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She shook her head, coming closer. “No. I didn’t name it.”
“Good, because the name sucks.”
Diana laughed again, walking past me to the back of a truck. She opened the tailgate, hoisting herself up. I joined her. “What are you doing out past midnight on a school night,Nicholas?”
I rubbed my palms on my jeans, staring across the gas station to the road past the park. “I’m a night owl.”
“Yeah, well, teenagers go missing around here. Maybe you should stay home. Small town people don’t take kindly to teenage boys stalking around in the dark. Especially ones who just moved to town.”
I smiled wide, looking her in the eye. “How would they know? Everyone’s asleep.”
“Not everyone,” Diana replied, looking past the gas station to the bridge.
I followed her gaze, red hair drawing me in.
We sat in silence as Sorina approached. When she was close enough, I took in her clothes, the pale of her skin. She wore a long black skirt—slits on each side; her legs flashed with every step—fishnet tights and black combat boots. I heard nothing as she walked up, no boots on gravel, no sway of her hand. She was always quiet.
She didn’t halt her step, but she eyed Diana and me before she walked into the bar.
I followed her every move, and she watched me in return.
Beside me, Diana spoke. “Don’t go getting a schoolboy crush on that one,” she said.
I turned to her. “Why is she allowed in the bar?”
Diana shrugged. “Drinking age is slightly different where she’s from, maybe?” She said it like a question, but it didn’t halt my interrogation.
“In Romania?”
“Maybe, I don’t know. I’ve never been there.” Diana swung her legs.
“Bending the rules for her. Nice.” I shook my head. But I thought I would have bent every rule for her.
“You don’t want to hang in that dingy bar with the locals on weeknights. Trust me.”
“Why does she?”
Diana laughed. “She doesn’t.”
“You know her, then?”
“Yeah. She’s waiting for me. And she’s probably pissed I’m talking to you.” She shrugged. “I have a tendency to say shit I shouldn’t.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Has she talked about me?”
Diana grinned as she rolled her eyes. “God,teenagers. You’re so hopped up on hormones and shit. You’re just a young pup when it comes down to it, huh?” It was another nonquestion for me, and I had no time to mock or retort before Diana hopped off the tailgate and turned to me. “Go home, Nicholas. Maybe I’ll let you in another night. But, for now, let the big girls talk.”
I watched her walk away into the bar. Diana closed one bay door, then the next. But not before I saw Sorina leaning against the wall, watching me until she couldn’t.
The darkness was my shroud, my mystery. And her eyes brought me out.
Rejected, I walked back toward town. But before I reached the bridge, the dirt road leading to the right caught my eye. I knew what was atop that hill. The Catholic church Valerie had mentioned.
I had no desire to go there, but the city park was within view, so I turned toward it instead of heading back into town. The gravel crunched beneath my feet, and the town was eerily quiet. The sounds of the bar faded.
Once I reached the park, I left the road, strolling across the grass to Casador Lake. There was a body of land jutting out, and when I got close enough, I noticed it was a small island in the lake. A wooden bridge connected the park and the small piece of land. I walked toward it and imagined laying on my back as I sketched the night, but I stopped short when I noticed a man standing in the center, staring at the trees.
He was completely naked—dark brush strokes along his arms.
