Page 38 of Forgotten Pieces

I can’t help but roll my eyes again.

Ryder: See you in twenty.

She responds with a smiley face.

This girl is trouble.

* * *

I pull into a wooded preserve and park in the lot she told me to. Signs everywhere say the park closes at sundown and I worry about her choice of location.

I find the narrow path she told me to take and walk about a quarter mile until I hit a hidden lake. I see Tacoma skimming rocks across the water and smile as I approach. I would be lying if I said she wasn’t beautiful for someone her age. Her blonde hair blows in the wind as she bends down to pick up more rocks from the ground. I can’t help but stare at her ass peeking out of the rip below the back pocket of her jeans.

She must hear me because she turns abruptly. A smile cutting across her face. “I wasn’t sure if you would actually come.”

“I told you I would be here,” I reply.

“Glad you are a man of your word,” she says with a wink. She looks down at my hand and sees me carrying a bag. “You bringin’ beer to a minor?”

I shake my head as I approach her. “Nah. Beer isn’t for heartfelt conversations.”

She grabs the bag out of my hand and pulls out the bottle of Makers Mark I brought. “I don’t drink whiskey.”

“There is a first time for everything,” I say. “Besides sipping on a good whiskey makes it easier to talk about shit you don’t want to talk about.”

“Really?” she asks, propping a hand on her hip.

I nod.

“Well then whiskey it is.” She puts it back in the bag then grabs my hand and leads me over to a giant rock near the lake. She pulls a big blanket out of a bag sitting near it and lays it on the rock before taking a seat.

I sit next to her and pull the whiskey out of the bag. “I picked this up on the way. Forgot to bring glasses. Just going to have to sip it out of the bottle.”

“Well, I hope you got rid of all your cooties,” she says with a smile.

I laugh as I open the bottle and take a sip, handing it off to her.

She takes a tiny sip and scrunches up her face. “Ugh, how do you drink that?”

“It’s an acquired taste. Just like all booze.”

She shrugs her shoulders. “I guess you’re right.” She takes another sip and tries hard not to make a face.

I laugh as I grab the bottle from her. “It tastes better out of a glass, lets it breathe a little.”

She looks off into the distance and I notice her carefree attitude has slipped. I am beginning to think it’s a front. “So how did you know about this place?” I ask her.

She blinks a few times as she looks back at me, like she was caught up in her head. “Oh, I come here a lot. During the day to swim, at night to drink with friends.” She must see the hesitation in my face. “Long after the sun sets. Rangers don’t come out here at night. Or really ever so it’s easy for teenagers to drink here. I like to come at this time the most though. Right before the sun goes down, families have left to head home for dinner, too early for the kids to come out to drink.”

“So what did you want to talk about?” I ask as I take a sip of whiskey.

“It’s probably stupid teenager stuff. I don’t know why I asked you to come.”

I look at her and see a sadness in her eyes. “It’s not stupid if it’s bothering you.”

She shrugs her shoulders as she looks off into the distance.

“How about I tell you something first?” I ask.

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