Page 28 of What You Left Me

But why

Too complicated to explain right now

I told you guys we needed to make Turrey leave!

Find a way to make it happen

Please

…Okay?

I’ll try

Daniel Stetson doesn’t usually miss situations like this. He is a long-limbed bird of a man, always perched in the spot with the best view of the action. Almost encyclopedic in his abilities, he can open the yearbook and spout off at least one thing about any of the 868. He’s like a heart monitor, hooked up to the beat of our school, finding a thrill in documenting not only irregularities, but average rhythm too. Yet I can’t recall a single time Daniel ever mentioned knowing Michael Turrey, even when we snuck into that Turrey family party.

“Oh my God!” I lead with, dousing the last word in urgency.

Cameron sways in her chair like she’s now buzzed on my fake burst of energy.

I rub a space on my left index finger, as if plagued by a newfound vacancy there. “I left my…grandmother’s ring at the hospital,” I lie.

“What ring?” Aminah asks. Her left eyebrow arches. Suspicion replaces her last lingering bits of embarrassment. I’m not a jewelry wearer.

I opt to avoid her question, instead looking at Turrey. “Would you mind taking me back to find it?” I can both help Daniel and avoid dealing with my friends. It’s perfect.

Aminah interrupts before Turrey can answer. “I forgot to say that Daniel thinks he broke his toe, and he wants Petra to go upstairs and look at it. She took a first aid class, so—”

She knows I’m lying, and I know she’s lying, but we give each other our best poker faces, knowing Turrey is still an elephant in the room, and we can’t let him in on the intricate dynamics at play here.

Turrey scrutinizes both of our features. He also knows we’re lying. “Guess I should head back. Gotta be there for Fly, even if I don’t wanna deal with everybody else. I’ll look around. What kind of ring is it?”

“It’s a purple square amethyst on a gold band,” I make up, merging my birthstone with my mom’s wedding ring.

Turrey finishes his iced tea, then pulls out his phone so we can exchange numbers. “Tell Daniel I was here,” he says as he stands up to exit. He walks out the back door and grabs his shirt from the pool’s edge.

As Turrey moves from Daniel’s yard into his own, I call out, “I’ll be back soon.”

He turns back and gives me a wave.

“Pet-ra,” Cameron says, slicing my name into two sharp syllables. “Will you please just talk to us about whatever’s going on with you?”

• • •

Wherever this is, it’s not the same as it was before. The grayness is changing. There’s no thing, no place, no idea like this. It eats up all I see or feel the instant it happens, and everything that happens morphs into something else before I can figure out what came before. If I could hold on to the changes for more than a fraction of a second, maybe I could better explain. All I know is I’m becoming less. Or more.

Either my eyes are about to open or they are closed tighter than they’ve ever been.

• • •

“Daniel!” I call out. “The coast is clear.”

Cameron sighs. “Hold on a second,” she says to me. “I’m sorry we ambushed you earlier. We were just worried. Please talk to us.”

The staircase creaks in a cautious way, steady steps tiptoeing down. Daniel pops out, wearing black swim trunks to match his black hair. He moves with suspicion, sizing up chairs and pantry doors for hiding spot potential.

“I swear he’s gone,” I tell him.

Daniel gestures to the sectional in the adjacent living room. “About time. Everyone take a seat, please.”