The Butterfly Sister by Amy Gail Hansen

Author:Amy Gail Hansen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2013-07-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

The drive to campus from Heidi’s apartment seemed much longer than two minutes on Saturday morning, mainly because I sensed her eyes on me whenever she wasn’t looking at the road or the speedometer. Heidi had spent the whole morning watching over me like a mother hen while she cooked us French toast, while we watched the weekend morning news show. She knew my conversation with Sarah had unnerved me. I could see that fact in her flat-lipped smile and pensive eyes.

“So?” she finally said.

“So what?”

“So what do you think of the coffee?”

I looked down at the pink Breast Cancer Awareness travel mug she’d handed me before we left her place. I’d actually forgotten I was holding it. I was still fixated on what Sarah had told me the night before.

I took a sip. “It’s good.”

“Did you notice the flavor?”

“Vanilla?”

“It’s hazelnut,” she blurted. “I must not have put enough in. I thought you’d notice right away and say something.”

I took an exaggerated sip and nodded profusely. “It’s totally hazelnut. I can taste it now.”

“I bought flavored creamer when I knew you were coming. The kind we liked.”

“I remember,” I said. “Thanks.”

Heidi kept her eyes on the road this time. “You’re welcome.”

She was quiet the rest of the ride, so I drank the remainder of my coffee quickly to prove my appreciation, and to get another dose of caffeine to my brain. We were a few feet away from the campus entrance before Heidi spoke again.

“It’s still chilly, but at least the rain stopped,” she said, resorting to the age-old topic of weather. “Thanks for helping me get things organized for the parade.”

The day before, I’d promised to help Heidi with the Reunion parade, when she was stressed-out by everything on her plate—Reunion festivities, Julie Farris damage control, Beth’s vigil. But now, the thought of standing in a crowd—gawking at Kenosha’s finest middle school and high school marching bands and floats covered in crepe paper stuffed into chicken wire—sounded like a horrendous way to spend the morning. I hadn’t slept most of the night, thanks to my discussion with Sarah. Questions had played and replayed in my mind like a song set on repeat. How did it happen? When did it start? Did Beth linger too long after English Literature one day? Had she laughed at all of Mark’s jokes over an innocent cup of coffee? Perhaps they drank wine. Maybe Mark gulped too many glasses of Shiraz and couldn’t say no when she offered herself to him. Had one thing simply led to another?

And the most pressing question of all: Why did Mark choose Beth over me?

That question festered inside me until I birthed an anger toward Beth Richards I never thought possible. Beth was missing, most likely dead, and yet I hated her. I hated her for taking Mark away from me.

Now in Heidi’s car, I started to feel nauseated from drinking the coffee so fast.

“I’m not feeling well,” I told her. “Do you mind if I skip the parade?”

“Well, I can’t skip it.

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