a horrible person too?!?! I wasn’t even allowed to go to her funeral!!!
Bigfan216: Wow, that’s not right. Is your dad a jerk?
klcLUV/007: Beyond, especially now.
Bigfan216: How so?
klcLUV/007: Money. He’s got big ideas and thinks he’s about to hit the jackpot. He’s weird that way.
Bigfan216: So he has a lot of $$$?
klcLUV/007: He says he’s got an inheritance or some bull. I’m not sure I believe him!!!
Bigfan216: Send $$$ my way if he does! LOL
klcLUV/007: Maybe. LOL
Bigfan216: Not serious!
klcLUV/007: I kinda wish you were! Serious, I mean.
Katherine wasn’t sure what line she was about to cross. Too wired to worry about it, she decided Darby would straight out ask the question.
