Unexpected Arrivals(4)

She glanced up at Neil and then to me. The tiny nod she gave me only served to cause my fist to ball at my side. My best friend wasn’t acting any differently than either of us always did, but it crushed me to hurt her in the process. I didn’t stop it. I got up and hoped I could make it up to her after school.

When we were out of earshot, I punched him in the arm so hard it almost knocked him off balance. “What the fuck, Neil?”

“You can’t be serious about her? She’ll never fit in with our friends.”

“Then maybe it’s time to find new friends. Jesus. You were such a dick.”

“She called you James. Is she your mom?”

“Hey, asshole. That’s what I told her my name was. Hard for her to know differently when she’s been in the school all of four hours, and the town about eight more than that.”

“Who cares?”

I stopped in my tracks. Neil halted in front of me. I’d only had a handful of defining moments in my seventeen years, times where one instant changed my life, and this was one. “Dude, both of her parents died last week. Cut her some fucking slack.”

“Ahh, a charity lay. I get it, Carp.”

And just like that, the fist that had been balled at my side since I’d gotten up from my seat landed on his right cheek. The fight erupted faster than I realized what had happened. I saw red, and my best friend met my right hook. When we were finally separated, I glanced back to the corner I’d last seen Cora, but she was gone. And my vantage point from the principal’s office didn’t offer me another glimpse of her before the final bell.

Thankfully, Neil and I had only been given detention and weren’t suspended, but that hadn’t sat well with the coach. Even though the administration had been lenient, Coach Howard was not. He didn’t hesitate to bench us both until after Christmas break.

***

It was almost six by the time I pulled up to the Chase mansion. The lights burned brightly throughout, but there were no cars in the driveway. I didn’t have her phone number, so I hadn’t been able to let her know I was running late. When I knocked on the door, it took ages for someone to finally answer it. I’d been expecting hired help, so it came as a shock when Cora greeted me.

“Hey.” She had yet to meet my eyes, and instead, stared at my feet.

I lifted her chin and noticed the red rim beneath her lashes and the bloodshot look around her irises. “I’m sorry I’m late. I didn’t have your number to call.”

“It’s okay.” She swiped her tongue along her lips, and I traced its movement until it disappeared back into her mouth.

“No, it’s not.” Running my hand through my hair, I tugged on the roots in frustration. “I got in trouble at school and then with the team. I came as soon as they let me out. I haven’t even been home.”

“I know. I saw.”

Fuck. I’d hoped she’d left the cafeteria when I’d gotten up, and she’d missed the shitshow between Neil and me. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Look, I appreciate you trying to be nice, but I don’t want to come between you and your friends.”

I chose to ignore that comment. “Are you ready?”

Her eyes grew wide, and she glanced around and then back at me. “For what?”

“The beach.” I didn’t wait for her to turn me down. “Do you need to tell your grandparents you’re leaving?”

“They’re not here. No one is.”

I stopped myself from asking the obvious. There was no way in hell this girl should be alone after what she’d been through in the last week, but who was I to judge? Maybe they’d gone to the store—although, that thought made me laugh. I doubted the Chases did any of their own shopping.

Instead, I snatched her hand. She pulled back just enough to grab the handle and close the door behind her. The Chase property sat directly on the beach. We just had to walk around the massive home to the back and out to the sand. The sky had grown dusky, although a slight bit of color still clung to the horizon just above the water. It would be dark soon, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the moon was full.

We both left our shoes behind her house and embarked on the evening. Cora didn’t try to talk, and neither did I. I was perfectly content holding her tiny hand in mine, wandering the shoreline. I’d walk all the way up the Gulf Coast if she’d stay with me. When the sun had set completely, and the moonlight was all that lit the path, I finally took the chance on a conversation.

“Where was everyone tonight?”

“My grandparents left this morning for Prague. They’ll be back in a couple weeks.”

“What about the staff? I doubt they leave that place unattended.”

“Most went with them, I think. Honestly, James, I’m not sure. When I got up this morning, there was a driver waiting to take me to school, a stack of cash and a credit card on the counter, and their itinerary.”

I squeezed her hand, wondering just how lonely she truly was. The rest of us lived the same sort of life: drivers, cooks, maids, and allowances to tide us over while our parents ran around the world doing God knew what, leaving us to raise ourselves. I just couldn’t understand anyone doing it after such an upheaval in her life.

“So you’re alone in that enormous house?”