Chapter Twenty-Two

Tina Kennard narration

Shane shut her cellphone down, looking rather worried.

“Who was it?” I asked, despite knowing the answer already.

“Bette’s father, he wanted to know if we had heard anything about her already.”

Since Bette’s father had found out how much his daughter had been hanging out with us before she disappeared, he called us at least once a day to know if there was any news. Every time we had to say we didn’t know, but we’d surely call him if she did contact us.

It was hard for me, to me reminded of her every day. I was getting over her and Helena was just so wonderful, but it still ached. Bette was still in my heart and I was afraid she wouldn’t ever leave it, even if she only was in a dark corner of it. I would never be able to forget her. Get over her, maybe, actually likely. But I would always remember her.

“So the police hasn’t found anything on Fiona?” I had heard Shane asking it but obviously hadn’t heard Melvins answer.

“Well, they have never heard of Fiona Alexis. They have searched their records, but it’s like she doesn’t exist. They have been looking for her for quite some time now, but outside of this town, Fiona Alexis doesn’t seem to exist.”

Suddenly something dawned on me. “What if that isn’t her real name?”

“Why would she lie about it?”

“I don’t know. Why did she want Bette to come with her when she clearly doesn’t love her? What did she need Bette for?”

We had asked ourselves these questions thousands of times, but had never been able to find an answer. I really didn’t want to think these things through, I wanted to go on with my life as it was: without Bette. She wouldn’t come back anyway. And if she would, I wouldn’t take her back. I had Helena.

Not that my relationship with Helena was perfect, but she was just so different from Bette that I didn’t allow myself to compare. My relationship with Bette hadn’t been normal, and she was my first. I guessed every relationship had his ups and downs and that this stage of a down was pretty normal.