Becoming Us

by Allie Everhart

  “That weekend we were out of town at a family reunion, but when we got back everything was fine. Nobody robbed us. Maybe you’re thinking of someone else.”

  “A police officer came to our door and said you’d been robbed,” Jade tells him.

  He shakes his head. “No. It wasn’t us.”

  I watch his face to see if he’s lying, but I don’t think he is. He looks like he has no idea what we’re talking about. I know the cop who came to our door was fake but I assumed the robbery was real.

  “I guess the officer was confused,” I say. “It must’ve been someone else.”

  “I’m glad you told me. I might have to consider getting a security system.”

  I take Jade’s hand. “We need to go, but it was good to meet you.”

  “Nice meeting you, too.” He walks back to his house and Jade and I continue down the beach.

  “He wasn’t robbed?” Jade asks. “That doesn’t make sense. That cop said it was the yellow house. There’s only one yellow house on the entire beach.”

  “Wait until we get inside. I need to tell you something.”

  I wasn’t going to tell Jade about the fake cop but I have to now. She needs to know what’s going on. I should’ve told her as soon as I found out. What if the fake cop had stopped by when I wasn’t home? Jade would’ve let him into our place. She thought he was a real cop. Shit, I didn’t even think about that.

  We get back and Jade goes to the kitchen to get some water. “What did you want to tell me?”

  “That cop who came to our door wasn’t a real cop. He was just some guy impersonating a police officer.”

  “When did you find this out?”

  “On your birthday. I called my dad on the way to class that morning and he mentioned something about that police officer being really young. That’s when I realized that old guy who came to our door wasn’t a real officer.”

  “How did your dad know about the cop?”

  “Ever since we heard about the robbery, my dad’s had his people investigating it. He wanted to see the police report and find out more about the burglar. I told him that cop who came to our door was acting strange so my dad had the cop checked out as well. And it’s a good thing he did or we never would’ve known that guy was a fake.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me this?”

  “Because it would’ve ruined your birthday.”

  “You could’ve told me later.”

  “I didn’t want to scare you if it turned out to be nothing.”

  “Great. So you get to hide stuff from me, but I can’t hide anything from you?”

  “Jade, it’s not at all comparable.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Whatever. Continue.”

  “My dad couldn’t find the police report. Now that makes sense because apparently there was never a robbery.”

  “Then who was the guy in the white car? The one who got killed?”

  “My dad said the cops arrested that guy and were holding him on other charges. But then you saw him on campus so either they let him go or someone paid his bail.”

  “What were the charges they held him on? What did he do?”

  “They arrested him for robbing a convenience store, but he had a long record. He’d been charged with rape and attempted murder.”

  Jade shudders. “And that guy was right there when I was running that day. It was just him and me. He could’ve done something.”

  “That’s why I keep telling you not to run alone. At least he’s gone now. He must’ve been involved in some bad shit since someone wanted him dead.”

  “You said it was a drug deal gone bad.”

  “That’s what I’m guessing, but who knows? It could’ve been anything.”

  “So going back to the fake cop, what does that mean? Why would a fake cop show up at our door to tell us about a fake robbery?”

  “I have no idea. Maybe someone just wanted to scare us.”

  “Well, it worked.”

  “Nothing’s happened for weeks so whatever this was, maybe it’s over.”

  “I hope so.”

  I don’t think it is, but since I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t want to worry Jade. She has enough to deal with.

  Monday morning, we go to Student Health Services right when they open. You don’t need an appointment and Jade wanted to get this over with. The place is empty and she goes right in to see the doctor. She wanted to go in alone first so I’m sitting in the waiting room. On the table next to me there’s a bowl of free condoms next to some brochures about STDs. I’m glad I don’t have to worry about that anymore.

  My phone vibrates just as I’m reading a sign that says ‘All cell phones must be turned off.’ I go outside to answer it.

  “Garret? It’s Harper.”

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “I wanted to talk to Jade but her phone’s off. I thought she didn’t have class on Monday mornings.”

  “She doesn’t, but she was sleeping in this morning. That’s probably why her phone’s off.”

  I’m not going to tell Harper what’s really going on. Jade needs to tell her.

  “Then I guess I’ll try her later. I just wanted to see what she thought of Brook. You guys had lunch on Saturday, right?”

  “Yeah, we did.”

  “So did they get along?”

  I might as well be honest with Harper. I know she used to be friends with Brook, but I’m not going to lie for that girl. Harper should know the truth about her.

  “Jade tried, but Brook ignored her the entire time. As soon as we sat down, she talked on her phone and she kept talking on it through our entire lunch.”

  “Really?” Harper sighs. “I can’t believe she did that. She wasn’t like that in high school. I mean, we weren’t best friends or anything but she was never that rude.”

  “Well, she was rude on Saturday. She barely talked to Jade.” I don’t tell Harper that Brook flirted with me. She doesn’t need to know that part.

  “Garret, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “It kind of is. I made you guys go out with them. How was Dylan? Was he rude, too?”

  “No, he’s a good guy. I’d met him before. I see him at the gym all the time. I thought we could be friends, but I don’t think we can now that I’ve met his fiancé.”

  “Well, tell Jade to call me. I need to apologize to her. I feel really bad about this. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Yeah, see ya.”

  When I go back inside, a nurse is looking for me.

  “Are you Garret?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You can go back there now. Follow me.”

  She takes me to the examining room where Jade is waiting. She seems anxious to leave. She’s got her coat on and she’s clutching some brochures in her hand.

  “What did the doctor say?” I sit next to her in one of the chairs near the examination table.

  “She said I’m not pregnant.”

  “Did she say why you were late?”

  “I told her to wait until you got here. She’ll be back in a minute.”

  Moments later, a woman in a lab coat walks in. I introduce myself and then she says to Jade, “So I think there are several reasons why you’re late. Missing that pill was one, but it also sounds like you’ve been under a lot of stress, not eating right, not sleeping well. And your weight is lower than it should be. If you combine all of that together, it makes sense you got off cycle.”

  She continues to explain how the pill works and how Jade could try a different one, or try a different type of birth control. I feel like we’re in high school sex ed class. She gives us way more information than we need. The takeaway is that Jade needs to gain weight, sleep more, and stop stressing. All things we already know. But at least it’s nothing more serious than that.

  “See? It was nothing,” Jade says as we leave. “You didn’t need to come with me.”

  “Jade, wait.” We stop in front of a display of
brochures. There’s one from the student counseling center, which is in this building. I grab the brochure and hand it to her. “You should call them today. Get an appointment.”

  She goes through the door to the outside. “I don’t need to. I changed my mind.” She starts walking to the car but I grab her hand, stopping her.

  “You’re not changing your mind. We agreed that you’re at least going to try it.”

  “I’m not ready to.”

  “If you don’t do it now, you’ll just keep putting it off. You’re going. And I’m going with you.” I get my phone out and call the number on the brochure.

  “No, stop! Don’t call them!” Jade tries to take my phone but I don’t let her.

  A woman answers and I make the appointment.”

  “Tomorrow at 4:15,” I tell Jade as I put my phone away. “We’ll meet outside the building after class.” I take off toward the parking lot.

  Jade follows behind. “Tomorrow? But that’s so soon!”

  “As long as we’re out, you want to grab breakfast somewhere? I don’t have class for another hour.”

  We reach the car and I hold the door open for her.

  She narrows her eyes at me as she gets in. “You could’ve made the appointment for next week or the week after that.”

  I go around to the driver’s side. “Breakfast or not? You didn’t answer my question.”

  She reluctantly smiles. “Yes, I’d like breakfast.”

  Jade’s not mad I made the appointment. She needed a little push. Just like I needed a push when my swim coach made me see a doctor about my shoulder. Sometimes you need someone else to force you to do the things you know you need to do.

  I lean over and kiss her. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” She rolls her eyes. “But you still annoy me sometimes.”

  “Good. That’s why I’m here.” I smile at her and wait.

  “Are we going? Or are we just going to sit in the parking lot?”

  “I need you to put your seatbelt on.”

  She rolls her eyes again as she puts it on. “See? That’s annoying. I hate wearing my seatbelt.”

  “Get used to it because you’re wearing it. I went to high school with a girl who died in a car accident because she didn’t have her seatbelt on. She went straight through the windshield.”

  “Really? That’s horrible.”

  “Yeah, it was. The whole school went to the funeral. It sucked. So you better be wearing your seatbelt even when I’m not in the car.” I pull out of the parking lot.

  “Where are we going for breakfast?”

  “We’ll just drive around and find a place. Oh, Harper called when you were in the doctor’s office. I told her about Brook.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She said she was sorry. She felt bad about it.”

  “It’s not her fault.”

  “I told her that, but she still felt bad. I forgot to ask her how the babysitting went.”

  “Who did she babysit?”

  “Lilly. I guess I didn’t tell you. My dad had Harper watch Lilly on Saturday night. There was a party at my grandparents’ house and they needed someone to watch her.”

  “I have to call her and see how it went.” Jade checks her phone. “I forgot she has class now. I’ll call her later.”

  We eat breakfast, then I drop Jade off at home since she doesn’t have class until this afternoon. After my morning class, I call my dad and tell him what the neighbor said.

  “That explains why there isn’t a police report,” he says.

  “What do you think this means?”

  “I’m guessing someone wanted to scare you. Make you think you’re not safe.”

  “Who would do that? Roth? Someone else from the organization?”

  “Maybe. You know how they like to mess with people.”

  “Do you think they’ve been watching us?”

  “I don’t know why they would. There’s no reason to.”

  “Could you ask Grandfather?”

  “I could, but he would tell me if he knew something like that. And besides, we’re having a disagreement right now and I’d rather not talk to him.”

  “Did you get in a fight at his party the other night?”

  “I guess you could call it that.”

  “What happened?”

  “He left the party briefly and took me to his study and told me I had to convince you to take over the company. He wants you to work there next summer and start learning the business.”

  “He knows I don’t want that.”

  “Yes, but your grandfather doesn’t take no for an answer, which is how I ended up running the company years ago.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “I told him it will never happen. You don’t want the company and you’re not going to spend the summer there.” He chuckles. “That didn’t go over well.”

  My dad says it like he doesn’t give a shit. It reminds me that he and I aren’t that different. We both like to rebel and do what we want instead of what we’re supposed to do. That’s why he married my mom. Then when she died, he gave up fighting for what he wanted in life and ended up where he is now. But that doesn’t mean his rebellious streak isn’t still there.

  “Are you not speaking to each other now?”

  “It didn’t come to that. I didn’t want to fight with him at the party, so just to appease him, I told him I would ask you about the summer.”

  “I’m not working there.”

  “I know you’re not. Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle my father.”

  “Did he even ask how I’m doing?”

  “Actually, yes. He asked how you’re doing in school. I told him I didn’t know. How are you doing in school?”

  “Good. A’s and B’s so far.”

  “And Jade’s doing okay?”

  “Yeah, she’s back to getting all A’s now that she dropped those other classes.”

  “Good. Well, I need to run to a meeting so—”

  “Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Based on what my dad said, it sounds like my grandfather still wants nothing to do with me. Does he really think I’d go work for the company? I don’t want any part of it. I’ve told him that many times. And if he really wanted me to work there, he should be calling and asking me himself. But instead he gives me the silent treatment.

  My dad keeps saying my grandfather will accept me one day, but I’m starting to think that’ll never happen.

  11

  JADE

  My mind wandered all through psych class. I don’t even know what today’s lecture was about. I kept thinking about pregnancy and babies. And then I thought about going to see that counselor tomorrow and I felt sick to my stomach. At least Garret will be there. If I can’t come up with anything to say, I’ll make him do the talking.

  Then I started thinking about that burglary and how it never happened and the fake cop who came to our door. I don’t even want to know what that’s about. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s the organization trying to scare us and make us think we’re not safe. To let us know they’re still in charge and can get to us whenever they want.

  The organization is all about faking stuff and making it look real. Fake videos, fake photos, fake stories in the news. Why not a fake crime and a fake cop? It’s exactly what they would do.

  I’m sure Garret’s thinking the same thing. He just doesn’t want to say it because he thinks it’ll scare me. But I’m not going to let it. The organization can’t do anything to Garret. It’s over. His reputation was destroyed last spring, so he’ll never be able to be president. They have no use for him now. If the organization is behind this made-up robbery, then it’s just another mind game, like when Roth showed up the week before our wedding.

  But if that’s true, then why doesn’t Pearce know about it? As a member, you’d think he would’ve at least heard something about it. Or William might’ve heard something. I know he doesn’t k
now me that well, but I think if he knew they were trying to scare us, he’d tell me. Or maybe not. I’m still not sure if I can trust him.

  I’m at the coffee shop now. I just sat down and Sara sees me and comes over to my table.

  “Hey, I was hoping you’d stop by.”

  “So? How was your date last Friday?”

  “It was okay.” She’s smiling, but doesn’t seem that excited.

  “It didn’t go well, did it? Did he walk out on you? Because if he did, give me his number so I can call and yell at him.”

  “He didn’t walk out. We spent an hour there. The first half hour was great. We have a lot in common. We like the same music. We have the same taste in movies. We got along really well.”

  “And then you told him about Caleb.”

  She sighs. “Yes. It’s not like he reacted badly. He was just really surprised.”

  “What did he say?”

  “After the shock wore off, he asked me about Caleb. But I did what you said and made sure not to overdo it on the Caleb stuff.” She laughs. “Even though Caleb did the cutest thing the other day and I was dying to tell someone. But I didn’t tell him. I just answered his questions and that was it.”

  “So what happens now? Are you going to see him again?”

  “He suggested we just hang out as friends and see how it goes.”

  “That’s good, right?”

  “It’s what I need right now, so yeah. As much as I’d love to have a guy in my life who’s more than a friend, my focus needs to be on Caleb. And if I ever do get a boyfriend, he has to understand that. Otherwise it won’t work.”

  “Garret and I were friends for months before we started dating. Sometimes I think it’s better to start out as friends. It gives you time to get to know each other before you get more serious. So when are you going out with this guy again?”

  “Friday night.”

  “Friday night is date night, Sara. You sure you’re just friends?”

  “Yes.” She gets up and checks the counter for customers, then sits down again. “It’s not a date. We’re just going to an outdoor movie at the park.”

  “That sounds fun. Maybe Garret and I will go. What’s the movie?”

  “It’s a comedy. I can’t remember the name of it. Alex said I should bring Caleb but I don’t know if I will.”