I wake up suddenly with every initial thought in high definition. My eyes take in each ray of light and without a doubt, I already know that I've slept too long. The noises outside my door are of a day in full swing. Kids laughing next door, Kiara and her mom gossiping about the neighbors, the news channel on and Kevin in the garage doing something that involves a hammer.

I'm dressed in a fraction of the time it usually takes and I head to the kitchen to eat breakfast.

"Morning honey", Ciara greets me

"Please don't call me that", I say calmly under my breath and take a seat at the breakfast table.

"Oh, I'm sorry", she tells me. "Uhm, do you want some pancakes? Your dad told me blueberry pancakes are your favorite so..."

"I'm allergic to blueberries. I have been since I was fourteen", I say nonchalantly, pushing the plate away.

"Oh", she picks up the plate. "How about cereal?"

I nod my head and take out my phone to text Trip good morning while she goes back into the kitchen. My mission today was simple, find out what my mother was hiding and hopefully the truth about Kylie's autopsy will follow, try to find out as much about camp as I can and lastly, avoid Kevin Burklin as much as humanly possible.

Ciara brings me a small bowl of frosty flakes that I finish in a hurry and thank her for. Kiara mentioned spending the day with Noah and I figured I'd tag along. Not because I want to be her friend. Just because she obviously spent a lot of time with Kylie and she probably knows something about the camp Kylie went to.

At nearly noon, Noah came by to pick us up and take us to the mall. We were going to hang out with one of Kylie's close friends....Maya.

The same Maya from Kylie's diary?

The ride to the mall was, I guess, regular. Nothing out of the ordinary or interesting went on. When we finally got to the mall, we walked to the food court where we found Maya seated at one of the tables, waiting for us.

Oh, I remember. The Maya from the supermarket.

She looked....different from anyone Kylie had ever been friends with. She was tall and thin, very thin. With long brown chestnut hair that looked shiny but from the roots, you could tell it was gonna start to fall off at any minute. Her lips were darker, like she smoked a lot and her eyes were bloodshot, like she drank a lot. Too much actually.

"She's an addict", Kiara whispers to me while we walked over to Maya.

We all say our hello's when we made it to the table and sat down. I make sure not to bring up the incident at the supermarket last week. I doubt she'll even remember anyway. Kiara introduces me to Maya. This wasn't the first time I met her though. She's the girls that approached me drunk last time, mistaking me for my dead sister.

"So City girl", Maya says rudely, "why did you decide to start showing up here? Is it cause you're scared you might die in the city? Like Kylie?"

"Hey, cool off Maya", Kiara defends me

I furrow my eyebrows. "No. I'm actually trying to get closer to the people I left behind when I left this place. That's why I'm here. Because Kylie would have wanted me here"

"Maya and Kylie were best friends", Noah says, trying to ease the awkward tension.

"Oh...I didn't see you at the funeral", I say, "How come?"

"Is that some kind of joke?", she asks me

"Why would it be a joke?". I'm genuinely confused

"...if you must know city girl, we were not welcome. It was strictly family, or so we were told by your dad"

I was so worked up during the entire ceremony, I didn't even notice that none of Kylie's friends from Echo Creek showed up. That's kind of odd if you ask me. Almost as if my mom was trying to hide something about Echo Creek? Maybe I'm thinking too much.

"Sorry to hear that. I didn't know", I say

"Of course not", she replied

The awkwardness was not subtle at all.

"Well. At least now we all got a chance to see each other", Kiara tried

"...I'm leaving", Maya said. I honestly don't know what beef she has with me.

"Maya?!", Noah comments as if to say, 'don't be rude'

"What? It's not because of her", Maya responds, "I need to go to camp alright"

Wait a minute. Did she just say, camp?

"Wait what? You're going to camp? During the school term?", I ask. Noah and Kiara look at me then at each other, then at Maya.

Maya laughs. "Camp is an underground hangout. A bunch of kids go there all the time"

Oh. My. Gosh.

"...some even have jobs there", she continued, "like me. That's why I need to go. My boss is not very....understanding"

Maya walks away and a thousand thoughts start to stir in my mind. What the hell is going on in Echo Creek?

"Wait!", I call out and follow after Maya.

"Do you think I could come with you?", I ask. Not long after, Noah and Kiara catch up to us.

"... I could use some extra money. A job wouldn't hurt", I lie

"Kelsie, I highly do not recommend getting a job there.", Noah says uncomfortably

"I wasn't talking to you", I say and switch my focus back to Maya. "Well? What do you think? Can I come with you?"

Maya looked at Noah then back at me. What are they hiding? I mean, Kylie went to camp. Why can't I?

"Look, I know Kylie went to camp too okay? Whether she worked there or not, I have no clue but, if my sister went there. I want to go too. I think I have the right."

A pause.

"Fine. You can come with me...but a job is completely out the question"

I'll take what I can get. I nod my head and we head to camp. Truth is, I'm not sure I'm ready.

***

I sat on the bed in Kylie's old room and opened up her diary. This was her 8th entry and she wrote everything about her affair with Noah and nothing about camp. It's like she wanted absolutely no evidence of ever being there. But why? When I was there earlier today, it seemed like a normal chill spot. Nothing out of the ordinary. If anything it-

"Knock knock", my thoughts were cut short by Ciara standing at the door.

"Hey", I look up at her.

"May I come in?", she asks me and I nod my head.

"So...I just wanted to check in and see if everything is going well and you're comfortable", she tries

"I appreciate it", I try, "everything is pretty good"

"Good", she smiles, "you know Kelsie, It's okay if you don't exactly like me very much but, we are family and... I would love for us to at least be able to care about how each other are from time to time"

Ugh, somebody kill me.

"Of course.", I force a smile. "Uhm, since you're here, I would actually love to talk to you about something...kind of personal"

"What is it?", she asks. Genuinely worried

"Well, it's about Kylie. My mom never wants to talk about her and...obviously Kevin and I are not exactly...close", I say, "It's just....I feel like I'm being left out of my own sisters death"

"Death is a hard thing to talk about. Maybe if you give your mom some time, she'll be able to talk about it eventually"

"....do you know anything? About her death", I ask

"Not a lot. I really just helped your mom out with a few things"

"Like what?"

"Well...I'm not sure if she'd want you to know this but, she asked me to help her get in contact with an old friend of hers. He's a coroner, he investigates death causes"

Well, this has been an eventful day.

"Why would she ask for his help?"

"I'm not sure. She never told me."

"Do you think you could give me his name? And address? Maybe seeing him would help me get some kind of closure"

"I don't know", she shrugs, "I feel like this should be a conversation between you and your mom"

"Please Ciara", I say, gently laying my palm over hers. "What's the use having...having two moms if I can't open up to even one of them"

A pause.

"Alright", she sighs. "His name is Mr. Keller, he stays two houses past Mama May's Bakery. But that's all I'm gonna give you"

"Thanks Ciara"

"Of course", she stands up, "dinner will be ready in a few"

As Ciara walks out of the door, I write down the address and there's only one thing in my mind.

I'm about to uncover this mystery.

☔︎︎☔︎︎☔︎︎☔︎︎