Page 88 of Amnesia

“No, I’m your best friend.”

She was. Sadie had been my best friend since we were five and they’d moved in down the street. I’d thrown a rock at her, and she threw one back. She had better aim than I did. I still had the scar. Since that day, we’d been inseparable. We did everything together, but not this. Not tonight. This was my dare. Not hers.

“This is my dare.”

“You can’t go out on the lake alone at night,” she argued.

“I’ll be back before anyone even knows I’m gone.”

“This is stupid,” she disputed. “All those rumors are just made-up stories to scare us all. It’s why they call it Rumor Island.”

“I know that,” I said, stepping into the driveway. I didn’t have time to argue with her. Geez, she was going to wake up my parents. “Which is exactly why it will be an easy dare.”

“Wait and go tomorrow. We can take our dads.”

“You don’t win a dare by bringing your dad.” I scoffed. Was she even for real?

“Eddie.” Sadie grabbed my wrist, stopped me. I turned and glanced down to where she gripped my arm. If she slid down just a little bit more, we’d be holding hands.

Sadie was my best friend, but lately, I looked at her with new eyes… grown-up eyes.

“I won’t let you go,” she said.

“Go home, Sadie. I’ll come over tomorrow.”

“I’m coming with you.”

I sighed loudly. “You are the biggest pain in the ass, ever.”

She laughed and fell into step beside me. She knew she’d get her way. She always did.

“How’d you get out here anyway?” I grumped as we stepped out onto the street.

“Snuck out the window, just like you.”

My bike was hidden in the bushes just down from our house. My dad always complained the neighbor did a terrible job keeping them trimmed. I thought it was pretty handy; the out-of-control branches made a nice hiding spot.

I grabbed it up, climbed on, and glanced over my shoulder at Sadie. Her brown eyes twinkled when she stepped onto the small petals coming out from the wheel and slipped her arms around my torso.

I took off as I had a million times before. We rode like this all the time. In a couple years, I would trade in this bike for a car, and she would ride shotgun instead of behind me.

I’d miss this bike, though. It was a good excuse to get her to put her arms around me.

The ride to the lake was quiet. I steered to the opposite side where the beach was. This side was calmer. It had more houses and less places for people to just spend a day on the water. The docks, the beach, and all the other stuff everyone liked were on the other side.

I drove through someone’s yard and right down to Mr. Schroder’s small dock. The canoe he used for fishing was tied up and bobbing in the water.

“If we get caught, we are so dead,” Sadie said.

“We’re not gonna get caught.”

Creeping out onto the short dock, I hopped down into the canoe. Holding out my hand, I helped Sadie down into the rocky boat.

She sat on one end, and I untied the boat and shoved us away from the dock. The wooden oar was inside, and I used it to row us away from shore.

“What are we even looking for anyway?” she asked, fear creeping into her voice.

“To see if any of the rumors are true,” I said simply.

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