Chapter 2

Nicole gets closer to finding out what's bothering Katie, when they get stalled when she's forced to go on a trip to the mysterious town of Sudbury.. will they ever find out each other's problems?

Chapter 2

     Her breathing became heavier as she peddled herself up a steep hill.  “I hate going up this hill.”  Nicole said to herself as she wiped a drop of sweat off of her forehead.  “It’s so steep for riding a bike…” 

     Katie’s house was only a couple more blocks ahead, and not only feeling worried about what she had on her mind, Nicole felt even more eager to tell her cousin about what she had experienced that morning.  And she hoped that telling her meant that she could feel better knowing that someone else knew.  And with any luck, Katie wouldn’t think that she had gone crazy and instead would help her with the problem that kept on popping up in her head.  

    Nicole reached the top of the hill and felt sharp wind blowing onto her face as she rode down it on the other side.  She breathed in deeply, letting the refreshing wind fill her lungs.  “This feels wonderful…”  She breathed.  She breathed some more.  

                                      …………………………………………………….

     Nicole rested her bike on the garage, and stood next to it for a couple of seconds as she tried to get a grip on what was going to happen.  She took another deep breath.  Katie has probably paced holes in the floor since this morning.  I hope I can help her with what she’s bothered by. And I hope she can help me with what I’M bothered by.   

     Nicole hurried up to the front door and rang the bell.  She began to think of how she would tell Katie about her dream without sounding stupid.  It truly concerned her, but would it concern others who hadn’t had it?  

     The handle clicked and the front door swung open.  Nicole looked at her cousin steadily, who appeared to be just fine.  

     “Hey, you’re finally here!”  Katie smiled, who did sound a little out of breath.  

     Nicole tilted her head to one side, and was surprised by the level of happiness her cousin showed.  “I thought…” she began, “You sounded so worried on the phone.  Are you okay?”

     Katie’s smile vanished, and she hesitated before nodding.  “Yep, everything’s fine.”  

     Nicole looked at her for a second longer, trying to detect if she was telling the truth or not.  But she could only see a blank expression on her face, which didn’t reveal anything.  

     “Well, you sounded so eager for me to come here and see you,” Nicole nodded, “but I’m here now.”   

     As Nicole stood at the doorstep, the sun rays were beating down on her and didn’t have the same sort of calm feeling that they had earlier that day as they were leaking into her room.  A drip of sweat ran down her back, and she felt chills go down her spine.  

     As the silence grew longer, Nicole began to panic when she wondered if Katie was the one who was going to die.  It made alarm bells go off in her head, and more than anything it made her feel miserable.  Losing her cousin would be like losing half of her body.  If she didn’t have her around, she would find it very difficult to deal with.  Too difficult.  

     Breath…  Nicole reminded herself.  It was just a dream.  

     Finally after what seemed like minutes, Katie gestured for her to come inside.  When she stepped into their hallway, she felt the refreshing chill from the air conditioner.   

     Nicole took off her shoes and leaned on the wall.  “So…” She looked at Katie, “if you don’t have something to tell me, then I’ve got someth-“  

     Katie held up her hand, and looked at her with a straight face.  “Come on, let’s go upstairs first.”  She linked onto Nicole with her arm and began to walk up her spiral stair case.

     Nicole could swear she saw a flash of concern in her cousin’s eyes.  But she could have seen wrong.  

    They reached the top of the set of stairs, and they unlinked their arms.  She stopped to study Katie once more, but her unreadable expression hadn’t changed.  She wondered to herself once again what Katie might be hiding from her.  

     Together, they stepped into Katie’s room and Nicole immediately felt the air spark with tension.  The knot in her stomach tightened.  There is definitely something that she isn’t telling me.      

     When Nicole looked into her cousin’s eyes, she finally saw that her true emotions had broken loose and that they were clouded with uncertainty.  She felt pain for her cousin.  Now there would be more than one person experiencing stress during their summer vacation.  

     As she stood looking at Katie wanting to help her desperately, without even thinking about it, she released her emotions as well.  She had to tell her about the lump �" the vision �" the thought �" that threatened to change her life.  Or maybe even both of ours.  And she just had a feeling that telling her would solve a puzzle of its own.  

     Nicole opened her mouth to begin spilling her worries onto Katie, but she reconsidered it once she saw her cousin’s clouded eyes once again.  She already appeared to have too much on her plate, so Nicole sealed her thoughts for another time.  

     They took each other’s hand, and sat down on the plain floor.  This was going to be a big therapy session on her behalf. Although she still wasn’t sure what bothered Katie, and how talking about it would make her feel, but she hoped that it wasn’t nearly as alarming as her vision.  She was also hoping that she would be able to help her cousin deal with whatever it was.  

     Nicole began to consider her words more carefully, “Now… what’s bothering you?” She squeezed her cousin’s hand tighter as she felt her shiver.  “You can tell me anything �" as much as you feel comfortable.

     She had a feeling that Katie’s problem would not be much easier to deal with then her own.  Especially considering how scared she was at the moment.  And so she felt the pain for her cousin deepen on top of her own.

     There was a pause.  Katie began to open her mouth, but closed it a second later as she rethought her sentence.  Nicole waited patiently for her to speak.  

     “There’s something that’s really been bothering me…”  She began, looking puzzled.

     Nicole nodded and gestured for her to continue, trying her best to push her own worries to the side.

     “I’m not sure how to explain it though… in fact, I’m not even sure if it would make a difference at all.”  She grinned for second, but was gone just as quick.  “But, it still bothers me.  I feel like I should do something about it, but I don’t know how.”  She looked to the side as she began to absently twirl a strand of her hair.  “I’m just so unsure about it…”

     Nicole nodded with understanding.  She knew how frustrating it was to be uncertain about something.  It was like knowing you should take action, but something in your mind was holding you back.  

     “What do you feel so unsure about?”  She asked Katie softly, hoping that she could help once she knew.

     “Well, it just happened last night, so I haven’t really soaked it in entirely yet… but I figured that you might be able to help me.  I’m just hoping that you won’t think I’ve gone crazy.”

     Nicole shook her head, feeling slightly startled by having the exact same thought this morning.  But that could wait until later, so she returned her focus back onto her cousin and the pain she was experiencing.  

     Katie noticed the sympathy that was being directed towards her. She opened her mouth to speak, when the floor shook and there was the sound of footsteps that were coming up the stairs.  

     “Is there someone there with you Katie?  I heard the door bell ring a little while ago.”  There was a knock on the door that stood close to Nicole, and she froze.  Moments of silence passed by, and no one in the room spoke a word of what they were previously discussing.  Nicole shuffled to the side just in time before the door swung open.  Katie’s mother stood in the doorway, with an expression that Nicole couldn’t read.      

     Katie sighed as she whipped the concerned expression off her face.  “Hi mom.  Nicole’s gonna be here for a little bit, is that alright?”  

     Leaning out from behind a cabinet, Nicole smiled and waved at her aunt.  “Hello Auntie Wendy!  Sorry I came so unnoticed.”  

     She smiled, and took a drink out of the mug that she held in her hand.  “Oh hello Nicole!  How have you been doing lately?”  

     “Good.”  I lied.  “How about you?”

     “Well I’ve been pretty busy lately, but other than that I’ve been pretty good.”  She glanced at the two of us who sat on the floor, and grinned.  “I’m so glad that you two are having fun,” she shook her head, “but Katie and I are leaving very soon to go and visit my parents.  I’m sorry, but you might have to come back another time.”

     In an instant Nicole realized that that meant they were traveling to Sudbury, which would most definitely make it a couple of days.  The drive from Brampton to there was probably almost 7 hours.  Katie looked at Nicole, and for a second she could detect the alarm that she felt. Her cousin didn’t even have a chance to start talking about what was on her mind.  

     I didn’t get to tell her about my dilemma, either.

     

     “Bye Katie.  Bye Auntie Wendy.”  Nicole said as she stepped outside, feeling miserable that they hadn’t really gotten anywhere with each of their problems.  “Have a good trip.”

     If there was anyone she could talk to about it, it was Katie.  And without being able to work it through with her cousin, she just had to keep it a secret until then.  Nicole knew that it would be hard to deal with on her own, and more than ever she wished that they hadn’t been about to take a long trip up to the town of Sudbury.

     Nicole reluctantly walked down the path to their driveway, and glanced back at the door before she rounded the corner.

     Katie remained standing at the doorway, with her hand pressed against the window.  I’ll talk to you later, She mouthed the words.  Nicole nodded, and hoped that soon they would.  It bugged her more than ever not knowing what her cousin had been worrying about.  What if the problem somehow involved her?  Is that why she wanted to tell her about it?  Is it a big problem that neither of them would be able to solve?  Questions began to whirl through her mind, and she almost ran back to her cousin and begged her to talk more about it.  But it was useless if they were leaving somewhere else.  And of course this place had to be so far away.  

     Nicole turned and waved goodbye to her cousin once again, who waved back with a slight frown.  Neither of them wanted to leave.  But they were forced to both go to different places, which kept them disconnected.  She just wished that it didn’t have to be now �" the time that they both experienced something intimidating.  

     Although, she hadn’t yet come to the conclusion if her vision was even real.  Just because it spooked her, doesn’t mean that it had to be true right?  It would be such a waste of time if she continued worrying over something that didn’t have any real point.

     As she left this for her mind to process, she began to peddle down the road on the way back to her house that she wanted to get to so badly.  The breeze began to pick up her hair.  Instead of the familiar feeling of refreshment, she shivered uncomfortably.  It was not only because of the cold rush.  She desperately hoped that the whole thing was not real.  But how could it not be when it seemed so much like it was?  There just seemed to be something inside of her, something telling her that this was not all just one big dream.  Even though it sounded so crazy, it felt so real.  But before she decided anything at all, she needed to really think it through first.  

     On top of that, she felt like she needed to help Katie as soon as she could.  If that meant paying some long distance phone charges, then she would not hesitate by doing so.  The sooner they got in touch once again, the sooner they’d really be able to unravel some of their questions.  Not only eager to find out why Katie was pressured, Nicole was also eager to shed some light on her own.  

    Although, there was also some part of her that didn’t want to find out �" that didn’t want to know the truth.  She shivered once again.  

     As she peddled up the same nasty hill she faced on the opposite way, her only focus was to push her concerns to the side.  It was summer after all, so why should she busy herself worrying so much even at the beginning?  As she thought, her legs began to burn for going uphill, but she barely even noticed.  

     After working to push those worries to the side, new ones began to cramp in.  What if Katie has such an overwhelming problem that she can’t handle it?  She envisioned herself reaching her hand out for her cousin who was probably on her way to Sudbury now.  The only thing that she was capable of doing now was to hope that they would be okay without each other for a couple of days.   

     And that no one will die while she’s gone. 

Author's Note

What do you think of this chapter? ^^