"We have to tell someone!"

"Who? Who can we go to about this? The police aren't gonna do a damn thing-"

"Because of what I️ do, I️ know, I️ know," Mr. Knight frustratingly rubbed his face. "But we can't just do nothing Esther! That is my daughter! She was violated!" He exclaimed, voice cracking. "And I'll be damned if I️ can't get some justice for her..."

Karen strokes her younger sister's hair as she weeped silently into her lap and listened in to their parents not-so-private conversation. She had half a mind to take a baseball bat to the Raines' house and to Mason's face. But she knew the only person that would get in trouble, would be her.

So there the Knight family sat, angry and upset that because due to their skin color, they can't vote, can't sit wherever they want, eat wherever they want, can't watch a good movie, can't have a good quality education, can't walk down the street without the fear of getting attacked, lynched, assisted or raped for looking at a white person sideways and surely can't go to the goddamn police because they know they could care less a black girl was harassed by four white boys because for all they know she asked for it.

"Karen?" Kathryn finally spoke up after fours hours. "I️ think I️'m gonna go to bed now," she told her, slowly getting up. Karen couldn't help but looked concerned. "I'll be fine, I️ think I️ just need...some sleep," she sighed.

Karen nodded and got up from her spot on the floor, helping her up as well. She then pulled her in for a tight hug, one which Kathryn gladly returned back. "Alright, but you wake me up if you feel upset or anything, okay?" She mumbled into her hair.

"I️ will," she nodded before letting go. Once Karen shut the door behind her, Kathryn flopped on her bed with a deep, looking out her window.

Tap...tap...tap...

She furrowed her brows in confusion as she kept hearing little tapping sounds on her window. She slowly stood up from her place on the bed and walked over to her window. She looked out, trying to find the source of the noise when a pebble fell against the glass and then fell down. Kathryn looked toward the direction it came from and saw Theo walk up to her window. "Open up," he requested, "please."

Kathryn eyed him up and down before reluctantly opening the window to let him in. His hands grappled the edge of the window as he hoisted himself up to sit on the ledge, one leg in and one leg out. "What are you doing here?" She angrily questions him.

"I️ had to talk to you," he said desperately.

"No!" She quickly shut him down. "No, I️ already told you that I️ never wanted to speak to you again!" She quietly yelled. "Leave! Or else I'm calling my father," she threatened. And lord knows her father was so mad right now that he'll use Theo as a surrogate.

"Just give me five minutes," he begged.

"One," she countered.

"Three!"

"Two minutes and fifty five seconds," she crossed her arms. "That's final."

Theo sighed and decided to work with what she gave him. "I'm...I️'m here to say goodbye," he tells her, catching her off guard. Her whole demeanor softens once he starts speaking again. "If this is the last time we're talking to each other then Kathy I️ don't want us to be on horrible terms, okay?" He looked up at her. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry Kath. You have no idea how much seeing Mason..." he couldn't finish the sentence. "Trust me, the punches hurt way less compared to what you're going through," he says darkly.

Kathryn looked down to avoid crying in his face. "I️ was supposed to stay away from you," he said. "Has I just listened, none of this would've happened," he continued. "I️ don't deserve you," he shook his head.

"You're being too hard on yourself. I️ didn't want that." She reached out to touch his face.

"Sure have a funny way of showing it," he reiterated her words from earlier, a ghost of a smile on either of their lips.

"We can't be together anymore," she tells him.

"That's what's killing me the most," he admitted. He then reached into his back pocket and pulled out his copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. "I️ want you to have it," he hands it over to her and she gingerly takes it from his hands.

He turns to hop off the window but she quickly reaches out and stops him. "Wait!" She exclaims, making him look behind to meet her eyes. "At least...at least kiss me one last time?" She asked him, tears now ready to spill over.

He simply shook his head as he denied her. "Kathryn I️ don't even deserve your kisses. Not anymore," he sadly states as he climbs out of the window, leaving her life for good.

She closed the window behind him and finally let the tears fall on her face as she started crying all over again. She held the book close to heart chest and she realized that she lost her best friend and the love of her life at the same time.

Would she ever get him back?

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Just wanted to let y'all know, this book is gonna be FILLED with Deja vu type of scenes, Easter eggs and repetition because...that's the point. So I️ hope you guys catch em 😊😊