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Wow, that brings up memories of a former life.
Well, former life for me. From the looks of it, Sophie’s still up to her old shenanigans here in Longdale. She’ll never leave, not for any extended amount of time. There are two things I’m sure of when it comes to Sophie: she loves black licorice peanut butter cup shakes—size large—and she loves Longdale.
Alec claps my shoulder. “Well, you have fun. Thanks for the ride.” He leans forward to block my line of vision. “And if you don’t go over there and say hi, it’s just going to keep getting more and more awkward between you two.” He opens the car door and starts to climb out. “You can’t afford not to make things right again. She puts up with you, doesn’t she?”
Since I got here a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been hanging out with Alec most evenings. We watch sports on TV at either my place or his. He’s been staying in the small two-story house that was included in the sale of the property the resort now sits on. He’s claimed it as his own, which is fine, as long as he doesn’t become too much of a hermit as he frets and stews about his professional football career being over.
I made the mistake of telling him about how I’d missed last year’s closing night. I had to tell him since he was calling me a loser for hanging out at home. I couldn’t even bring myself to hang out with Alec because the guy has a gnarly chip on his shoulder. He’s been antisocial since losing his college girlfriend way before he tore up his knee.
Sophie doesn’t seem to hear me close the driver’s side door and walk across the gravel. As I step in the small, empty lot towards her, I see she hasn’t changed in a year and a half. The thick, brown curls still go halfway down her back. Today she has a bunch of curls tied away from her face with one of those velvety elastic things. And there’s a piece of her hair that keeps falling over her eyes.
The memories start creeping up, and my heartrate does, too. Thoughts of closing up the shop with her filter through my mind, mixing with newer memories of our yearly meet-up and texting each other almost every day.
By the time I step out of the empty lot and back on concrete, she’s got her whole body turned away from me. She doesn’t see me yet. I’ll just crouch down beside her and—
“Ah!” She startles and wobbles off balance. “Gaaahhh,” she moans, grabbing my shirt as she starts to topple over. I only manage to slow the fall. She lands on her hip with an “oof,” and I lurch forward, doing my best not to crush her beneath me.
Her mouth hangs open before cognition registers on her face. She scowls, her eyes narrowing. “Oliver?” It comes out as a whisper with some bite to it.
I go back to crouching, my head trying to move on from thoughts of how I’d accidentally pinned her on the ground. “How are you?” I whisper as I extend a hand to help her back into her recognizance stance.
She looks at my hand, ignores it, and then her features rearrange into a more pleasant expression. “I’m peachy. And you?”
I bounce my open palm up and down a couple of times. “Do you need some help?”
“No,” she says. “My legs are—I just need a minute.”
I glance down at the pavement, hoping she’s not getting too much dirt on that amazing skirt of hers. Plus, her knees are red. She glances up to the closed window above us.
My legs are already cramping and so I sit cross-legged next to her.
“What are you doing here?” she whispers. Her gaze rakes over me, her expression unreadable.
“I was dropping Alec off at a lunch thing and happened to see you, um, behind the mobile library.” I can’t stop my grin from spreading. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
She hisses out a shush and gets up into a high kneeling position, leaning closer to the bus, her ear to the metal.
Her eyes move around rapidly, and then she slumps down. “Like I said, I’m peachy. But I’m really trying to stay out of someone’s way here, so if you don’t mind going back to whatever it is you were doing before, that’d be great.”
Her tone is happy-go-lucky, but her face betrays a certain chill. She reaches out a hand. “Catch up later, though?” she asks.
“Do you need me to go bust someone up for you? Did the board find out it was you who toilet papered the school before graduation?” I hadn’t lived in Longdale during the school years, just the summers. But Sophie had told me all about her unusual display of rebellion.
She’s not laughing at my little joke, and I realize my earlier fears weren’t unfounded. She’s mad at me.
Her voice goes even softer as she frowns. “I’m waiting back here until someone leaves, that’s all. I’m not in the mood to talk to him.” Her gaze flicks again to the window above us.
A surge of protectiveness overcomes me. “I’ll go tell him to leave you alone. If he can’t take the hint that you’re not interested…”
“Oliver.” She rolls her eyes. “Please. It’s not like that. It’s…sort of a business matter that I really don’t want to do, so if you could please just—”
I jerk my head in the direction of my car. “Well, let’s go then. I’ll drive you around until he leaves.”
She looks over at my car. “That’s yours?” She rolls her eyes again. “Figures.”
What? I like cars, and I can afford it.
But I don’t say any of that. Instead, I stand and pull my keys out of my pocket. “Do you want a ride or not?”
