by Marissa Lete
I take in a deep breath. Then let it out. “Fine. But I want details. What’s up with you and Andy?”
Grace grins. “He’s been so sweet to me lately. And earlier he pulled me aside and said he couldn’t stand to live without me anymore. He was practically begging, Laura. And I’ve just been so miserable without him.”
Leo scoffs from beside us. Grace pointedly ignores him.
“But hey, listen. I need a favor,” she continues. “Andy wants me to go with him to this after-party with some of his friends. I really want to go, but my mom wants me to come home after the dance. But if I tell her I’m staying the night at your place, she won’t worry if I’m out a little extra late…”
I blink, realizing what she’s asking.
“I’ll come to your house right after the party’s over. I promise.”
I think about it for a minute, but only one thought keeps popping into my mind. I’d heard some kids talking about it at school. “You’re not planning on going to Jet’s Warehouse, are you?”
Jet’s Warehouse is an old, abandoned warehouse at the edge of town. It’s part of an old industrial park that hasn’t been used in years. It’s a popular spot for parties because it’s tucked deep into a pocket of woods, and, according to Andy, there are lots of places to hide if the cops show up. But it’s dangerous. And illegal. I’ve heard rumors about kids going up to the second floor and almost falling through the rotting floorboards. One guy got a concussion from a wall caving in on him. I’ve even heard about close encounters with bears since it’s so close to the base of the mountains just outside of town.
“No,” Grace tries to deny it, but I know a lie when I see one.
“You’ve heard of the things that have happened there, haven’t you?”
“I’m aware of the rumors.” I can almost see the frustration building in her. “But I’m not stupid. You know that. And it’s not like anyone has died or anything. I’m going to be perfectly safe, I promise.”
“I still don’t think it’s a good—”
“I don’t need you to judge my decisions right now, Laura. I just need you to cover for me, as my best friend.”
I can tell she is getting desperate. But I shake my head. “I can’t just do that. What if something happens to you? It’s dangerous out there.”
“Dangerous?” Grace looks outraged. “What do you know about dangerous? Miss stay-at-home-and- never-have-any-fun wants to tell me about dangerous?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” My voice raises unintentionally.
“It means you’re a party pooper, Laura. It means I’m sick and tired of you dragging me down. I want to go out and party. Have fun. And your idea of fun is sitting in your parents’ living room watching a lame movie once a week. I can’t do this anymore.”
Her words hit me like a slap in the face. I open my mouth, hoping to come up with a retort that might sting just as bad for Grace, but all that comes out is a pathetic, “I thought you liked our movie nights.”
Grace sighs, rolling her eyes. “Seriously, Laura?”
“I—” I begin, but Grace puts a hand up, stopping me.
“You never want to do anything with me. Not school dances, not the mall, not even a movie, Laura. Literally all you have to do is sit there and eat popcorn! And you can’t even pretend like you want to do that!”
The words are like a thousand little pinpricks, stabbing me into silence.
“What is it? Do you hate being seen with me, or something?”
I want to grab her by the shoulders, shake her, and scream, “No!” I want to open my mouth and tell her everything—how I hear the echoes, how it makes everything so loud and overwhelming, how it isn’t her at all, it’s me and this stupid, uncontrollable problem I’m trying my best to deal with.
But I don’t. I just stand there, my mouth hanging open like the terrible friend that I am.
Grace drops her gaze, disappointed. “Forget it, Laura. I’m just… I’m done. I’m going out with Andy, and I don’t care if you tell me it’s stupid. I love him, and there’s nothing you can do to change that. Don’t worry about covering for me. I’ll figure it out on my own.” When the words are out, she turns on her heel and marches into the building, the door slamming shut behind her. I watch her through the window, linking arms with Andy as I’m left there, my heavy breathing leaving clouds of mist and the cold air stinging my cheeks.
Leo is the first to move. “I’m going to follow them. I’ll make sure nothing happens,” he says, the determination in his voice surprising me.
“You…are?” I blink. Leo isn’t exactly well-liked by Andy and his friends, so going to the party would mean facing a plethora of ridicule. They might not even let him in.
Leo looks as if he’s surprised by his statement, too. “Yeah, I am. I just… don’t want anything to happen to her.”
“O—okay,” I reply. Leo turns toward the door but glances back at me before he opens it.
“She probably didn’t mean any of that. It’ll blow over soon,” he tells me. Then he’s gone.
Chapter 10
I stand there in the parking lot for a minute, turning the words Grace said to me over in my head. You’re a party pooper, Laura.
It hits me hard because I know that it’s true. I don’t like parties. I don’t like malls. I don’t like anywhere that’s loud, or heavily populated—which are the places that most teenagers love to hang out. Grace always wants me to go out and do stuff with her, but most of the time I’d rather sit at home in the blissful silence of the office.
But I can’t do anything about it. I can’t just make the echoes of the past go away. They exist wherever I go, and though I’ve gotten good at tuning them out when I need to, it doesn’t mean I like to. And I wish that I could just explain this to Grace. I wish that she could understand, but I know that’s not an option. I can’t just expect her to believe me.
Which means I can’t expect her to be my friend, I realize. I’m sick and tired of you dragging me down, she’d said. And that’s what I was doing. I wasn’t a friend to her; I was a burden.
I don’t realize I’m crying until someone opens the door of the gym. A couple of kids spill out into the parking lot, and I turn away so they can’t see my face. When I wipe the tears away, my hands are streaked with eyeliner.
I can’t stay here anymore, and it’s clear that Grace doesn’t want me to anyway. I don’t want to walk back through the party where everyone can see me, so I start walking along the side of the building. There’s a gravel road that runs behind the school just around the corner of the gym, and I can follow it to the parking lot my car’s in. This way, no one sees me.
The road is fairly well lit, with light posts dotted along across from me. There’s a big chain-link fence just behind them, separating the school’s property from the one adjacent to it. As I’m walking, I hear the sound of tires on gravel behind me and light appears, getting brighter as the car gets closer. I peer at it as I move closer to the building to give the car room to pass by me, but when it’s about ten feet away it stops. The passenger door opens, but that’s all I can see as I squint at the bright headlights. I pause for a second, trying to make out the shape of the car. It’s big, and a chill runs down my spine.
Is this the Suburban that’s been chasing me?
Just as I think it, a figure steps around the open door, slams it shut, and starts moving towards me. Quickly.
I don’t wait any longer. I turn back around, breaking into a sprint. Behind me, I hear the engine rev up, tires crunching on the gravel close behind me. There’s still a long stretch of road ahead of me, and though I might be able to outrun the person on foot, I can’t imagine being able to outrun the car.
As I run, I pass a few back doors along the back of the building, and there’s another one coming up in front of me. I could try getting inside where the Suburban won’t be able to follow, but I’m not sure I want to risk pausing for a locked door. Behind me, I hear the tires crunching closer, and
I realize that I might have to because there’s no way I’m going to make it much further. So I skid to a stop, put my hand on the door, and tug on it, but as I’d expected, it’s locked. Now the car’s even closer, and I don’t know what to do.
Then, up ahead, I see two small dots of light. Headlights, I think. There’s someone else coming down the road. Maybe they can help me.
The two small dots grow into large, bright lights faster than I expect them to. The sound of the engine and the tires screaming across the gravel follow a split second later. It’s coming straight at me, so I flatten myself against the building to keep out of its way.
A gust of wind hits me as a small, expensive-looking sport’s car whips past me. I watch, my eyes widening as it veers to the left, drifting sideways towards the Suburban in a cloud of dust. The sound of a collision comes a second later.
I stand there, stunned for a moment, trying to process what I’ve just seen. But then, my instinct to escape comes rushing back to me when I see the figure on foot slide past the sport’s car, still moving—quickly—in my direction. I turn around and continue my flight, realizing that the sport’s car has just halted the Suburban. If I can outrun the person on foot, I may be able to escape after all.
So I run, and up ahead I finally see the edge of the gravel road and the parking lot just to the left of it. I throw a glance over my shoulder to see how close my pursuer is, and just as I do, the sport’s car speeds up behind them. It veers around the person, then pulls in front of them, coming to an abrupt halt as it blocks their path to me.
The person in the sport’s car is helping me. They crashed a very expensive car to stop whoever is doing this. Could they somehow be involved in all this?
I set the thought to the side, continuing my rush towards the parking lot. The sport’s car seems to have stopped everyone from chasing me for the moment, but I don’t slow down.
After what seems like ages, I reach my car, and I go through my pockets for my keys, my stomach dropping when I don’t find them at first. Finally, though, my hand touches the metal of my key ring and I whip it out, throwing my car’s door open and jumping inside as quickly as humanly possible. I hit the lock button on the door as soon as I’m in, and fumble to put the key in the ignition because my hands are shaking so bad.
Once it’s on, I back out of the parking spot and speed toward the exit. In my rearview mirror, I see the sport’s car moving off of the gravel road and through the parking lot in my direction. I hesitate, wondering what to do. Whoever is in that car seems to be protecting me by blocking my pursuer’s path. But what if it tries to follow me?
When I glance back again, I see the bright headlights of the Suburban shining over the top of the sport’s car, headed in the same direction, and I realize that I need to leave, now. But before I look away, the sport’s car makes a wide turn to the left, taking up the entirety of the driveable space in the parking lot. And then it sits there, blocking the path of the Suburban.
I slam on the gas and whip of the parking lot, losing sight of them both. I speed home, taking a route I don’t usually take, making as many twists and turns as I can. I circle the neighborhood once, then twice, on edge. When I’m sure no one has followed me, I finally pull into my driveway. I open the garage door to find that Mom and Dad have both parked their cars inside and sigh, knowing I can’t leave my car in the driveway because I don’t want them—whoever they are—to find me.
As I rush inside to find the keys to Dad’s car, I once again think about coming clean to my parents. About telling them everything that’s been happening lately. What would they think? Would they believe me? Throughout my life, they’ve always tried to be supportive of me, but for the longest time, they thought that I’d been lying about the echoes. Making them up, or hallucinating. It wasn’t until this past year they’ve finally believed me, and we’ve gotten to the point where they don’t ask questions anymore, they don’t treat me like I’m broken. At least, not as much. So what if I do break? What if this ruins everything we’ve worked so hard to build?
I shake the thoughts away as I step inside. The house is dark, and it appears that Mom and Dad aren’t even awake. I sigh in relief, grab Dad’s keys off the key rack, and move his car into the driveway.
Inside the house, I double-check that all of the doors and windows are locked before going upstairs to my room. And when I finally curl up in bed, I can’t stop the tears from flowing down my face. I’m confused and angry, and I can’t figure out how to fix anything that’s going on. I want to know who’s chasing me and what they want, I want to know who Maverick is and where he went, and I want to explain everything to Grace and continue to be friends with her. But I can’t. I’m just stuck here, curled up in a ball in my bed, not knowing what to do about any of it.
Chapter 11
Monday morning, I roll into the school parking lot, sleep-deprived, and still a bit jittery. One glance around tells me that Grace’s car is parked on the opposite side, as far away from mine as possible. I take a deep breath before going inside, unsure of what to do about Grace. I could try talking to her, but what’s the point? She made it abundantly clear that I’m holding her back, and who would I be if I kept doing it?
In Chemistry, she’s sitting at our usual table, but one of Andy’s friends is in my spot. I bite my lip and scan the room, finding an empty table to sit at a few rows away. For the entire class, I avoid looking in their direction because I’m afraid I might burst into tears if I do.
“Alright everyone, I graded your tests over the weekend, and I have to say I’m impressed by the overall performance of the class,” Mrs. Andrews tells us. She begins handing out the papers, and I remember the morning Grace showed up with her new car, how I’d forgotten all about the test. How the fire alarm echo had interrupted my already struggling attempts to answer the questions.
Mrs. Andrews passes me by, placing my test on the desk facedown without making eye contact. I flip it over, and at the top, the number 47 is circled in bright red. I take a deep, shaky breath. I usually do excellent in school, and I’ve never had a grade this low. But with everything going on lately, I’ve been way too distracted to study well.
“Oh my gosh!” I hear Grace exclaim from behind me a minute later. I try to tune her out, but I still hear her tell someone that she got a 92 on the test, the best she’s ever done in Chemistry.
I try to hold in my emotions through the rest of the class, and when the bell rings, I wait until everyone has cleared out before making my way toward the door.
At lunch, I sit at our usual table, but I know that Grace won’t be joining me. Instead, she goes over and plops next to Andy without even glancing in my direction. Leo slides into the seat across from me.
“Yikes, you don’t look so good,” he says.
“Gee, thanks.”
“Look, I know what she did sucked, but you know how she is. It’ll pass eventually.”
“Do you think I’m boring, too?” I ask him, serious.
Leo makes a face, the corners of his mouth pulling to one side. “I think you’re just… you. I enjoy our movie nights. I also enjoy going out and stuff, but that doesn’t make you boring. It just means you’re not the person I’m going to invite to those kinds of things. And if you’re okay with that, then I don’t see the problem.”
I throw my head and arms down onto the table, my voice muffled through my sleeves. “Ugh. Why can’t Grace be in love with someone else? I feel like Andy is the one making her think she can’t be friends with me because I’m not ‘fun’ enough, or whatever.”
When I look up, Leo is looking across the cafeteria at the table Grace is sitting at, a strange expression on his face. Then he looks down at his food. “He’s honestly the worst.”
“How did the thing go on Saturday?” I ask him.
“Not well.” Leo sighs. “I followed them, but I wasn’t about to go inside, since I probably wouldn’t be welcome anyway. So I waited outside until Grace left. Everyone was fine, but my pa
rents weren’t too happy about me coming home so late. So I’m grounded, for who knows how long.”
“Yikes,” I reply. I wonder why Leo was so persistent about following Grace to the party. I understand that it’s a dangerous place and that he was worried she could get hurt, but to sit outside of the building for hours just to make sure she was okay… that takes dedication. I admire Leo’s loyalty, even when Grace isn’t returning it.
✽✽✽✽✽
After school, I decide to do some digging to figure out more about this Maverick guy. I remember the echo between me and Maverick about my supposed trip to Louise’s. Maverick had talked about Tony, the chef as if he knew him. If they worked together, Tony should know who Maverick is, so I need to ask him about it.
I drive to Louise’s alone, and when I pull into the parking lot there are two other cars parked out front. I enter the building and immediately Penny greets me with a smile.
“Welcome back!” I go to the bar, listening to the echoes of busy chattering, just like last time. It’s pretty empty today, except for an older couple sitting in a booth to my right. “Friends couldn’t make it this time?” Penny asks as I sit down.
I cringe a little bit at the word friends but smile back at her. “Just me today,” is all I can reply.
“Well, what can I get you to drink on this fine afternoon?” She asks.
“Cherry Coke,” I reply, smiling. I’m not sure how to go about asking if I can talk to Tony, so I just sit and look at the menu for a few minutes while Penny pours my drink. When she comes back, I order a burger, remembering to ask for chips as my side since the fries weren’t any good last time. She heads back into the kitchen to put in my order, and I catch a glimpse of the older man Penny had called Tony as the door closes.
Once she’s gone, I look around the diner, spotting a bathroom sign just past the kitchen door. I get up from my seat and walk over, then down a small hallway that leads to the back of the building. To my left are two doors marked as restrooms, and to my right is a third door with a small window on it, the kitchen on the other side. If Maverick really worked here, there will probably be plenty of echoes of him in there. Maybe if I just slip in for a second and listen, I’ll be able to hear something.
