Authors: Katlyn Duncan
I read the unsigned letter two more times before putting it away. A relieved breath whooshed out of me, replacing my jittery nerves with a growling stomach. I glanced at the kitchen. The waitress filed her nails by the kitchen doors. I assumed she was only waiting on me, as it seemed like everyone else already had their meal.
My mind wandered back to the note. I wasn’t a naive sixteen-year-old girl who frequently followed requests made in unsigned, mysterious notes. The information promised in the letter meant it couldn’t be from some random person. He or she knew my past with Willows Lake.
My cell buzzed from my pocket. Another text from Dad.
Off to the hotel. You alive?
I quickly texted back. I’m not sure I could handle speaking to him at the moment. He would call if I didn’t respond.
Yeah. Sleeping. Love you.
You too, pumpkin.
I smiled to myself, missing him already. Hating that I’d lied to him. Soon I’d be able to prove to him that I was right all those years ago. And I could finally move on with my life.
I thought the waitress had returned but I glanced up at someone else.
A guy held a steaming plate topped with my hamburger and a pile of french fries. He was cute. I’d even venture to say gorgeous. His big chocolate eyes were bright for this time of night. And he had thick brown hair that would make any girl want to run her fingers through it to see how soft it really was. His grease-stained apron was probably white once, and attached was a name tag that read “Jake”. When he slid into the booth across from me, my skin exploded with goose bumps. My mind went to the stun gun in my bag. Looks and a smile like his didn’t always mean good intentions.
“I almost didn’t recognize you,” he said, his voice was deep and he still smiled. “I thought you would come around back?”
I glanced around the room. Was this the person who sent for me? Weren’t we supposed to meet tomorrow? I pressed my back into the booth, my body rigid. He was closer to my age than my mom’s. He would have been young when Mom’s accident happened. I scanned the room, looking for anyone who was watching us. I came to the quick conclusion that this guy must be the calm and trusting face for me to meet prior to whoever sent me. Tingles shot up my skin and not for the first time did I think this had been a bad idea. Or possibly that I might end dead in a ditch in this pathetic town.
I knew that note backward and forward. It had a specific meeting point and time. I decided to test him. “We aren’t doing this tomorrow?”
He slid the plate in front of me. The bacon-scented steam wafted up my nose. This guy knew how to distract me. “This conversation should be private, not at school.”
There must have been a change in plans since I got the letter. And he was right—I didn’t want to discuss the strange circumstances surrounding Mom’s death around anyone else.
He was staring at me.
“What?” The accusation came out short, but I was annoyed, tired, and very hungry.
And he had the nerve to smile at me again. “Sorry. Your eyes—”
I narrowed them. The genetic defect
heterochromia iridium
, which made my left eye a dark green with my right eye pale blue, had made me stick out as different. One of the reasons I was able to get over other people’s stares was because Mom had the same trait. “What about them?”
He shrugged slightly and slid from the booth. I followed him with my gaze. “It’s not something I see a lot. They really look amazing.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, unsure if he was making fun of me. I could normally read guys, but this one was setting off warning bells that I had the urge to ignore. Was he flirting with me? I wasn’t sure that it was the time or place. I needed answers.
I started to get up from the booth but he held a hand up. “Eat first. You look hungry. Come by the kitchen after.”
I followed his retreat to the kitchen but he didn’t look back at me. As much as I wanted to know everything right then and there, my stomach persisted. And I obeyed.
Whether it was because I was starving or the need for information burned inside of me, I ate the burger in under two minutes. I gulped down the rest of the water and grabbed my bag. I slipped my stun gun into my jacket pocket. I’d never make the same mistake twice. I slapped a few bucks for the tip on the table and went to the double doors of the kitchen. The waitress hadn’t stopped me, even when she went to collect my plate and money.
I pushed open the door and was met with the tinny sound of an AC/DC song. An older man was at the sink, bobbing his head to the music. His voice was off-key but he seemed to be enjoying himself, especially when he broke out an air guitar solo.
Jake came into the kitchen, wielding a mop as a microphone and singing the lyrics to the song in a spot-on Brian Johnson impersonation. My hand shot to my mouth as I stifled a laugh.
Both guys looked at me and I froze in place.
“It appears we have an audience,” said the older man. He turned down the music.
Jake raked his hand through his hair a few times, not meeting my eyes. “That was quick.”
“I couldn’t wait.”
He gave me another disarming smile. My stomach twisted. Damn him. He didn’t seem like the serial killer type, but I’d seen enough crime shows to know that most didn’t. I glanced out the pass through window into the dining area. He couldn’t kill me with witnesses present, right?
“Pop, can I—?”
His dad turned the music up. “Don’t be long,” he called over it and winked at me. “These dishes won’t dry themselves.”
Jake indicated for me to follow him. He led us through a back door into the cool night. The heavy door closed behind us.
There go the witnesses.
We stood on a set of cement stairs. A small overhang protected us from the rain that had picked up since I’d last been outside. Cold air swept under my jacket and I shivered. I inspected our surroundings, hoping this wasn’t a trick. A large garbage bin and several smaller ones were our only company.
Jake’s body was close to mine and I kept my hand at my side, feeling for the stun gun.
He moved away from me, clasping his hands around the metal railing opposite from the one I dug my back into. I tightened my grip on the strap of my bag.
The mixed emotions of relief and nervousness were etched on his face. “Sorry. I can’t think in there sometimes.” He leaned his head back, studying the overhang. “I know this isn’t the place to do this, but I couldn’t wait.”
Now we were getting somewhere. “Tell me.” My voice was terse and strained, but I didn’t want him to move until he told me why I’d been brought here.
He smiled to himself, almost shy. “I tried to think of the perfect place to do this. Then realized there isn’t a perfect place.” His smile was gone, replaced with a serious expression that struck me like lightning.
He moved closer and I clutched my bag tighter. My chest bloomed with anticipation of what he was about to tell me. His smile was back, but this time it quirked the side of his mouth. His eyes moved over my face, a wake of awareness touching everywhere—my cheeks, nose, eyes—and finally his eyes settled on my suddenly dry lips.
“It took me way too long to say it. But I think you’re incredible.” His fingers gently brushed against my cheek.
I flinched. My body froze even though alarm bells rang in my ears. It was so wrong, yet my body remained still.
“And beautiful.”
My legs turned to jelly and I leaned even more into the railing.
His fingers traced over my cheek. “I don’t think you should ever hide those eyes.”
Before I knew it, his lips were on mine. I gasped lightly. And pressed my hand against his chest. A flurry of thoughts raced through my brain. Though I couldn’t pull any rational ones from the situation. I briefly wondered about the bacon burger and the effect it had on my breath. Finally my brain clicked on. I pushed him away with barely enough force to make him budge. He pressed his body against mine and my body betrayed me by melting into his, all thought of right and wrong disappearing from my thoughts. He deepened the kiss and I let him. Oh boy, did I let him. His lips were warm and each time they touched mine, the heat intensified, reaching down to the tips of my toes. I reached up, brushing my fingers over his shoulders.
“Bri,” he murmured against my lips.
My body froze, the name stinging me like a thousand bees across my skin. I found the strength to push him away, my hands frozen between us. What the hell was I doing?
His eyes opened wide. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head, rattling some sense into my brain. The cool metal railing sent rational thoughts back to the front of my mind. I moved away from him, stumbling down the cement steps, stunned by the rain as it soaked me in seconds.
“Bri. Wait!”
“I have to go.” I backed away from him. I turned away. His hurt expression made my chest tighten. I jogged around the building toward the motel. I touched my pocket again. The further I got from him, the clearer my head became. What the hell was I thinking? I should have gone with my first instinct and fled the diner after I’d eaten. And who the hell was Bri?
Bri
“Mom! Get your butt down here!” Bri Taylor called up to the second floor of the condo. She checked her phone for the hundredth time in five minutes and shoved it back into her bag. Abbey Taylor ran across the hall to the other side of the second floor, her robe flying behind her like a cape.
“Oh no you don’t!” Bri dropped her bag and bolted up the stairs after her mother.
The lock on the bathroom door clicked just as she grabbed the handle. Bri pounded on the door.
“Two minutes, Brianna!” Abbey called, her voice muffled by the shower.
“You have less than that!” Bri turned, sliding down the wall and sitting cross-legged by the door. It wasn’t like her mom’s snooze alarm hadn’t gone off three times.
Bri unlocked her phone to check the time then scrolled around the screen to her text messages. She pressed Jake’s name to open their recent conversation.
Come by the diner tonight. We need to talk.
Bri had received the message around seven the night before. Her mom had already been passed out in bed. The papers she’d been reading were spread across her lap in an unruly mess. By the time Bri had stacked everything neatly on the nightstand, cleaned up after dinner, and done a load of laundry, it had been eight-thirty. And with the stupid laws that went with her driver’s permit, she couldn’t go anywhere in the car past eight without an adult. She’d contemplated dragging Abbey’s unconscious body into the car but did wonder how she’d get back in the house after. It was one thing going down the dangerously steep driveway; it was a different thing entirely getting back up.
Her message remained the last part of the conversation.
Sorry. Let’s talk tomorrow?
She knew he could only get on his phone at the beginning and end of his shift. All night she wondered what Jake wanted to tell her. Lately their relationship had been leaning toward something more than the friendship they’d had since middle school. “Hello?”
Bri shoved off the floor and leaned on the banister, her chin resting on her arms. Her best friend, Max, stood in the doorway, her short black hair pulled back in a tiny ponytail at the top of her head, with a thick curtain of bangs shading her already dark eyes. She arched an eyebrow at Bri.
Bri shrugged. This wasn’t the first morning battle.
“Mrs. Taylor!” Max called. “If I’m late again, Mrs. Brewster is going to kick my ass.”
The bathroom door opened. Bri looked over at Abbey who was fully dressed and in the middle of pulling her hair into a bun as she walked back to her bedroom. “Watch your language, Maxine. And Madelyn and I are on the best of terms. I will explain your tardiness, if necessary.”
Bri checked her phone again. They would be at the tipping point of being just in time for first period and being late. She groaned. At this rate, she wouldn’t get a chance to see Jake until lunch. Her fingers hovered over the phone screen. Ultimately she decided to wait until she could see him in person. He had wanted her to come to the diner last night so it was something he wanted to say to her face. A hole widened the pit of her stomach.
Bri lifted the handle of the suitcase she’d placed at the top of the stairs earlier that morning. Abbey came out of the room, her hands on her hips, scanning the area.
Bri tapped her finger on the handle of the bag. Abbey grinned and fluffed Bri’s hair before taking the bag and gliding down the stairs. “Thanks, sweetie.”
Max stuck her tongue out and Bri’s mom flicked Max’s ponytail playfully. “Let’s get a move on, ladies!”
Bri flew down the stairs and bumped Max with her arm. Max wrinkled her nose and followed Abbey out of the house. Bri closed the door behind them, checking that the lock was in place. She and Abbey had been a duo since Bri was born, months after Abbey’s boyfriend had split. They shared the household tasks and made up for each other’s downfalls—Bri mostly making up for Abbey’s—but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Abbey slid into the passenger seat. “Chop chop!”
Bri jogged to the driver’s side of the car, avoiding the rain so it didn’t make her hair go from straight and smooth to frizzy and unruly. She slid into the driver’s seat and checked her phone one last time. Even though the day had started off rough, she had a feeling today would end up okay. All she had to do was make it until lunch.
***
Bri navigated the road, the windshield wipers thumping. The rain had picked up after they got into the car. At that point she knew they were going to be late but she’d rather that than end up in a ditch and never hear what Jake had to tell her.
One of the perks of Abbey being the school librarian was prime parking in the faculty-assigned parking spots. Bri pulled into the busy lot at a snail’s pace so she wouldn’t run down any of her classmates. The car crawled behind a group of popular seniors, who didn’t care that a vehicle was behind them. As sophomores, Bri and Max weren’t at the bottom of the social ladder but certainly far from the top. They kept to themselves. Though Jake breezed up and down the ranks as he wished. Being the golden boy of both baseball and basketball teams had its advantages.