Page 115 of Friends Don't Kiss

She smiles at me, then her mouth rounds in an O. “You were there, right? You saw it happen?” she asks in a whisper as Declan starts recounting the events, reading from his spiral notebook.

I nod.

“Were you scared?” she asks, her eyes on Declan as she listens to him as well.

“More like stunned,” I whisper.

She looks at me and silently mouths,I know!

Once Declan is done, Nathaniel stands up. “Could it be the Prattsville folk? They usedta do a lotta that sorta…” His hand shakes as if to fill in for the word he’s looking for. “Shenanigans,” he finally says. “Not so long ago. Been a few years. I always said, ‘It’s too quiet, somethin’s up.’”

Maddie shakes her head, disapproving.

“We looked into it,” Declan answers, tapping his notebook nervously. “But uh… this is a personal assault on someone’s private property.”

“They usedta do stuff like that,” Nathaniel retorts.

Declan tilts his head. “Not really. They toilet-papered the North Bridge, put a… a gigantic…” He blushes.

Maddie leans over and says, “a gigantic blow-up penis on The Green,” while someone in the audience helps out Declan. “An inflatable appendage!”

“Thank you,” Declan says.

Nathaniel spreads his hands out. “What else do you need?”

Declan is torturing his notebook now. “What I’m trying to say, is that this seems more personal to the bookstore. It’s not even remotely funny—”

“You saying the rest was funny?” someone hollers. Half the audience laughs out loud while the other half murmurs in disapproval.

Cassandra gently taps her mic, then Colton leans over his. “Guys, please. Let Dec—Officer Campbell complete his report.”

Ms. Angela lifts her head from her note-taking, looking pleased at Colton’s take-charge approach.

Declan is crimson. “It was an ill-advised attempt at making fun of all of us. Hurtling eggs at a window is a lone gesture that signifies aggression. Very little planning. It’s the sign of an angry person looking for revenge. Or to get even. To inflict harm on a particular individual, or… corporation. The other… events required several organized individuals, planning, and overall, as unpleasant as it was, it didn’t carry the same meaning.”

“I still think we should look at’em,” Nathaniel says, then sits down.

“And we are. I met with their chief of police. Bottom line is, if this was… Let’s say we find Daisy painted purple or-or-or Moose dressed in a tutu or a bunch of rubber ducks floating on the Emerald lake? Then yes. Chances are, it would be Prattsville. But in this particular case, I’m leaning toward something more… sinister.”

The room is eerily silent, then a low murmur spreads.

“And private,” he adds, his hands extended to calm everyone down. “No need to panic.”

“Thank you?” Colton says. “And keep us informed.”

Owen leans over his mic. “Sorry, another question.”

Colton lets out an audible grunt, which may be construed as encouragement for Owen to talk.

Maddie leans toward me until our shoulders touch. “You’re together now, right?” she whispers, her gaze clearly on Colton.

Heat flushes my face. “Um… yes. It’s-it’s very new. But we’ve been friends a while,” I add for no reason.

She nods. “I thought so,” she says. We both go back to looking at the Select Board.

Owen rounds his mouth like he’s looking for his words. No sound comes out for a couple seconds, and I feel like I should fill this awkward silence with more explanations.It took us a while. It tookmea while. I don’t know why it didn’t happen sooner. There’s a reason it didn’t happen sooner. He’s too good to be true. It’s bound to fall apart sooner than later. That’s how great things always end up.

Owen finally speaks. “Should we be concerned about the stop signs?”

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