As much as Katie missed her best friend, he was right to give her her space. She was going through something, lately, and it was taking quite a toll on the relationships in her life. She was no longer friends with Emily. Things with Calvin were rocky at best. And she had hardly spent any time with her brother, who was going through his own things. She was also using all her free time to work and apply for colleges. Despite the rumors that no one on the island got into outside schools, she was applying to all the ivy league universities that she could. Her grades were high enough and she really felt, from the bottom of her heart, that she needed to get off the rock to succeed.
As it were, that Friday, she'd taken off work to finish up some of her application essays. She was sitting on the couch, legs tucked up underneath her, typing away when Ben poked his head in. She smiled a genuine, warm smile and stood. She placed her laptop on the coffee table and took the few steps to the door to greet him. "Hi." She hadn't really talked to him since that day.