Skirting the shops, Katie made for one of the trails that led into the redwoods. The cool, enveloped her as she took the first step, the only sound was the soft thud of her sneakers on the hard-packed earth. She’d take a short walk before heading back into town. Everyone would already know that she was back, and no doubt she’d run into a few locals before the day was done.
The sound of someone retching behind the wide trunk of a tree had her leaving the path to investigate.
“You doing okay there?”
It was a boy. He stood quickly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before turning to face her.
“Mikey Tucker, what the hell are you doing, puking your guts out here in the redwoods?”
He’d grown since Katie had last seen him. He was tall and gangly now, his hair longer, the brown locks curling over his collar. He was maturing, his face losing the boyish angles and turning into the man he would eventually become. He was special to Katie and her family, especially Branna and Jake. They looked out for him, as his grandmother was getting on and didn’t have the energy to do so anymore. His mother travelled with her job and the only one of his siblings left in Howling didn’t seem overly worried about what his little brother got up to.
“Hey, Katie.”
He looked pale, and she could see the sheen of sweat on his brow. Stepping closer to get a better look at him, Katie smelled smoke.
“You been smoking, Mikey?”
His eyes grew wider and suddenly he was terrified.
“No.” His head moved from side to side so quick he stumbled back a few steps.
“I can smell it on you, so unless you’ve been hugging a smoker, you better come clean with me.”
He dropped his head.
“I did, but only because they made me, Katie. And it tasted like puke and I hated it.”
“Well you keep that memory close, Mikey,” Katie said, putting an arm around his shoulders and leading him back to the trail. “You know that when Branna finds out she’s going to start in on you about how the pen is mightier than the sword and stuff like that.”
“Does she need to know?”
“I guess it could be our secret, Mikey, but I’d need some kind of assurance from you that it won’t happen again.”
His face was eager as he looked up at her. Color was slowly creeping back into his cheeks.
“I promise you.”
“So tell me what happened to make you end up here, puking up the contents of your stomach?”
They walked a while as he thought about what to say. Mikey Tucker wasn’t your average boy; he had above-average intelligence, like Branna, and usually thought carefully before he spoke, also like her sister-in-law. He could outthink most people using only a quarter of his brain.
“You’re too smart to let someone bully you into smoking, Mikey.”
“I thought I was too.” He sighed, making her smile. “There are these boys, they’re the cool ones at school, Katie. You know the type; everyone wants to be like them.”
“I was one of them, only a girl,” she said. “It gives you power, but that’s not always a good thing, and it doesn’t help much when you step out into the world.”
“Really? Bummer, because I thought it kind of gave you a cool pass for life.”
“Not so much,” Katie said. “When I went to LA I thought it would be like here, and everyone would be like, wow, Katie McBride has arrived, and I want to be her friend.”
“But they didn’t?”
“Nope. In fact, they didn’t like me much at all, and I tried so hard… maybe that was the problem though, Mikey. I tried too hard.”
“I think I do that sometimes, to hide the fact that I’m smart.”
“I never had that problem.” She squeezed him to her side. “You’re way smarter than me.”
