Another random first line, to get the next section of the story moving along. If you haven't read the first part yet, you can click here. Today's random first line is "As she stopped to catch her breath, she looked back". Hope you like it!
As she stopped to catch her breath, she looked back. It was a habit she'd acquired during college. Be on the lookout. Keep yourself safe. God knows there were enough creeps on campus to warrant her vigilance. When she moved to L.A., it wasn't just a safety precaution. It became a matter of life or death. Her first apartment wasn't in the nicest part of town, but it was cheap, and had a good solid lock on the door. Constantly looking over her shoulder wasn't really necessary here in Clearbeach, but old habits die hard. The crime rate in her hometown was practically non-existent. The people saw each other more as family than neighbors. Some had lived here their entire life and would no doubt be buried here. When Kat left for college, her intentions were to get as far away as possible, and stay away. She packed as many bags and boxes as she could fit into the back seat of her green VW beetle, kissed her mom and sister goodbye, put her foot to the gas pedal and never looked back. It wasn't that she didn't like the town, or the residents. She loved taking her sister to the corner ice cream shop, being within walking distance of all her friends' houses and the beach, and she even enjoyed going to the town's summer barbecue that took place in the park every single summer. But she always felt like she was missing out on something. She knew there had to be more. More what, she didn't know. Just more.
Leaving her sister had been the hardest thing she had ever done. But Jessi, even at 14, was small-town through and through. She wasn't just content in Clearbeach, she was downright happy. She knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life.....although, in Kat's opinion, Jess' simple and romantic ideas were unrealistic: marry her high school sweetheart, have a couple kids, teach elementary school until her kids made her a grandma, then retire and live happily ever after. Kat chuckled at the memory. Jessi didn't even have a high school sweetheart - hell, she wasn't even in high school yet - when Kat left town, and she was already planning her entire life with the poor guy. When Jessi wrote to tell her about Cody, she almost felt sorry for him. He had no idea what he was getting himself into when he asked Jessi for that first date. Over the next few years, Kat lost track of how many times she rolled her eyes when reading her sister's letters, full of mushy lovey-dovey this and that about Cory.
A year after Jessi's graduation, out of the blue, she called Kat, in tears. She was crying so hard, Kat couldn't understand her blubbering. Finally Cody took the phone and broke the news: Mom had died. All the cigarettes she'd smoked throughout her life finally took their toll. Kat hadn't even known she was sick. She was immediately angry with her mother for not following through on all her promises to quit, but she grudgingly made the trip back to Clearbeach for the funeral. It was then, over the course of the weekend, that she realized Cody was all Jessi had said he was. He was the rock she needed to lean on. He held her when she cried, he tucked her into bed when he realized she had had enough of the mourning visitors. He even made her eat something though she had turned down others' offers to bring her something all day. He took care of her without being pushy and without complaint. He knew what she needed without her voicing it. After the funeral, when Kat left for her home in L.A. she didn't feel bad for leaving her sister behind. She knew she was leaving Jess in good hands. She knew she was going to get her happily ever after.
The next time she spoke to Cody was when he called two weeks ago. This time, it was he who was crying, he who was blubbering. It took a good ten minutes for her to pry coherent words from him.
"Oh my god, Kat.......It's Jessi.......they just found her............she's dead."
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