Page 21 of Our Darkest Summer
“We made out,” Connor corrected himself, and Aaliyah sucked in an excited breath. “You just won me five dollars.” Her grin widened.
“You bet on us making out?” He asked with uncertainty in his voice, and I couldn’t decide how I felt about the idea of that either.
“Only with Cora.” Her girlfriend, I remembered. “And only because Kevin never kisses anyone. Doesn’t matter how many people try to get with him. But when I saw you two…free money is free money.”
Connor and I exchanged a look. She was right about the money part, and it wasn’t like she did something bad. As if it was waiting for the momentarily silence, my stomach grumbled. I stepped deeper into the kitchen, and I was just about to go through the fridge when Aaliyah made me change my mind.
“I brought cookies.” She beamed, handing me a tray full of chocolate chip cookies from behind her back. “It’s like a welcomeheregift. Cora baked them.”
That was weirdly nice of them. Not that I minded.
Connor sent me a sneaky smile, and I lifted the tray in his direction.
“Thank you,” we said in unison, while I placed the plate in the middle of the island so everyone could reach it.
I took a bite of the golden-brown cookie, savoring the sweet richness of chocolate melting in my mouth. It was heavenly. I must have zoned out while I waited for the sugar to bring me back to life, because the next thing I heard was Aaliyah sucking in a sharp breath.
“You must be a Pisces,” she said to Connor, and I almost swallowed the bite sideways.
He was indeed a Pisces, born on March fourth. His eyes widened at me in ahelp meway while Aaliyah nodded confidently.
I cleared my throat, standing up. “How did you find me here?” I changed the subject, and Aaliyah turned to me with a catlike smile.
“Small town,” she answered. “And…” she trailed off for a moment, glaring at Connor. “Almost everyone in town knows where the Rhodes’ house is.” She gave Connor an apologetic look. “High schoolers love to throw Halloween parties on the shore here, because of the…gossip.”
“Gossip?” I asked, and Aaliyah cleared her throat, a clear sign of her nervousness.
“It’s more like an urban legend someone made up to…scare people.” She played with her braids before wiping her hands into her skirt. “They say that Elizabeth Rhodes never left Coldwater, instead she’s waiting in the woods, lurking under the shadows of the night to lure you in and…” She pressed her lips together,and the whole kitchen turned silent. She didn’t need to finish the sentence for us to know what was indicated.Kill you. At least that was the ending in most urban legends. “But it’s just a silly story kids love to scare each other with.” She waved it off, then took a big breath. “Would you like to join us for the tour around town?” she blurted out changing the subject. “I know you have already seen it, obviously, but?—”
“Actually.” Thomas stormed into the kitchen, turning all the attention at him, and cutting Aaliyah short. Could he have been listening this whole time? “I will need my brother here.” He gave Connor a stern look.
My eyes dropped at his light-washed jeans which he must have changed into after I left his room.
“All right then.” Aaliyah jumped off the kitchen island, sending me a wide-eyed look. “We should go.”
She turned away and hurried out the door, like she had been spooked. I couldn’t blame her, Thomas definitely looked annoyed and I couldn’t shake off the feeling that it probably had something to do with Aaliyah’s story.
“We need to talk,” Thomas turned to his brother as soon as it was just the three of us left in the kitchen, and I knew it was my cue to leave as well.
As I was passing Connor, he stopped me, and lifted his fist. I blinked at him in surprise. I would’ve thought the urban legend killed his mood, but it didn’t seem that way. I raised my hand as well, moving in sync with his as we fist-bumped and wiggled our fingers, doing all the seven steps of our handshake.
“I’ll send you some pictures,” I assured him as I turned to the front door, but before I could open it, a hand wrapped around my arm, pulling me backward. Thomas turned me toward himself with the same stern look he gave Connor.
“Kinsley.” He spoke my name with a softness I have never heard him use before, while he brushed his thumb over my wrist.It might’ve been an accident but it was enough for the air to leave my lungs. “Be careful, okay?” He looked deep into my eyes, so deep it felt like he could see right through me, into the very depths of my soul, and all I could do was nod before I followed Aaliyah out the door.
Chapter Twelve
Kinsley
Wasit a good idea to go out right when I learned about Elizabeth Rhodes’ case and someone left a note on the house I was staying in? Probably not, but Coldwater seemed enchanting on our drive through yesterday, and maybe I would even learn something that could be useful to us.
A light blue Jeep was parked outside the house, and Aaliyah waved to me from the driver’s seat. I walked down the stairs and jumped into the passenger seat, readjusting my dark blue top. The sun was hot against my skin, it heated me up almost too quickly and I glanced toward the dark lake with longing. Aaliyah turned on the engine, and as we rolled up to the road leading toward Coldwater, she put on a familiar tune. It took me a second to realize it was one of those songs Connor always listened to while he studied—or did basically anything. Sometimes he would just barge into my dorm room and make me dance with him. He especially loved to do that when it was finals week, and I hadn’t left the room in a while. It somehow became our thing, especially this past term when I had the tendency to be a bed gremlin. I could now recognize Taylor Swift anywhere. Aaliyah sang along, drumming her fingers onthe wheel, and without realizing it, I started to hum too, my lips curling into a smile.
“Come on, sing.” She laughed, the wind blowing her baby hairs out of her face.
She grabbed my hand, leaving only one on the steering wheel, and raised it out of the car. A laugh bubbled out my throat as the wind crashed against my skin. There was something freeing driving on a lonely road like this. I didn’t need much more convincing. I started to sing with her, sounding probably terrible. But as the two of us sang together while the sun gilded over our skins, somehow I didn’t care. I screamed the next few lines with a laugh, and Aaliyah raised our crossed hands up to the sky again and again as she screamed too.
The town’s welcome sign came sooner than I wanted it to, and we turned down the volume of the music while Aaliyah navigated the car up to the main street. It looked exactly how I remembered it from yesterday. The only difference was that now the streets were a lot more crowded. We found a parking spot in front of a café, and we climbed out of the car.
