Locket full of Secrets (2 page)

              “I can’t believe you still remember that!” I laughed, almost an hour after sitting down in the booth with Olena. Our conversation was light and happy, something I had been missing for so long.

              “You’re still friends with her, right?” Olena asked, downing the rest of her coffee.

              “Rachel?” I clarified. At Olena’s nod I couldn’t help but frown. “No, not really. She was always hanging out with Simona and Becky after you left town so I didn’t see her much.”

              “Why did you not hang out with them too?” Olena asked, concern all over her face.

              “I was too upset,” I all but whispered with a shrug. I was hoping she would not press the issue.

              “What do you mean?” Olena lowered her voice, knowing it was clearly not something I felt comfortable talking about when everyone could hear us.

              “When you left I felt really alone,” I explained, forcing myself to look at her. “You were the best friend I had in a long time, and then all of a sudden you were gone. I tried hanging out with people, but it was not the same. So, then I kind of stopped hanging out with anyone.”

              Once again our waitress interrupted our moment by bringing refills of our drinks. I used the time to get my emotions in check, not wanting to cry in the restaurant. When I switched to public school towards the end of 6th grade I struggled to make friends. I was by myself more than with friends, and it looked like it was going to be more of the game in 7th grade. And it was, until Olena moved to town. I suddenly did not feel so alone all the time, instead having someone that seemed to actually understand my love for New Kids On The Block and all things Lisa Frank. When Olena left I was back to being alone again, and no one seemed to mind that fact but myself.

              “I never meant to hurt you like that,” Olena finally began once our server had left. “If I could have stayed here longer or gotten in touch with you I would have, but-”

              “It’s okay,” I interrupted. “I understand now, and it’s fine. After graduation I won’t have to worry about it anymore. I can head off to Ohio State and get a fresh start.”

              “That is great,” she smiled, concern still showing through. “But you know even if I am not here we are still friends, right?”

              “Yeah, sure,” I shrugged, staring at my hands in my lap.

              “Claire, come on,” Olena tried again, forcing me to look at her. “You still have the necklace I gave you for your birthday when I left?”

              “Of course,” I said quickly, my hand moving to my neck automatically.

              “I gave that to you because you will always be my friend, no matter what,” she paused. “I kind of wish you had it with you, in fact. I thought about it a lot while I was with my aunt.”

              “I was in such a rush I didn’t think to grab it.” I frowned, finally dropping my hand to my lap. “You said your aunt was the one who gave it to you?”

              “Yeah, her and my uncle gave it to me after my dad died, as a way to show they were there for me,” she began, a smile growing on her face. “So when my mom said we needed to leave I knew I wanted you to have it, since I was still there for you.”

              I could once again feel tears welling up in my eyes, but this time out of gratitude for my friendship with Olena. It was impossible to be mad at her for leaving when she was such a genuine friend even after all our time apart. Opening my mouth to say thank you, I noticed Olena was suddenly pale.

              “Are you okay?” I asked, watching her eyes dart around the room behind me. As I turned to look her hands grabbed at mine, stopping me before I could see who or what was drawing her attention.

              “I am fine,” she laughed, the sound suddenly hollow. “I just realized how fast this coffee went through me. I really need to use the bathroom.”

              Olena stood, moving to block my view of where she had just been staring.

              “I’ll be right back,” she managed, before taking off towards the bathroom.

              With a shrug I picked up my fork and dove into the rest of my pie. After picking at it a little earlier, the smell of the cooked apples and cinnamon were suddenly too much to ignore. Finishing the piece quickly I stared outside the window at the sunset, now blazing red on the horizon.

              Watching the sky turn an almost blackish- red I could not help but smile at how great this reunion with Olena was going. It reminded me suddenly of how lightheartedly we chatted the first time we met….

             
“Can I sit here?”

              “Go ahead.” I nodded without looking up from the pages of Teen Beat.

              “Spaseeba,” the reply came, catching my attention.

              Glancing at the seat next to me I was shocked to see a student I did not recognize sitting down. I did not know everyone in my grade yet, but I was certain I had not seen her in any of my classes so far this year.

              “Spaseeba?” I asked, the word sounding nothing like when she had said it.

              “Oh sorry,” she said with a shake of her head. “Thank you.”

              “Is that French?” I guessed, noticing an accent as she spoke even the English words.

              “Russian,” she corrected me. “I just moved here.”

              I just smiled in reply, not sure what to say. Not having a lot of friends at school made me nervous to talk to this new student. What if she thought I was not cool enough for her friendship like the rest of the girls seemed to think?

              “Is that the new Teen Beat magazine?” the new girl asked, breaking my train of thought.

              “Yeah, do you want to take a look?” I offered, sliding it towards her.

              “Donny is my favorite,” she smiled, flipping to a page with a large photo of the New Kids On The Block.

              “I like Joey best,” I admitted, turning to a page with him looking extra cute. “Oops!”

              Glancing down I saw blood springing up from a fresh paper cut on my index finger. I looked away quickly, trying to ignore the sick feeling in my stomach. The sight of blood always did that to me.

              “Here, let me help,” my new neighbor offered, pulling a tissue from her bag.

              I took deep breaths as she wrapped the tissue tight around my finger and applied pressure to slow the bleeding. When she finally removed the tissue a few minute later the blood was stopped, leaving only a little red mark on my finger. The cut was quickly covered with a band aid, helping my nausea to all but vanish.

              “Wow, thanks,” I sighed. “I really freak out around blood.”

              “It does not bother me, so I can help you if it happens again,” she offered before holding out her hand. “I am Olena Kozak.”

              “I’m Claire Santori.” I felt so classy shaking her hand in greeting. “So what other classes do you have?”

              As we went over her class schedule I was excited to see Olena and I were in three classes together, as well as lunch and homeroom. By the time the first bell rang, I could tell Olena and I were going to be good friends. We seemed to have a lot in common already and anyone that did not make fun of me for freaking out over the sight of blood was good to have around.

             
“See you at lunch time?” she asked as we parted ways on the way to first period.

              “Yeah, I’ll save you a seat,” I confirmed, glad for the first time that every seat at my table was usually open.

              “Did you want more tea?” The waitress’s voice startled me, an unexpected noise after so long in silence.

              “Uh, yes, please,” I managed, shaking my head to clear my thoughts.

              Glancing at my watch I was surprised to see it had been almost 15 minutes since Olena had left our table. Not sure if I should check on her, I allowed my gaze to wander around the room. There were only a few other tables full at the moment. Perkins was the popular spot in town, but it was only 8:30. It was still too early for the college kids to spill in after an evening of fun, and yet already too late for families to be spending time together over a meal. Deciding to give her another minute I patiently waited for my tea and took a few sips before heading to the restroom as well. Leaving my purse in the booth I made my way across the restaurant while looking around to see if Olena was in sight. Perhaps she was feeling sick, or got distracted by someone she knew from school along the way.

Pushing open the bathroom door, I was met with resistance. The light was out, something I had never seen at Perkins before, but I continued on in without the fact really registering.

“Olena?” I called out, pushing a little harder and being rewarded with the door swinging open. My voice echoed off the tiled walls as I stepped in, my arm groping along the wall to find the switch.

As my hand made contact with the light switch, I was met with shining light in my eyes. Blinking against the sudden brightness I took another step into the room and felt my feet slipping beneath me. Pitching forward before I could catch my balance, my vision exploded with stars as my forehead made contact with one of the sinks mounted on the wall. Only partially aware of a sharp pain in my wrist I sat up and brought a hand up to my forehead. It came away bloody, causing my stomach to churn immediately.

Lowering my hand out of view I squinted to make out the sight in front of me. My vision was swimming, no doubt a combination of both the hit to my head and also the sight of my own blood. Finally, however, the room came into focus. A scream immediately ripped from my throat. Trying to push myself back with my heels I slipped more, now seeing the cause. The floor of the bathroom was covered in blood, all of it flowing from the body that had been blocking the door just moments before.

As my mind tried to take in the shocking sight before me, I was only vaguely aware of a waitress entering the bathroom. I could hear her calling out for help she moved towards me, assuring me it was going to be okay. It was then that my screaming turned to tears, shock hitting me like a brick wall. The waitress held onto me as I cried, the bathroom quickly filling up with people trying to help.

“Let’s get you out of here sweetie,” the woman mumbled before standing up and helping me do the same.

My head swam as I leaned into her, my slick shoes finding it hard to gain purchase on the tiled floor. I tried not to think about the fact that this was due to blood coating them, and instead focused on getting out of the bathroom as soon as possible.

“A little help someone,” the waitress called out from next to me. Before my body could drop from her grasp two arms wrapped around me from each side, supporting me and all but carrying me to a bench near the open restaurant door. The cool air streaming in from outside stilled my head, if only for a second.

As someone pressed a cloth to my head I glanced toward the booth I had sat in with Olena. It was just how I left it, my tea half full, and my purse on the seat where I had been enjoying my reunion with my best friend. A flutter of motion next to the table caught my attention.

Glancing over I made eye contact with a boy that was about my age. His piercing green eyes shone across the restaurant at me before he turned and ran out into the parking lot through the emergency exit. I wanted to ask someone who this person was, but all I could manage to do was slump my head back onto the wall behind me. My body could not seem to process everything fast enough. Olena was gone, a man was dead, and it seemed that those two facts were more closely related than I would have liked them to be.