Chapter 34: He Knew
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June 5th: One day left...

"Friend, Gar?" She called from her room as he walked by.

"Huh? Oh. Hey, Kor. What's up?"

"Can you come inside? I wish to speak to you about something."

"Oh...uh, ok." He followed Kori into her and Dick's room and shut the door, but not all the way. "What did you want to ask about?"

"What did you and Rachel fight over?"

"I...uh...why?" He pulled at the collar of his polo.

"Because she has not been herself."

"No kidding. But why do you think it's about the argument we had?"

"Because that is the only logical answer, Gar! What else could it be?" Oh I can give you a lot of reasons.

"I don't know." He replied.

"Please, Gar? Why can you not explain to me what happened?" Again, a lot of reasons.

"I...I uh...I just...can't, Kor. She told me not to tell anyone. It's already bad enough that I told you we had a fight in the first place." Disappoinment grew on her face.

"I do not get it."

"Get what?"

"Get why it ia something that should stay a secret!"

"Kor, I get that you don't like secrets, but some things have to stay a secret." He felt like he was talking to a child. "I'm sure you've got at least one thing you won't tell us."

"Well..."

"See! And you don't want to tell me do you?" She shakes her head.

"I understand what you are saying. I just..." she sighs. "Never the mind. It is unimportant."

"C'mon, Star it can't hurt to say it."

"I believe that it would, but ok. I believe you are not lying to me, but Rachel does not seem right. She has been very distant and it bothers me. At first I thought it was her moods but I have this feeling. Do you believe she is ok?"

"Honestly?" He asked. She slowly nodded and braced herself for his answer: "No...not really."

"Then we must help her! We cannot just sit idly by and watch our friend suffer!"

"I...wouldn't..."

"What?" He didn't repeat himself. "Now you are acting odd..." she narrowed her eyes and stared at him at him for a bit.

"Uh...K-kori?"

"You're hiding something from me are you not?"

"Huh...what? Why would you think that?" She sighed again and shook her head.

"I'm going to find, Rachel."

"Wait, Kor–" she shut the door and went to sit on the beach by herself. She couldn't believe Gar was hiding something from her. And so blatantly! She thought that he told her everything. Apparently not. Especially since it very true to do with the only other girl she's been able to connect with in years! She thought of Rachel like a sister. A better one than that felon that she had biologically.

She sat on the sand and kicked off her flip-flops. As the waves crashed upon the shore about a yard in front of her, she hugged her knees to her chest and dug her toes into the sand.

Maybe she should talk to Rachel later.

As soon as she thought about it she saw purple hair come up from the water.

"Rachel?" Speak of the devil. She squeezed the salty water out of her hair as she came up onto land. She had been swimming. "Hello, Rachel."

"Oh. Hey, Kori. Why are your here all by yourself?"

"Why are you swimming by yourself?" Kori smiled as she asked.

"Because I like being alone. You don't. What's the matter?"

"Well...its Gar..."

"Isn't it always?"

"I just simply wished to know what you're on argued about."

"Oh...that." She sat next to her.

"I will not ask you to share the information. He hurt you. But that is why I asked Gar. I thought he would tell me because he tells me everything. But he didn't. I can tell. When Gar keeps secrets he stutters a little bit. When he lies he gets jittery and fidgety with his hands. But they are really small tells. That is why nobody can pick it up other than me."

"That's good to know." Wish I had known that sooner... "Why do you want to know?"

"Uhm...you see...I am worried about you. You have been acting rather strange during the trip. I asked Gar and he said you were not alright. I wish to make sure that you are perfectly fine." Rachel doesn't respond. She's staring down at the sand, dragging her finger through the grains. She sighed.

"Star, I'm not ok." She finally said.

"What?"

"There's something wrong with me, and I don't know how to fix it. I want to say it's Logan's fault, but it's not. Not entirely anyway."

"Rachel? Why do you call him by his last name? You never did it before."

"I can't say his name. I don't like the way it sounds when I say it and it sounds too personal. Calling him Logan makes it easier. I tried to just call him by his name because everyone kept looking at me funny, but I gave up."

"Rachel...did he really hurt you that much?" She remained silent. She dipped her hands into the sand and grabbed at any sand she possibly could and gripped it as tightly as she could to keep her powers under somewhat control.

"He lied to me!" Star was suprised at her sudden outburst. "I cared about him and loved him and he knew it! He had the nerve to keep a huge secret from me because he knew, he knew it would change everything!" She tries to throw the sand in the water,but it literally just blows away with the wind. "He didn't care about how I felf! He only cares about himself! That's all he cares about! What was I to him? Some toy that he could just throw away when he was done? Was that it?!" She slowly brought her legs to a criss-cross and her hands to her elbows. She looked like she was in a straight jacket. "I'm not sure what to do... I thought he actually cared, Kori...I thought he–"

"Guys we heard screaming is everything ok?" Dick, Vic, and Gar came rushing out.

"Uhh..." Rachel looked back at them, revealing how much she had been crying. Her eyes were red and she had dried tear tracks and fresh tears flowing down her face.

"Rachel, what happened?" Gar asked. She glared at him, stood up, and slapped him. Hard. The slap echoed throughout the beach. It was like everything stopped around them. The birds calling, the sound of the waves, everything got toned out.

"You should know." And with that she went back into the ocean and dove under.

Kori then stood up. She looked disappointed.

"She told me...a little bit." She said. "Gar...that doesn't sound like you at all."

"Kori, c'mon, you know I wouldn't have done it for no good reason."

"That is what I thought, but you were selfish? You are never selfish about anything."

"What did he do?" Vic asked.

"Ask Rachel if you really wish to know. I am in no place to speak about it." She turned back to him. She didn't say anything, but you could see the disappointment in her face.

She went back to the house, but not without hitting him in the shoulder with hers.

"Dude, how did you manage to piss off both of them?" Vic asked.

"C'mon, Vic, leave him alone about it." Dick defended him.

They saw something purple out in the distance. She had swam out very far. He could only hope that she would come back.