by Nicole Nwosu
“It’s been a long time,” I said. “Do you go there often?”
“It’s kind of my thinking place,” he answered.
“With Caleb?” He pulled into a parking spot, turned off the car, then took the key out of the ignition. We got out of the car and my question was forgotten as I climbed up on a rock overlooking the quarry.
There weren’t many people—some were walking along the sand in their jackets, others were looking out at the freezing water. “I forgot how pretty this place is.”
A few people were coming out of the path down at the bottom of the quarry, yet Sam gestured for me to follow him toward the cliff tops instead. I continued taking pictures and we stopped at a clearing. We were pretty high up—people probably jumped into the deep waters below all the time from here. In February, it was deserted. Sam dropped our bag of food on the ground then started taking off his shoes.
“What are you doing? Are you crazy?”
He shot me a look as if I was the crazy one. “I’m introducing adventure into your life. We’re going cliff diving.”
“No.” I pulled him back. “We are not doing that.”
“We’re trying to do exciting things.”
“Exciting things shouldn’t involve getting pneumonia.”
“You’re probably just scared of jumping,” Sam concluded. “It’s not even that high.”
When Sam started taking his pants off I covered my eyes. He laughed. Loudly. Obnoxiously. He sounded like he was losing his breath. “Hazel, I’m kidding.” He took my hands off my face moments later, his socks and shoes back on, his pants buttoned up.
I took a seat on the ground. “You’re a dumbegg.”
“Your profanity astounds me.” He sat down next to me and took the food out of the bags. “Why are you so into photography?”
“We used to take a lot of videos and pictures as a family before my mom died. After that, I played old videos or pictures that were taken of her. It draws me back to that time, and I wanted to create more memories,” I explained.
A wistful expression crossed his face as he chewed. “As if you were there again.”
“Exactly.” I lifted the hood of my thick sweater over my head, pulling the strings as I faintly overheard people talking below us. Sam used his chopsticks to grab a California roll from my container and put it in his mouth before I could stop him. “You have your own foo—Sam!” He indulged in the need to irritate me further by chewing obnoxiously. “You’re an actual pig.”
“I love it when you flirt with me.” He nudged me with the side of a chopstick as he gestured to my camera. “I understand what you mean. Do you mind me asking what happened to your mum?”
“She died when I was nine and Justin was six,” I said. “She was coming home from the bookstore she owned. Car accident. Drunk driver.”
Suddenly Sam’s hand moved to my arm, which somehow gave me comfort. “How did you deal with your mum’s death?”
“I couldn’t handle not having my mom after she died,” I admitted. “It was hard and everyone’s constantly pitying you or saying sorry. It came to a point one day where I kind of exploded and couldn’t stop crying for a long time because I missed her. Still do. All of us do. I learned to accept she was gone. I visit her grave sometimes and everything, but when I feel like I have to explode, I immerse myself in soccer. That’s how I deal with it.”
Sam squeezed my arm as I wiped an unexpected tear from the corner of my eye. I gripped my camera. “You want to see what she looks like?”
He nodded, perching his chin on my forearm. My favorite picture: young me in soccer gear and my mom on the other side of me, the two of us smiling wide at our old camera. Sam inspected the picture as we continued to eat. “You look a lot like her.”
“I guess so.”
Afterward, we stood near the water at the bottom of the quarry. The lack of snow this time of year and the warm streak was a surprise for the city. Farther out, the lake was solid but the ice had thawed closer to where we stood.
Sam took off his shoes and socks, rolling the legs of his jeans up as high as he could and walking into the water. “Hazel, you’ve been taking pictures for the past forty-two minutes we’ve been here. C’mon.”
“Pneumonia,” I warned him, taking a picture.
“Hurry up.”
Placing my camera next to his shoes, I took off my own, removed my socks, hiked up the legs of my sweatpants, and then approached the water.
I dipped my foot in, automatically flinching. “Dude, it’s freezing.”
“Dude, it’s freezing,” he mocked in a falsetto, coming toward me. “Think fast!”
“No!” He sprayed water in my direction. My scream was loud enough to catch the attention of people around the area. Sam pulled me farther into the water and instantly I squirmed at the freezing water nipping at my exposed legs. “I hate you,” I muttered, putting my hand in the water to flick it at his face.
He kicked water at me. I kicked water back, the two of us going at it until he put his hands up. He held my arms to stop my movements. I pulled out of his grip and dipped my hand in the water, then wiped the freezing water against his face, to which he hissed. He kicked water at me again, the cold water soaking the front of my sweater, and I gaped at him as he cackled, thinking I wasn’t going to do the same to him. “You’re irritating.”
“I believe the word is irresistible.” I kicked water at him again, getting it on his face and his hair. A loud laugh escaped me at the sight. I was making my way closer to the shore to get away from him when my ringtone rang out from where I had put my phone near my camera.
Sam followed close behind, still walking through the water as I answered. “Hello?”
“Are you home?” Jasmine’s voice came through strangely.
“I’m out,” I said. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.” I didn’t believe that. “Can I stay over tonight?”
“I have to ask my dad but I’m sure you can.” I turned away from Sam. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Mace, I’m okay,” she said. “Let me know?”
“All right.”
“Everything all right?” Sam asked me after the call ended.
I put my socks and shoes back on and Sam got the hint, getting out of the water. “I don’t think so.”
About a half an hour later, Sam’s car pulled up to the side of my house. Jasmine was sitting on the front steps, her duffel bag was on her other side.
“Next time we head to the quarry we’re having a rematch on the water fight,” Sam promised and part of me looked forward to it. “See you at school?”
“See you at school.” I got out of the car, grabbing the bag I had brought with me when I was heading to volunteer earlier today.
I pushed the door closed and he drove away as I headed in Jasmine’s direction. Jasmine’s eyes stayed on Sam’s car before it disappeared, and I sat down next to her. “You’re hanging out with Sam?”
“We’re friends. But are you okay? You sounded really uneasy over the phone.”
She didn’t speak for a moment, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “My parents have been fighting a lot more recently and I needed to get out of the house.”
She’d never mentioned her parents fighting before. Over the years, Jasmine would mention whenever her parents had gotten into arguments. Their arguments had always been brief, and whenever I went over to Jasmine’s home, things seemed fine. Her parents were as extroverted as she was, always inviting Andrew and me to any little gathering their family was having. They’d always looked happy, but then again, I didn’t live there.
“Are you okay, though?”
She took a deep breath, eyes on the frosted grass of the lawn, and her response was as predicted. “I’m fine. It’s just been happening a lot more lately and I’m getting really sick of it. I
don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
Jasmine got up, slinging her duffel bag over her shoulder as I opened the front door to let us inside the house. “If you want to talk about it, I’m here.”
She didn’t say anything further, just took off her shoes and headed up the stairs to my room.
7
Surprise, Surprise
Cedric and I were talking by my locker before school started on Monday morning when Sam called my nickname. “Hazel.”
“Hey, guys.” Sam and Caleb approached us and a frown fell over Cedric’s face at the sight of his cousin.
“Still mad at me for Saturday?” Sam asked.
“Almost got pneumonia because of you.” I laughed.
“Definitely not. Look at you, perfectly healthy.”
Cedric coolly ignored Sam, leaning toward me and pressing a quick kiss to my lips. “I’ll see you later.”
When he moved past us, Sam’s eyes followed his cousin’s retreating figure.
“Are you guys together?” Caleb asked me. I shrugged, wondering that for myself. Caleb slung an arm around my shoulder as the three of us walked down the hall. “JM and I played a game yesterday. We had to use these pickup lines from a website and see if they worked on girls at the mall.”
“You two are unbelievable. Did it work?”
Caleb showed me a list on his phone of lines that they’d used, check marked if they’d worked and crossed out if they hadn’t. “Some of them totally worked. Look.”
He proceeded to read the lines off his phone, and Sam and I commented on the stupid lines. “Oh the classic: I lost my number, can I have yours? And: Are you from heaven, ’cause you have the face of an angel.”
“But those are such basic lines,” I pointed out, not impressed. “How did anyone fall for them?”
“It’s all about the charm,” Caleb said.
Jon Ming had joined us at the doorway, and laughed when he realized what we were talking about. Beatrice sauntered by, giving me one of her infamous dirty looks, which I promptly returned.
Sam tapped my elbow. “How’s Jasmine doing?”
“Is Jasmine okay?” Jon Ming asked, puzzled.
“She’s got a lot going on. She’s been superstressed lately but she’s fine.”
But she wasn’t confiding in me and I didn’t think she was talking to Andrew about it either. It was so unlike her, and that had me worried.
Sitting in a café with Cedric after school, I was still thinking of Jasmine as I texted Andrew. I used my straw to stir my drink. “Can I ask you a question?” I said to Cedric.
“Am I in trouble?” Cedric looked wary.
“I wanted to know what we . . .” I trailed off, the awkwardness inside me coming out.
Cedric raised his eyebrows. “We’re having the define the relationship talk, aren’t we?”
“Maybe.”
“I don’t really kiss my friends.”
Oh. Judging by the heat rising on my face, this was way more awkward than I wanted it to be. Cedric looked amused. “You can say it.” Rolling up the paper that had covered my straw, I tossed it at him. He deflected it. “I’m going to need to hear it.”
I pursed my lips, putting my leg up and my foot on my seat as I got comfortable. “Annoying the heck out of me two seconds after this is established doesn’t seem like good boyfriend courtesy.”
“She said the word!” He raised his arms up in victory. His phone suddenly buzzed and Cedric read the incoming text message. “My mum wants me to pick up Sam from school. He got detention. Again. Surprise, surprise.”
“Why does your mom want you to pick up your cousin?”
“Sam lives with us,” Cedric explained. “Since summertime. His family always visited during the summers but his parents, my uncle and aunt, back in England, decided he would be better off finishing high school here. He got into too much trouble over there.”
How much trouble do you have to get into for your parents to send you to another continent?
“Why did his parents send him here?”
Cedric took a deep breath. “About two years ago, Sam got involved in a car accident.”
I straightened, my lips parting in surprise. “What?”
“It was pretty bad.” Cedric’s voice was quiet. “He and a few friends were coming back from a party one night and a drunk driver hit the side of the car.”
“Oh my God.” Instantly, tears burned my vision and I blinked rapidly. Cedric didn’t notice, his eyes once again focused on the table.
“Obviously, Sam’s okay. His friends, too, but there was someone else in the car who got the worst of the accident. Sam’s sister. She was in the passenger seat that night. Died on impact.”
No words came out of my mouth because I wasn’t sure how to respond. Hearing that story hit way too close to home.
“It was a tough time for everyone in the family,” continued Cedric. “And her death was unexpected. Sam was definitely the most affected. He’s changed since then. We’ve never been close, but I can tell he’s changed. He became really reckless with himself, with other people, and landed himself in a huge incident with a new group of friends he had. His parents decided enough was enough and sent him here.”
“That’s—” I cleared my throat, taking a deep breath. “That’s a lot to go through.”
His sister’s death was only two years ago.
“When he was sent here, I think my dad thought his behavior would get better, but Sam does things for his own amusement.” Cedric put his phone in his pocket. “Even with detention he probably snapped at a teacher, skipped class, got into a fight—wherever he goes, trouble follows, so it could be anything. And he seems to be around you now, so just be careful, okay?”
Cedric looked out the window, a strain on our conversation since it had changed to Sam. Silence fell over the table and I was wrapping my head around the new information when Cedric said, “I didn’t mean to make the conversation heavy.”
“It’s okay,” I said, Sam still on my mind. “You don’t talk about your family a lot. Like your parents—what do they do?”
“You don’t know what my parents do?”
“Oh sorry, I don’t know the occupations of my friends’ parents . . . what a weird question, Cedric!” He cracked a smile as he typed something into the browser on his phone. “Dude, how would your parents be—” He held up his phone screen to me and my response came out in a sputter. “Your parents are Vincent and Elizabeth Cahill? The business guy?”
“Business guy?” Cedric scoffed at my improper word choice yet my mind was reeling at this information. His parents weren’t only rich, they were really well known. Despite being public figures, their lives were remote and quiet. Almost as quiet as the neighborhood filled with big houses everyone knew they resided in, which wasn’t too far from my residential community.
“I don’t know anything about business, but I know that guy. Doesn’t he own, like, everything?”
“He inherited the family company with my uncle James, Sam’s dad, and invests in things like car dealerships and hotels,” he explained. “My mum was a model. She designs clothes now.”
“You’re their son.”
“What gave it away? The last name?”
This explained the nice cars he and Sam had. If it wasn’t for that, I never would’ve guessed that their family was wealthy. Extremely wealthy. “I didn’t put two and two together. You’ve never mentioned them.”
“Because we don’t like being associated with them constantly. Don’t get me wrong, I love them—yet with their money you keep things under wraps. I avoid most questions about them—people try to take advantage of us. Especially with Dad.”
If Sam had said that, I wouldn’t be surprised if venom came out of his mouth, but Cedric? “You must not have a good relationship with your dad.”
“I don’t hate him. He just expects a lot from everyone. He and Sam, though? Can barely stand to be in the same room with each other since Sam moved in.”
“Crap.”
Cedric snorted. “That’s the closest I’ve ever heard you come to swearing. He’s kind of a workaholic, he’s not around as much as he used to be. I’m surprised he remembers Phillip’s name with the thoughts brewing through his mind every second.”
“If you say that about your dad, I wonder what Sam says about him,” I blurted out.
“Thank God for a big house—the tension gets awkward. Sam seems to like you.” I must’ve looked disgusted because Cedric was pleased. “It’s interesting: Caleb was his only friend here, so it’s weird seeing him interact with people and not piss anyone off.”
“No, he can still piss me off. I’m just used to him.” It was strange to know that besides soccer, a part of me understood what he was going through.
“He’s like that,” Cedric said, taking a bite of his bagel.
“Tell me about England,” I said in an attempt to change the subject.
A distant look fell across his face. “We lived in Bath. All the Cahills have lived in Bath. It’s a small town, a lot of nice historical buildings you’d like taking pictures of with that camera of yours. You’d have a great time. Have you ever traveled?”
“The most I’ve ever traveled is to see Dad’s parents every summer and spend Christmas in Scotswood Bay. Or when I was younger, I’d go see my other grandmother. She lives in Redmond.”
“Really? My grandmother has lived there for years too. She’s one of the reasons why we moved close by.”
“What’s the main reason you guys moved here?”