by Cole Lepley
I do as she asks and follow her back out into driveway. My eyes remained fixed on the fence that lines the property. I can’t see the house from here, but it doesn’t stop me from trying.
Elliot pops her trunk and I set the basket inside. I nudge her arm. “Hey, did you see all the people at the Reed house today?”
She tosses her long, brown hair over her shoulder with a small laugh. “I don’t make it a habit to spy on the neighbors. Why?”
I shrug. “No reason. It’s just I haven’t seen people there in a while and I wondering what was going on.”
“Maybe they’re selling it.”
I shove my hands in pockets and take a few steps down the driveway. “Maybe.”
“Why do you care?” she asks from behind me.
I don’t turn around. I can see their driveway from here and my heart picks up a few notches. “Curious I guess.”
When she comes up beside me I’m so caught up in my thoughts I almost jump. She raises an eyebrow. “You seem awfully concerned.” She crosses her arms and gives me a quizzical look when I glance down to her.
“Charlie might be there,” I say without thinking.
“Do you still talk to her?”
My stomach knots, twisting my insides into a familiar lump. Elliot has no idea what she’s asking. Not a lot of people do and I’d like to keep it that way.
“Nope,” I say casually and then turn back to the house. “Tell Hunter to give me a call when he stops being a little bitch.”
She laughs and then calls after me, “Will do.”
I don’t break stride until I’m all the way in the house. I pause in the kitchen and lean over the island with my palms flat on the granite. The coldness of the stone does nothing to calm the fire that starts to burn inside of me.
I still remember the way she tastes and the breathy way she used to say my name. Every time I close my eyes I can picture every smile she ever gave me and how I would give anything to have just one more.
This time when I close my eyes, that’s not what I see. What I remember the most is the last time I ever saw her. That’s the face that haunts me now and I’d do anything to never see it again.