Page 39 of Strangely Normal

I waved quickly and sat down in between Cole and Finley. Cole smiled down at me. “Tonight’s party should be more fun than last night’s. But I guess that isn’t saying much. Sorry about that whole thing last night.”

Max leaned forward. “Speaking of last night, where’s Jude?”

Cole pushed a marshmallow onto a stick and handed it to me. “Last time I saw him he was in the gym beating the shit out of the punching bag.”

“I wished I’d seen him making a punching bag out of Mike, the douche bag,” the guy across the way commented.

Finley must have sensed my discomfort with the topic. “Hey, guys, new subject.” She reached across for a marshmallow stick.

Cole elbowed me. “Hey, your marshmallow just took a dive.” He reached into the marshmallow bag.

“I’m all right. I don’t need one. I never have good luck toasting them.” I handed him back the stick. The topic of Jude had reduced my appetite for marshmallows.

“I thought Jude might join us tonight to celebrate his new freedom,” Cole said.

Finley and I both turned to him. “What do you mean?” Finley asked.

“They took the ankle monitor off today. Jude’s a free man.”

I was not prepared for how profoundly that comment would affect me.

Max laughed. “I guess that means he’ll be out of here soon. Four months of being cooped up in this house would be torture.”

Max had, of course, no idea that his comment was significant, but Cole and I both peeked over at Finley to gage her reaction. She bit her lip as she stared down at her marshmallow.

“Hey, Finley,” Max said, “watch that all those bracelets of yours don’t get too hot by the fire. You’ll burn your skin.”

I thought it was sweet of him to worry about it, but Finley didn’t respond. I knew she was still dwelling on the earlier comment.

“Is Jude still seeing that stuck-up girl, Remi, or whatever the heck her name was?” one of the girls asked.

“Remi?” Max asked. “Is that the chick who plays in all those zombie flicks?”

“Yeah, that’s her,” Cole said. “The whole house arrest thing put an end to that relationship. But truthfully, I think Jude was glad to see her go.”

“So he’s not seeing anyone?” the same girl asked. Even through the dancing flames, I could see the gleam in her eye.

Cole looked over at Max. “I love inviting chicks over and then spending the entire night answering questions about my brother.”

“Sorry, Coley” the girl said. “You know how much I love you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He stabbed a marshmallow onto a stick and pushed it into the flames.

“Where are you from, Eden?” Max asked.

“I’m from the valley,” I answered, and decided no elaboration was necessary.

“Are you a cousin?” the girl across the pit asked, and it seemed all eyes were on me.

“She’s a long time friend,” Finley said sharply. Her mood had definitely disintegrated since Max’s comment, and I truly hoped she would snap out of it. She looked over at me. “I feel like I’ve known her a lifetime.”

I smiled back at her. “We’re really close. Like sisters.”

Finley reached over and grabbed my hand. A large splash in the pool made everyone sit forward.

“Who’s swimming?” Max asked.

Cole shrugged and sat back. “Well Butch and Sundance would rather become vegetarian than go anywhere near that pool, so it must be Jude. I guess he decided to cool off after his workout.”

---