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“Sorry if I scared you. I heard you crying.” Stupid. What am I saying? Just leave. Walk away before you make things even more uncomfortable. “Umm … Sorry to have interrupted you.” My voice cracked, and I turned to walk in the opposite direction.

Then the girl, who had not spoken one word or even made a move since our eyes met, stood up. “It can’t be,” she finally muttered under her breath as she slowly backed away from me.

Well, at least she could speak.

“It can’t be
what
?” I asked, watching her walk backwards toward the exit of the cemetery.

She was so simple-looking, nothing like the superficial girls covered in makeup I had gone to school with. She looked more like me, plain and simple. She looked to be about my age, maybe even a couple years older. It was her clothes that I couldn’t get over. They did not seem like they belonged in this era, maybe not even in this century.

The girl shook her head, turned around, and practically ran toward the entrance. I followed her, keeping my distance, not wanting to intrude more than I already had. I shouldn’t have interrupted her; it was none of my business. She glanced back a couple times and each time she did, she got faster and faster. As she exited between the large black gates, she turned left and took one last look at me before disappearing behind the tall stone wall.

Even though I knew I shouldn’t, even though I knew it would make me feel like a spy, and even though I would feel awful if she caught me, I couldn’t help but look for her as I approached the exit. I tried my best to be subtle, slightly turning my head to the right and reaching my eyes in the same direction as far as they would go. But there was nothing. No sign of her whatsoever. And even though I knew stopping in the middle of the street and scanning it was not so subtle, I couldn’t stop myself. But she was still nowhere to be found.

A strange ache pained my heart. I couldn’t understand why I cared so much about this girl I didn’t even know. And I couldn’t explain the strange feeling I had when I saw her, especially when our eyes met. I just hoped that wherever she disappeared to she knew where she was going, because the road back into town was in the opposite direction. All she was going to get up that way was a dead end that forced her to turn left onto the abandoned Estate Lane, the part of town that people in Marblehead rarely visited—actually, absolutely avoided was more like it. The few homes still left standing on that block are creepy at best, and all of them have been condemned by the city. No one steps foot on that street, unless of course they are trying to prove something. But even then, I have seen senior football players too scared to get within a hundred yards of that place. After a long minute of standing there and staring at the vacant street, a single thought sent my heart into spasm: Roger!

Chapter Two

When I had the diner in view, I saw Roger glaring out the window. The glare became focused on me as I walked toward the booth.

“Geez, what’s your problem?” I questioned as I flopped down into the black vinyl seat.

“It’s Saturday and I’m out of my bed before noon, that’s my problem,” he responded with a slight grin on his face. I knew that grin meant he was teasing, but I sensed a little irritation in his voice as well.

“Get over it,” I joked back, trying to keep my tone light. “Besides, if you had not gotten up to meet me then you would not be able to hear the crazy story I’ve got to tell you.” I tried to sound convincing so he would ease up on the glare he still held on me.

“Sure, you do.” He looked skeptical as he glanced down at the menu.

“Quit whining, you big baby. Seriously, once we get some food ordered, I will tell you about the crazy girl I saw crying inside the cemetery,” I said, taking a look at the menu as well. Not that either of us needed to look at the menu. The hundred times we had been there over the years, we’d never gotten anything but two double stacks and two glasses of OJ. I pushed the menu toward the end of the table and sat farther back into the booth.

“You went to the cemetery today? Why didn’t you call me? I would have gone with you, Mer.” He met my eyes with a sincere and sympathetic look on his face.

Sure, he only hears that I went to the cemetery. He doesn’t even pay attention to the damsel in distress I just mentioned. Actually, I had not been planning to tell Roger about the cemetery in hopes of avoiding a lecture or pity party from him. But after what happened with the girl, I couldn’t not tell him what happened. Roger was my best friend, and I had to tell someone.

“Yeah. Right. If you think this is early on a Saturday morning, then you would have killed me if I called you at 7:00 a.m. And I kinda wanted to go by myself, anyway—you know, be alone with them,” I said, shrugging out of my rain jacket, which I had forgotten that I still had on. “It doesn’t matter now; what you should be interested in is the
girl
.”

Finally the waitress approached, and we put in our usual order.

“Okay, I’ll bite. What happened with this girl you saw?” he asked, rolling his eyes.

I glared up at him but went on because I was excited to tell him even if he would more than likely just shrug it off. “Well, as I was walking out of the cemetery, I heard someone crying—”

“Normal,” Roger interrupted. “I have to tell you, Mer, seeing someone crying inside a cemetery is not big news.”

I sighed, giving him a pointed look. “Are you going to let me finish or just keep interrupting?” I didn’t want to mention anything to Roger about her standing over the Harper graves. He always thought I was a little strange for wanting to visit them every time he went with me to the cemetery.

“Go ahead,” he answered, gesturing for me to continue.

I laid out the entire scene for him, but he didn’t seem too impressed or think it was half as interesting as I did. Maybe leaving out the part about the Harper graves killed it. “... But the craziest part was that she stared at me like I was some kind of freak, like she had seen a ghost or something.” I hoped that adding in a little drama would pique his interest.

“Well, you do look like you just rolled out of bed,” he joked, but I had to believe there was some truth behind it.

“Ha. Ha.” I scowled up at him.

“So was she young, old? Tall, short?” Roger asked, sounding a little more interested.

This girl was
so
way not his type. I mean, she was blonde, so at least she had that going for her, but she didn’t look like a Victoria’s Secret model, so she wouldn’t have held his attention for long. I mean, she could have been pretty if she tried harder, but she was still a little too plain for Roger’s taste.

The waitress came, placing our pancakes and OJ in front of us.

“She looked to be about our age, long blonde hair, not too tall, about my height.” I guessed, not knowing how to describe the girl in much more detail. I grabbed the syrup, drowning my pancakes in it, and then passed the bottle across the table to Roger.

“Come on, Meredith, give me details,” he pressed, acting impatient with my bland description.

“Honestly, she looked pretty normal except for her clothing,” I sighed, annoyed that that was all he cared about.

“Her clothing? That’s boring,” he said as if he was done with the conversation. He took a large bite of his pancakes.

“I don’t know why you would be interested in what she looks like anyway. Aren’t you going to have your hands full
wooing
all the girls in Rockport?” He was going to be spending most of the summer there with his dad.

“You’re right, but I still have a few days left here to woo,” he said, raising his eyebrows. He shoved another large bite into his mouth.

“Ugh, you are such a pig; I don’t know why I talk to you,” I scoffed, shaking my head. I took a bite and quickly realized I’d put on way too much syrup this time.

“Because I’m the only friend you have.”

“Hey, I have Rebecca, too,” I argued defensively.

“Sure, I’ll give you that, but I’m your only
real
friend,” he said, clarifying his previous statement.

That was true. Roger was my one and only true friend. Don’t get me wrong, Rebecca was a great friend, but she was only someone I would hang out with on occasion. If I ever needed girl talk or an excuse to get out of the house every once in a while, she was the one I would call. It sounds selfish, but it’s the truth. Roger was the only one who knew me inside and out, backwards, forwards, and any other direction possible.

There was a long pause between us, and my thoughts went back to the girl in the cemetery. I just couldn’t get those startling green eyes out of my head. I sensed Roger staring at me, and I looked toward him, watching as he rubbed his chin with his right hand like he was in deep thought.

“Maybe she’s just visiting a relative for the summer … or maybe she was kidnapped and her captors are hiding her out in one of the old haunted estates.” He barely got out the last few words while keeping a straight face.

“You should not be making fun, Roger. She could have been in some sort of trouble or recently lost someone she really cared about,” I snapped back, annoyed that he would make such light of the situation.

“You’re right,” he said, trying his hardest to wipe the smirk off his face and failing miserably at it. “Forgive me. I was just trying to make you smile. You seem like you are really beating yourself up about it.”

“I’m just worried about her, is all.” I couldn’t explain it to myself so there was no way to try and explain to Roger the strong connection I felt to the stranger: the way I felt paralyzed with fear the moment her eyes met mine, the unmistakable connection I had with her.

“Well, don’t be too hard on yourself; you said she ran away from you, right? What more could you have done?” he said, trying to reassure me.

“Yeah, I guess so. I just hope she’s okay,” I said, staring out the window.

After eating about half my plate, I pushed it toward the end of the table and saw that Roger had finished each and every last bite. 

“You ready to go?” Roger asked me with his I’m-about-to-puke-from-eating-too-much look on his face.

“Sure, let’s go. I don’t want you to miss out on any more of your beauty sleep.” I grabbed my jacket and scooted out of the booth.

“What time should I pick you up tomorrow?” Roger asked as he held the door open for me.

“Pick me up? For what?”

“Uh, only the biggest party ever! Probably the best party or your life.” He acted bothered at the fact that I would forget such an important event.

Oh, yeah, I remember. The Graduating Senior’s Only party. The one party that most kids at our school started to look forward to on their first day of freshman year.

“Ugh, right. How could I forget?” I moaned. “No one will miss me if I don’t show.”

“Sure, they will.
I
will miss you.” He glanced at me with a sincere expression on his face. “Rebecca is going to be there, too.” His voice was full of persuasion.

I turned to glare at him, not knowing if this was just a lie so I would agree to go or if he was actually telling the truth. “How do you know she’s going? She did not say anything to me about it.”

He smirked before responding, and I knew he was up to something. “I saw Rebecca at the store last night, and she said that she was debating not going to the party. So I mentioned that you were going, and she was sold,” he said, looking very satisfied with himself.

“She is so gullible,” I said, shaking my head. “You know that you have this power over her, right? She has had a crush on you since first grade.”

“Why do you have to be so difficult?” he said, ignoring my previous comment. “It’s just a party; it’s
supposed
to be fun. You remember fun, right?”

And more than anything, I wished I had the answer. I’m really not this horrible, depressed, introverted person. Well, I guess that depends on who you ask. But really, there’s just something about loud music and a hundred people who I don’t particularly have anything in common with that makes we want to puke. Roger is an exception. He is and has always been my best friend. He just also happens to be the most popular guy in school, and for some reason he loves me. Not
love
loves me—more like a brother would love a sister.

“I just don’t like parties like that. I don’t fit in with those people. It will probably just be a bore fest, anyway.”

“Mer, you don’t fit in with anyone, but that’s why I love you. Besides it’s going to be the last time you see any of these people for a long time—myself included,” he said, trying his hardest to convince me. And as much as I hated to admit it, he had a point. It was probably one of the last times I would have to hang out with him before I left. And not just Roger; Rebecca would be gone soon, too. She was spending the next month riding around in an RV with her family before heading off to Boston University.

“Okay.” I sighed, giving in. “I will go to the party, but no promises on how long I will stay.”

“Awesome.” He grinned smugly, happy with himself that he had just won. “Now that you have already agreed to go, I must tell you that it’s a luau-type party, so dress appropriately … maybe a cute beach dress or something.” He slowly backed away from me with defensive hands up, ready to protect himself.