Do you want coffee? Ive got a pot going. He reached for a coffee cup and handed it to her. Jonah mentioned that sometimes you go to Starbucks, so thats what I bought. It might not be as good as what they make in their stores, but its the best I can do.
She took the cup, staring at him. Why are you being so nice to me?
Why shouldnt I be?
Because I havent been very nice to you, she could have said. But she didnt. Thanks, she mumbled instead, thinking the whole thing felt like some weird Twilight Zone episode, where her dad had somehow completely forgotten the last three years.
She poured herself some coffee and took a seat at the table. Steve joined her a moment later with his own plate and began to roll his burrito.
How was it last night? Did you sleep okay?
Yeah, when I slept. Waking up wasnt so easy.
I realized too late that I probably should have picked up an air mattress.
Its okay. But after breakfast, I think Im going to lie down for a while. Im still kind of tired. Its been a long couple of days.
Maybe you shouldnt have coffee.
It wont matter. Believe me, Ill be out.
Behind them, Jonah walked into the kitchen wearing Transformers pajamas, his hair poking out all over. Ronnie couldnt help smiling.
Good morning, Jonah, she said.
Are the turtles okay?
Theyre fine, she said.
Good job, he said. He scratched his back as he walked to the stove. Whats for breakfast?
Breakfast burritos, her dad answered.
Warily, Jonah studied the mixings in the pan, then the items on the counter. Dont tell me you went over to the dark side, Dad!
Steve tried to stifle his smile. Its good.
Its tofu! Its disgusting!
Ronnie laughed as she pushed back from the table. How about I get you a Pop-Tart instead?
He seemed to be trying to decide if this was some kind of trick question. With chocolate milk?
Ronnie glanced at her dad.
Theres plenty in the fridge, he said.
She poured him a glass and set it on the table. Jonah didnt move. Okay, whats going on?
What do you mean?
This isnt normal, he said. Someone should be mad. Someones always mad in the mornings.
Are you talking about me? Ronnie asked. She put two Pop-Tarts in the toaster. Im always cheerful.
Yeah, right, he said. He squinted at her. Are you sure the turtles are okay? Cause the two of you are acting like they died.
Theyre fine. I promise, Ronnie assured him.
Im going to check.
Go ahead.
He studied her. After breakfast, he added.
Steve smiled and glanced over at her. So whats on your agenda today? he asked. After your nap?
Jonah reached for his milk. You never take naps.
I do when Im tired.
No, he said, shaking his head. This isnt right. He put the milk back down. Something weird is going on and Im not leaving here until I find out what it is.
After shed finished eatingand once Jonah had been placatedRonnie retired to her room.
Steve followed with some towels that he draped over the curtain rod, not that Ronnie needed them. She fell asleep almost immediately and woke up sweating in midafternoon. After a long, cool shower, she stopped by the workshop to tell her dad and Jonah what she was going to do.
Still no mention of punishment from her dad.
It was possible, of course, that hed ground her later, after he talked to the officer or her mom. Or maybe hed been telling the truthmaybe hed believed her when shed said she was innocent.
Wouldnt that be something?
Either way, she had to talk to Blaze, and she spent the next couple of hours searching for her. She checked Blazes moms house and the diner, and though she didnt go inside, she peeked through the windows of the music shop, heart thumping, making sure the manager had his back turned. Blaze wasnt there, either.
Standing on the pier, she scanned up and down the beach, without luck. It was possible, of course, that Blaze had gone to Bowers Point; it was a favorite hangout of Marcuss gang. But she didnt want to go there alone. The last thing she wanted was to see him, let alone try to talk some sense into Blaze while he was around.
She was just about ready to give up and go home when she spotted Blaze emerging from between the dunes a little ways down the beach. She raced back to the steps, making sure not to lose sight of her, then hurried down to the beach. If Blaze noticed that Ronnie was walking toward her, she gave no sign of caring. Instead, as Ronnie got close she took a seat on the dune and stared out over the water.
You have to tell the police what you did, Ronnie said without preamble.
I didnt do anything. And youre the one who got caught.
Ronnie felt like shaking her. You put those forty-fives and CDs in my bag!
No, I didnt.
The CDs were the ones you were listening to!
And the last time I saw them, they were still by the headphones. Blaze refused to face her.
Ronnie felt the blood beginning to rush to her cheeks. This is serious, Blaze. This is my life. I can get convicted of a felony! And I told you what happened before!
Oh, well.
Ronnie pressed her lips together to keep from exploding. Why are you doing this to me?
Blaze got up from her spot, brushing the sand from her jeans. Im not doing anything to you, she said. Her voice was cold and flat. And thats exactly what I told the police this morning.
In disbelief, Ronnie watched Blaze walk off, acting almost as though she actually believed it.
Ronnie walked back to the pier.
She didnt want to return home, knowing that as soon as her dad talked to Officer Pete, hed learn what Blaze had said. Yeah, maybe hed still be cool about the whole thingbut what if he didnt believe her?
And why was Blaze doing this? Because of Marcus? Either Marcus talked her into it because he was mad about the way Ronnie had rejected him the other night, or Blaze believed that Ronnie was trying to steal her boyfriend. Right now, she was leaning toward the latter, but in the end, it didnt really matter. Whatever her motivation, Blaze was lying and more than willing to ruin Ronnies life.
She hadnt eaten since breakfast, but with her stomach in knots, she wasnt hungry. Instead, she sat on the pier until the sun went down, watching the water turn from blue to gray and then finally charcoal. She wasnt alone: Along the pier, people were fishing, though as far as she could tell, nothing much seemed to be biting. An hour ago, a young couple had shown up with sandwiches and a kite. She noticed the tender way they stared at each other. She figured they were in collegethey were only a couple of years older than herbut there was an easy affection between them that she had yet to experience in any of her own relationships. Yeah, shed had boyfriends, but shed never been in love, and sometimes she doubted whether she ever would be. After her parents divorced, shed been kind of cynical about the whole thing, as had most of her friends. Most of their parents were divorced as well, so maybe that had something to do with it.
When the last rays of the sun were fading from the sky, she started toward home. She wanted to be back at a decent hour tonight. It was the least she could do to show her dad that she appreciated how understanding hed been. And despite her earlier nap, she was still tired.
When she reached the head of the pier, she opted to walk through the business district instead of along the beach. As soon as she rounded the corner near the diner, she knew shed made the wrong decision. A shadowy figure leaned against the hood of a car, holding a fireball.
Marcus.
Only this time he was alone. She stopped, feeling her breath catch in her throat.
He pushed off the car and walked toward her, the play of streetlights casting his face half in shadow. He rolled the fireball over the back of his hand, watching her, before the ball ended up back in his fist. He squeezed his hand, extinguishing it, and started toward her.
Hi, Ronnie, he said. His smile made him seem even creepier.
She stayed in place, wanting him to see that she wasnt afraid of him. Even though she sort of was.
What do you want? she demanded, hating the slight quiver in her voice.
I saw you walking and thought Id say hello.
You did, she said. Bye.
She started to move past him, but he stepped in front of her.
I hear youre having troubles with Blaze, he whispered.
She leaned back, her skin crawling. What do you know about it?
I know enough not to trust her.
Im not in the mood for this.
Again she turned, making her way around him, and this time he let her pass before calling out to her.
Dont walk away. I came to find you because I wanted you to know that I might just be able to talk her out of what shes doing to you.
Despite herself, Ronnie hesitated. In the dim light, Marcus stared at her.
I should have warned you she gets pretty jealous.
Which is why you tried to make it worse, huh?
I was just making a joke that night. I thought it was funny. Do you think I had any idea what she would do to you?
Of course you did, Ronnie thought. And it was exactly what you wanted.
So fix it, she said. Talk to Blaze, do whatever you have to do.
He shook his head. You didnt hear me. I said I might be able to talk some sense into her.
If
If what?
He closed the gap between them. The streets, she noticed, were quiet. No one else around, no cars in the intersection.
I was thinking we could be friends.
She felt her cheeks flush again, and the word came out before she could stop it. What?
You heard me. And I can clear all this up.
She realized he was close enough to touch her, and she took a sudden step backward. Just stay away from me!
She turned and ran, knowing he would follow, conscious that he knew the area better than she did, terrified that he would catch her. She could feel her heart pounding, she could hear her own frantic breaths.
Her house wasnt far, but she wasnt in shape. Despite the fear and rush of adrenaline, she could feel her legs getting heavier. She knew she couldnt keep it up, and as she made a turn, she chanced a look back over her shoulder.
And realized that she was alone on the street, no one behind her at all.
Back at her house, Ronnie didnt go inside right away. The light was on in the living room, but she wanted to regain her composure before she faced her dad. For whatever reason, she didnt want him to see how scared shed been, so she took a seat on the steps of the front porch.
Above her, the stars were out in full, the moon floating near the horizon. The scent of salt and brine rode on the mist from the ocean, a vaguely primordial smell. In another context, she might have found something soothing about it; right now, it felt as foreign as everything else.
First Blaze. Then Marcus. She wondered if everyone was crazy down here.
Marcus certainly was. Well, maybe not technicallyhe was intelligent, cunning, and, as far as she could tell, completely without empathy, the kind of person who thought only about himself and what he wanted. Last fall, in her English class, shed had to read a novel by a contemporary author, and shed chosen The Silence of the Lambs. In the book, shed learned that the central character, Hannibal Lecter, wasnt psychopathic, he was sociopathic; it was the first time shed realized there was a difference between the two. Though Marcus wasnt a murdering cannibal, she had the feeling he and Hannibal were more similar than different, at least in the way they viewed the world and their role in it.
Blaze, though she was just
Ronnie wasnt sure exactly. Controlled by her emotions, certainly. Angry and jealous, too.
But in the day theyd spent together, shed never gotten the feeling that something was wrong with the girl, aside from being an emotional wreck, a tornado of hormones and immaturity that left destruction in her wake.
She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She really didnt want to go inside. In her mind, she could already hear the conversation.
Hey, sweetie, how did it go?
Not too well. Blaze is completely under the spell of a manipulative sociopath and lied to the cops this morning, so Im going to jail. And by the way? The sociopath not only decided he wants to sleep with me, but he followed me and practically scared me to death. How did your day go?
Not exactly the pleasant after-dinner chitchat he probably wanted to have, even if it was the truth.
Which meant she would have to fake it. Sighing, she heaved herself up from the porch steps and headed for the door.
Inside, her dad sat on the couch, a dog-eared Bible open in front of him. He closed it as she walked in.
Hey, sweetie, how did it go?
Figured.
She forced a quick smile, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. I didnt have a chance to talk to her, she said.
* * *
It was hard to act normal, but somehow she pulled it off. As soon as she got inside, her dad had encouraged her to follow him to the kitchen, where he had made another pasta dishtomatoes, eggplant, squash, and zucchini over penne. They ate in the kitchen while Jonah put together a Lego
Star Wars
outpost, something that Pastor Harris had brought him when hed dropped by to say hello earlier.
Afterward, they settled in the living room, and sensing she wasnt in the mood to talk, her dad read his Bible while she read Anna Karenina, a book her mom had sworn she would love.
Though the book seemed okay, Ronnie couldnt concentrate on it. Not only because of Blaze and Marcus, but because her dad was reading the Bible. Thinking back, she realized shed never seen him do that before. Then again, she thought, maybe he had and shed just never noticed.