by J. A. Huss
“Sorry,” I say. “Five and I got into a fight at your house and I came here.” I blush thinking about what came next. “He followed me. We…”
“You naughty slut.” Kate beams, hooking her arm around mine. “But that’s all I need to hear. I love you, but sexy details about my brother are my limit.”
I think back to last night and melt all over again. “It was perfect this time, Kate. Perfect. I feel like twirling around with happiness, that’s how perfect.”
“So you two are finally a thing?” Kate asks.
“A thing?” Are we a thing? We didn’t really sort out the details, did we? I mean, we said all the important shit. And we’re in love. So… “I… think we are.”
“Is Five staying? For the summer?”
I gave him a choice. I do remember that. Stay here with me or take me with him. I bite my lip. Because he never answered me. “I’m not sure.”
Kate looks all confused as she leads me back towards the house. “Well… he was supposed to leave tomorrow. Don’t you think you should find that out?”
“Yeah,” I say, getting a bad feeling about this. If fucking Five Aston tricked me into being rational last night, I will kill him. “Where is he? Inside?”
“No,” Kate says. “He’s not here. I have no clue where he is, but he’s not here.”
“Maybe he’s at home,” I say, pulling on my shorts and slipping my feet into my shoes. “I’m gonna go over there and check. Because you’re right, we need to sort this out immediately.”
Five’s house is locked and empty and there’s no car in the driveway, so even though I really want to break in via Kate’s window and look around, it’s stupid. And I’m pretty sure Ford has this place wired up like a bank vault. If that alarm is set and I break in… I don’t even want to imagine what comes next. So I leave.
Back in my car, I text him. Where are you?
And then I stare at my phone for exactly seven minutes praying for a response, before giving up and heading into downtown to check all the places he might be.
First stop, FoCo Theatre. I park at Shrike Bikes, since it’s across the street, and then jog over and go inside. Sparrow is running the place while her parents are out of town for the Disney trip. And it’s packed—as usual, since the lunch rush is just starting. The theatre doesn’t just show movies and have cool film festivals. It’s a restaurant and a coffee shop as well. A staple in this college-town community since it’s only a couple blocks away from campus.
“Rory!” Sparrow calls over the heads of a billion hungry college students. “Did you come to help?”
I’m about to say no, but then I realize she looks stressed. Sparrow Flynn is more qualified than most to run this place. She grew up in it, after all. But at only twenty years old, she’s still susceptible to all the things that can, and will, go wrong when the parents leave town.
So I say, “Sure. Let me grab an apron.”
I’ve spent my fair share of summers and weekends helping out here too. So I tie up my hair, throw on an apron, and get to work making sandwiches and salads.
It’s surprisingly calming. This familiar work in this familiar place. And even though I have a shit storm of problems brewing on the horizon, I let them fall away as I get back into the swing of being…home.
“So you and Five, huh?” Sparrow says with a wink, once things calm down. “Oliver told me this morning.”
“That little shit needs to mind his own business. He’s the one who caused all this mess by telling me to come home without Five knowing.”
“Don’t be mad. We all want what he wants. You two to finally get that fairy-tale happily ever after. If you two can’t manage it, what chance do the rest of us have?”
Good question. If Five and I aren’t meant to be together, even though we’re meant to be together, then just what the fuck, fate?
“But you’re on track now?” Sparrow asks.
“Have you seen him?” There’s a little desperation in my voice. I can hear it, so Sparrow does too.
She shakes her head. “Oliver says he spent the night with you on the back porch. But I didn’t see him when I got up. He must’ve already left.”
“Do you know why he’s in town? Exactly, I mean? He told me about some meeting in Denver but…” My words trail off because Sparrow’s face turns serious all of a sudden. “What?”
Her eyes dart around, taking in the lobby. Like she’s making a decision about something. Then she leans in close and whispers, “I have a bad feeling about that meeting.”
“Why?” I say. “I mean, I do too, Sparrow. But you tell me why and then I’ll tell you.”
“Come on,” she says, grabbing me by the wrist. “Let’s talk in my office. Sarah?” she calls to the redhead girl at the cash register. “Can you cover me for ten?”
Neither of us wait to see what Sarah says. We jog up the stairs to the higher floors in the old, historic building, and stay silent until we’re inside Sparrow’s makeshift office with the door closed.
“What’s going on?” I ask, once that’s done.
“Look, I don’t know anything for sure, but something weird is happening. The night before my parents left for Disney, Ford and Ash came over and there was a big hush-hush meeting”—she does air-quotes for that word—“and they all disappeared into my dad’s office for like two hours.”
“Hmm,” I say. “Were my parents there?”
“Nope,” Sparrow says. “But they came by the next day and there was pretty much a repeat of the whole thing. I didn’t suspect anything, ya know? Why should I? Nothing has ever really happened. And to be honest, when my mom and dad sat me down and explained the whole thing to me before I left for college… well, I kinda didn’t believe them. Remember?”
“I do,” I say. She called me up. I was home for the summer that year.
“You had to talk me into it. Well, fine. My parents are criminals. Great. OK. I got over it. But again, two years go by and absolutely nothing happens. So I just drop it. Haven’t thought about that shit in a long time now. But then Five came, and you came, and everyone is acting weird. Just what the fuck is going on, Rory? It’s freaking me out!”
“I don’t know,” I say. “I didn’t realize anything was up until… Well, Five mentioned something weird about a meeting in Denver, but he gave me no specifics.”
“Don’t you think we earned those specifics?” Sparrow asks. “Where is he? I’ll ask him myself. We’re a team, remember? He can’t just keep shit from us, ya know?”
I agree. But… “I don’t know where he is. I came here looking for him. We spent the night together last night on your porch, but he was gone when I woke up. He wasn’t at home, I checked. Where could he be?”
She throws her hands up and shrugs. “You know him better than I do.”
“Yeah, but he moved away so long ago. And I haven’t been home in two years. I have no idea what he does or where he goes.”
She chews on her lip. Then her fingernail. Sparrow is flighty. And sometimes I wonder if she gets that from her name, or she’s just naturally that way. But she’s also very smart. Her talent all growing up was lying to the parents every time we wanted to get away with stupid shit. And now that I know what her father’s role was in their little criminal escapades when they were our age… am I surprised?
“What should we do?” I ask.
She chews a little more, then holds up a finger. “Ask Oliver. That little fuck knows something.”
“Yeah,” I say, sorting through all the events that have happened over the last twenty-four hours. “You’re right.”
“I’d go threaten the little monster myself, but I have to work. So you do it. Go shake that little shit until he spills.”
I laugh at her characterization of my little brother. “Where the hell would he be?”
“He’s across the street at Shrike working on some stupid dirt bike. I gotta get back downstairs, so make sure you call me with an update as soon as you find him, OK? Thanks for th
e help!”
And with that, she opens the door and disappears.
I make my way back downstairs and wave goodbye to her as I leave. Shrike Bikes is half a block up College Avenue, on the opposite side of the street. So I walk over there—have to anyway, that’s where I parked—and make my way in through the front door.
It’s Saturday, which is a busy day for Shrike. And there’s tons of people milling about looking at the display bikes in the showroom. Usually all us kids help out working the counter in the summers, but Belle is the only one here now and she’s busy with a bunch of customers. So I just head towards the shop and find Oliver in the back where my dad made space for him when he was a kid so he could work on his trikes.
“Hey,” I say, walking up to him. He’s so consumed with what he’s doing, he startles. “Jumpy today, or what?” I ask.
“Sorry,” Ollie says, getting up from his crouched position on the floor next to the dirt bike. “I didn’t hear you come up.”
“Or,” I say, leaning casually on a nearby counter, “you’re thinking hard about something and you were distracted.”
He grins at me, a grin I think he learned from Five, because it makes my heart jump in recognition. “Nah. Everything’s cool.”
“Of course everything’s cool. Why wouldn’t everything be cool?”
His smile falters. He’s only twelve, right? No way can my kid brother bullshit me better than I can bullshit him.
“What’s going on, Oliver? If you know something, you need to tell us.”
“Who’s us?” he asks, buying time. I know that move.
“All of us. Me, Belle, Kate, Sparrow. If you know why Five’s here, you’d better spill. Because nothing seems… normal right now. And just why the hell did you send me a plane ticket, anyway? Five didn’t come here for me and you know it.”
“Yeah, but it worked, right?” He winks. Like he’s some kind of charmer. Well, he is. Will be, anyway. Once he grows up. But then—
“Did you spy on me last night?”
“No! Don’t be sick. You’re my fucking sister.”
“Stop saying fuck. Dad will kick your ass if he heard the way you swear.”
“Look who’s talking.”
“But I’m a grown-up and you’re not. And stop evading the subject. Why is Five really here?”
“Did I hear my name?” Oliver and I both turn around to see Five walking towards us. He comes up close to me, leans in, and kisses me right on the lips. I might faint, that’s how unexpected that little move was. “I saw your rental outside. Figured I’d find you back here. Have you eaten yet?”
And just like that… my world is right again. “Um, no, actually.” I laugh. “I helped Sparrow out over at the theatre making sandwiches, but didn’t make one for myself. I could eat.”
“Perfect,” Five says, grinning down at me. “I’d invite you along, Ollie, but… you know. Third wheel kinda shit, right?”
“See ya,” Oliver calls, taking his attention back to the dirt bike. “Don’t get her pregnant.”
I’m just about to call out something nasty in response, when Five leans into my ear and says, “One day, Princess, I will.”
Chapter Ten - Five
I hold Rory’s hand as we walk down College Avenue. “Want to hit up Big City Burrito? I really need some real Mexican food. London, man. They have no idea what a taco is.”
She’s quiet for a few seconds.
“Not in the mood for burritos?” I say, trying to lighten up the mood. There’s no missing the fact that she’s on to me. This whole trip is weird for her too. And even though Oliver is the one who started this mess, Rory isn’t stupid enough to think this is nothing more than her little brother fixing us up.
“No, it’s fine,” Rory finally answers. “We can get burritos.”
I look both ways so we can cross the street. There’s a gap in the flow of traffic, so we jog to the middle of the road, pause between two parked cars as we wait for another break, then continue over to the sidewalk in front of Big City.
“But something else is on your mind, right?” I ask, opening the door for her. There’s a crowd inside, so we get in line and pretend to look at the menu. After a few minutes go by, I lower my voice to a whisper and say, “Is there something wrong, Rory?”
She looks up at me with those big blues and shrugs. “You tell me.”
“Have you… have you experienced anything weird lately?” I lean in close as we shuffle forward in the line.
She thinks about this. “Not that I know of. I mean, except this trip. And that was all Oliver, so I guess it doesn’t count.” And then she looks up at me. “Why did Oliver tell me to come home? Does he know why you’re really here?”
But then the guy in front of us is done ordering, and it’s our turn. I get her usual, hoping she won’t correct me and order something else, because that would mean I don’t know her anymore, and I do. And while I’m having that little debate in my head, she orders for me.
“You remember,” I say, smiling like a great big love-struck dumbass.
“So did you,” she replies.
And just for a moment—for like two seconds, maybe, but no more—everything is perfect. I am Five and she is Princess, and we are best friends, lovers, and destined to be together forever.
I pay the cashier and take our ticket, and then we shuffle off to the side and get our drinks.
“I usually eat out back,” Rory says. “Wanna eat out back?”
That’s when reality hits me hard. She usually eats out back.
When I left Fort Collins I was fifteen years old. I had a driver’s license, but I wasn’t allowed to drive without my parents. In other words, I was a fucking kid. I didn’t take Rory out on dates in a car. I never brought her to Big City for a burrito. But she’s probably been here a hundred times with her friends from high school. She’s probably got mountains of memories stacked up inside her head of sitting out in the alley at those picnic tables eating those lunches and dinners.
“Nah,” I say. “Let’s take it to go.”
We go through the moves of getting napkins and straws, then grab our food from the counter when they call our number.
“Where to?” Rory asks.
“My house?” I say. “We can eat at the park. Like we used to.” Now that is a memory that belongs to us. Me and her at City Park, watching the trolleys come and go during the summer. Sucking on popsicles purchased from the ice cream truck. And I hold on to that memory all the way back to my rental at Shrike and all during the one-mile drive down Mountain Avenue to my childhood home.
When we get out of the car I take her hand and lead her across the street. The city pool is over here too, so there’s tons of people and all the picnic tables are filled with families, but the little spot under our favorite oak tree is empty and the shade is calling us.
I’m not in a suit today. Still wearing the cargo shorts and t-shirt I put on last night. But it’s hot. I feel her relief like it’s mine when we slip in under the canopy of leaves and take a seat.
“So,” Rory says, fishing our food out of the bag. She hands me my burrito and unwraps hers. “What’s really going on, Five?”
“I told you. I’m not sure.”
“Yeah, but you have an idea. I want to hear your idea.”
I run through all the ways to possibly put this, run the probabilities of getting it right and not freaking her out at the same time, and come up with… there’s no good way to put this.
So I devise another plan.
“Did you know…” I say, liking this idea better as the seconds pass, “that my dad has a superpower?”
Rory laughs, covering her mouth so she doesn’t spit out her food.
“No, really. He told me this himself. I know he’s weird, but listen. There’s no denying that Ford Aston is a goddamned genius, right?”
“No doubt,” Rory says.
“And that’s just you looking in from the outside. You, a Shrike princess, who probably knows
him as well as anyone outside his immediate family. Well,” I amend, “you definitely know more about him than the twins. But that’s because they’re too young to know anything yet. They still think our families go to Disney every year because Bombshell is obsessed with the place.”
Rory scrunches up her face. “That is why we go.”
“Sure it is.” I laugh. But then I realize she’s serious. She doesn’t know.
Jesus Christ, Spencer Shrike. How the fuck did you not tell your oldest daughter what you really do down in Florida?
“Right,” I say. Now is not the time for that discussion.
“What’s this got to do with anything, anyway?” Rory asks.
“I’m gonna show you when we’re done eating.”
“I’m done,” Rory says, wrapping her burrito back up.
But I grab her hand and say, “Be still, Princess. We’re not in a hurry. We’re sitting in our park, under our tree, on a beautiful summer day having lunch together. Can’t we just enjoy it a little?”
She relaxes and then shoots me a shy smile. “Sorry. I’m just wound up, ya know? Things feel…”
“I know,” I say, scooting closer to her. “But listen, we gotta enjoy moments like this while we have the chance. So many things are outside our control, why not take some of that control back when we can?”
She unwraps her burrito and takes another bite. We sit in silence for a little bit, just watching the kids over at the pool as they splash and play.
God. We spent so many afternoons at that pool when we were kids.
“Remember how you used to hold my hand and take me across the street to swim when were small?” Rory says.
“I was just picturing it in my head this very moment.” I sigh.
“And you’d bring snack money. So we could buy shaved ice.”
“And then we’d come out here, wet, wrapped up in towels, and sit under this tree.”
“And talk about your wild plans for world domination.”
We both laugh. “I was a pretty stupid kid.”
“Stupid, no,” Rory says. “Just a guy with high expectations and plenty of plans on how to get the most out of life. I’ve always admired you for that, Five. I mean, really. Oxford at fifteen. I didn’t realize how big that was until recently. I was telling my friend from school about you last year and she was aghast. Apparently, her father went to Oxford too. So he wanted her and her brother to apply, but neither of them got in.”