What Waits in the Water

by Kieran Scott

  “Hey.”

  Hannah startled. Colin was leaning over next to her. She tried to turn to face him, but could hardly shift without bumping faces with him.

  “Wanna get out of here?” he asked. His expression was thoughtful, and Hannah knew he must have picked up on her simmering frustration toward Jacob and Katie. “There’s something I want to show you.”

  “Yeah,” Hannah said without giving herself a chance to overthink it. “Let’s go.”

  Colin got to his feet. Hannah stood up quickly, waving to the others. As she turned to head for the door, she got the oddest chill, as if someone was watching her. She glanced back at the table.

  There was Nick, sitting straight up in his chair for the first time all afternoon, his eyes like hard marbles as he glared in her direction.

  “Where’re we going?”

  Colin had just ducked down an alleyway between two buildings. Only now, cut off from the hustle and bustle of the street, did Hannah realize she was following a stranger around in a strange place.

  The bright sunshine was blocked by the high walls of the buildings that formed the alley, and it was weirdly cool and dark—getting darker the farther they walked. Hannah glanced over her shoulder, recalling the look on Nick’s face as she’d walked out of Slices. A stray thought about turning and running left behind a prickle of sweat across her brow. But if she did that, Colin would think she was out of her mind.

  He’s Jacob’s friend, remember? And he’s been nothing but nice to you since the second you arrived. The thought made her feel a bit better, and she took a deep, calming breath. Forget about Nick. There’s clearly something odd about that guy.

  “We’re going … right here.”

  Colin paused outside a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY and shot her a winning smile.

  “Employees of what?” she asked.

  “You’ll see,” he replied.

  Hannah shivered and wiped her palms on the back of her shorts. “You … work here?”

  She glanced up for some indication of what the business was, but all she saw was a brick wall, a fire escape, and a few large garbage pails. Out on the street, a child screamed and then started to cry.

  “Didn’t say that.”

  Still grinning, Colin reached past her, brushing her arm with his, and pulled the door open. It was even darker inside than it was outside, but something about Colin’s easy demeanor calmed Hannah’s nerves. At least enough to shoot him a narrow-eyed look and step inside.

  Air-conditioning made the hair on her arms stand up and she found herself following Colin down a long, narrow hallway. At the end was another door, and as soon as he opened it, soft light poured in along with the smack-you-in-the-nostrils scent of buttered popcorn.

  “A movie theater?”

  Colin lifted his finger to his lips to shush her and tilted his head. They slipped out the door and rushed across a short stretch of velvety carpeting to another door also marked EMPLOYEES ONLY. Colin raised his eyebrows and opened this door, too. They ascended a set of black stairs and Colin pushed open a final door at the top.

  It was noticeably warmer inside, with a metallic tang in the air, and it took Hannah’s eyes a second to adjust to what she was seeing—a small glass window, a bright light, a large, humming machine giving off its own heat. Colin led her around the machine to a larger window and Hannah could see the theater down below, the movie being projected onto the big screen. Colin flipped a switch, and the sound of the film surrounded them—two men discussing whether someone else was a spy.

  “This is so cool,” Hannah whispered.

  “It’s called a projection room.”

  Colin unfolded two chairs from the wall behind him and brought them over. He gestured for Hannah to sit. She did, and then Colin took a seat next to her. Their legs brushed and Hannah felt warm. She wasn’t sure if he’d done it on purpose, but she didn’t want him to think that she had, so she squirmed sideways a little.

  “I love watching movies from up here,” Colin said, not seeming to notice she’d moved. His voice was just above a whisper, which gave it a throaty quality and made her feel all goose-pimply—in a good way. “It’s so much better than listening to the running commentary from the idiots around you.”

  “Yeah, I hate that,” Hannah whispered back. “Or when people start typing on their phones.”

  “Totally.” Colin’s face brightened. “Just the glow from their screens is so annoying in a dark theater.”

  “Also, up here no one’s going to kick your seat.”

  “Or throw up on you.”

  Hannah snorted a laugh. “That didn’t happen.”

  “Swear on my life.” Colin crossed his heart and held up one palm. “When I was eight, I went to see whatever Disney thing was out that summer and some kid ate too many gummy bears, then puked on the back of my neck. I was traumatized for months.”

  Hannah laughed loudly, then covered her mouth. “That’s gross.”

  “I know! I’m the one it happened to,” Colin said, laughing as well. He had a nice laugh, low and unassuming.

  They fell into a companionable silence and watched a few minutes of the film. The spy in question turned out to be a kickass woman with a penchant for disguise, which made it slightly more interesting. For a while, Hannah enjoyed the dark of the theater, the movie flickering onscreen. She even forgot about the thing she’d seen in the lake this morning, and that Jacob was out there somewhere flirting with Katie.

  “Thanks for bringing me here,” she said quietly.

  Colin turned to look at her, and she could feel his gaze warm on the side of her face. “Any time.”

  Hannah took a breath and glanced at him. His eyes were intense. “I do have a question, though.”

  “What’s that?” he asked. Was it just her, or had he shifted a smidgen closer to her? He smelled of pine trees and soap and something else—something fresh and minty.

  “Should we really be up here?” she asked. “I mean, what if we get caught?” Even though Hannah knew she was being a buzzkill, she couldn’t seem to stop herself. It was just automatic.

  Colin didn’t move. Didn’t break eye contact. “We won’t get caught.” He moved in even a little closer to her. She could see the outline of his lips in the dark.

  Hannah swallowed nervously.

  “You say that, but—”

  At that moment, the door behind them opened. Hannah yelped and scrambled to her feet, as if she could escape, but the only way out was by the door through which a woman was now stepping. She had auburn hair pulled back in a tight bun, wore black from head to toe, and had a stern look about her—pointed chin, pointed nose, dark eyeliner.

  “What’s this?” the woman asked, her eyes sharp.

  Colin stood up slowly next to Hannah, who was about to have a heart attack. Could she get arrested for this? Was ignoring EMPLOYEES ONLY signs punishable by law?

  And then Colin spoke. “Hey, Mom,” he said. “This is Hannah.”

  * * *

  “Do you kids want some popcorn?”

  Hannah’s heart still pounded every which way as she and Colin trailed his mother back down the stairs and into the movie theater lobby. It was wide and brightly lit and deserted, aside from the one girl reading a copy of Entertainment Weekly and popping her gum behind the concessions counter. There were three screens in the theater, and each was playing a different movie at the moment, so all the customers were safely tucked away inside.

  “Always,” Colin said, smiling at Hannah.

  “Sure. Thank you,” Hannah added. She felt hot all over from being caught and she hoped Colin’s mom didn’t think they were kissing up there or something. Even though, well, if she’d come in a few minutes later …

  But no. She couldn’t go around thinking every guy she knew was going to kiss her. She suddenly remembered Alessandra asking if Theo was her boyfriend and she blushed all over again. When had she become so boy crazy? This wasn’t her. She needed to get a grip.

  �
��So, your mom works here?” Hannah whispered to Colin as his mom slipped behind the concessions counter.

  “She’s the manager,” he said. “I work here sometimes for extra cash, too. My grandfather actually owns the place. He’s lived here forever.”

  “That’s cool,” Hannah said. “So why didn’t we just walk through the front door?”

  Colin’s face turned adorably pink. “I thought I’d look cooler if you thought I was actually breaking into the place. Is that lame?”

  Hannah laughed. “Actually, it’s kind of sweet.”

  Colin grinned and they crossed the rest of the way to the counter.

  “Sorry about sneaking in,” Hannah said to Colin’s mother. “Please don’t blame Colin. He was just trying to get me out of an … annoying situation.”

  Colin’s mom grabbed a couple of popcorn bags and started to fill them. She shot Hannah a friendly smile that instantly softened her looks. “Don’t worry about it. Colin’s up there all the time.” She handed Hannah a full bag of popcorn and looked sideways at her son. “Although I do believe I’ve told him a few dozen times he’s not to bring any friends up there.”

  “She was having a bad day,” Colin said with a shrug as his mom handed him his own full bag. “I was trying to cheer her up.”

  “Well, next time cheer her up with a free seat inside the theater,” she said, eliciting a short laugh from the concessions worker, who didn’t even look up from her magazine. Colin’s mother ran both hands over her skull, smoothing down her already perfectly smooth hair, then sighed. “Colin, can I talk to you privately for a moment?”

  “Sure.” He put his bag of popcorn on the counter and slipped past Hannah. “I’ll be back in two seconds,” he assured her. Then he followed his mother into a room marked MANAGER’S OFFICE.

  Hannah ate a few pieces of popcorn before realizing she wasn’t hungry. She put her bag down, too, and looked at the concessions worker, feeling awkward. Clearly the other girl wasn’t up for making conversation.

  Hannah moseyed over to the nearest theater and glanced through the small, square window in the door to see a colorful cartoon playing on the oversize screen. Her phone buzzed in her bag. It had been so long since it had made a peep, she actually jumped.

  The girl behind the counter glanced at her and Hannah blushed, embarrassed. She tugged her phone out and checked the screen. It was a text from her dad.

  Hey kiddo! Haven’t heard from you in a while. How’s it going?

  Hannah’s palms began to sweat. This was it. This was her chance. There was no one around to stop her. She glanced over her shoulder again.

  “Colin’s pretty cool, huh?” the girl behind the counter said.

  Hannah blushed even harder. Was she that obvious?

  “I guess,” she said, not wanting to share her actual feelings and thoughts with a stranger.

  “He doesn’t bring just anyone by here, you know,” the girl said, closing her magazine. “Only the ones he really likes.”

  Hannah let out a laugh, wondering how many “ones” he’d “really liked” in the past.

  She looked down at her phone again and bit her lip. She started to type before she could change her mind.

  Sorry. Been busy. We’re in town right now and all good.

  She waited while her dad wrote back.

  Katie OK?

  Hannah gritted her teeth.

  She’s fine

  You and Katie OK?☺

  Fine

  OK let me know if you need anything

  I will! Love you!

  Love you too.

  Trying not to feel guilty, Hannah stuffed the phone back in her bag and glanced around for something to occupy her while she waited for Colin. The concessions girl had now thankfully returned to her magazine. Hannah spotted a bulletin board on the wall, covered in flyers and ads and photographs. She walked over for a better look.

  The overlapping flyers advertised everything from cat-sitting to private harp lessons. Dreardon Lake sure was an interesting town. Then Hannah noticed a pair of eyes staring out at her, and did a double take. It was a photograph, printed in black and white on light blue paper. The other flyers covered up everything but the eyes, which gave Hannah the eerie sensation that someone was staring out at her from the other side of the wall.

  And even more freaky, the eyes … they could have been her own.

  Same shape, same size, and if the photo were in color, she was certain the shade would be similar, too.

  Hannah swallowed hard. Gathering up her nerve, she reached for the flyer blocking the bottom half of the girl’s face. Her fingers were quaking.

  “Whatcha doing?”

  Hannah jumped and spun around. Alessandra was right behind her, along with Katie and Jacob.

  “Nothing! Nothing, why?” Hannah’s heart was like a bouncy ball inside her chest.

  “I knew you guys would be here,” Alessandra said. “Colin can’t stay away from this place for more than a couple of hours at a time. It’s why he thinks all movie versions are better than novel versions. He sees every movie ever.”

  Just then, Colin came out of the office with his mom and sauntered over. His mother cast one last glance over her shoulder at Hannah before disappearing around the corner. Colin’s mom didn’t look happy, but Colin was all smiles.

  “Cool, you’re all here,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “Let’s go back to the lake.”

  Dear Future Me,

  I just read my last entry and OMG I can’t believe I was being so morbid! Especially because right now at this very moment, I am the happiest I have ever been!!! I think I just had my first official date! Well, I guess it wasn’t officially official because he didn’t ask me and I didn’t ask him, we just sort of bumped into each other at the Spring Festival, but then we spent the whole rest of the night together and it felt like a date and at the end he actually kissed me! Me! I swear I was starting to think I was never going to be kissed. I mean, how pathetic is it to get to fifteen years old without anything other than a couple of stupid, dry kisses at lame school dances? But here I am, telling you, I’ve finally been kissed for real.

  And yes, I’m talking about N. As if you didn’t know that. You’re me. Just older. And if you don’t remember who your first real kiss came from then I don’t know you at all. Wait. Maybe you’re MARRIED to N! Oh my God, I’m dying laughing right now. What if you’re, like, THIRTY and you’re reading this and you’re MARRIED to N? You must be dying laughing, too.

  Except no. I can’t marry the first person I kiss. That would just be wrong. But MAYBE.

  I’m getting off topic. So I bumped into N at the Ping-Pong game—the one no one ever wins because it’s rigged—and he offered to buy me a lemonade. And A was really cool about me ditching her for a boy, because she knows how much I like him and besides, P and some other people were there, too. So I went off with N and we had the BEST time. We did bumper cars and he never even tried to bump my car—just went after the little kids that were being annoying. And we went on the swings and the Drop Zone. And then he asked me if I wanted to go on the Ferris wheel and I said sure and I just sort of KNEW, you know? You don’t just go on a Ferris wheel at Spring Festival alone with a guy and not expect to get kissed. But then we went through the whole ride and even stopped at the top where we could see the whole town and the stars and everything and he DIDN’T KISS ME! I was so disappointed I actually almost said something. But then afterward we went in the fun house and the first dark room we walked into he pulled me to him and the next thing I knew we were kissing. All these kids were running and screaming around us like we weren’t even there and I honestly felt like we weren’t even there because I felt like I was outside my body, floating, just being perfectly happy somewhere.

  And then he walked me home. Like a total gentleman. It was the perfect night.

  “You bought baseballs?”

  Hannah stared at the ground, where Katie had just dumped the contents of her shopping bag from town. Ha
nnah had been wondering what was in there, and now that she knew, she was still confused. Yes, Katie played varsity softball—was the starting first-base player for their high school, in fact, having bumped Missy Faulkner from her spot her senior year, which had not gone over well. But that didn’t explain why there were now thirty scuffed—apparently used—baseballs rolling around at Hannah’s feet.

  “Why do they look so sad?” Hannah added, nudging a scratched one with her toe.

  “Apparently, Greta at Sports Stuff pays this group of kids to go to all the ball fields after games and collect the forgotten balls,” Jacob explained. He finished tethering his skiff to the dock, and walked over to join Colin where he stood on the grass. “Greta resells them for a dollar each. My dad says it’s a total racket. Brilliant, but a total racket.”

  “So why did you buy them?” Hannah asked her stepsister. On the boat ride back from town, she’d almost felt a little bit sorry for Katie, who’d once again looked terrified crossing the lake. Hannah, who was still on edge, could empathize. Fortunately, they had made it back to Jacob’s dock without incident.

  “These guys don’t believe I can hit an outside-the-park home run,” Katie replied, tilting her head toward Jacob and Colin, who were now standing with their arms crossed, as if in challenge. She reached up to gather her long black hair into a high ponytail, holding the hair band between her teeth until she needed it. “So I’m gonna prove them wrong.” She punctuated her declaration by snapping the hair band into place.

  “Found it!” Alessandra called out, emerging from the house and tromping toward them. She swung an old-school wooden bat like a baton. “I’m so excited to watch you shut these guys up, Katie.”