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Straight to voicemail.
“Em... Em, it’s Trina. I’m at the hospital, that’s why I couldn’t meet you. It’s... it’s Ren. He’s here, right here. But he’s been in an accident, and they don’t know...”
They didn’t know when he would wake up.
They didn’t know if he would wake up at all.
“I know that you’re not his biggest fan, but... but could you do me a favor? Could you let me know if he stopped to see your father? The crash, it was on Willow Creek Road. My parents are gone on vacation and... and please, could you check for me?”
Lorenzo was such a careful driver; he always had been, or at least he had back when he’d first gotten his license. Back when he would pick Trina up and take her to the park where they would run together, then hide in their spot in the woods and talk.
Just talk.
But she heard whispers about speeding and recklessness and possible impairment.
“I can’t believe you would do something like that, not on that road.” She took his hand in hers as she thought of the twists, the turns, the drop-offs on either side.
The missing guardrail.
Fighting tears, she gently ran her fingers through his hair where they had washed it with their special non-rinse shampoo, trying to get the blood out.
They’d failed.
“Do you remember the pool party?” she asked suddenly, then let out a short laugh through her tears. “The first one for you, I mean. Where you’d walked out in your jeans and leather jacket and stripped down to your trunks? You totally did that on purpose, drove all the girls crazy. I know you drove me crazy.”
***
Katrina was accustomedto lounging in the chairs by Emily’s pool; it was something that they did quite often over the summer months. Emily’s parents owned an estate full of pools, tennis courts, riding stables, and a guest house while Katrina’s parents simply owned a spacious, sprawling house on the other side of Willow Creek Road. While Emily would occasionally frequent Katrina’s home for sleepovers and such, it was here by the pool where the girls would spend most of their summers.
This day was the grand 4thof July celebration that they had every year, where all the students who ranked in Emily’s social circle would be invited for a pool party. While no alcohol was given by Emily’s parents, a few people were able to sneak in bottles of contents to be poured into sodas and juices.
It was also the first party since the wedding of Mr. Torrence to his very lovely, and very young, bride.
“They’ve wanted their privacy,” Emily said with a crinkled-up nose. “Just... ew.”
Katrina laughed. “I think it’s cute.”
“Cute? She’s, what, 8 years older than me?”
“They’re in love,” Judith said as she walked over, hips swaying in her barely-there bikini. “Where’s the latest token child?”
“Lorenzo?” Emily’s mouth turned down in a frown. “Who knows and who cares?”
Katrina cared. No, care was the wrong word for it. She needed her ribbons back, that’s what it was.
Debra, another member of the cheerleading squad, sat in the chair beside Katrina and stretched out her legs. “I need more sun. Trina, you make all of us look pasty.”
Katrina smiled at her. “I can’t help that I tan easily.”
“It makes us wonder about you,” Emily added, and Katrina felt unease take hold. Emily tended to be less than receptive to those who looked even remotely different from her, and Katrina couldn’t stand it.
There were many things about Emily she was beginning to dislike.
“Oh, look. The help’s here.”
Like when she said things along those lines.
It wasn’t help at all. Instead, it was a tall, tanned boy in a leather jacket and torn blue jeans with his hair in disarray.
