Page 166 of Ominous: Part 1
I like Janelle. There’s something a little distant about her and I like it because it’s a reflection of myself.
She shrugs, waving off my thanks. Rain starts to spatter on my windshield, and I flick on my brights and my wipers as we take a winding back road.
“I was going to Uber home,” she says, which surprises me.
I glance at her but keep my eyes mostly on the road, taking a curve a lot slower than Eli would. Then I remember him mocking my car.
I press down a little more on the gas. The RPMs rev up, but he’s right. My Sentra is slow.
“Really?” I ask Janelle. “I thought you had a car?”
“Oh, I do,” she says quickly, with the smallest, tinkling laugh. “But mymotherbacked into our mailbox the other night after she wanted it for a girl’s night out.” She rubs her arms, crossed over her chest. “Better than her coupe. She would have lost it over that. Anyway, it’s just getting a fresh paint job.”
I wonder about her mom, and if she was drunk, or it was intentional. But maybe none of those things are true. Just shit that would happen with Sebastian.
So, all I say is, “I’m glad I could give you a ride.”
Janelle smiles. “Keep going straight ‘til the stop sign, then take a left.” She clears her throat as I nod, grateful for her directions because I suck at them, even though I’ve been to Eli’s before. For a moment, we ride in silence, but I have too many questions to keep quiet. I don’t know why I never thought of it before, getting closer to Eli’s female friends. Maybe because they didn’t particularly seem to want to get close to me. Or maybe that was all in my head. Janelle was always nice to me. I just seem to constantly believe everyone is against me.
I take the most obvious lead, considering where we just left. “Is Dominic always an asshole?” My heart beats fast, and I grip my wheel tight in the split second after I ask, but relief spreads through me as Janelle just laughs.
“Oh, boy,” she says, and I see her turn to look out her own window. “Well, yeah, but he was less so when Winslet was around.” Her tone grows more serious, and I wonder how close she was to Dom’s sister.
I clear my throat, staring at the dark road as I drive. “They were close?”
Janelle sighs, still turned away from me. “Yeah. Really close.”
I keep pushing, pulse racing as I do. “My brother back there, Sebastian… Did you hear him? What he said about Dom being weird about Winslet?”
I tighten my grip on the wheel. Lightning forks in the sky and the rain comes down harder, clattering loudly over the roof. I increase the wiper’s speed and take a few deep breaths as the stretch of silence grows.
I glance at the dark woods my headlights jump over as I drive. I remember Eli’s words.
I wouldn’t trust my friends.
Was Janelle good timing? Does she know he was there?Does he want me to question everything?
“I’m not as close with Dom,” Janelle finally says.
It sounds like half of the truth.
“Him, Winslet, Luna, Eli… They were like a whole… group. I was friends with Eli, because we live in the same neighborhood, you know.” She turns to glance at me in the dark, smiling a little, but it seems off. Like she’s keeping his secrets.
“Eli was close to Winslet, too?” I try not to let my fascination show, but I can’t stop the way my voice rises. I see a sign cautioning of a stop up ahead and I slow down, my tires jumping over puddles.
Janelle is staring straight ahead, too. “As close as he is to anyone.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
“It seems a little different,” she keeps going, voice soft. “With you.”
I come to a complete stop and meet her gaze in the dark. “When he talks about you…” This time, her smile is genuine. “It’s like he’s at some kind of peace.”
I think of his texts. I wonder what Janelle would say about those.
On some level, I know he’s scary. Maybe going too far. Evil instead of eccentric.
But on another level, well…I like it.
