Sixteen

On the sixteenth day, Chris had a moment. In this moment, he thought he saw Lena Harrison.

It was stupid, he thought later. In retrospect, it wasn't rational to believe that the first place Lena would turn up after being missing for almost two weeks was freaking Subway.

But.

But the last place, as far as he could tell, that she had been seen was freaking Subway. And so maybe that meant something?



Chris was obsessed. And he was trying not to be, but he couldn't help it. He just was.

And on that particular day, when Chris was still reeling from the fact that he just saw a girl in a blue dress and a peacoat, who simply had to be Lena because she was wearing a blue dress and a peacoat but still wasn't Lena even though she had to be, Chloe Hart came into Subway.

In reality, Chloe actually came into Subway fairly often. She liked their breads. There was, to Chloe, something about the bread that Subway stocked that were just a little bit better than other sub shops' breads. She and Elena had never really gotten subs together just because of that--and when they did, Chloe always gave in and went to that little place with the breads that got all soggy when you put oil and vinegar on them. Elena was really stubborn about stupid stuff like that, like where she bought her subs.

But Chris hadn't ever really seen Chloe in Subway, and if he had, he hadn't paid it too much notice. People from school came into Subway all the time. He hadn't noticed her much at all until Lena had brought them together.

And now Chloe was noticing him, too. Because she was a friendly girl, she said, "Hey, Chris," and smiled at him. She really was prepared to have a conversation if Chris wanted to. Chloe was just like that.

And Chris was ready to talk. "Hey, Chloe." He smiled back at her. "What's up? What can I get for you?"

Chloe sucked in her bottom lip as she thought. "Ham and provolone, lettuce and green peppers, oil and vinegar." She answered his second question first, and her order was completely dissimilar to Lena's. "And not too much, I guess." She answered his first question second, in a predictable manner. "Have to do some Christmas shopping today, and then finish up a paper. How about you?"

Smiling, Chris lied pleasantly. "I'm good. I haven't even started my shopping yet, though." And then, when he offered no further questions, an awkward silence fell over them. Hurriedly, Chris began to make her sub, before anyone said anything that they'd be sorry they'd said.

His traitor urges betrayed him, though; he couldn't hold in the query any longer: "You haven't heard from Lena, have you?" he asked worriedly.

Chloe tilted her pretty blonde head ever so slightly. "No," she said hesitantly, something like hope lighting up in her eyes; along with the hope, there was something like hurt. Here was, then, at least one other person who hadn't forgotten Lena Harrison. Everyone else seemed all too ready to forget. "Have you?"

He shook his head. "Nope." He didn't say that he wished he had.

"Nobody's talking about her anymore," mumbled Chloe, still facing Chris, but not quite looking at him; she kept her gaze focused somewhere over his left shoulder.

Putting Chloe's sub up on the counter, wrapped and ready, but making no move to hand it to her, Chris asked, "Isn't that good, though?" He hadn't liked it when Lena's name was being dragged through the mud like some trashy celebrity. He wanted everyone to remember her quietly.

She shrugged. "I miss her. And apparently I'm a freak because I still miss her. Everyone thinks I should have gotten over her when they did; they don't think that she was my best friend, and--" she broke off with a little smile, and a hint of a blush. "I'm sorry."

Chris held up both of his hands in an I-surrender position. "Don't worry about it. I want her to come back, too."

"Why?"

He didn't tell her that Lena had been here, in Subway. He didn't tell her had seen Lena before her disappearance. "I just do," he said. It wasn't really a lie, either.