Page 16 of The Spider & the Storm

Luke had been ten when our house was demolished by the storm, and I thought it had traumatized him more than he let on that, if it wasn’t for my panic and insistence, we might not have survived that night.

He was always too cool to admit when he was weak.

“No,” I replied. “I just woke up feeling like something bad was going to happen.”

“Like what?”

I shrugged, feeling just as clueless as Melanie, who was staring at us like she wasn't sure if she should run away or stick around to see where this episode ofThe Twilight Zonewas headed.

Luke stared into my eyes and held my gaze for several seconds, and there was that thing I couldn't read again. Amessage I couldn't hear, one I couldn't quite figure out. God, I wished he'd just tell me what he was thinking. Things had changed a little between us over the past couple of years. The gap between fifteen and eighteen didn't seem as vast as between a thirteen- and sixteen-year-old, and our friendship seemed to have repaired itself a bit.

But even though Luke hadn't said it, I was pretty sure Ritchie was still his best friend, and that giant, asshole-shaped boulder did nothing to bridge the gap. In fact, if anything, it kept that chasm from closing, and I was certain it'd remain open until he just wasn't there anymore.

Maybe, one day, he just won’t exist.

“Well, tell me if you figure it out, okay?” Luke asked with finality, giving my back a pat before removing his hand altogether. “We’re gonna go down to see if Ritchie and Tommy wanna hang out. See you later.”

And then he was gone, proving my point once again.

***

The topic had been dropped, and Luke had forgotten all about the feeling in my gut, but I never did.

Instead, I'd become obsessed and completely consumed by a desperation to stop anything bad from happening to the people I cared about.

Luke and Melanie, Mom and Dad, or any variation of the only four people I kept close.

Anytime any of them left the house, I'd beg them not to go. It was like I'd regressed back to preschool when I didn't wantMom to leave me alone in a strange classroom that smelled of sweat and paste and stale apple juice, minus the part where I wrapped my arms around her leg and dug my fingers into her skin to keep her from leaving.

But don't think I wouldn't have done it if I could've.

“Dad, wait. Dad!” I called, jumping up from my desk as Dad made his way down the hall and to the stairs. “Where are you going?”

“Oh God, Charlie,” he groaned, shaking his head as he made his descent. “Knock it off, will you, please?”

“But where are you going?” I pressed further, hurrying behind him quicker than my long legs wanted to take me. I tripped forward at the bottom step, and I stumbled over my big feet.

Dad glanced over his shoulder and bit back a laugh, shaking his head again. “Your mom and I are going to a concert tonight, remember?”

“What? You didn’t tell me you were going anywhere.”

My heart raced straight toward panic, just as Luke plodded down the stairs louder than a herd of elephants. He was dressed in nice clothes—his going-out clothes—and that panic I was feeling only heightened.

“Wait, you’reallgoing out?” I sounded shrill, so stupid and pathetic, but, God, I didn’t want them to go. I didn’t want them to leave me alone.

Dad looked around me at my brother. “Luke, I told you not to—”

“I’m just grabbing dinner real quick with the guys and Mel,” he reasoned. “I’ll bring some home for Charlie.”

Dad was quick to resign. There wasn’t much he could do when Luke was eighteen, but I could tell he wasn’t thrilled.

That made both of us.

“All right. But make it quick, okay? And you’re coming right back here. You understand? No staying out late.”

“Yes, master,” Luke grumbled, rolling his eyes and heading straight out the front door without so much as a goodbye or a mention of where exactly he was going.

“Listen,” Dad said, drawing my attention away from the door. “You have our numbers. If Luke doesn’t come back in an hour or two, give one of us a call, and we’ll get on him to get his butt home, all right?”

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