Page 20

‘Your mom,’ Meredith said pointedly, ‘is hysterical, thinks you’ve been kidnapped, raped and/or murdered. Your dad, however, thinks you’re throwing a tantrum and will be home by the end of the week.’

She glanced at a calendar taped to the wall. ‘Which is tomorrow.’

‘I’m not going home tomorrow,’ Brooke replied firmly.

‘No, I guessed that. No one really thought you’d end up here. I think the only reason I was told was because my dad had to fulfill the insatiable Summer appetite for gossip.’

‘Did you really think I was dead?’ Brooke asked. She leaned forward, bracing her elbows on her knees.

Meredith shrugged. ‘I figured it was the most likely scenario.’ She tilted her head to the side. ‘Except, your car was gone, so there was always a possibility you hadn’t been stolen by human trafficking gangs or eaten by a bear.’

‘God, my family is so dramatic.’

‘Why are you here? Do you want a drink?’ Meredith pushed herself to her feet and took three steps to her left, which put her in a tiny space that might, if I was being generous, have been considered a kitchen.

‘Do you have any soda?’ Brooke asked.

‘Sure. Jessie?’

‘Anything. Thanks.’

Meredith brought over two cans of La Croix, set them on the coffee table and swept all the little baggies of weed into a basket.

‘I was hoping you could help us,’ Brooke said, clearly scoping out Meredith’s mood.

‘What do you need?’ she asked.

Brooke cracked the tab on her can. ‘Do you have a spare phone we could borrow? Both ours got stolen.’

‘Is that all? I thought you were going to ask for money or drugs or something.’

‘No, Mer, we have loads of money and drugs,’ she said sarcastically.

Meredith cocked her head, studying us, and I noticed that she had the exact same eyes as Brooke, too: deep brown, with flecks of gold in the iris. Those Summer genes were strong.

‘Brooke, you’re only seventeen,’ she said after a while. ‘Your folks are really worried about you. Are you sure you don’t want to call them?’

‘I’m fine,’ Brooke said with a long sigh. ‘I just need a break from them, you know?’

This wasn’t going how I’d hoped, and when I glanced at Brooke, she seemed annoyed too. This didn’t feel like the right time to be asking Meredith for help getting jobs in Orlando.

‘Where are you going?’ Meredith asked.

‘Anywhere. Nowhere. I can’t stand my mom hovering over me for one more fucking second. Getting out of Seattle was the most important thing.’

‘Well, you know I understand that feeling.’ Meredith stretched her feet out to study her toenails. ‘You can crash here for a few days if you want.’

I glanced at Brooke but had no idea how to read her expression.

‘That could work,’ Brooke said casually. She looked over at me, and I tried to keep my expression neutral.

‘Could I talk to you for a second?’ I asked Brooke.

She looked confused, but nodded, and followed me to the tiny kitchenette area. Meredith was still only six feet away from us.

‘We’ll be fine,’ I said in a low voice that I was certain Meredith could hear. ‘If we stay here tonight, we can get moving tomorrow and still be in New York in a couple days.’

Brooke frowned at me for a second, then her eyebrows shot up in understanding.

‘Once we’re in the city, no one is gonna be able to find us,’ Brooke said, a little louder.

‘Exactly.’

Meredith stood up, and I stepped away from Brooke, suddenly aware of how close we were huddled together.

‘Give me a minute. I’ll be right back.’

‘Sure,’ Brooke said.

I waited until the door had closed behind Meredith before turning back to Brooke.

‘Wanna tell me what that was all about?’ Brooke asked, leaning back against the counter.

‘Sorry. I know we’re not going to New York, don’t worry. It just doesn’t hurt if other people think that’s where we’re headed, you know?’

‘You sound really paranoid right now.’

‘I know.’ I held my hands up. ‘If your cousin turns out to be cool, then great. I’ll apologize to her another time, when all of this is over. I’m just trying to cover our backs.’

Brooke nodded. ‘Okay, I get it. And New York makes sense. My family wouldn’t be surprised to hear I was heading that way.’

‘Because of your sister?’

‘Partly, yeah. I also made a big deal about wanting to spend the past couple summers with Julianne. If Meredith did call my folks, this would all be plausible.’

I let my shoulders slump with relief. ‘Good. Are you going to ask about her friends helping us get jobs?’

Brooke shook her head. ‘I figure if we borrow a phone, then I can always call and ask her once we’re down in Orlando.’

‘That makes sense.’

On the counter, Meredith’s incense burned out, sending a white curl of smoke to the ceiling. Brooke pulled me into a quick, hard hug. I got over my shock at the affectionate gesture and tentatively wrapped my arms around her back. For a second, just a second, I rested my head on her shoulder.

Brooke’s arms tightened around my waist. ‘We’re going to make this work,’ she said confidently as she stepped back and gave me a reassuring smile.

My stomach flipped over, and I decided I could tell her how I was feeling. Well, a small part of how I was feeling.

‘Brooke, I don’t think we should stay here tonight.’

‘But you just said –’

‘I know,’ I jumped in. ‘I know. It would be good not to have to pay for a motel, but just in case someone did recognize us from last night, or if the local cops were called, or if Meredith decides to be responsible and call your parents to tell them where we are …’

Brooke sighed heavily and ran her fingers through her hair.

‘It might be better to be somewhere else,’ she finished for me. ‘You’re right. It’s just, you know, a nine-hour journey to get to Kansas City, and I’m getting really sick of driving through the middle of nowhere.’

‘Let’s break it down. Stop in the middle of nowhere tonight, get there tomorrow.’

‘That’s another day, though,’ she said, her voice breaking into a whine.

I shrugged. ‘I’m not in a rush, Brooke.’

‘No, I guess me neither.’

Meredith came back a few minutes later with a paper bag which she emptied out onto the counter. She’d found a couple of phones, chargers, a stack of cash and some ID cards.

‘They aren’t great,’ she said. ‘They’re old phones I never bothered to throw away. But they work, so you can use them for now.’

They were both iPhones, only one of them in a protective case, and the other with a tiny crack in one corner of the screen. They were old, but just having something to use again was going to make life easier.

‘Thank you,’ Brooke said. ‘That’s perfect.’

‘Have these, too. I don’t need them,’ Meredith said, pushing the two cards across the counter.

One was her University of Denver student ID card, the other her driver’s license.

In the photo, she had much longer hair, and it would take someone looking real close to realize it wasn’t Brooke.

That ID put her age at twenty-one, which could help us out if we ever needed it.

‘And the cash. There’s two hundred there. ’

‘Are you sure?’ Brooke asked.

Meredith waved it away. ‘It’s fine. It’s my emergency cash. Call it a birthday present or whatever.’

Brooke pulled her into a hug, and Meredith rolled her eyes and patted Brooke’s back, and said, ‘Yeah, yeah. I’m not giving you weed, though.’

‘Ugh.’ Brooke pulled out of the hug. ‘I don’t smoke.’

‘Good for you. Don’t start. You wanna hang around for a while?’

Brooke looked at me.

‘I don’t mind,’ I said with a shrug.

‘Let’s go out,’ Brooke said decisively. ‘I haven’t had a chance to catch up with you in forever.’

I personally thought it would be better to keep moving, to get out of the city before anyone started looking at us in connection with the pickpocketing at the convention last night.

But Brooke had already agreed not to spend tonight with her cousin, and it was more important to me that she was happy than I eased my own paranoia.

We waited while Meredith pulled on chunky black boots and fished her keys out of another wobbly ceramic bowl-type thing.

‘How long have you lived here?’ I asked while Meredith locked the front door.

‘Three years. I’m going to have to move out in the summer, unless I enroll on an MFA or something.’

‘Is that the plan, now?’ Brooke asked.

‘Eh. Maybe.’ Meredith took off at a clip, moving through her neighborhood with the confidence of someone who knew the area well. ‘The choice is between staying in school or getting a job, and I don’t know if I’m ready to join the rat race.’

Brooke snorted with laughter. ‘Like you’re going to do some high-flying corporate job.’

‘I might,’ Meredith said. She tugged at the long feather earring hooked through her left lobe. ‘I could.’

‘No, you couldn’t,’ Brooke replied.

‘What’s your major?’ I asked her.

‘Ceramics,’ she said, and really, I should have seen that coming.

We passed a long row of indie stores selling plants and coffee and a second-hand bookstore that tugged at my belly. Next to the bookstore was a tattoo and piercing place, and I wondered if that was where Meredith had gotten her nose pierced.

The idea sprang into my head fully formed, and I grabbed Brooke’s arm to get her to stop.

‘What do you think?’ I asked, pointing.

She looked into the window. ‘You want a tattoo ?’ she squeaked.

That made me laugh. ‘No! But I could get my belly button pierced.’

‘Oh my God, you have to be kidding.’

In the grand scheme of things, this probably wasn’t as big a deal as the haircut. It would be less noticeable to most people. But I couldn’t help but want to chase that high from last night – to do something outrageous that the old Jessie would never have considered.

‘Do it,’ Meredith said. ‘I’ve got mine done. It barely hurts.’

‘Why not?’ I asked Brooke.

‘No, you absolutely should. I just can’t believe you’re suggesting it.’

I grinned. ‘Are you up for it too?’

It didn’t escape me: the way Brooke set her jaw before nodding.