by Holly Hook
But finally, I regain my composure and spot Gia's cabin. She's gone, and when I let myself in through the back door as she instructed me to, I find a note on the worn kitchen table.
Beckah,
I need to work a double shift tonight until 11. Sorry about dinner so please feel free to fend for yourself. We'll have to catch up tomorrow.
Gia.
Just what I need. I had hoped that Gia would be here so she could offer me some reassurance that all is normal and boring here in Tower. So instead, I make sure all the doors in the cabin are locked before heading to my room and pulling the curtains. I've got to focus on my studying and my homework anyway, and not on strange things happening outside.
It was just my imagination.
That's all.
The woods can trick people.
Already the sun's going down, casting ruddy evening light through the trees. Great. It's already early October and that means in about a month, the time change will hit and it'll get dark by dinnertime. Sure, I'll be walking home in the daylight still, but with a bunch of woods around and the possibility I'll be staying after school for some things, I know it's possible I'll have to walk in the dark sometimes.
Or ride with Gavin.
Whatever. Gavin couldn't be more obvious that he's shoving Marion aside and trying to get into my pants, but at least he doesn't have the rapey animal vibe that Alan carries.
I open my Lit book and study the first chapter, knowing I've got to ace the quiz that's coming up on Friday. Acing them all needs to be my priority, not running around trying to figure out if something supernatural is going on here in Tower. I shake my head, tracing my finger along the text, trying to absorb a literary piece about the exciting topic of a young man ringing up three girls who walk into a market in bathing suits. The high school kid does nothing when the manager kicks them out of the store for the way they're dressed and regrets it.
Hm. Could I have done something differently back at the abandoned house?
"Whatever happened was normal and just looked weird," I said, tempted to check my phone to see tonight's moon phase. No. I'm not thinking about that. The wolf pack just appeared after the Rose Gang went into the house and locked themselves in for a good time. And I just don't know the explanation for the strange noises yet.
The light slowly fades as I finally suppress my thoughts, shoving them down into the cramped recesses of my mind. I move on to my Statistics homework, painstakingly calculating each graph, and I'm in the zone by the time night completely falls.
And then a gentle tap on the window rips a scream from my throat.
My rational mind leaps to squirrel or chipmunk as I roll off my bed, away from my big window, and force myself to face the darkness outside. I've left a small section of my curtains open by mistake, and the gentle light from my new room is falling on not the trees just outside or any wayward forest creatures, but on Tyler Rose.
He smiles, almost sheepishly, and waves.
I let out a breath as my heart races. How should I feel? Maybe he knows I'm onto his secret, but as I stare at him, Tyler grins again. He's dressed. I'm not a threat at all. And that lock of dark hair is hanging over his eye.
The huge glass window feels like an invasion of my privacy. But Tyler waits, patient.
"Hey," he says. "I wanted to apologize about what happened earlier." Then he waits some more, obviously for me to open one of the little side windows of my cubby.
Apologize. He knew I was there at the little old castle house. I grab the side of my bed, frozen. I swallow. The only weapon I've got is my Lit book, since I dropped my backpack somewhere in the cabin and it's got my bear spray. And while my Lit book is pretty heavy, it's no match if somehow, Tyler Rose really is—
"Alan doesn't normally act like that," he shouts through the glass.
Oh. He's talking about that.
I let out a breath. Tyler's just at the top of the totem pole at Tower High School, the ruler of the cool clique. And now he wants to talk to me. Besides, the small windows of my big cubby have screens. There will be a barrier between me and him.
"I had a chat with him about not scaring new girls," he adds.
And it appears he's not going away until I at least talk to him.
So I crawl over my bed as gracefully as I can and open one of the side windows. Showing fear will only hand Tyler power and possibly anger him, but he doesn't carry that same intimidating atmosphere that Alan does. Tyler seems...relaxed.
Tyler sidesteps to the opening as cool air washes into my room. "And now I need to tell you that I'm sorry about scaring you. I forget that the wilderness is different than the city."
"It's okay," I say. Is it? Up close, Tyler's perfect, sharp features cast equally perfect shadows across the rest of his face, making him look like a piece of art. His eyes, an odd rusty-green hazel, only add to the image. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but how did you figure out where I live?" My scent?
No. If anything, he hacked the school computers which might actually be creepier.
"Word has gotten around that you're the new girl." The words flow off his tongue easily, giving no indication of a lie. Tyler's voice is as smooth as I imagine a rockstar's would be, though I've never actually heard one speak and some of the more famous ones can barely manage normal speech thanks to decades of drug use.
"I know. Obvious." I force a laugh, and Tyler frowns like he knows I'm not at ease. And that sets my heart rate spiraling out of control again.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. By the way, thanks for what you did earlier." I'll let him think that the incident with Alan is what's bothering me.
"I don't know what got into Alan," Tyler says. Yes, the diversion is working. "He's normally a pretty nice guy. Smart, too. He didn't come from a very good home, so maybe he needs a lesson on how to come across to the opposite sex. Yikes. That might have been a bit too much info I shouldn't share." He rubs his hand through his hair.
"That's fine. I won't tell anyone," I say, holding up a hand. I remain seated on the edge of my bed, just in case...just in case Gia gets home a bit early and thinks I'm about to let Tyler into my bedroom. "Thanks for what you did earlier. I haven't had any breathing room today because people have been descending on me like crazy."
"Well, you're a rarer sighting than a unicorn," Tyler says, leaning against the wall of the cabin. "We've never had a new person show up at our school, ever. Tower's a world by itself and people never leave. Or move in."
"That's weird," I say. We had new students show up at Averly once in a while, usually when their parents come into new money.
"So," Tyler pauses like he's contemplating on how to ask me out. Geez, I never got this much male attention back at Averly, and I'm not sure I like it at all. It's...stressful. "What do you think of Tower?"
"Tower?" That's not what I was expecting and in a way, it's a relief. "It's different."
"I can imagine," he says. "Are you doing okay?"
There's a lot inside that question. As he asks, Tyler looks away for a bit and then slowly turns his gaze back to me. I want to ask him why he's so concerned about my welfare and if Alan really is a threat, but the words won't form.
"I'm doing as fine as I can do," I say at last.
Tyler frowns, then erases it a moment later. "So, why are you staying here? At least you have a nice room. And how long do you think you'll be here in Tower?"
"Honestly? I don't know," I say. "It was my father's...no, my idea to come out here so I don't have to be around their fighting back home. He suggested Tower to me because my cousin lives here. Said out here I could focus on my studies better. And I have to admit that I was letting my grades slip a bit back home since I was worried about other things."
Tyler says nothing for a bit. "So, was it your father's idea to come here, or yours?"
I blink, sinking into my thoughts. Beckah, you really should go. You're not keeping up here. Maybe you should go to a public school for a while and see how
good you have it here.
I think back to our arguments. "My father's. But I agreed to it." He even reminded me that I did while I was on the way here.
Mom, I'll miss you. It's going to be rough in Montana.
Well, Beckah, you agreed to go, Dad says.
His eyes widen. "You don't sound as if you did."
I feel like Tyler's looking into my soul, but at least nothing strange has happened. Talking to him is...soothing. "I needed to do it for everyone's good," I blurt. Why am I telling Tyler this? This conversation is bordering on personal and there's something very off going on with the Rose Gang after all. "Staying here won't be permanent, though. I just need to get my grades back up in my classes and then I might be able to go back home. And I don't have to get them back up by that much."
"So he's that kind of dad," Tyler says, leaning onto the side of the cabin. "The Perfectionist."
I grin. "Yeah. He's hard to please." Am I enjoying talking to Tyler? He might be a rich guy but he's not stuck up like a lot of the people back at Averly. And he's definitely not as stuck up as Gavin made him sound. I'm telling him things I haven't even told Marion and Gavin yet. "Dads can be tough."
Tyler nods with an air of sadness. "They sure can. And don't forget about moms. I'm not surprised your dad did this sort of thing. Is he punishing you?"
"He's just trying to make sure I keep my grades up." The words slip from me automatically.
"But weren't you already in a private...never mind." Tyler itches his bare lower arm as if an insect has just bitten him, but I see nothing there. "I've got to go pretty soon. Just wanted to let you know that Alan respects me and I'll make sure he leaves you alone. Be careful, okay?"
I lean forward. "How did you know—"
Tyler scratches his arm again, backing away. "I'll see you around, Beckah. I'm sorry about your dad being so hard on you. Just make sure you don't go off on your own around here."
And then he turns away from me, running not towards my driveway, but straight into the woods with incredible grace. I watch him go as the night swallows him and the chill of the early autumn air flows into my window, making my room so cold that I shiver.
CHAPTER NINE
I don't sleep well that night. When I wake the next morning on Tuesday, I find Gia once again making breakfast in the kitchen.
"Oh, I'm sorry I wasn't up earlier to help," I say, scrambling over to find something to do.
"It's okay. You spent the whole weekend helping me garden," she says. "You've already been a big help."
I make myself take a breath. Why isn't Gia irritated? She got up and had to do all of this by herself. She smiles as she motions for me to sit at the kitchen table, so I force myself.
"You work so hard," I say.
"Well, the rent has to get paid somehow," Gia says, flipping a pancake.
"You pay rent on this place? But you own this cabin, right?"
"My family used to own a few properties here in Tower," she explains, her tone dropping to the center of the Earth as she cooks. "The Rose family came in and bought most of the town when they built their ranch. They needed the rent money to build it. And the people of this town needed quick cash because the local logging industry was going under. Then the Roses hired a lot of folks to work at the ranch."
I shift in my seat. "Even your property got bought by them?"
"Yes. My mother sold it to the Roses because her first husband worked in the logging industry for a bit, and she lost his income when he got laid off. Then he died from the stress, and then my dad came along." Gia frowns.
"And he didn't stick around," I finish for her. I'm beginning to hate my deadbeat uncle.
"Yeah. He escaped from Tower," she says, taste-testing a piece of pancake. She chews for a long time. "Mom and I work and pay our rent. That's what we do." Between every word is hopelessness.
Gia works all the time and doesn't even have a car.
My heart sinks at the thought.
I think of Tyler, starting to understand why he doesn't hang out with most people at Tower High School. Even if he wanted to, would they even accept the son of the elite family? And now that I'm seeing what's going on here, I'm more determined than ever to keep my own status as the daughter of a well-off couple a secret.
Which reminds me.
Tyler never revealed how he figured me out.
And that means I need to crack that mystery, along with many others.
"Have you lived in this cabin all your life?" I ask.
"Most of it. I rented out this place. My mother can be...moody sometimes. Not that I can blame her." Gia shuffles over, plate of pancakes in hand, and sets them down on the center of the table. "She used to own a few cabins out here, but the Roses offered her a good sum for them. My mother planned to use the money to buy a bigger place, but long story short, it didn't work out, and the Roses let her stay in the cabin she used to own if she paid rent."
"Rent can be bad," I say. "You know where I...where I used to live." I force a smile, but Gia doesn't match it. Then to make her feel better, I pull a pancake onto my plate and douse it with thin, natural syrup. "I've seen Tyler Rose at school. He didn't seem too bad, though. Everyone was saying he was stuck up but he didn't give off that vibe."
Gia sits down slowly and seizes the edge of the table, making it tilt. And she fixes me with a warning glare. "Just make sure not to get involved with that family. They don't like us."
My mouth goes dry and I force myself to take a bite of a pancake triangle. "Sounds like it," I force. A question burns in Gia's gaze. She likes me, but she's also nervous. Am I like the Roses? Too good for her? "Look, I don't like people who take advantage of others. I went to school with that type. And I won't get involved with them."
Though she probably doesn't want me to see it, Gia breathes a sigh of relief. "I just don't want you to have a bad time here."
"Thanks." And with that, we finish our breakfast in silence.
* * * * *
My walk to school is uneventful and it's spitting rain the entire way there, but the gray sky never quite opens. A chill rides on the wind as I pass Rose Ranch and reach Tower High School. Everyone waits outside despite the weather, gathered in their small groups. Of course, the Rose Gang is elsewhere, probably in the cafeteria building and avoiding social life. It's a shame. Part of me had been wanting to see Tyler or at least wave to him, even if he was—
No. He's a normal guy and my imagination got to me yesterday. It needs to stop working overtime.
"Beckah!" Marion waves from near the side door. Gavin's leaning on the other side of it, arms crossed. I can smell the tension between them from here.
"Hey." I wave to them both, hoping to dispel it. The last thing I need to add to my worries right now is getting caught in the middle of drama. Besides, I've got some questions that I don't want to ask in front of Gavin.
"It's raining later today," Gavin says. "It might rain most of the day and there's an eighty percent chance it'll be doing so when school lets out." As he speaks, he raises his voice as if to let everyone around us know.
Could he be more obvious about wanting me to ride in his truck? I shoot Marion what I hope is a reassuring look and shake my head. To my relief, her shoulders drop. "It might clear up by then," I say, unsure what I'll do if I'm wrong. "Come on. I want to get into class early so I can get some last-minute studying done."
"But—" Gavin starts.
"The unspoken rule," Marion whispers. "Sometimes, they roam the halls this early. And I didn't see them go into the cafeteria this morning."
Oh. People stand in the rain to avoid the Rose Gang. Gavin and Marion only took me on a tour yesterday because they were in the cafeteria building. "What is with an entire school fearing a group of five people who mostly just keep to themselves?" I eye Gavin and Marion. I'm not asking to be sarcastic. I'm asking because I need to know.
But Gavin turns away from me a bit. Marion, on the other hand, leans closer to me and lowers her voice to a hiss.
"Nobody knows what it is, but something is just off about them. We can feel it. Why can't you?" She lifts her eyebrow at me, waiting.
"Maybe because I'm new and haven't learned to fear them?" I ask. Dad would call such a thing mass hysteria.
"It's possible," she says. "Tyler used to be cool but in the fifth grade, he just...changed. It felt scary to be around him and he started keeping to himself. Yeah, he made a few new friends over the years. People say they might be some sort of cult, but—"
"No one knows for sure," I force, thinking of what I heard in the woods yesterday. "Can you tell me more? So I know what I'm dealing with?"
Marion looks at Gavin, but he's staring across the parking lot at the old bus, clearly giving me the cold shoulder. She continues. "Tyler barely spoke to anyone in the fifth grade. Then Alan befriended him, and then Valerie and her sister Cammie joined the group. Chaz was the last one, and he started hanging with them last year. And everyone who starts hanging with that group doesn't come back. They just enter their own world."
"That's...not right," I say, shuddering. My imagination starts again, but I shove my thoughts back down.
"No. It's not," Gavin says.
Another question burns. "Marion, did you mention to anyone yesterday that I used to go to a private school back in New York?" I whisper, trying to keep my voice low enough to keep the conversation private from Gavin.
She shakes her head as her eyes widen. "No. And seriously? You lived in New York City?"
* * * * *
So I told neither Marion nor Gavin where I used to live.
But Tyler knew.
Does he know why I'm here, too?
That leaves Gia being the only suspect who could have spilled my information to strangers but she doesn't seem like the type who would want to break my trust. Then again, telling the townspeople that her cousin from New York is coming to visit her isn't exactly giving away private information. But the private school part? I had been hoping to keep that info low key. I even requested that Mom tell Gia that days before I got on the plane. And she had, without Dad knowing.
