Chapter Eighteen

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	Skylee looked slightly abashed when Mrs. Framptis told
her disapprovingly about Kevin’s phone call. 
“ You should really call him back, Skylee.  I would have
never thought you of all people would pull a stunt like
this,”  Sky lowered her gaze and waited for Mrs.  Framptis
to finish her lecture.
“ I’ll call him right now,” SKylee interrupted defeatedly. 
She watched her leave and glanced at Reese.
“ No New York, huh?” He asked, giving her a regretful smile
before exiting to give her some privacy.  She sighed and
pulled out her cell phone and dialed Kevin’s number. 
Expecting to hear Kevin’s voice, she was caught off guard
when someone else answered.
“ Hello?”
“ Um.  Who is this?” 
“ Skylee?  Christ, you’re in deep shit,” She recognized AJ’s
voice.
“ Yeah.  I know.” 
“ Kevin’s really worried about you,” 
“ Sure he is.  And whose genius idea was it to call here? 
Brian’s?  Kevin wouldn’t have expected me to come back
home,”
“ Actually it was mine,”  He winced, expecting her to get
angry but instead, she sighed.
“ Is he really mad?”
“ Yeah.”
“  Where is he?”
“ He’s in the middle of a meeting right now,”
“ What am I gonna do?” She moaned and AJ thought she had
forgotten her bitterness towards him.
“ Where were you planning on going?”
“ New York,’
“ Oh.  I can see how Seattle is really on the way to New
York,”
“ I thought my mom was home,” She replied tearfully. 
‘Great, that’s all I need.  For her to start crying.’ AJ
thought.
“ Why’dja leave in the first place, Skylee?”
“ You saw how Kevin was.  He doesn’t trust me at all,”
“ Oh and this whole stunt would regain his trust for you?”
“ No.  I just-...I didn’t want to stay there any longer,”
“ And that was partly my fault too, right?” AJ added, taking
advantage of her unrestrained responses.
“...I...I guess that wasn’t really your fault, you didn’t
exactly say anything bad...” She admitted, her voice low.
“ Whoa, what was that?  Did I hear correctly?”
“ AJ,”
“ Ok...I’ll stop.  I’ll let ya go then.  I just couldn’t
resist getting a dip of why you hate me so much... He
trailed off and Skylee felt washed over with guilt.
“ I’ll be seeing you soon, I guess,” She said unhappily
before they both hung up, slightly puzzeled.  Skylee sat in
the living room for a few minutes until Kevin called her
back.
“ Where in the Hell are you?!” He yelled before she could
even say hello.
“ I’m in-”
“ No, I KNOW where you are, why else would I call Mrs.
Framptis?  Skylee Elizabeth Richardson, you are getting on a
plane and flying back here as soon as possible, understand?”
“ Ye-”
“ You’re plane leaves Washington National at two.  Be there
at one, which is exactly fortyfive minutes from now.  Do you
have a pen?”  Skylee copied down the flight number and gate
before Kevin hung up on her.  Her eyes blurred with tears,
incredibly melancholy all of a sudden.  There goes New York. 
She wiped away her tears and stood up, walking to the
doorway of the kitchen.
“ Reese?  Could you drop me off at the airport please?”
“ You’re leaving?”
“ Of course she’s leaving.  She ran away from her
brother’s,” Mrs. Framptis interrupted, still upset at how
Sky would do something like that.
“ My plane’s leaving at two.  I gotta be there at one.”
“ Yeah, sure.”  He stood up and Skylee muttered a goodbye to
his grandmother before they exited the house.
“ It’s kinda early...Do you think we could stop at the
Marlbrooke Cemetary?”  She asked quietly as she waited for
him to unlock the car.
“ Yeah.” He nodded as he found the keys.  Ten minutes later,
they were at the gates of the Marlbrooke.
“ I’ll be waiting here, allright?  Take your time, hun,” 
She inhaled as she walked up the path and found her father’s
grave.  She knelt before it, reading the inscription a
couple of times.
“ Hi, Dad...I didn’t bring any flowers this time, sorry.”
Her voice broke and she looked up, trying to contain the
tears.
“ Oh, God.  You must be really angry at me, right?...I
thought you’d understand but...I guess I realize what a jerk
I’ve been to everyone...especially to Kevin...I mean, God. 
I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to you...That’s
not the way it’s supposed to work, Daddy...And they act as
if it’s so easy to let go.  If it was, why would I be
dragging it out this far?...I’m sorry. I haven’t been here
for awhile, and while I am here, I vent.  I just miss you so
much,” SHe whispered, a tear rolling down her face.
“ Well, I’m flying back to where Kevin is and I promise,
I’ll try to think of you before I do anything stupid or try
to start something with him...I guess I’ll get going now.
I’ll bring flowers next time, ok?...I love you...” SHe stood
up, saying one silent goodbye to him before walking down the
path and back to the car.  Reese watched her face as she
climbed into the car.
“ You Ok?” He asked softly, seeing the tears.  She bit her
lip and nodded.  He wrapped her in a tight hug and she let
some of the tears fall, unable to contain them within
herself for any longer.
“ It’ll get easier, Sky.” He said, rubbing her back.  They
stayed like this for a few minutes.
“ We should get to the airport soon,” Sky said, pulling
away.
“ Yeah,” He watched her for a second before starting the
engine and pulling out of the parking lot.  Skylee dug into
the glove compartment and got out a tissue.
“ Kevin’s gonna give me hell,” She muttered, thinking about
his reaction.
“ He’ll get over it soon enough,” Reese comforted.  The ride
was pretty quiet and they reached the airport in the next
ten minutes.
“ You don’t have to go in, I’m not good company right now.”
Skylee said as he was about to park the car.
“ You sure you can find the gate and stuff?”
“ Yeah.  Thanks for everything, Reese.”  SHe gave him a hug
and he kissed her on her cheek before she opened her door.
“ Have a safe flight and I’ll call you later.”
“Ok, bye, Reese,” She took her overnight bag and walked
inside the airport...