Page 8 of Our Darkest Summer
After Thomas left,Connor gave me a proper tour around the house. He showed me into the guest room, introduced me to his old dinosaur wallpaper, and I even saw Thomas’ locked bedroom door as well as the upstairs bathroom. Then, with a few hours of daylight left, we stretched out on the pier, sunbathing and dangling our legs into the lukewarm water. The sun was a molten orange on the sky, its glow made the lake look like melted gold, but as it slipped lower behind the trees, the waves grew restless, slapping against the wooden posts.
That was when we decided to retreat inside so I could unpack. The guest room was simple. Beige-colored walls, a queen-sized bed, a mirror in the far corner, a small closet, and an antique dresser. The window overlooked the pine forest, where the trees swayed in the breeze, whispering secrets to one another.
Connor lay sprawled out on the bed, watching a show on his laptop while I fixed my white minidress for the hundredth time, and spared a last glance at my reflection, ensuring I wasn’t showing more than I intended, before I flopped backward onto the mattress beside him.
“Do you always have to watch something?” I teased, just as he said:
“You’ll wrinkle your dress.”
He was right, but I wasn’t going to just stand until his brother decided to arrive.
“It’s relaxing,” he added with a smile, turning the laptop so I could see it too. My eyes focused on the screen while Connor played with my hair. He always made really bad braids, but he enjoyed it, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him how horrible they looked.
The minutes stretched. My eyelids grew heavier, and I glanced at the clock on the nightstand, biting my cheek.
Two things struck me at once.
One, this house was suspiciously clean for a place that had been empty for over a decade.
Two, Thomas should have been back by now.
He was never late. And he hated people who were.
“I still can’t believe there are no taxis or Ubers here.” Connor sighed, brushing his fingers over my hair.
I shrugged. It wasn’t that surprising to me; this was a small town, after all. And even if the town had those, it would cost a fortune to order them out here.
“We could check his location,” he added, sitting up and I looked at him, my eyes widening.
“That’s for emergencies only, not for spying.”
“We turned it on for a reason.”
I gave him a look. “Emergencies,” I repeated.
Connor sighed dramatically. “If I miss this party, that’s an emergency.”
I hummed noncommittally.
“We’ll just have to wait then.” He sighed, flopping back down beside me. “Completely in the dark of when, or if, we’ll ever make it there.”
“Con.” I nudged him, looking around, trying to change the subject. That was when it caught my attention. “How is it so clean here?”
Connor snorted. “What?”
I sat up, brushing my fingers over the polished nightstand. “I mean, this place has been empty for years, right? So how is it so clean?”
He shrugged, already refocusing on his laptop. “Dad pays a cleaning lady. She comes every two weeks or so.”
Before I could ask anything else, the front door slammed shut, and we both straightened on the bed.
“Finally,” Connor muttered, grabbing his green hoodie and heading for the door.
I quickly pulled on my black Converse and followed him downstairs.
Thomas was standing at the bottom of the staircase, the open door casting shadows across his face.
His expression was unreadable.
