Kari is a compassionate girl on the geeky side with budding culinary talents. After her family had to move halfway across the country, Kari is unable to adjust in her new high school where she is an outcast. Repeatedly forced to do group assignments...
With the air nipping her, Kari whipped her head around, hoping in vain to see Milo still nearby, as though by some miracle he had frozen in time the moment he passed her window.
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...The window! She had seen which direction he was heading. And he couldn't have gone too far, right? He doesn't move quickly, and not much time has passed since he set off. With no better plan in mind, Kari scrambled that way and almost tripped face first onto the pavement. She had to find him! Where was he? Panic and doubt filled her mind as she imagined what would happen if she couldn't find him, which seemed nearly impossible since she had no idea where he was going.
No, no! She would find him. She had to. She had to!
Without knowing anything besides the one general direction he was headed, she continued flailing that way feeling nothing but sheer panic.
I will find Milo! I will find Milo! she chanted to herself to keep herself going, even as she felt the walls of her lungs being punctured with thousands of needles from the cold.
A shocking wave of relief hit her as she saw Milo's familiar figure not too far in the distance. He was walking down a road, head down, hood still up, hands in his pockets.
"MILO!!" she screamed, sprinting after him.
Milo paused.
"Milo...!" Kari repeated once she was close, out of breath, feeling her throat burning. "I thought I'd never find you!"
Kari reached for his arm. She gripped it and gently ran her hand up and down.
"I thought I would be too late—! I'd be the worst friend ever—! I'd never forgive myself—"
As Kari devolved into a mumbling mess, Milo at last turned around. Gazing at Kari... her devastated face, red, puffy eyes, made him feel something. His lower lip quivered.
"...Why... are you... f...following me...?"
Kari wailed and sniveled and shook her hands, one hand holding that horrible note up for him to see. Milo gasped in surprise...
"Huh? Yyyou found...!?"
...And then his eyes shut tightly, his palm met his face with an audible smack.
"...I knew I maybe should've hid it better... but I didn't want you to not find it eventually..."
"GOOD THING I did!" Kari bawled, completely breaking down into hysterics. In doing so it was like she splashed a bucket of water onto Milo, his eyes briefly opened wider.
"...Nn... I'm... sorry. I had... I had no idea it would— well. I knew you might feel a little sad for a bit, but... I don't know—"
He trailed off at Kari crying even harder. After some thinking, he gave her a misguided attempt at consolation.
"...You'll be okay... you'll find new friends... better ones than me, and then you won't miss me too much. Heck, with me out of the picture... more people would wanna be—"
