“Okay, Shannon.” I unbuckle my seat belt.
“No, really. You should tell all your new friends that your mommy also likes the way you dress.”
I instantly look down at my jean shorts and black long-sleeve top with a raw-edge hem. “What’s wrong with the way I dress?” I know she’s baiting me, but it’s hard not to play her game.
“Oh, nothing,” she singsongs.
“Whatever, Sporty Spice.”
She looks at me. “Who?”
“You know, the Spice Girls. They were a girl group in the nineties.”
She groans. “How do you even know this?”
“I know things,” I say loftily. I don’t bother to explain that I helped Mom rip all her old CDs to her computer and then downloaded them to her MP3 player, and to mine as well. There would be too much for Shannon to make fun of.
She hops out of the car. “Fine. See ya, wouldn’t want to be ya.” I watch as she jogs over to the volleyball game and starts talking to the people on the sidelines. No doubt she’ll be besties with them all by the time we leave. Hell, she’ll probably be their queen.
I sigh and walk slowly toward the bonfire, searching for Coop or someone I recognize from earlier.
“Oh, hey, new girl!” someone calls, and I spot the girl who asked if my dad was Chinese. She waves to me.
“Hi.” I make my way to her and take a seat around the bonfire. The sun is setting, and the sky over the lake is fading from brilliant oranges and pinks to darker purples. I have a moment of intense misery as I think of the lakefront in Chicago. I wish I were back there with my actual friends.
“How’s it going?” the guy next to her asks. I assume it’s her boyfriend.
“Um, good. My name’s Haley, by the way. Haley O’Dell.”
“I’m Sera…with an e, no h.” She motions toward the guy. “And this is Josh.”
“Hey, hey, Haley,” he says, like no one has ever made fun of my name before.
At least Sera has the decency to give him an irritated look. “Want a pop?” she asks.
I shake my head. “I don’t like soda.”
They look at me like I’m insane. “Who doesn’t like pop?” Josh asks, taking a swig of Coke.
“It’s the bubbles. They make me…”
“Burp?” Sera finishes my thought.
“Hiccup,” I say, embarrassed. “It’s annoying.”
“Where are you from, again?” Josh asks.
“Chicago.”
“Oh God, you’re not a vegetarian?” The look on Sera’s face suggests this is even worse than not liking soda.
“No,” I say, not sure why she’s asking. “I totally eat meat.”
“Good to know,” someone says, flopping down beside me. It’s Coop. “I’m glad you came.” He’s sitting really close.
“Well, how could I not?” I say, feeling a bit flustered.
He waggles his eyebrows. “Couldn’t resist my charms?”
“Couldn’t resist the lake,” I say, correcting him. “It’s really beautiful.”
“It’s not the only beautiful thing.” As cheesy as it is, it’s nice to flirt again, and the smile Coop flashes makes me blush.
“Coop, leave Haley alone,” Sera says. She doesn’t sound jokey, more irritated. “She doesn’t know you well enough to run the other way.”
“Don’t be such a bitch.” Coop looks at me. “Sera’s just mad because she’s been madly in love with me since sixth grade.”
She snorts. “You wish!”
“Coop!” Someone yells across the bonfire, and Coop waves.
“That’s not your real name, right?” I ask.
“He hates his name,” Sera cuts in. “So he goes by his last name, Cooper. His first name is Kelly.”
“Sera, you have such a big mouth….”
“What? It’s not like everyone doesn’t know already.”
Coop looks at me. “Kelly is a boy’s name too,” he says defensively.
“Kelly is a great name,” I say. I wonder about his and Sera’s dynamic. There has to be a story there.
“But call me Coop. Okay?”
“Will do,” I promise.
“You want to take a walk by the lake? I’ll tell you about your creepy house.”
“Sure.”
Coop hops up and grabs my hand, pulling me to my feet.
“See you later,” I tell Sera and Josh.
“See ya,” Josh says, and he and Sera exchange a look.
“Don’t let him get you alone in the dark,” Sera warns, her words echoing eerily after us.
COOP AND I walk to the water’s edge, then away from the crowd of people. They’re still in sight, so I feel pretty comfortable.
“You’re probably wondering what’s up with me and Sera,” Coop says, glancing over at me.
I shrug. I am, but I didn’t want to ask. “She seems to—”
“Hate me?” he finishes, pushing his hair off his forehead.
“Sort of, yeah.”
He shrugs. “We were kind of a couple in middle school. When we got to high school I broke things off, and she’s still not over it.”
“And now she’s with Josh?”
He laughs. “No, Josh is her cousin. He likes dudes….Pretty sure he has a crush on me too.”
“Is there anyone who doesn’t have a crush on you?” I ask, only half kidding. I can’t tell if Coop is really conceited or just one of those guys who likes to play overconfident in a joking way.
He looks me up and down. “I am pretty awesome.”
Now I’m the one who’s laughing.
“Let’s go sit by the water,” he says, starting to walk away.
The sun set while we were sitting around the bonfire. I’m not sure this is the best idea. “It’s getting dark…,” I hedge, not following him.
He turns back. “C’mon, city girl. The moon is out. This is definitely not dark.” When I hesitate, he grabs my hand and gives it a tug, flashing his smile. My feet have a mind of their own and take step after step after him. When we reach the water, I realize he was right. It’s not that dark at all. There’s a little secluded cove surrounded by trees. It’s really nice. I’m not used to nature, though, so I’m glad when he doesn’t stop holding my hand. Okay, maybe more than glad. I like the tingle that jolts up my arm at his touch.
He helps me to some rocks next to the lake, where we sit.
“I thought you might want to talk about your house without a bunch of people around,” he tells me. “You don’t want to be known as the New Girl Who Lives in the Bermuda Triangle.”
“Is there any way to escape that?” I ask.
“Probably not.”
I disentangle my fingers from his and hook them around my empty belt loops. “The old lady that lives next door to me already told me about the missing girls.”
“The missing Grabbed Girls of Gladwell.” His voice drips with sarcasm. “Four people disappear without a trace and that’s what the papers came up with.”
“And I already know one of them lived in my house,” I tell him. “The first one that was lost.”
“They weren’t lost,” he says, shaking his head. “Someone took them.” His voice has taken on an angry tone. I’m not sure why.
“How well do you know Mrs. Franz?” I ask.
“Enough to know that she’s batshit crazy,” he says, picking up a pebble and throwing it into the lake. It lands with a soft plop. “She’s been in that house forever. She’s like, a living urban legend. Her and her ugly-ass old dog.”
“Trixie? Have you seen her?”
He shrugs. “I haven’t seen that dog in a long time. I used to see her around a lot before. Once, when I was hunting squirrels—”
“Wait, hold up.” I shake my head. “You have a gun?�
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He brushes me off. “Yeah, more like five. Well, my dad does, anyway.”
“And you use these five guns to hunt squirrels?” I ask, wondering where the hell my parents moved me to.
“I use the hunting rifle to hunt squirrels,” he corrects me.
I grimace. “Does your family make squirrel stew or something?”
“I mean, I guess we could. Some people eat them, but they’re not very tasty. They’re super stringy. I just hunt them for fun. Rabbits too.”
“Really?” I can’t help the look of disgust on my face. “For fun?”
“Weren’t you the one saying back at the bonfire that you eat meat? What do you think is in your burger?” he asks defensively.
“Yes, but…” I try to explain. “Hunting for food makes sense to me, but killing small animals because it’s entertaining? That seems wrong.”
He laughs. “You’re such a city girl.”
I stand up. “Well, this city girl is going back to the bonfire. Where there are a lot of people and I don’t have to worry about being murdered for fun.”
“Okay, geez, get a grip.” He pats the rock beside him. “What if I promise not to murder you?” He laughs, holding up two fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
“I guess if you promise.” I sit back down. “I mean, Scout’s honor is binding.”
Coop is grinning, watching me.
“What?” I say self-consciously, thinking back to Shannon making fun of my clothes.
“You’re feisty. I like it.”
I don’t know whether to laugh or be insulted. “Feisty? What are you, eighty years old?”
He winks. “You keep this up and I might just ask you out for a milk shake. Then we can go steady.”
I roll my eyes. “Are you ever going to tell me about my super-creepy house?”
“Okay, yes.” He claps his hands together and lowers his voice. “About five years ago, teenage girls started disappearing from our sleepy little town of Gladwell, Wisconsin.”
“Yeah, Mrs. Franz told me as much. The first one lived in my house. Apparently, she was a bit…”
“Feisty?”
“Mrs. Franz made it sound like she liked to party a bit.”
“Right. So when she vanished without a trace, they thought she ran off to Chicago or Milwaukee or something. The first disappearance they actually investigated was Brandy Franz. Mrs. Franz’s granddaughter.”
“Oh” escapes my lips. No wonder Mrs. Franz is unstable.
“Brandy was living with her grandmother because her parents died in a car accident when she was a baby. So Brandy became like a daughter to her, really, since her daughter…well, had already croaked.”
“There’s this thing called empathy,” I tell him, frowning.
“Never heard of it. Besides, it’s easier for me to deal with horrible things by utilizing sarcasm.”
“Utilizing?”
Coop nods. “That’s a direct quote from my shrink.”
“You go to therapy?” I ask him. I know a lot of people do, but for some reason, this surprises me.
“Yeah, my mom is a strong believer. Anyway, when Brandy went missing, it was Mrs. Franz’s breaking point. One daughter dead, one missing. She caused the biggest stink. Especially when more girls disappeared.”
I stare at him. “Well, wouldn’t you?”
He ignores my question and continues. “She called the police incompetent. Got the FBI involved, all the news outlets. The police chief eventually resigned. He’s working security at the outlet mall now.”
“I’m surprised they hired him,” I say. “Four girls went missing on his watch.”
Coop nods. “Yeah, but it wasn’t just him who couldn’t figure it out. No one could. He would pore over the files….” He pauses, glances at me. He has the strangest look on his face, like he’s in pain.
“How do you know that?” I prompt.
“The police chief turned mall cop? Yeah, that’s my dad.” All hint of joking is gone from his voice.
“Oh. Sorry, Coop.” I reach out and squeeze his hand. I feel terrible.
“No biggie. I was like, ten years old.” He leans back on his hands, staring out at the lake. “You know, Haley, some people think your house is haunted.”
“By Kaitlyn?” I ask. A breeze blows off the lake and I shiver involuntarily.
“By all the dead girls. You can see them walk by the windows at night, and if you’re extra quiet…” He lowers his voice.
I hold my breath, my eyes wide.
“GAHHHH!” he shouts, grabbing my shoulders.
I scream and then am immediately embarrassed. He cracks up.
My cheeks are burning as I stand. “That wasn’t funny,” I say, my heart thumping. “I’m going back to the bonfire.”
“Wait.” Coop grabs my arm.
“Don’t!” I pull away. “That was not cool.”
He holds up his hands. “Sorry, okay, I shouldn’t have scared you. At least let me walk with you.”
“I’m fine on my own, thanks,” I say, my voice shaking. He scared me more than I care to admit.
I scramble across the sand and start walking fast along the lake. I glance over my shoulder, but Coop isn’t following me. When I get back, I hurry past the bonfire. Sera waves, but I head straight across the park to where Shannon is playing volleyball. She spikes on some girl and is the hero of the game. Of course.
When she glances my way, I wave her over. “I want to leave,” I tell her.
She raises her eyebrows. “Coming here was your idea,” she reminds me.
I shrug. “Yeah, whatever. Please, Shannon. I want to go.”
Now she’s studying me. “Are you okay?” she asks, picking a leaf from my hair. She’s become tense, ready to pounce. I may not get along with my sister, but I know she has my back if I ever need her to kick the crap out of anyone.
“Yeah, some guy just said some things about our house.”
She relaxes. “God, I thought someone had hurt you. You need to be less thin-skinned.”
She says bye to her new friends and gives her number to a blond guy who is all smiles and muscles and radiates confidence. She’s usually pretty selective, so he must have impressed her with his mad volleyball skills.
As we walk back to the car, I wonder if I really am just being too sensitive. It’s like since we moved I don’t know who I am. I don’t know how to react to situations. I joked with my friends in Chicago that we were moving to another planet, but it really does feel that way.
“Let’s just go home,” I say. Except we’re not going home.
Not really.
THE NEXT DAY I spend in my room, drawing and putting up pictures of my friends. After lunch Shannon calls up the stairs, “Haley, you have a visitor.”
“Yeah, right!” I yell back, shading in the Hancock Building on the Chicago skyline I’ve sketched. She probably just wants me to go downstairs so she can throw a soccer ball at my head.
“Hey,” a deep voice says from the doorway. Coop is leaning on the doorframe, hands in his shorts pockets.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, not able to hide the surprise in my voice.
“I wanted to say I was sorry for being such a weirdo yesterday. I…” He looks down. “I didn’t realize I would actually scare you that bad, and my shrink says messing with people is—”
“Wait, let me guess. A coping mechanism?”
“It’s better than being depressed all the time.”
I throw my charcoal on my junk table and wipe my hands on my shorts. “Yeah, I get that.”
“So, do you forgive me or what?” he asks with a grin.
“I guess….”
He bounds across my room and jumps on my bed, bouncing on his back. He puts his hands behind his head.
He sits up. “So that was your sister, huh? You guys don’t look anything alike.”
“Obvs.” I shrug.
“She’s really hot.”
I study him. “I can’t decide if you’re an asshole or an idiot,” I tell him.
He laughs. “I mean, you’re really hot too, don’t get me wrong. But in a different way.”
I roll my eyes, and he jumps off the bed and walks over to the wall. “Look at all this.” He motions at the wall. “You never said you were an artist.”
I blush. “I like to draw.”
“Obvs.” He turns to me, his face inches from mine. “You have black stuff on your face.” He reaches out and rubs my cheek.
“It’s just charcoal.” My face burns where his fingers touched me.
“Haley, who’s your friend?” My dad appears in the doorway.
I start, even though I wasn’t doing anything wrong. “Oh, this is Coop….He’s in my grade. I told you about him.”
Coop looks pleased at this, and my face reddens. I’m probably beet red.
“Coop, do you want some lemonade?” My dad smiles, showing his teeth. His eyes are super wide. He looks more than a little crazy.
“Um, no thanks. I’m good.”
“Well, maybe you guys should hang out downstairs,” my dad tells us. It’s not a suggestion.
I turn to Coop, who seems amused by the whole interaction. “Let’s go outside and I’ll sketch you,” I suggest.
“Sure,” he agrees with a shrug. I grab my sketchbook and a pencil and lead him past my hovering dad and down the stairs.
“Hellooooo,” Coop says to Shannon as we walk past her. She’s on the phone, giggling. Probably talking to the blond muscle boy from last night. She looks flushed and smiley and really pretty. Coop flashes her a megawatt smile.
Her smile drops. “Dream on, creep,” Shannon says. “Oh, no, not you,” she explains to the guy on the phone.
“Shannon!” I hiss, but then I laugh. And Coop laughs too. “I’ve decided,” I tell him on our way out the back door. “You’re definitely an idiot.”
“Better than being an asshole, I guess,” he says.
The Fade Page 5