Page 9 of I Need You to Read This
“Six thirty.”
“Done.”
For the rest of the day, I worried about what I was wearing: a pair of black jeans and some boots and a red T-shirt. I wouldn’t be able to go home and change. I also worried that he wouldn’t show, but his pickup truck rolled up outside the hardware store at exactly six thirty.
I got in, sliding over the plush seat. He smiled. “You tell me the way.”
I smelled something woodsy on him when he opened the door to the restaurant. I walked in and tried not to look out of place. Until tonight I’ve never gone inside the Shoreline. It’s the kind of place where people go for special occasions. People with more money than my family. My mom and Sid always turn up their noses at it, but I know it’s only because they’ve never been. The hostess is a girl from my high school. She looked startled to see me with someone like Brian. I could feel her eyes on me as she sat us down at a table overlooking the river.
During dinner I learned he is an architect, which is what brought him to Wickfield. He’s working on a project to renovate an old, abandoned shoe factory on the edge of town into a series of designer lofts with businesses below. He also told me that hisparents are still married. “Thirty-two years now,” he said proudly as he ate a Brussels sprout cooked in a mysterious way that made it actually taste good. I also found out that he has a much younger sister who he adores, and his family all live in Holly Acre, a college town about two hours away.
“What about you, what’s your story?” he asked me between bites of food. He had really good manners, I noticed, like he never talked with his mouth full, and he put his fork down between bites and really listened to me. All that attention directed right at me made me feel shy. I drank more of the wine before I answered.
“I’m from here,” I told him, a little embarrassed. I didn’t know what else there was to say that he wouldn’t already know. “I’ve been working at Sam’s since high school, but eventually I’d like to do something else. Maybe interior design, or even something like social work,” I rattled on nervously, and he smiled, not seeming to mind that I had so little to offer, such a small story. I felt him looking at me in a way I wasn’t used to. His eyes are clear and deep blue. I wonder what he sees when he looks into mine. I felt a shiver go all the way through me.
When I got home my mom was watching TV. Without turning around, she asked me where I’d been. I considered lying, but at the last second, I said I went on a date.
This made her swivel around and look at me over the back of the couch. “With who?” I told her about Brian coming into the hardware store lately. I wanted her to be excited the way I felt, but instead her eyes narrowed at me.
“Why did he ask you out?” Mom asked me. “He must be weird.”
“He’s not weird,” I said quickly, but everything in my body had already sunk into the floor. She could tell that she hurt my feelings. My mom isn’t a monster, she’s just preoccupied with her own stuff and doesn’t always know what to say.
“I didn’t mean it that way, he just sounds too old and too fancy for you. I just don’t want my baby girl getting hurt,”she said, turning back to the TV. It made me mad the way she treated me as though I had no idea what I was doing, like I was ridiculous and young. What is wrong with him or what is wrong with you? I wanted to ask her, but then Sid came in the door, and I went back to the old me, the one who is invisible. But just to them. Because something has changed inside me now. After the date I feel like someone is looking at me like I’m an adult who can make choices for herself. Please help me, Constance, I don’t want to mess this up. I think I may have found my only way out of this trap.
I think it might be Brian.
Please help,
Lost Girl
SIX
“There’s something different about her,” Janice says when Alex sits down at the Bluebird’s counter in the morning.
“There is, isn’t there?” Raymond agrees. They turn on her, suspicious.
“Are you okay? You look nervous or something. Your cheeks are all pink.”
“Well…” Alex has been dying to share it with someone. “I got a new job.”
“Congratulations, Alexis. I didn’t know you’d been applying.”
“Good job, honey. What is it?” Janice says, pouring her coffee.
“It’s at theHerald,” Alex says, unable to contain her excitement. “I’m going to be the new Dear Constance.”
Raymond puts his paper down and turns fully to her. “Wait, you got that dead lady’s job? The one we were reading about the other day?”
“Yes, Francis Keen. There were five hundred applicants,” Alex says, her cheeks feeling warm.
“Your dream job, Alex! And me and Ray will be able to say we knew her back when she ate bagels with jam each and every morning!” Janice sighs, and Alex swats her playfully on the arm.
But Raymond looks concerned. “Alexis, how are they going to keep you safe? I mean, someone really didn’t like the last Dear Constance.”
“You mean disliked her with a knife a few times,” Janice says unhelpfully.
“Thank you, Janice,” Alex says, taking a sip from her coffee.
