I definitely like this girl.
Mrs McKenzie looks back up at us and fakes a smile. “Here you go, girls.” She slaps a sheet of paper on the desk and watches as I slide it into my pocket.
“Thank you, Mrs McKenzie. It’s been a real treat spending this time with you.” I giggle through a smile.
Her right brow lifts at my sarcasm, and my cheeks burn. I can’t believe I just said that to a member of the faculty. Sass to family—that’s different. Sass to a woman involved in admissions?Ugh.
“Bye.” Elise grabs my hand and tugs me out of the office and around the corner.
We both sprint down the hall, running on adrenaline and laughing. I can’t remember the last time I laughed like this.
We halt when we reach the quad. Gasping for air between giggles, I clutch my stomach as it spasms.
“I was trying to be so serious, but you...oh my God.” Elise pants while trying to talk through her laughter. “It’s been a real treat,” she quips, mimicking me.
We both slump down onto the grass and look up at a blue sky dotted with thin, fluffy clouds as the wind rustles the tree limbs. Elise’s head is so close to mine that strands of her hair tickle my cheek. I notice, but I don’t mind. In fact, I like it. The last female I remember being this close to was my mum over two years ago.
I curl onto one shoulder to look at her. “You’ve done that before, haven’t you?”
Still breathing heavily, she waves her hand. “P-pleasemy girlfriends back home get gifted instruments every other Monday. I’m always tracking down admirers. ‘Cause that’s what girlfriends do for each other.”
Oh.“Well, I guess...” I flash her my most grateful smile. “I guess I’ve never really had a girlfriend before.”
“So, I guess you’re going to that guy’s house now?”
“Yeah.” I swallow over a lump of nerves.
“What if something happens?” She pauses. “I have this app, and it tells me where my phone is. I’ll connect you so you can see where I am, and I can see where you are. What do you think? Just us. No one else.”
I nod. “Okay.”
“Girls have to look out for each other.”
Beyond Elise, something large moves in a tree, but when I squint at it, it’s gone, leaving only a rustle of limbs and leaves. That’s when I notice three café chairs just to the left. They are outside a small window, beside a door with vertical strips of plastic swaying in the breeze—to keep the flies out when someone enters.
Find coffee.
Tick.
“Want to go grab a coffee?” I ask. “I will admit that caffeine is a vice of mine.”
“I love that you think that counts as a vice.” Elise laughs, jumping to her feet. “Coffee is oxygen, I don’t care. And nicotine is actually good for you in small doses.”
I stand up, brushing grass off my shirt. “Well, you can tell me all about it over coffee, and then we can go grab a pack of cigarettes and connect our phones so we can stalk each other.”
CHAPTER SIX
liz
Sixteen years earlier.
The girl can't stop her tears this time, no matter how hard she tries.
She can't stop the whimpers from breaking free, can't stop her heart from slamming into her ribs. Can’t stop tremoring from her ears to her toes. Not now. Not until her new brother stops screaming and thudding in the boot.
All she can do is feel it all, knowing it’s wrong without knowing why, and wait for her daddy to stop talking to the man outside the car. She hopes her tears dissolve before her daddy climbs in beside her.
He has warned her about tears.
