Red

by Richard P Rigoli

  Annoying, but no emergency.

  She sighed, yawned, and flopped back onto her bed until something else hit the window with a loud bang, causing her to jump up.

  What now!?

  At the window, Emma peeked outside. The wind spiraled furiously around in the back yard picking up dust and leaves before suddenly ceasing. The lull in the current revealed a familiar figure who stood in the center of the back lawn. She unlatched the window and leaned out.

  “Rai?” she scolded. “It’s after two!”

  “I know, but this couldn’t wait.”

  She sighed and waved him up. Rai made his way into her room via the large tree. Emma flipped on the small nightstand lamp and sat on the corner of her bed, rubbing her eyes. “What is it that you need to talk about at this time of night?”

  Clearing his throat, he took a seat at her desk. “Livs and I hung out with the LoSM tonight.”

  “Okay, did you get any info on the torn jacket?” Emma asked, intrigued.

  “Yes. Well, maybe,” he hedged.

  “You did not wake me up this early for a ‘maybe’.”

  “No, I didn’t.” He frowned. “It might be nothing, Em.”

  “Yeah, you’re all rattled. Just tell me what you found out.”

  “Okay,” he said with a serious tone and looked at her squarely. “I had to let you know as soon as I got back.” His tone dropped, and she had to lean forward to hear him. “The charity event went well enough, and no one cared who we were. They were glad to have more volunteers. And then, Jade showed up.”

  “Did you tell her you were going to this thing?” Emma asked.

  “No. But she wasn’t there because of us—she works for them. She and her dad.”

  “Okay, that makes sense. We sort of figured her dad was a member when we saw him at the church,” Emma said.

  “We thought the same thing,” Rai said. “So, we all talked for a while about the charity and stuff.”

  “Did you see if any of them had a missing jacket?” Emma asked.

  “Yeah, that’s part of the problem, Em,” Rai said with a frown. “It turns out that Jade isn’t just a volunteer or something. She’s a member. All the members wore their jackets for this thing.”

  “But, Jade wasn’t wearing one?” Emma asked.

  “Oh, no. She had one,” Rai said with a frown. “—it had a patched-up sleeve, like a strip had been ripped off of it.”

  “That doesn’t prove anything,” Emma said, not liking where he was going with this.

  “No, it doesn’t,” Rai agreed. “But when Livs asked Jade about her jacket in a jokey way, Jade got really mad and stomped off. It was awkward.”

  “What happened then?” Emma asked.

  “Everyone was kind’a looking at us, so we left. I was afraid you’d heard from her already.”

  “No, and I’m a little surprised she hasn’t blown up my phone if she’s mad.” Emma said.

  “I’m sure you’ll hear something.” Rai sighed. “Be ready for it.”

  “Do you have anything else for me?” Emma asked tiredly. She wasn’t at her best when woken up in the middle of the night.

  “Just this,” Rai replied, standing up and pulling out a folded sheet of paper from his back pocket. “It’s my dad’s ledger of everything that was supposed to be in storage the night of the fire.”

  “That’s it?” Emma asked skeptically, “—one sheet?”

  “Well, no,” Rai said with a snort. “That’s the link to my Cloud. I added instructions and passwords to get access to the actual files. I told you, there was a lot of stuff in there.”

  “Gotcha,” Emma said with a nod and a laugh. “I’ll get to work on it in the morning. Later in the morning. If that’s all you have for now, I’m going back to bed. Feel free to let yourself out.”

  20

  INVENTORY

  The next morning, Emma sat at the kitchen bar, laptop open, looking over the ledger in Rai’s link. Cassandra, already dress for work, drifted in and out of the kitchen preparing breakfast.

  “Emma, you didn’t get your homework done last night?” she asked as she poured two cups of coffee.

  “This? Oh, this is something Rai needed help with,” Emma replied.

  “He’s not sick again, is he?” Cassandra asked, putting on a concerned face.

  “He’s fine,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s not even school work. I’m helping him look over an inventory list.”

  “Inventory of what?” Cassandra asked, handing Emma a mug, and sitting opposite her at the counter.

  “Everything in his father’s warehouses since the dawn of time from the size of this list,” Emma said with a frown.

  “Emma,” her mother said with a suddenly severe expression. She got up and went around the counter to look at Emma’s screen. “Don’t get involved in this.”

  “Why not?” Emma asked, expecting a familiar lecture about not having time for school work.

  “Get those files out of your computer!” Cassandra ordered, and Emma saw that her mother grip the coffee cup hard enough to turn her knuckles white. “Delete them.”

  “Okay, okay,” Emma relented, confused. She wasn’t sure how else to respond to her mom acting like this, so she closed the link window and shut down the laptop. Olivia was honking outside for her by the time she put everything away. “Sorry, that’s Livs. Gotta go, mom!”

  “Have a good day,” her mom said but still looked upset.

  Emma got halfway to the car when she realized she’d left her purse in the kitchen. Running quickly to the back door, she paused when she heard her mother talking to someone on the phone.

  “I don’t care that it’s early, Jason,” Cassandra said. “This is why I wanted out of all this! My daughter has a copy of your inventory files. No, I saw them. I know they’re the real files. Of course, I told her to get rid of them, but she won’t. We need protection!” She ended the call and set her phone down roughly.

  Emma leaned against the side of the house with a sigh. At a loss for words as to what she overheard, she turned on her heel and ran back to Olivia’s car—the purse not relevant anymore.

  21

  JASONS

  Emma was reeling in shock. Bizarre conversations led to the fact that her mom was involved in all of the weirdness somehow.

  “Am I getting the silent treatment for some reason?” Olivia complained.

  “I’m sorry, Livs,” Emma replied. “I think my mom is doing strange stuff behind my back, maybe even seeing someone.”

  “Why are you upset about that?” Olivia asked as she muted the stereo. “I thought you wanted your mom to start dating.”

  “Not like this!” Emma blurted, and Olivia pulled over.

  “Okay, that sounds ominous. Who is she seeing?”

  “I said ‘may’ be seeing someone,” Emma replied with a resigned sigh.

  “Don’t try to walk this back now,” Olivia demanded. “We’ve only got twenty minutes before first period. Skip the facts and start with the suspicions.”

  “I think she might be seeing Jason.”

  “Jason!?” Olivia’s eyes went wide. “Jason Sparks from my chem class? She could go to jail for that.”

  “Not that Jason!” Emma shook her head. “It might be better if she was—I think he’s already eighteen.”

  “He’s a junior.”

  “—held back in fifth grade,” Emma confirmed.

  “Ooh.” Olivia nodded. “So, what Jason is she dating? I don’t know any other Jasons.”

  “Yes, you do,” Emma said, frowning. “—Jones.”

  “Jones?”

  “Jones,” Emma repeated, and then it seemed to click.

  “NO!” Olivia exclaimed. “Jade’s dad!?”

  “That’s my suspicion.”

  “No wonder you’re brooding!” Olivia pulled back onto the road, shaking her head. “We don’t have time now, but I want to hear the facts later!”

  ***

  Jordan and Ryan Dunn
leaned against the hood of Ryan’s truck when Olivia slipped Flower into the space next to them. Olivia brushed past, pausing long enough to give Ryan a playful bump with her hip.

  “What’s your hurry?” Ryan called after her.

  “I didn’t spend an hour last night reading the chapter just to be tardy!” Olivia yelled back. Jordan looked pensive, but Emma offered him a smile that immediately brightened his face.

  “Are we, okay?” he asked her.

  “Maybe?” Emma offered as she moved to keep up with Olivia. Jordan rushed to catch up with her. She didn’t want to be tardy either and had a long way to go. “I hit my weird limit yesterday, and I’m sorry I unloaded on you.”

  “I know the feeling. I don’t understand it all either,” he said.

  As the two reached the bottom of the steps leading up to the school entry, Emma saw Kendra waiting with Sean Arrens. As soon as Jordan came around the corner, Kendra quickly tapped Sean on the arm. Sean gave a little shrug and started going at Kendra’s lips like a starving man on a soup bowl. Pausing at the top of the stairs, turning to watch, she couldn’t help herself and almost laughed out loud. So, that’s her game?

  Jordan walked by the kissing pair without even a glance their direction. His smiled his perfect smile as he looked at Emma. Kendra’s eyes shifted in their direction before pulling away from Sean. She turned to look at Jordan then at Emma. The edges of Kendra’s mouth tightened in anger.

  “Could I walk you to class?” Jordan asked Emma.

  “That would be very nice,” Emma replied loud enough to be heard from the bottom of the stairs. He held out his hand, and she took it as the doors closed behind them.

  22

  FIGHT

  It was over a month before Emma heard back from Jade. Her friend’s absence from school and unanswered texts were a point of daily contention. Then one Friday morning, Emma received a text: “Off restriction. Dad letting me go back to HS.”

  Olivia was hugging Jade at the lunch table when Emma plopped down into the chair beside her.

  “Look who’s out of jail!” Olivia squealed. Emma leaned in for a group hug.

  “I got your text,” Emma said after the snuggling was concluded. “I looked for you this morning at the lockers.”

  “Yeah, I was still at the office getting my schedule reinstated,” Jade said.

  “I still can’t believe your dad pulled you out of school just because of Greg,” Olivia said with a frown. “He’s against you dating that bad?”

  “Not really,” Jade said shaking her head. “I didn’t get in trouble for seeing Greg. I got in trouble because I lied to my dad about where I was that night. My dad has always taken honesty very seriously. It was a dumb thing for me to do.”

  “I’m so sorry I got you in trouble,” Olivia said.

  “I got me in trouble,” Jade corrected. “I had already messaged my dad before he called me and confessed everything.”

  “You did?” Emma asked.

  “And you still got in trouble?” Olivia added.

  “Consequences,” Jade said simply. “But I’m good now. So, tell me, what’s the latest with you and Mr. Muscles, Em?”

  “They’re up to about ‘level six’ last I heard.” Olivia cut in before Emma could answer.

  “Hey!” Emma said, feeling her face heat. “I never said that.”

  “Sources,” Olivia replied, with a knowing grin. “Second base has been confirmed.”

  “What about you and Ryan?” Emma said, trying to shift the narrative off of her.

  “He’s almost completely domesticated now.” Olivia said, nonplussed. “Is there anything left to say?”

  “Between you and Em here, we’re rehabilitating Rads?” Jade said with a laugh. “Should I ask Hunter out, next?”

  “Hunter Baker might be a lost cause.” Emma said seriously, and Jade laughed.

  “True,” Olivia agreed.

  “So, where’s Rai?” Jade asked. “I hope he’s not sick again.”

  “He’s hanging out with Jordan, if you can believe it,” Emma said.

  “Rai is hanging out with Jordan?” Jade asked, looking confused. “What’s going on there?”

  “Training. According to Rai,” Olivia said. “It’s all very adorable.”

  “Did Rai decide to become an asthmatic jock?” Jade asked shaking her head. “I’m missing something here.”

  “Jordan quit the football team, and his jock friends are still mad at him about it,” Emma said. “Him and Rai have been hanging out a lot lately. Rai says they’re ‘training’ but won’t say what for in a very Rai way.”

  “We’ve stopped asking.” Olivia laughed, getting up from the table. “I’m going for a snack run, who wants celebration chips?” Both Emma and Jade raised their hands immediately.

  “What have you been up to?” Emma asked when Olivia left. “It’s been weeks, I was starting to worry.”

  “School work mostly,” Jade said with a frown. “Dad had me on full-blown restriction.”

  “Did he take your phone away too?”

  “No, that was something different,” Jade replied and sounded uncomfortable. “I’m sure Olivia and Rai already told you about the League event they crashed—” At a nod from Emma, Jade continued “—that was a charity drive to raise money for some important missionary work.”

  “You were travelling?”

  “Yeah, I had to go out of town, like way out of town,” Jade said, and then paused as the chairs directly opposite them were pulled out with a sudden, loud squeal across the floor. Kendra, Sarah, and Ashley sat down across from them. Emma eyed them and wondered for a fleeting moment if she was sitting at the wrong table.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Kendra began in a friendly tone, and matching expression, that she must have spent hours rehearsing.

  “Did it hurt?” Jade interrupted with an undisguised sneer.

  Kendra half-rose out of her seat and Sarah laid a hand gently on the redhead's shoulder. Kendra sat back down frowning. Sarah cleared her throat before speaking. “We wanted to come by and tell you something.”

  Jade leaned forward, ignoring Sarah, and addressed Kendra directly before Emma could react. “What is this about, Kendra? I’d rather hear it from you than one of your suck-up sock-puppets.”

  Sarah’s mouth snapped open as if she had been slapped. Ashley was unreadable. But Kendra grinned widely. “You’re in a mood today,” came Kendra’s voice laced with mock sweetness. She folded her hands on the table, every nail polished perfectly to match her coppery head. “You’re always in a mood, aren’t you? But we’re not talking to you. We’re talking to Emma and trying to be nice.”

  Jade rolled her eyes and shot back at Kendra, “As if you know how to be nice.”

  “Why don’t you shut up, so she can have her say. Then we can all go back to our lives?” Ashley finally said. Jade and Ashley leveled stares at each other for a tense moment until Emma nodded for Kendra to continue.

  “What do you need, Kendra?” Emma asked, more curious now than upset.

  “Just this,” she replied in a low tone “—I wanted to warn you.”

  “Warn me about what?” Emma couldn’t help but to ask.

  “I’m not sure this is the best place for this conversation now.” Kendra said looking from Emma to Jade and back again.

  “I’ve already lost five minutes of my life to this. We might as well hear this ‘warning,’” Jade griped, staring intently at Kendra, and the room began to feel uncomfortably warm.

  Kendra frowned and spoke softly, directly to Emma. “This would be better if she wasn’t here.”

  Jade defiantly folded her arms and answered, “I’d love to see you try and make me not be here.” Sarah shifted uneasily, and Ashley tensed like she was ready to spring out of her chair.

  “Your friend here is lying to you,” Kendra murmured with a sniff and a hint of genuine concern. It was microscopic, but it felt sincere. “She’s not who you think she is.”

  “What?” E
mma asked, completely thrown off. She had assumed Kendra came to complain about Jordan and her dating. But not this.

  “Screw you, Kendra!” Jade said, getting up angrily.

  “No, screw you!” Kendra hissed. “Why don’t you tell Emma where you were all this time—” The redhead stood up from her chair, too. But it didn’t increase her height very much as she faced-off with Jade. “—where you really were.”

  “I…” Jade began but faltered for some reason and looked uncertain.

  “Jade?” Emma asked. “What’s she talking about?”

  “I’ll tell you,” Kendra announced, reaching forward and poking Jade with an accusatory finger. “Your ‘bestie’ here—”

  Whatever Kendra was about to say next was cut off as Jade’s palm flashed forward and struck her hard in the mouth. Dark blood-stained Kendra’s bottom lip as Jade’s hand pulled away. The redhead's eyes went wide as Sarah and Ashley moved to get up from their seats. Emma stumbled, trying to back-peddle with her chair still behind her. Jade gripped the edge of the table and flipped it with a grunt of effort toward the three girls, catching Sarah and Ashley under the heavy wooden edge. Sarah screamed angrily while Ashley struggled, trying to free her legs. Jade looked as if she were about to leap over the upturned barrier to get at Kendra when the redhead lashed out, striking the table with one claw-like hand.

  There was an ear-splitting Boom! and the table shattered in a sizzling spray of Formica and baseboard. A large piece spun in, catching Emma on the side of the head before she could get out of the way. Then everything went dark.

  23

  BROKEN

  Jordan stepped through the lunch room doors, Rai beside him, into a scene of complete chaos. Students were running in all directions. They had been right outside when he’d heard what sounded like a bomb going off. “What the heck happened?”

  “I’m going to take a wild guess and say it had something to do with Jade being back today,” Rai replied sarcastically. “Let’s get to their table. We should have skipped training today.”