Chereads / The last leaf on the tree / Chapter 11 - Answers part 9

Chapter 11 - Answers part 9

Stella's POV

I realized acting like I hate Ruby, which I did, didn't help Kehna acknowledge that Ruby isn't a person she should be mingling with.

"So? Can I come with you?" I knew this was a bad idea. "Yeah, sure if you need to" I also knew how much she despised it and that made it even more fascinating. "But, Stella don't you think asking your dad would be a good start?"

Ruby, you're such a sly fox, I kept on thinking. "You're right, I should probably go look for him and the staffs, there's the possibility that they are still looking for you"

"I don't think so, it's been hours" Kehna added "Yeah, but he hasn't reached out to me, so go I'll look for them"

"Or you could also just call him?"

"Good idea, Ruby!" I slightly glared at her. "I'll call him right now" I dialled he's number waiting for him to finally pick up the phone.

"Hey, dad"

"Stella where are you?" He was calm, I thought he'd be mad at me for not calling. "I'm with Kehna and Ruby right now. We're upstairs".

"Thought so" he stayed silent after saying that. I knew he wasn't happy with the way, I was lose guarded. "Can you and your friends come to where we planned on meeting, right now"

"Yeah, we're on our way"

"What did he say?" Kehna asked with a worried tone. "We should get going, now. They're waiting for us" we started walking without saying a word to each other.

Later that day,

Kehna's POV

"So what did you say, you needed?"

"I need a shirt, toothpaste and a brush"

"That's it?" I looked at her not knowing what more she wanted to hear from me. "I thought we came here for shopping!"

Stella's POV

"Ruby, really? You suppose now is a good time, to do some shopping?" She rolled her eyes before answering.

"Okay, Kehna get what you need we'll wait here" and so she left us for the second time today, still not a good idea.

"What do you think you're doing, Stella?"

"Me?" I asked innocently. "I don't know, what you're trying to do, but you need to stop it"

"You mean I should not try and remind Kehna that her mom just died about 24 hours ago? Is that what you're trying to pointing out?"

"Yes and... No. You shouldn't try and make her remember you should try... and make her forget"

"Okay, let's say you're right about this, if you had a daughter and you became part of an untimely death, would want your daughter or the people that you love to forget about you that fast?"

"I'm not saying, she should forget about her mom, I'm saying she shouldn't think of it. I know how it must feel. Remember when my grandmother died? I also felt-"

"Ruby, no please don't start with this, your grandmother was a good woman, but you can't use that as an excuse"

"If you would allow me to explain myself just once, you would understand, what I'm passing through"

"I'm still trying to understand. Why now? Why didn't try telling me the truth, when it happened? Why didn't you try telling me how you felt when it happened, why all of a sudden now?"

"I don't know either, but I'm ready now"

I shook my head in disbelief "I don't believe you, you misused my trust in you"

I was sad, that I didn't want to listen to her. I wasn't listening to my heart this time, but my brain. I was scared that she would lie all over again and I would believe her, again. We waited a bit longer. It appeared, that Kehna wasn't able to choose between, a couple of white shirts.

When Kehna was done with choosing,

"Hey, guys!" I and Ruby were both exhausted, from sitting around and ignoring each other. "I thought we'd never leave" I felt so anxious. I didn't know what to feel, I wanted to stop the feeling of pity for her but unfortunately, I failed. "Can we just go already, I'm really tired"

"Okay, you can head towards the hospital, I'll quickly pay for these, and I'll be right behind you" Ruby smiled weakly.

Outside the shop,

"Stella"

"Mmm?"

"What's going on between you and Ruby?"

"I've told before, I'm waiting for the right time to tell you. Except for that, even if this was our last few seconds on earth, I'd still not tell you. Focus on what's going on right now"

"I know you're trying to be the big sister, I never had, but I think you're hiding something from me, that I need to know"

"Well, you live in Tacoma now, it's kind of important for you to know what's going on in your town, don't you think?"

"Is this about Ruby?" Before I could answer that, Ruby came out of the shop holding a bag in her hand. We tried to act like the conversation, we almost had wasn't about her. "You guys, okay?"

"Yeah... Yeah, why... Shouldn't we?" Kehna took many deep breaths in just one sentence, making it obvious that nothing was okay. "Okay... Here are your things" she said handing the bag over to Kehna.

"Oh, thanks, I forgot to ask you about your driver and my dad"

"Yeah! You're right, we should rush back to the hospital they're probably already there" we all agreed and took off as fast as we could to the hospital.

Back at the hospital,

Getting to the hospital, the first thing we all searched for, was Ruby's driver or Kehna's dad.

"Are you sure your driver is already back?" we were waiting for an answer till I got interrupted "Did he even go to Tacoma in the first place?" I said teasingly, not to mention that Ruby was ready to throw hands.

As we all were trying to calm down we heard someone call- more like shout Kehna's name and to our surprise, it was Kehna's father mad enough to burst out in flames. While he walked towards us, we could hear the stamping of his foot. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but he definitely wasn't happy. "Kehna! It's almost been two days now and you couldn't call me? Are that useless?"

And that's why you should mind, what you say when you're angry or in an emotional state. "How did this happen?" when you say, someone is swimming in a pool of tears, Kehna wasn't swimming in one, but she was making it herself.