The Creature laughed as if she hadn’t felt a thing. “Oh yeah? Is that why you called him for a
month
, crying after I took him?”
“You didn’t take him!” Kristy hissed.
“Sweetie, you were show-jumping while we were under the bleachers.”
“You whore!”
“Slut!”
The two blondes screeched and crashed into each other, their nails clawing viciously at any exposed skin. Every single man in the room cheered—except Tristan. He squeezed my arm and asked over the noise, “What’s going on?”
“They’re fighting...over you.” I stared, open-mouthed, while the girls screamed and threw each other onto the floor. Not gently, by the way. If they’d actually been cats, fur would’ve been flying. I shook my head, realizing how far out of this competition I was. “They’re nothing like—”
Cutting me off, Tristan said with disgust, “Oh, they’re alike.”
I tried to explain, “That’s not what I meant,” but he wasn’t listening. Tristan stepped forward, his hands held up in the air, and yelled, “Stop it! I’m not dating
anyone
!”
The two girls froze, as did a piece of my heart. Of course we couldn’t tell anyone what had happened between us, but part of me was still hoping that someday... Why did he have to say it out loud? I swallowed hard when he said my name and held his hand out for me, while the party stared. The girls were glaring at me, as if I was the one who had won. And I wasn’t even fighting.
Chapter 14
I woke up the next morning and decided that I shouldn’t be upset that Tristan had told them he was single. Even if I didn’t like it, I’d agreed to keep our kiss secret. Spending time with him—and The Creature—was earning my chance at Evanston, after all. Feeling resolved, I crawled out of bed and stretched. I picked up my cell phone from the nightstand and checked the display. 10:03 a.m. Not a bad time to get up.
“Amy! Where are you?”
“Chris!” I shouted. I’d almost forgotten that the Edmunds were coming today. I grinned, jumping out of my room and rushing down the stairs. The kids were standing in the living room, their bags at their feet. Chris was the first to spot me when I reached the bottom of the staircase and he tackled me with a hug around my waist. Marly was right behind him, wrapping her arms around my knees. I bent down, squeezing them both tightly. “I’m so glad to see you guys!”
“We missed you!” Chris stepped back, growing embarrassed. “I mean, sorta.”
“Right,” I laughed and gave him a playful punch in the shoulder.
Mrs. Edmund walked out from the kitchen, an empty grocery bag in her hands. “He almost wouldn’t sleep last night, he was so excited.”
Chris rolled his eyes. “Not ‘cause of
Amy
. I wanted to see the lake!” He took his sister by the hand, pulling her toward the back door, and explained, “Marly, you probably don’t remember, but it’s real big! Come look!”
“You three have fun last night?” Mrs. Edmund asked.
“Oh, loads!” I lied, a fake smile plastered on my face.
“That’s wonderful.” Mrs. Edmund looked at me with a touch of concern. “Dear, are you feeling all right? You’re still in your pajamas.”
“Well, uh....” I stammered, my cheeks burning red. To complete my moment of humiliation, Tristan walked out from the kitchen, a bowl of cereal in his hand. Two people—okay, one, but still—staring at me in my pajamas. And these weren’t loungewear kinds of people. I crossed my arms over my chest and backed into the staircase, stumbling. “I, uh, just got up and, uh....” I pointed helplessly upstairs. “I’m going to go change.”
I don’t think I’ve ever run up a flight of stairs quite so quickly in my life. I dove into my room and began rifling through my bag to find a clean shirt and jeans. I could only imagine what Mrs. Edmund was thinking of me. She probably thought that I was a slacker, especially if she really “loved” The Creature, who always looked perfect. Not that it mattered.
I used the bathroom down the hall to hastily shower and change. Pulling my wet hair into a fresh ponytail, I walked back to my bedroom. I dropped my dirty clothes onto the floor and turned to look out the window at the lake. I saw that The Creature had laid a beach towel out on the hill and was sunning herself with her earbuds in. Tristan was at the bottom of the stairs and walking slowly down the dock. I frowned, wondering where the kids were. I scanned the shore, expecting to see them digging in the muddy sand, but it was empty.
Then I heard the scream.
It was Chris. He was standing at the top of the stairs, just out from the cabin, holding two glasses of lemonade and staring at the lake. He looked horrified. I followed his gaze, my stomach going cold at the sight: Marly was in the canoe that had been tied to the dock. She was leaning precariously over the side, trying to paddle her way back to shore with her hands. When she leaned forward, the canoe tipped, dumping its small cargo. With a tiny yelp, the girl fell into the water.
My heart, which had momentarily forgotten to beat, began to pound. I grabbed onto the window, pushing it open, and shrieked through the screen, “
Tristan
!
Marly
!”
He had heard the noise and was already sprinting down the dock, kicking off his sandals as he leapt into the lake. My eyes were locked onto the spot where Marly had fallen. Her head reappeared for a moment, her hand reaching desperately into the air, before she bobbed back under. I saw that Tristan, unable to see Marly surfacing, was swimming away from her. I yelled, “
Tristan
!
More to your right
!”
Tristan immediately adjusted his swimming, but turned too far in the other direction. I saw Marly’s head again pop above the water with a small plea of, “Help!”
“
To the left, Tristan
!” I shouted.
He adjusted again, correcting himself to the sound of Marly’s cry, and barreled across the lake. He was heading directly toward the spot I’d last seen her. “
There, Tristan
!
She’s under the water
!”
As Tristan dove under, I froze. My breathing stopped. Where was he? Where
was
he? Could he find her? Did she see him coming?
Where were they
?!
I aged twenty years in those seconds.
With a splash, Tristan broke the surface of the water. Marly was clinging onto him for dear life, her little arms tight around his neck. I screamed with joy and hurtled from the room and down the stairs. Mrs. Edmund was reading in the living room, completely unaware of the catastrophe outside. She looked up when I jumped off the bottom step and gasped, “Marly! Lake! Saved!”
She was immediately on their feet, rushing after me as I flew through the kitchen, out the back door, and down the hill. Chris beat me to the edge of the dock where Tristan was lifting a dripping Marly from the lake. I helped the boy grab his sister. I could feel her shaking with fright and I wrapped her in my arms, hugging her close. Mrs. Edmund was quickly on us, asking was she okay and what had happened?!
The Creature continued to tan.
* * *
I don’t know how you’re supposed to overcome a near-tragedy, but my idea was opening up a tube of cookie dough and digging in. I passed out spoons to the kids, Mrs. Edmund, and myself. We all huddled together in the kitchen. Chris and Marly were ghostly white, and I’d painted a reassuring smile onto my face. The Creature was still oblivious, while Tristan was planted on the end of the dock. If he wanted space, then we were going to give it to him.
Mrs. Edmund shook her head and set her spoon down on the counter. “I just don’t understand why Lexus hasn’t come to say hello.”
I muttered, “She’s off in her own little world.”
Chris glared outside at The Creature. “She should’ve helped Marly.”
“I don’t think she even noticed,” I said and scraped my spoon along the wrapper, trying to get the last bits of dough.
Mrs. Edmund sighed, “But she’s such a nice girl.”
“Hmm.” Chris rolled her eyes at me and I coughed, trying to cover my laughter. “At least Tristan was there.”
Marly’s little voice piped, “Saved me.”
“That’s right,” I said and rubbed her back comfortingly. She looked up at me from under her bangs, a pitiful expression on her face as she glanced at the dock. “You know, he’s okay. He’s probably just...tired from all of that swimming.” I offered her a smile, but she still seemed worried. “Tell you what: why don’t we make Tristan a thank you present?” I gathered our spoons, setting them in the sink. “How does that sound?”
I had found a roll of aluminum foil yesterday, in my search for a phonebook. Now I pulled it out of one of the kitchen drawers and waved it victoriously. “What about medals?”
Mrs. Edmund laughed. “Perfect!”
I set to work folding the foil into large medals, while Mrs. Edmund grabbed Sharpies for the kids to write with. The activity—and the digesting sugar—roused Chris and Marly. Color slowly returned to their faces while they bent over their medals, concentrating on their drawings. These kids had gone through so much over the last year; I could hardly imagine what it was like for them. I was happy to help distract them, even for a moment.
There was only one person who could ruin my mood. So, of course, she walked in through the back door. The Creature wore her bikini, with her towel thrown over her shoulder. Bored, she surveyed us and yawned. “I’m going to go shower and then have some pizza, unless there’s something else to eat.”
If spontaneous human combustion could be caused by three sets of glaring eyes, she would’ve been a pile of dust.
I asked slowly, “You didn’t hear anything earlier...did you?”
“No.” The Creature blinked dumbly. “Did someone call for me? Was it Mick?”
Chris snarled, “No,
you
—”
“—should go shower,” I interjected before he could say something that could get him in trouble.
“Lexus!” Mrs. Edmund smiled brightly. “Are you enjoying the lake?”
The Creature tossed her hair. “I guess. I just wish Tristan wouldn’t make such scenes!” Hearing this, I couldn’t help but laugh. “He’s been telling people we’re not dating!”
Mrs. Edmund frowned slightly. “But, dear, I thought you’d make amends.”
“‘Amends’?” she scoffed.
“When my husband, uh....” Mrs. Edmund choked, unable to get the word out. “Y-you never called or wrote. I mean, I know you were busy—”
The Creature grinned arrogantly. “Yes! I
was
busy! And now I’m all sweaty; I
have
to shower.”
We all silently seethed until she was out of sight. Then Chris, an impish look on his face, turned to me. “Hey, Amy. I brought Battleship. We could play and pretend she’s onboard.”
I shook my head. “Twisted, kid. I like it. Let’s play.”
* * *
I’d never played so much Battleship in my life. For almost an hour, Chris and I duked it out, with him making a falsetto scream each time a ship went down—on either side. It was pretty hilarious. Then we got the idea of having a tournament, with Chris and me on one team, Marly and Mrs. Edmund on another. Sometime in the midst of our playing, The Creature had come down and pulled a slice of thin crust pizza from the refrigerator. She didn’t ask to play and we didn’t offer.
Around sunset, our stomachs began to rumble and we decided to call a tie, though Chris and I knew we had actually won. We went through the cupboards, checking out the groceries that they had brought, and chose to make grilled cheeses and tomato soup. Mrs. Edmund heated up a fry pan, while I opened up the can. Chris pointed as I poured it into a pan. “That’s red for blood!”
“Christopher John!” Mrs. Edmund gasped, clapping her hands over Marly’s ears.
He frowned. “What? Battleship, Mom—things blow up.”
His mother shook her head. “I wish you wouldn’t think about things like that.”
“But, people die and...it’s okay,” he said quietly.
“Chris, come here.” She knelt down and held out her arms to him. Once he had come close, she explained, “Dear, we never
want
people to die, but sometimes they do. And we have to be brave, to move on.” She hugged her children tightly. “You’ve both been so very, very brave!”
I bent over the stove, concentrating on my sandwich flipping and soup stirring, trying to give the Edmunds a moment of privacy. I was so intent on staying quiet that I jumped when the phone began to ring. I turned around, wondering if I should answer, when I heard The Creature pounding down the stairs. She dashed across the room and snatched the phone off of the wall.
“Hello? Mick?” She paused, clearly disappointed. “Who is this? Who?” She paused. “Oh, last summer, right... A party? Of course!” She paused. “All right. ‘Bye.”
“Going out?” I asked.
“Yes. As soon as I find Tristan.”
Chris shot me a look and said, “You know, I think I saw him out front. Why don’t you go look?”
“Really?” The Creature frowned, turning toward the door.
“Yeah. Here, I’ll show you.”
Leaning close to his ear, I whispered, “What are you doing?”
“
Distracting her so you can go talk to him
,” he hissed and rushed after The Creature, who was already opening the front door. “He was out here!”
I rolled my eyes and looked at the two Edmunds who were now watching me. “You don’t think I should talk to him, do you?”
They nodded in unison.
“Fine. But he probably wants to be alone.” I threw my hands up in the air, splattering soup with my spoon. I grimaced, setting it on the counter, and headed out the back door.
The air was cool and carried the faint scent of pine and freshwater. The sun had already dipped behind the treetops, but the sky was a breathtaking mixture of oranges and deep blues. There was something mystical in the calm of the lake at dusk, as it peacefully mirrored the world around it without a ripple of distortion. The only sounds were the chirps of crickets and the gentle rustle of branches in the breeze.
Tristan was a dark silhouette at the end of the dock. His shoulders were slumped and his legs hung over the edge. As I walked closer to him, my mind swirled with emotions. I paused a step behind him and tucked my hair behind my ears, before sitting next to him. My voice was quiet, as to not disturb the twilight. “Hey.”