Karyn made it into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She grabbed a few squares of toilet paper and sat down on the edge of the bathtub, wiping her eyes.
Funny how she never really thought of Zoe as a person until now. Zoe had just been some annoying hanger-on, someone who happened to be around sometimes when she was hanging out with Jon. Now Zoe served as a reminder for those times. A trigger, something to link memories to. Memories of her best friend.
Karyn let herself cry for a few minutes. Was she really starting to think of Jon as permanently gone? There had to be some way to do it, but Mallory seemed determined not to, and Karyn would definitely need her cooperation.
Then a horrible thought came to Karyn. She only acknowledged it for a split second, then buried it under thick layers of mental protest, but it came nonetheless: was the world maybe a better place with Jon gone?
But that couldn't be true. It was just a fleeting thought. The whole thought experiment was useless anyway, until Karyn could get Mallory to help her at least. For now, Karyn could at least cling to what she had left, and that was basically the rest of Jon's family.
Karyn splashed some water on her face, composed herself, and walked back down to Zoe's room, where she could hear the girls had turned their music back on. She opened the door and said, "Hey guys? I think I do want to go see the show with you on Saturday."
