Page 99 of Close Your Eyes and Count to 10

“Where are we?” said Coral, sounding less confident than usual. “What is this place?”

Violet pulled the car up the rocky dirt road that wound deep into the woods. Was it vaguely familiar? Had she been here before? She felt like she was dreaming.

Wake up, she told herself and kept driving. The light dappled the road ahead, scattered by the thick tree cover.

“Violet,” said Coral when Violet stayed quiet. “This is maybe not such a good idea. Like if this was a horror movie, we’d be screaming at ourselves to go back, call the police. Right?”

“But Blake’s here,” said Violet, gripping the wheel.

“In eight hundred feet, you will arrive at your destination,”said the navigation computer.

Her heart was hammering, palms sweaty. Yes, it was familiar. Something about the light. She gazed at the blue pulse of Blake’s dot on the LifeTracker app. “I mean, there’s his dot. It says he’s two minutes away.”

Coral was quiet a moment, picked at the tiny hole in her leggings with her black polished fingernails. She was getting glittereverywhere.

“So like if he’s been abducted, are werescuing him?” she asked with a frown.

Violet didn’t have an answer for that. She breathed through a throb of anxiety.

“I should call my mom,” said Coral. With her pink-edged black hair and wild clothes, she looked like a rebel. But she was a good girl at heart.

“No!” said Violet, too loudly. She was surprised by a rush of emotion, tears welling. “We’re cutting. He’s cutting. If my mom finds out or thinks we’re in trouble, she’llfreak. She’s all in on this challenge. And we’re like totally screwed if she doesn’t win.”

Coral’s worried frown deepened, and she reached for Violet’s hand.

Coral just didn’t get it. No one Violet knew did. All her friends, most of whom weren’t her friends anymore, had never been without money, without security. They’d never lost a parent, listened to their mom crying when she thought she was alone at night. They didn’t know what it was like to lose your dad, your house, everything you thought was safe and true about your life.

“I’m sorry,” said Coral.

Violet knew what she meant. That she was sorry about everything that might be hurting Violet. That’s the kind of friend Coral was: unwavering, down for the ride wherever it went. A couple of years ago, Violet wouldn’t have said that Coral was her best friend. But that’s because, before her dad disappeared, Violet didn’t even know what real friendship was.

Coral’s phone started to ring. “Oh, no.”

“What?”

“It’s my mom.”

“Don’t answer it.”

Coral let it ring out and go to voicemail, staring at her phone in horror, like she wanted to toss it out the window. But it just started ringing again.Finally, Coral pulled a stoic look and before Violet could stop her, she answered. “Hey, Mom.”

Violet cringed listening to Coral’s mom’s voice, high and shrill in the air. Coral pulled the phone away from her ear, rolled her eyes seeming to recapture her cool self.

“Mom,chill,” said Coral. “The geology field trip, remember?”

Violet gave a quick side glance at her friend, then shifted her eyes back to the road ahead.

“Yes,you didsign it,” said Coral. “Call the school if you don’t believe me. I am sure lots of parents forget about stuff like that. You’ve been so busy with work.”

Wow. Ballsy. And so, so manipulative. If Coral got caught now, she’d be grounded for eternity. Violet had a new level of respect for her tutu-wearing friend. Violet couldn’t lie to her mother, even when she tried. It was bad enough that she’d jiggered her own location with the app. If her mom tracked her, she’d see that Violet was still at school.

“Relax, Mom,” Coral went on. “I’ll get a ride home from Violet after school.”

Violet kept driving, taking the final turn on the long drive. There in the clearing. A small, contemporary white house.

“Okay,” said Coral, after she’d ended the call. “We’re good. For now.”

Were they?