It was too easy. Ellis was dying for a fight. He obviously hadn’t had enough exercise sitting on a bus all day. There was no gym here, so he would get his cardio beating the shit out of someone.
“Oh my god, get over yourselves,” Jade snapped. “Ellis, just chill. We’ve got enough problems being stuck here in this stupid motel without you two acting like a pair of toddlers. Right, Jax?” Jax was standing by the side of the pool, phone propped on the tiled edge, filming Caden from a safe distance. When he didn’t answer, Jade sighed deeply. “Hey, Alex. Play something happy. Ellis has beensucha downer tonight.”
Alex already had his guitar on his knee, his floppy hair tucked behind his ears. As he started playing, he felt instantly calmer, instantly better. He could sense the tension lifting as the notes floated on the air. With the skill of a seasoned performer, he worked his magic, switching it up, catching the mood. It wasn’t long before the music took hold of the moment; the pent-up, angry energy diffused, fading away into the darkness.
Soon enough, Caden turned away and started kicking at the furniture again, the argument forgotten.
But Ellis didn’t move. He remained fixed to the spot, head down, glaring around him. Alex felt a sharp tug of anxiety. He’d been around Ellis long enough to know that this negative energy had to go somewhere, to blow itself out; if it didn’t happen here and now, then it was sure to come out later.
Turning back to his guitar, Alex’s fingers uncharacteristically fumbled the notes. He made a mental note to stay away from Ellis on this trip; he was a live wire waiting to be tripped.
Drunk, angry, and dangerous.
Primed.
5
Ana
It was almost midnight.
Ana and Raya were walking slowly towards the pool, playing Spot the Dot. Ever since she’d found the microphone in her bathroom, Ana kept noticing more and more small black dots everywhere—in corners, under lampshades, behind picture frames, in plant pots. The dots in the bathrooms were microphones, but more worryingly, the rest of them looked like cameras. The whole motel was wired.
Raya was completely unconcerned.
“How can someone be spying on us if there’s no one else here?” She was mugging around in front of the newest discovery—a tiny black dot above the pool gate. “Think about it, all this spy shit is probably ancient and hasn’t worked in decades. I reckon the motel was a skank brothel in a past life. That would explain the cameras, not to mention the pink roses and ick everywhere.”
Ana laughed and pushed the pool gate open.
Raya had a point. Creepy spyware in a remote motel didn’t seemlike a stretch; some past, disgruntled employee making a little side cash at the expense of the guests. This whole place was abandoned, the cameras along with everything else. There was no reason to worry about it. It probably had absolutely nothing to do with them. Probably.
Everyone else was already at the empty pool. Ellis was sitting sullenly on his diving-board throne. Jade was lounging by the fire, Jax next to her, one hand on the small of her back, one hand on his phone. Caden was lurking in the shadows, watching everyone silently. Alex had his back against the tiled wall and was playing his guitar, his profile illuminated softly by the firelight. His face was still, almost restful—he was in the zone.
Ana tried to look anywhere else, but her eyes kept coming back to him, seeking him out. Raya must have noticed.
“Gotta say it. Your Alex has had a major glow-up,” she said, just a little too loudly. “I was checking him out on the bus. I’m totally digging his whole if-Timothée-Chalamet-was-Mexican-and-played-a-guitar vibe.”
“He’s notmyAlex,” Ana protested, willing Raya to shut up. She pointedly headed to the shallow end, and they sat down on the pool edge, which was as far from the others as they could get in the undersized pool. “If anything, he’s one ofthemnow.” Ana nodded towards the beautiful crowd.
“Come on, Ana. You know Alex couldn’t give a shit about being popular. He’s just too nice to say no to anyone, and the cool kids have decided he’s talented enough to make them look good.” She nudged Ana with her shoulder. “If you went up to him now and said ‘hi’, he’d follow you around for the rest of the trip like a lost puppy.”
“I don’t want him to follow me around.”
Raya gave a sharp laugh and pulled out a mini bottle of gin that she’d pilfered from Ana’s fridge. She cracked it open and took a sip.
“Just sayin’.”
Ana sighed and checked her phone: 11:58 p.m. Two minutes to go. Part of her wanted to leave and run back to her room—just hide away until tomorrow. But a bigger part needed to be here, to feel the light, to see people, to hear Alex play. When it got to midnight—when the anniversary finally arrived, she didn’t want to be alone.
She pulled her hoodie close around her. There was a chill in the air that she hadn’t felt before.
“You holding up all right?” Raya nodded at her phone. She must have noticed the time. “Tomorrow’s going to be a rough day for all of us. But it’s got to be worse for you.”
“It’s just a date, right? Just another day. I mean, who cares if it’s been one year, or a year and a day, or ten years?”
“I know, but still. I can’t imagine what you must be feeling. You lost so much…”
“I’m fine,” Ana said shortly. They didn’t need to go there. There was nothing anyone could say. She shifted slightly away from Raya, hoping she’d let it go. Ever since they had dated briefly in sophomore year, Raya had a knack for knowing what Ana was thinking, sometimes even before Ana did.
