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“You’re obsessed.”
“I’m right, that’s what I am.”
Cassie returned to the box and pulled out a couple of troll dolls with gems for belly buttons, a few bows she used to wear as a kid, and an entire book of stickers that she’d carefully laid out across printer paper she’d punched holes into.
And at the bottom of the box, crumpled into the corner, was the silly pink friendship bracelet she’d made with Sarah. They’d woven three strands of string, each a shade darker than the next, into a simple braid. In the middle, they’d threaded square beads that each spelled out a word. Sarah’s said FRIENDS. Cassie’s, now relegated to the bottom of a box that had been in her parents’ garage for over
a decade, said FOREVER.
The memory of the day they’d made the bracelets came flooding back—she hadn’t lost it, but temporarily misplaced it. On one of the hottest days of the summer, rather than going outside to risk heat exhaustion, they’d stayed inside and made bracelet after bracelet. But this pair had always been their favorite. They’d kept them on for at least a year. Sarah had lost hers while swimming at the lake. She’d been so upset, she didn’t tell Cassie at first. In solidarity, Cassie had taken hers off and tucked it away.
Somehow, it had ended up here, at the bottom of this box.
Could this have been what Sebastian had been trying to tell her? She couldn’t remember if the bracelet had featured prominently in any of the other photographs in that box, but she remembered it from the one he’d worked so hard to place at her feet.
Laura had spread out on the bed, but she sat up when she saw something had stolen Cassie’s attention. “What’d you find?”
Cassie reached for the bracelet, opening her mouth to explain the little treasure she’d uncovered. But as soon as her fingers wrapped around the beads, the world dissolved. Darkness engulfed her. For a moment, she thought she was dreaming again, but she wasn’t in a car or even on a road.
Wherever she was, she knew she wasn’t alone.
There was heavy breathing and a rustling off to her left. A bright flash of light made her stumble. Stars danced in front of her eyes. The distorted sound of mechanical scraping followed. Each noise reverberated inside her chest like a gunshot. She whirled around, but there was nothing but blackness.
“Cassie?”
She recognized the voice, but it sounded like it was coming through a broken radio.
“Cassie? Are you okay?”
Her legs went numb underneath her, like she’d been running for miles.
“Cassie?”
Laura’s voice. She knew it. Could feel it. But it was still so far away.
Cassie squeezed her eyes shut until everything else faded, and when she opened them again, she was standing in the middle of the spare bedroom. The sun shone through the windows, partially eclipsed by Laura’s concerned face inches from her own. She still pinched the bracelet between her fingers.
Then the world went dark again.
22
Cassie woke to ringing in her ears and her head cradled in her sister’s lap. Laura’s face was a mask of concern as she bent over her, calling her name. When Cassie’s eyes finally focused, annoyance replaced Laura’s relief.
“Why the hell did you pass out like that?”
Cassie sat up and shook her head. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“What happened?”
Cassie took a moment to get her bearings. They were on the floor next to the bed. As far as she could guess, Laura had caught her when she fainted and eased her to the carpet. She was still gripping the bracelet in her hand.
“I think I remembered something else.”
Laura looked down at the bracelet. “About Sarah?”
“Yeah.”
“Was it bad? Why did you pass out?”
