From the perch I can see the whole field; the football players, the cheerleaders, the shiny sequined shorts of the dance team. Coach Chandler and Mr. Russell smiling up on the stage. Ozzy’s over at the booth, alone. No Alice. And Mr. Waller strides across the field in a rush, easing back behind his table. He leans over and kisses his wife on the cheek. I catch Ezra ducking under the bleachers—his father, predictably, a no-show for the night. Finn and Juliette are in deep, animated conversation.
Even up here, it’s loud, crowded, and smoky, which is why I don’t hear the sirens, not until the blue lights streak by the front of the school. Even then, they’re just part of the whole scene and not the signal that everything in my life is about to change.
5
Ozzy
“Thanks for the ride.”
Kenley flashes me a tight grin. “No problem.”
Alice bailed on clean up, leaving me and Kenley to do it all alone. It wasn’t a big deal, just dumping out the coolers and folding up the table and chairs. I helped her carry everything back to her car. I was about to start walking home when she offered me a ride. It’s late, and the walk over the bridge at night is a little precarious. I take her up on the offer.
“It feels a little surreal that we’re finally seniors,” she says. “I feel like I’ve waited my whole life for this moment and now it’s here, and...”
“And it’s a little anti-climactic?”
She frowns. “A little. I guess I thought I’d feel different.”
“It’s hard to feel different in a small town with the same kids you’ve been going to school with your whole life.” I tap my finger on the window. “Take Coach Chandler. He’s not looking to the future, he’s trying to reclaim the past. If you want different, you’re going to have to get the hell out of Thistle Cove.”
Her hands grip the steering wheel. “That’s the plan, right?”
That’s where Kenley and I have always been the same. We’re restless and dreamers. Finn and Rose—that’s why they’ve always been a good match—they follow the same narrow path. I fully expect one day that Finn will be up on that stage as head coach of the Vikings. And I have little doubt Rose will still be cheering him on. Whatever happens, I don’t plan on being here to see it.
Only one thing tugs at my insides when I think about leaving Thistle Cove, and it’s the girl sitting next to me: Kenley Keene.
As smart as the girl is, and she’s a complete brainiac, she has no fucking clue how amazing she is. She’s so caught up in feeling inferior to the Rose and Juliettes of the school that she doesn’t see her own worth. She’s smart, feisty, independent, and fucking gorgeous. Long honey-colored hair that she always wears in a ponytail, revealing her pale neck. Her eyes are a deep sapphire, her lips dark pink, and her skin makes my fingers twitch, wanting to see for myself just how soft it is. I’ve spent the last three years watching her change from a gawky tween, to a beautiful, sexy woman. I’ve also spent way too much time trying to figure out what the hell’s wrong with Finn for choosing Rose over her, and kicking myself for being too chicken to take a shot myself.
Kenley only has eyes for one guy in this town, and it’s not me. Asking her out would be like asking for a kick in the heart.
We start the drive over the narrow two-lane bridge—the one that travels over Thistle Cove. The wide swath of water buffer leads back out to the bay and divides the town from the suburban neighborhoods.
The car starts to slow, and I look out front window. The halo of red and blue lights flicker in the distance. It’s not uncommon for cops to do a check point at the bridge. Especially after school events. It’s an easy way to catch a few DUIs.
I sense Kenley tense next to me.
Was she drinking when I wasn’t looking?
An officer emerges from the fog, he’s holding a flashlight.
“Roll down your window,” I say, because for some reason Kenley has stopped functioning.
“Oh, right,” she says, fumbling with the button.
Shit. Maybe she is drunk.
The cop bends down and peers in the window.
“Everything okay?” I ask, leaning over the console.
“There’s just an abandoned car on the bridge, making it so we have to go to one lane. Just keeping people safe.”
“Thank you,” she says, seeming relieved.
“You kids be safe.”
She rolls up the window and follows the waving motion of his flashlight.