The Locket by Elise Koepke Read Free Book Online

on Peter, for as long as they were friends. She would never admit it, but even a deaf man could tell that she did by the way she talked to him. And a blind man could tell by the way she looked at him.
    “Everything’s all ready.” Savannah walked back over to her driveway and took her place standing next to Marie. “Just give me a minute.”
    Peter nodded again and returned to his car. Savannah hesitated and then leaned in to give her friend one last hug. “I’ll call you as soon as I wake up tomorrow, okay?”
    “Promise?” Marie allowed another single tear to crawl down her rosy cheeks.
    Pulling away, she smiled. “I promise.” Rushing over to Peter’s car, Savannah could not help but let a few tears escape her own eyes as well. She did not whimper or whine; she only let them fall without warning or care.
    While Peter and Savannah hauled out of the driveway, Marie waved, saying her final goodbye to the best friend that she had ever known. In reply, Savannah did the same, wishing that there were a way out of this mess.
    ***
    Once they hit the highway, Savannah remembered her manners. “Thanks for coming to get me, Peter. I really appreciate it.”
    Without looking away from the road, he said with a smile, “You’re welcome. Anything for my favorite cousin.”
    “I’m your only cousin, and you can barely even consider me that,” she answered matter-of-factly.
    When Peter noticed that she wasn’t quite in the joking mood yet, he put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. Savannah had her face to the window, watching the trees and buildings as they passed by. “I’m sorry about your mom, Anna.” She did not move as he brought his hand back to the wheel. “It must be hard to lose both of your parents in only a few years.”
    “Thanks for the reminder,” she retorted, not taking her eyes off of the road.
    “Sorry. I know that you’re leaving behind your friends, home, and memories, but look on the bright side: You’ll make new ones. You never know what could happen until it does.”
    Savannah shot her attention over to him. “My mother used to say something like that.” It was silent for a second, and then Peter suggested putting on the radio. After leaning over and doing so, she went back to staring out the window for the rest of the ride.
    ***
    What seemed like an eternity later, the two of them finally reached the house. Just as Peter began to take out her belongings from the trunk, Savannah’s aunt came racing out of the house. She ran straight to them and gave Savannah a huge hug. She seemed to be getting a lot of those recently. “Hi, honey.”
    “Hi, Aunt Jenny.” She managed to squeeze out from her aunt’s all-too-tight embrace. Jenny, though not an unattractive women, looked almost nothing like her mother. She had light blonde hair that ran to her shoulders, tucked behind small pierced ears. Her face was slightly aged, which, in Savannah’s opinion only made her that much prettier. Something that could’ve made anyone think that they were, in fact, related was their thin, yet healthy, bodies. Both women seemed to have fast metabolisms where they could eat anything they wanted and not gain a pound. A trait that had passed on to Savannah, she was thankful to admit.
    “How’ve you been?” Jenny asked.
    “Fine, up until a few days ago when my mother told me that she was dying.” She didn’t mean to sound sarcastic; she just could not manage to react the way she normally would. It was close to impossible to even pretend to be civil anymore.
    “Oh, sweetie!” Her aunt yelled, giving her another hug. This time she squished her so hard Savannah thought she heard a bone crack. “You know what, it’s late and we were just about to play a game before bed. Do you want to play? I’m sure you must be exhausted, but I think being active might do you a world of good.”
    Savannah shook her head. “No, I think I’m just going to get settled in and rest a little. It was a long