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Slowly, I lift my foot off the brake pedal and start moving again. “Yeah, okay.” I nod to myself and start driving to the other side of the bridge. Passing the sign makes me feel sick. Is that the way they took me when I was unconscious? They must have. It’s the quickest way to go from Stoneview to their town.
Quickly, the truss bridge turns into the North Shore. There are no houses on that side of the river. Only a road and the woods that line the bank.
“Are you by the woods?” Ella questions in a calm voice.
“I am, yeah.”
“Okay, then the next pearl is to turn right. Don’t take the road that goes through the woods.”
“Wouldn’t the woods be quicker to cross town?”
“It’s better to go the long way.”
“I don’t want to go the long way, El’s,” I panic.
“I know, sweetie, but the main roads are safer. We never know what really happens in those woods. Just take the long way. Turn right.”
Now scared of the woods, as much as I’m scared of the rest of this town, I decide to listen to my friend and avoid them.
“Okay, okay.” I turn right and drive along the river until the road leads left and into town.
Everything here is the opposite of Stoneview. Rundown houses and abandoned buildings line the road. I stick out like a sore thumb in my expensive sports car. Stoneview truly is a bubble. We move from our billionaire town to SFU, avoiding real life and pretending society is only about us. It’s only because I’m being confronted by poverty that a tinge of guilt runs through my stomach. We are so privileged in everything, and at no point do we ever think of what’s outside our luxurious world.
Girls in our town think of coming here as a game. They like to play with fire and get close to the criminals, knowing perfectly they would never be able to handle a third of what they go through here.
I gulp when a group of men and women stare at me as I drive past them. One of the girls cocks an eyebrow and shakes her head.
I look exactly like I feel: lost.
“How are you holding up?”
Ella’s voice startles me. I forgot she was there.
“I’m okay,” I lie. “My GPS has found its way again. It’s taking me to the other side of town, and then I guess I’ll get on the highway back to the entrance of Silver Falls.”
“Perfect. We’ll stay with you, Alex. Everything’s fine.”
“We love you, Alex,” Peach shouts in the background. “You’re the strongest.”
“I love you too, guys.” A soft smile spreads on my lips. “Tell me about our apartment,” I ask as I look at the road ahead. North Shore is just a small part of Silver Falls. It’s not a big deal, which means I don’t have to be so scared.
I’m not going to talk to anyone. I’m just crossing in my car. Everything is fine.
“Is it that bad?” I laugh at their silence. “We’re paying tons of money for this college. They better have put us in a great apartment.”
The lack of response makes me check my phone. The screen is black.
“Girls?” I tap my screen and my heart drops.
My phone’s dead. The GPS is gone, and so are the girls.
“It’s okay,” I try to say cheerily. “It’s fine. I’ll just put on the car’s GPS.”
I typeSilver Falls Universityon my car’s GPS and keep going straight as it calculates.
“Turn around as soon as you can,”the car voices out.
“No, the road is one way, you stupid thing,” I groan. It’s trying to make me go back to the bridge.
