by Sarra Cannon
I hoped they weren’t going in alphabetical order, because that would mean they’d already passed me, but I relaxed when I saw Elton Baker line up on the yellow X taped to the floor. Apparently, there was no real order to the chaos.
“Marayah Freeman, oh my word, is that really you?” Mrs. Sparrow, one of the science teachers who’d been around forever, stepped toward me, her hands outstretched.
I could have sworn that for a brief few seconds, the entire gym went completely silent as everyone turned to stare at me, their mouths open in surprise.
I smiled as my hand fluttered to my face, seeking out the scar that branded me as different. “It’s me,” I said.
The noise started up again, but the energy of the room had changed. I could feel their eyes on me, even if they weren’t all openly gawking.
“We are so happy you’re back,” she said. “It’s just awful what happened to you. And, of course…”
Her voice trailed off, and she looked away for a moment.
“Thanks, I’m glad to be back,” I said, speaking up before she got a chance to mention Hailey’s name.
“When we got the news about that night, I just couldn’t believe it,” she said. “Such a horrible tragedy. We were so scared that you wouldn’t make it, but my goodness, you look just wonderful.”
She was being nice. In truth, I looked like a stick figure version of my old self.
A stick figure with a horrible scar drawn on.
“Let’s get you over to the registration desk,” she said. “They’re just getting started, but we’re hoping it won’t take too long to get everyone’s picture. I’m sure you’re just dying to see everyone.”
I nodded, but in truth, I was terrified to see my old friends.
Especially the guy currently standing ten feet in front of me with his arm wrapped around Lena Henderson.
The rubber soles of my shoes caught on the slick floor of the basketball court, and I stumbled forward, having to grab onto Mrs. Sparrow just to keep from toppling over. Everyone who hadn’t been staring before was definitely looking at me now.
My face warmed, and I just lowered my head and untucked my long hair from behind my ears so that it fell forward and hopefully covered what I was sure was an embarrassing blush on my cheeks.
If it wasn’t for Mrs. Sparrow ushering me toward the registration line, I might really have just turned around and made a break for the door.
Since when was Troy dating Lena?
She had been one of my best friends since elementary school. She’d been Hailey’s running partner for years. And now she was dating my ex.
No wonder she hadn’t responded to my text message yesterday.
My jaw tensed, and I felt the familiar surge of anger flow through me, but I took a deep breath and promised myself I wouldn’t cry.
“Marayah, hey,” Troy said. His sandy blonde hair was slightly longer than it was a year ago.
He at least had the decency to take his arm off Lena’s shoulders and stuff his hands in his pockets as he spoke to me.
“Hi, guys,” I said, digging deep to find a somewhat cheery voice. I would not let myself be hurt by this. I’d known it was over between us, right?
Lena pulled me into a half-assed hug and held me captive there for a moment longer than I would have liked.
“Gosh, Marayah, I had no idea you would be here,” she said. There was no sign of our previous friendship in her eyes. It was as if we barely knew each other. She didn’t even acknowledge the fact that I had texted her. “It’s so good to see you. How are you feeling?”
I glanced at Troy, whose head jerked downward. He obviously hadn’t told her he’d seen me when he delivered the pizza to our house the other day.
“Couldn’t miss senior picture day,” I said, ignoring her question. She really didn’t want to know how I was feeling at this exact moment.
“I know. Isn’t this crazy?” she said, laughing and stepping back into the comfortable pocket of space on Troy’s left side. The place where I had practically lived for a year and a half before the accident. “I mean, it seems like just yesterday we were pouring glue on the tables in Mrs. Richie’s class.”
She chattered on about how sad she was that it was our last year, but there was an entirely different conversation going on between Troy and me. There were no words between us, but there was a dance of glances. We shared a series of apologetic, awkward expressions no one else seemed to notice.
“Anyway, I mean, it’s just so wild to think about,” Lena was saying when I finally tuned back in. “I don’t know about you guys, but I plan to make the most of it.”
By the time she was done, a few more of our friends had gathered around us.
John Porter gave me an awkward one-armed hug. “Hey, Marayah,” he said. “I’m glad you’re back. We missed you.”
“Thanks, John.”
“Yeah,” Shaylene Brooks said, hugging me. “We were so worried about you.”
So worried you all rushed to come see me.
I thought it, but I didn’t dare say it. Who knows what I would have done if our situations had been reversed?
“Well, I’m back,” I said, amazed at how alien I felt around people I’d known my whole life.
“I’m surprised they’re letting you come back as a senior,” Lena said. “I mean, with all the time you missed. I thought they would hold you back.”
Troy winced at her tone of voice, and I pretended not to notice.
“I kept up with the schoolwork when I was at Longview,” I said. The moment the name of the mental hospital left my lips, I wanted to take it back.
“Coming back as a junior again would have sucked,” Shaylene said. “What a nightmare to have to repeat a year and stay in this town any longer than you have to, right?”
“Yeah, for sure,” I said.
“Okay, who’s next? Let’s keep this line moving,” Mr. Dixon said.
The vice principal towered over all of us at six and a half feet tall. He held a clipboard in his hand and was checking names off. He stopped mid-check when he saw me.
“Miss Freeman. Nice to see you with us again,” he said. “Your mom said you might be coming home soon, so I’m glad to see that you made it. If you need anything before school starts up again next week, just let me know.”
“Thanks, Mr. Dixon.”
He was a handsome black man in his thirties who’d only been here in Twin Rivers for a few years, but he was well loved by most of the students. Mostly because he’d replaced a real battle-axe of a woman who’d been around for a hundred years and was so strict she never let anyone get away with so much as a tardy.
Mr. Dixon wasn’t a pushover, but he wasn’t ridiculously strict either. He was the kind of adult you felt like you could talk to if you needed him and he wouldn’t lecture you. He would actually listen.
“Why don’t you step over here, and we’ll get you into the line,” he said.
Everyone in the group stepped aside to let me walk by, and I was glad for the chance to walk away.
I checked in and filled out the basic form for the yearbook and the parent volunteer handed me a black drape and some kind of tube top thing to put on under it.
“You can change in the girls’ locker room,” she said. “When you’re done, just come out here and stand in line for the photographer. You’ll need to remove your necklace, though.”
My hand flew to the medallion. I suddenly realized I didn’t want to take it off.
“Thanks,” I muttered and headed toward the locker room door.
A hand on my shoulder stopped me, and I spun around to see Troy standing there.
“Hey,” he said. He met my eyes and then looked away before shifting his weight between both feet several times. “I guess I should have told you about Lena, but—”
“No, I get it,” I said. “I was gone. You don’t have to explain.”
“I kind of feel like I should, though,” he said. “I wasn’t sure how to tell you. We didn’t
really plan this. You’ve just been gone a long time, and—”
“Troy, you really don’t have to explain it to me,” I said. “It’s fine.”
“Okay.” He shifted his weight again and fidgeted with the collar of his shirt.
I turned around, but he followed me.
“Wait,” he said.
I took a deep breath and faced him.
“Sorry, I just wanted to say that it’s really good to see you, Marayah.” For the first time since I walked in the door, he truly looked me in the eyes and didn’t look away. I thought he was going to say more, but he either chickened out or couldn’t figure out exactly what to say.
“It’s good to see you, too,” I said.
I turned away, but before I could walk into the locker room, something else caught my eye, and a chill ran down my spine.
A tall guy with a single, long black braid down his back pushed open the side door of the gym and disappeared.
7
Like You Just Saw A Ghost
“Marayah, are you okay?” Troy asked, following my eyes to the door. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“Maybe I did,” I whispered. I pushed the drape they had given me into Troy’s hands. “Hold this a sec. I’ll be right back.”
He protested, but I didn’t even really hear what he said. I ran toward the door and pushed it open, my eyes searching the courtyard. Where did he go?
I sprinted down the covered walkway and tried the door to the cafeteria, but it was locked. I walked out into the main courtyard and looked around. Where else could he have gone from here?
On the other side of the courtyard was another building where the woodshop and automotive classes met, but if the main buildings were locked, I imagined that one would be, too. The only other place he could have gone would be the back parking lot.
I ran out into the sunny afternoon and the heat of the day, chasing a memory I wasn’t even sure was real. But I had to know if he was the same guy from my dreams.
When I reached the parking lot, there were only a handful of cars scattered across the blacktop. Most of the students had parked in front of the gym today, but there were a few people hanging out back here near their cars, either waiting to go inside or having already finished with their photos.
A couple of them raised their hands to me in greeting, but I ignored them. I needed to find the guy with the long braid. I had to prove he was real, and I had to know why he was here.
Desperately, I scanned the area, raising a hand to my eyes to block the sun. That’s when I spotted him, alone and walking toward an old black truck on the other side of the lot. How the heck had he gotten so far so quickly?
He was tall and muscular, and he definitely didn’t go to school here before the accident. It was a small school, and I would have remembered someone like him.
I needed to know who he was.
I ran after him with no thought as to what I would say when I got there. I just needed to know I wasn’t hallucinating.
By the time I got within a few yards of him, I was completely out of breath. I leaned over, hands against my knees as I tried to breathe. My chest tightened, and my heart raced out of control. I guess a few months in various hospitals did that to a person.
“Wait,” I shouted when I’d caught my breath enough to speak.
The mystery guy turned, his eyes landing on me and widening for a brief moment in recognition.
Holy crap. He knew who I was.
He was real.
And he was gorgeous.
I straightened and walked toward him, but the closer I got, the more I realized that he wasn’t quite the guy from my dreams. I shook my head, unable to make sense of it. He had the same tall, muscular build. The same copper skin and dark eyes. The braid running down his back was exactly the same as the one I’d seen in my dreams.
But his face was slightly different. Younger with higher cheekbones.
Those eyes, though.
The way he stared at me sent shivers across my skin. His eyes were the same.
“Did you follow me?” he asked, glancing toward the school.
“Yes,” I said, working to catch my breath and still my heart. “Sorry, I can’t explain it. I thought you were someone else.”
My hand raised to the medallion at my throat, and his eyes followed. His gaze narrowed. Darkened. His jaw tensed.
“Who?” he asked.
“What?” He had me completely frazzled. There was something incredibly intense about him, and it turned my brain to mush.
“Who did you think I was?”
I shook my head and my cheeks warmed. He looked angry, and I guess I couldn’t blame him. We were complete strangers, and I’d just chased him down.
“I don’t know,” I said, letting my hand drop to my side. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you.”
I turned to head back to the school, embarrassed and confused. Maybe I was going crazy.
“Wait,” he said. “You’re her, aren’t you? The girl from the accident? You’re Marayah?”
I stopped and turned back slowly. Something about the way my name sounded on his lips was so familiar, it made me dizzy.
“How do you know about me?” I asked.
He shrugged, but his dark eyes stayed sharp as he stared at my face. “A lot of people have been talking about you,” he said. “Wondering if you would be coming back to school this year.”
“Do you go to school here?” I asked.
“I just transferred,” he said, not offering any further information.
“Oh.” If he’d just moved here, he couldn’t possibly have been there that night a year ago. Still, this couldn’t be a coincidence. “Well, I’m sorry I chased you down.”
I wanted to turn and walk away, but something about the way he looked at me held me to the spot. He was a stranger, but I felt he knew a lot more about me than he was saying.
“I have to go,” he said finally. His eyes dipped again to the medallion at my throat, but he didn’t say another word. He simply got into his truck and drove away.
“Who are you?” I whispered, but he was too far away to hear.
8
Bitter On My Tongue
I took my time walking back to the gym. I didn’t even care if I missed my turn taking photos. I just wanted to make sense of what was happening to me.
This medallion—and the guy who gave it to me—were not supposed to be real. And yet, I was wearing the necklace and someone eerily similar to that guy had just enrolled in my high school.
There’s no way it was just a coincidence. Besides, he had reacted to the medallion. I was sure he recognized it.
I wanted to scream. Why was this happening now? I’d worked so hard to try to let go of what I thought I saw that night and just believe what Dr. Millner told me to believe.
There was no one else there that night. She’d told me there was no way. The cops had gotten there so quickly, there wasn’t time for someone to run from the scene.
The car we’d been driving—Hailey’s car—had already been reported for reckless driving before we even made it to the bridge, so police were already out searching for us. Mr. Wells, an elderly man who lived on the edge of town near the abandoned factory had been out walking his dog and had seen us drive by at full speed.
He hadn’t seen the accident, but he’d heard it and called it in right away. Police and paramedics had responded within minutes. If anyone else had been there that night, the cops would have questioned them. If I remembered someone else being there, it was nothing but a dream.
So how had I gotten this medallion?
Something strange was going on, and I wanted to find out what it was.
“There you are,” Nicole shouted as she ran into the parking lot. “People are looking for you everywhere. Your mom is totally freaking out.”
“Awesome,” I said.
She fell in beside me as we walked back to the school.
“Where did you go, anyway?”
she asked. She turned and looked into the distance, squinting toward the parking lot.
“I just needed some air,” I said. Not exactly the truth, but I wanted to keep the whole dream thing to myself. At least until I figured out what was really going on here.
“Well, Lena apparently told everyone you got so jealous and upset about her and Troy that you ran from the gym crying,” Nicole said, snorting. “She’s such a witch.”
“Seriously?” I asked, already feeling exhausted by the whole thing. School hadn’t even started back yet and people were spreading new rumors about me and my mental health. “I couldn’t care less about the two of them.”
“That’s what I said, but you know how these people are,” Nicole said. “Drama-llama.”
We stepped into the courtyard from the parking lot, and my stomach immediately tightened. My mother stood near the doorway to the gym, the black drape in her arms and the familiar look of worry in her eyes.
As soon as she saw me, she started jogging toward us.
“Marayah, oh my goodness, where did you go?” she asked, the worry turning to anger. “I give you a little bit of space and you disappear completely? You had me worried sick. Troy told me you just threw this at him and ran.”
I glanced at Nicole and swallowed, trying to stay calm.
“I’ll just head inside,” Nicole said, throwing me an apologetic look as she walked away.
“I didn’t throw it at him,” I said.
“Where did you go?” she asked again.
“I saw someone I knew, and I just wanted to talk to them for a second.” It was only a half-lie, but it still tasted bitter on my tongue.
“You missed your place in line, and everyone is looking for you,” she said. She lowered her voice. “Can you please not make this any more difficult than it has to be? I don’t understand you lately.”
Right. Like I wanted to make things harder.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
I took the black drape and tube top from her arms and walked back into the gym. If I’d thought there were people staring at me before, now they were openly gawking.