He’s saying: I know you were worried. I know you looked for me.
I type back:Just saw the video.
The dots appear immediately.
Bennett:Yeah.
Me:The goalie stick, Bennett.
Bennett:Yes.
Me:Are you okay?
Three dots. Longer this time. Long enough that I start walking again just to have something to do with my body while I wait.
Bennett:I’m good. Just distracted.
The same word I used when Clarice asked me what happened. The same word sitting in the middle of both our days like a fact neither of us is ready to finish the sentence on.
Distracted.
I look at the honey-brown hair still clinging to my wool coat.
Me:Me too.
A beat. Two.
Bennett:Three days.
I reach my car. Stand next to it with my kit bag over my shoulder and my phone in both hands.
I slide behind the wheel, smiling so hard my face hurts.
The Non-Date
Bennett
There’s a special kind of lie people tell themselves when they leave town. Distance makes things clearer, simpler, easier to control. It’s a nice thought. Very tidy. Unfortunately, all distance really does is strip away the noise until you’re left alone with whatever you’ve been avoiding, sitting across from it in a diner boothwith seventeen kinds of pancakes and nowhere to hide. And if you think calling it a “non-date” changes what it is? Well. I admire the commitment to the bit.
Playlist: “Out Of My League” by Fitz and the Tantrums
“I need to drive to Riverdale for supplies.”
I look up from the game tape I’ve been pretending to study for the past twenty minutes. Gisele is standing in the doorway of her back room, keys in hand, expression carefully neutral in a way that immediately makes me suspicious.
“Okay.”
“My car is making a weird noise.”
“Call a mechanic.”
“I did. They can’t see it until Thursday.” She tilts her head. “I was hoping you’d come with me. In case it breaks down on the highway.”
Every alarm bell I own starts ringing. This is a trap. It has to be a trap. Gisele doesn’t need backup for a supply run—she’s driven herself everywhere since she was sixteen and rebuilt her first car’s engine with YouTube tutorials and sheer stubbornness.
“You want me to come with you to Riverdale.”
“For safety purposes.”
