Page 6 of Winter’s Teeth

Fox continued to stare at me like I was the most annoying person to grace his day, but he shook his head. “Not a twin, but you’ve definitely got the wrong person.”

Just then, the foreman popped out of the parked trailer office, flipping through a clipboard of work orders and notes. “Alright, boys. Truck is almost here to unload.”

Fox turned away, leaving me standing at the fence like a complete fool. A few of the other men spared me pitying looks, but they moved on, too.

As the bell tolled across campus, a curse slipped from my lips.

Late already.

And it was all Fox’s fault.

Chapter 3

Creek Boy—who I now knew as Fox—was gone when I got out of class. The rest of his crew wasn’t though, and I was pretty sure I was creeping them out on my fifth walk by of the morning.

He really wasn’t there anymore. No extended bathroom break, no quick errand...

He left.

A chill the same temperature as Penn’s Creek rippled through me at the thought that he had left because of me. That I had scared him off.

I didn’t want to be his hero. I wasn’t even asking for a thank you, but to act like I was a complete stranger? That was cold hearted on a level I hadn’t expected.

It made for a potent dose of secondhand embarrassment when I finally told the tale to my friends at dinner that night in the commons. Riss’s cringe when I narrated the awkward exchange outside the music building gave me third-hand embarrassment, a form I had never experienced before.

“That’s so sad!” Angie declared, clutching a breadstick to her chest.

“For who? The guy that almost died in the creek? Or me, champion sufferer of awkward interactions?” My head fell forward on the edge of the table, and I almost cried at the sensation of something sticky meeting my forehead. Were a simple acknowledgment from someone you rescue and a clean dining table too much to ask for?

At this rate, I needed a spiritual cleansing of some sort to get rid of all this horrible luck.

Ben Wisniewski patted my back reassuringly. “For both of you,” he filled in for Angie. “Don’t worry. You’ll forget about it soon, and in a few months we’ll all make fun of you for it.”

I sat up to swat his hand away, glaring drily at the most easy-going guy on campus in his gun shop sweatshirt and rescue dog shelter baseball cap. “I will punch you if you do that.”

“You say that now because it’s fresh.” He shrugged and plucked a fry off my plate while Angie handed me a napkin to clean the sticky mess off my forehead.

I snatched the napkin, rubbing my head with enough vigor to abrase a dermal layer or two. “Fresh or not, I will punch you.”

“I wouldn’t doubt her on that,” Riss said with the blue glow of her phone screen lighting up her face. Karissa Zheng was no joke when it came to internet stalking. If I was a betting woman, I would wager every penny to my name she already found a home address.

My shoulders slumped forward as I leaned into the table and stirred the crushed ice around in my cup with a straw. Condensation trickled down the plastic meant to imitate glass. “Did you find anything yet?”

Riss huffed, dark brows knitting together and nose scrunching every two seconds with distaste. (Not a good sign.) Around us, the dull din of other students and the warm glow of the overhead lights settled my racing thoughts. Closing my eyes, focusing on the smells of dinner, I could zone out for a minute and forget all my worries.

“You’d think I would have no problem with this,” Riss complained, tossing her phone down to take a break and angrily stuff hunks of salad in her cheeks. Around the mouthfuls, she continued. “Fox isn’t a common name, so there isn’t much to go through, but now I’m thinking that’s not his real name.”

I leaned in closer to the table, conspiratorially murmuring, “It could be a nickname his work buddies gave him.”

“That’s what I’m thinking. I’ll have to do some more digging. See if anything is in the news about a boy found in Penn’s Creek.”

“I’ll keep a look out, too!” Angie promised emphatically.

The corner of my mouth twisted up briefly, but for the time being, I had nothing to go on.

***

I HAD THE UTMOST FAITH in Riss, but sometimes there just wasn’t anything to find.