The Big Fish by Madison Henley (best free e reader .TXT) 📕

sound of Keliah’s voice had stricken the light at the end of Georgia’s endlessly dark tunnel. Sheets of wall thickened over the years, layer upon layer were intact of Georgia’s tunnel, obstructing any access from the outside. It took perseverance, initiative, and gall to break those walls and Keliah was the first one who kept attempting to break Georgia’s after repeatedly being shut out. Georgia had been alone for so long that’s all she knew, but with Keliah, she felt something…something. And Georgia spent the last two semesters, ignoring all of the indications that she possibly may have been frantically in love.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Meredith raised her comforter over her head and groaned as she felt the warmth leave her body. She inhaled deeply as the comforter fell back on her face. Grudgingly, she peered the comforter back just under her eyes to look outside the window. The sky was lit and colorless, it was only just before dawn. Unable to go back to sleep, Meredith swung her feet over the side of her bed. Yawning, she raised her hands over her head, clenching them in firm fists as she stretched hard. Her green and red Christmas socks swept the floor as she walked across her room to look out the window. Meredith rested her hands on the seal and pressed her forehead up against the frigid glass. Black snow was slushed on the dark streets and few neighborhood lights remained on. A circle of fog was created on the window as Meredith yawned again. She stepped away and walked in the hall of her childhood home. Meredith had arrived in Basking Ridge almost a week ago and still claimed she was jet-lagged. The hallway was quiet and all doors were closed, a sign that let Meredith know she was the first one to wake. Wishing she could go back to sleep, Meredith reluctantly walked back in her room and grabbed more clothes to wear. Slipping black boots over her jeans and pulling a sweatshirt over her head, Meredith walked out of her childhood home and into the city of New Jersey. The streets were quiet and decorated with garland that hung on the electricity lines. Snow crushed from underneath Meredith’s feet as she walked down memory lane. She found her old favorite coffee shop as well as the previous lost warmth as she entered. She expected the shop to be empty or near giving the time of year but it was just the opposite. The cafe was packed, leaving only a couple of booths and tables available in the very back of the shop. Meredith happily took the second to last booth that was cornered in a secluded area and sat down. She observed the people that crossed her sight and detected their lively Christmas spirit. Red and green cashmere sweaters framed the husbands; tree earrings dangled from the wives’ ears and children were fixated on their latest gift. Meredith smiled at the scene for a moment before returning her attention back to her tea. Meredith wasn’t as in the holiday spirits as she could’ve been. She was the one that would hand make cards for her siblings, decorate the house when everyone was out shopping and even buy eggnog and bake cookies only to eat them herself just to give her home that Christmas feeling. But today, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t strike up enough passion within. Her spirits were all lost. So Meredith just leaned back in the booth as she sipped her tea quietly while she sent up an apology to Jesus for not celebrating His birthday properly.

***

Meredith stayed at the coffee shop for a few more hours, gathering her thoughts and attempting to tame them. She had gone through her third cup of tea in the process. Her heart fluttered. Something was missing and Meredith didn’t know what. She just felt the emptiness around the center of her chest. It was the cognizance of her brain that reminded her what the initial pain was there for. She sighed deeply and drank the remaining cold tea that sat in the bottom of her cup. It’s not that Gabrielle never apologized to her because she did. And all Meredith had to do was accept it and move forward with her but that would mean finally being happy. Now, Meredith wanted pain; it was all she knew as of late. A part her felt good sitting alone in the back of a dimmed cafe, in a pensive mood. A part of her wanted to wished harm on Gabrielle, and a part of her wanted to hate Gabrielle for doing her so wrong but she couldn’t go through with any of that because a significant amount of her loved Gabrielle unconditionally. Anger swelled within her, competing with hurt for space. What the fuck was wrong with her? Why was it so damn hard to let her go? Meredith put her thoughts to rest as the heavy liquid settled at the bottom of her stomach. Exiting the café, she stuffed her hands into her sweatshirt pockets and searched for an open diner. It was noon and streets still appeared to be asleep. Most of the stores in view had gone for the holidays so Meredith decided to walk a little further. Approaching a dead end, Meredith decided to turn back when her phone buzzed in her jean pocket.

“Hello?”

“I go in your bedroom to bring you breakfast and you’re gone!”

“Yeah, I went out.”

“Where?”

“The Tea House.”

“Have you eaten?”

“No, I was just looking for a place.”

“Okay, I’m on my way, don’t move.”

Payton snuck out of the quiet house and found her sister sitting on a bench in front of a closed grocery store. She was pulling