Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
My love for pan dulce was the only thing getting me through the weeks . Life in Oakhill Creek was quiet because I was being a coward.
There, I said it.
All I did was work, work, and no play. That would be changing today. It was Friday night, and I had nothing better to do with my night. This made me miss my college life. There was always something to do on the weekends.
Not that I was much of a party animal, but sometimes you needed a little socialization.
There was also another reason I wanted to get out of the house, but I didn’t want to think about it too much. This day was nothing special—or so I told myself like I did for the last four years.
The weather had been nice for late spring, but I knew the night would start to get colder.
I threw on a dark jean skirt and a cream long-sleeve shirt so I wouldn’t get too cold later.
My hair was curled at the ends, and I didn’t have much makeup on other than my mascara.
I put on my favorite pair of white sneakers and went outside my room.
My parents were lying down on the sectional about to watch a movie.
“You’re not staying for movie night, June bug?” my father asked me.
He looked a bit disappointed.
That made me feel even more lame. I had been spending so much time with my parents that they now expected me for movie night.
“Not tonight. I’m sorry,” I said, not sounding very sorry at all.
“We were going to watch The Haunting .”
“Aw, I haven’t seen that one in so long,” I said, feeling a bit sad that I would miss it.
The Haunting was as scary as Dad went with his movies. On the other hand, I loved them. Mom only liked the paranormal ones. My partner in crime for all things gore and horror used to be Tyler.
His only flaw was that he wasn’t a Harry Potter fan, but we binged The Lord of the Rings trilogy together. Then high school came, and everything slowly began to change, and before I knew it, things that made us dorky and quirky were stuff he no longer had an interest in doing.
I shook my head to rid myself of thoughts of the past.
“Where are you going?” my mom asked.
“Zeke’s,” I said as I waggled my brows at them.
This made both of them smile.
“Well, at least you won’t get kicked out now.” My dad chuckled.
I didn’t bother with a reply. Of course they knew about all the times Ty and I tried to sneak in, and here we thought we were pulling a fast one.
Once outside, I went next door and knocked on Rachel’s door. Like me, she didn’t venture much into town.
When I saw her, I told her, “I seriously hate you.”
I told her to dress casually.
She looked down at her wide-leg, bell-bottom jeans. They were formfitting and cut just right to her heel height. Her burgundy top was tucked into the jeans while a Valentino belt was wrapped around her waist. Even with her arm in a sling, she looked put together.
“This is casual,” she deadpanned.
Now I felt like the loser little sister to the successful corporate big sister.
“I so want to be you when I grow up,” I repeated what I had been telling her. Although it was far too late for me to take her path.
“Are we going straight to Zeke’s?” she asked as she walked to her car.
She had gotten in a bit of an accident a few days ago, and now that she got her car back and my car was no longer needed, it was the obvious choice.
And it gave me the chance to keep driving her totally cool car. A win-win for everyone.
“It’s still kind of early. I figured we could go for a walk around the town square. I haven’t had a chance to browse other than go to the bakery.”
“Oh, I like their gingerbread pig cookies,” she added.
See, pan dulce was the best.
When we got there, the sun was starting to set. It wasn’t dark enough for them to turn on the twinkling lights they had all around the shops and water fountain, but I couldn’t wait.
“Oh look, they have a hot dog stand.” She pointed to the other side by the willow tree.
“Look’s good, but I really want some of the wings they have at Zeke’s.”
They had some good, seasoned wings and a special hot sauce that was made with blue cheese. It was the main reason why it was a popular bar. You could order them out Monday through Thursday. Too bad for underage me, I always craved them on the weekends.
It was akin to craving Chick-fil-A on Sundays. Now it didn’t even matter that there wasn’t one near me.
I couldn’t help the nostalgic feeling that came over me as we walked around.
I could feel a few people stare at us, and I could imagine why.
If Rachel was like me, that meant she didn’t go out much, so that meant she had not given the people a chance to really know her.
And as for me, I had just been avoiding everyone.
The older adults had no beef with me. People my age and a year or two younger were another story. I would have thought four years would have been enough to get over petty high school shit, but judging by the emails I’ve gotten, that didn’t happen.
“Can we go to the tarot shop? I’ve always wanted to go there?” Rachel’s question surprised me.
We walked over to the crystal shop, and I couldn’t help but look at the display window. This time, there was no ominous card on display. We walked in, and I had to admit the place looked awesome.
I wasn’t much of a spiritual person, and my parents were religious in name only, so I couldn’t even say I was a devoted worshipper.
The inside was very green, covered in all kinds of plants. I was sure some of them had to be fake since they looked exotic.
The walls were lined with shelves, and there were so many crystals in all different shapes and sizes. There were also booklets on spirituality and shadow work.
“Hello,” a chipper voice greeted us. “May I help you with anything?”
Rachel and I turned to see a pretty and small woman approaching us.
She was dressed in all black, with her black hair in a messy bun.
Her arms were covered in tatts. Her nose was pierced on both sides, and a chain went through.
Her lips were a very dark red, and she had either pale blue or gray eyes.
She was gorgeous, and she exuded coolness.
Rachel and I spoke at the same time.
“No, thank you. We are just looking around,” I said.
“I was looking for some rose quartz.”
She motioned us over to where the crystals were.
“What kind do you want? Pyramids, spheres, clusters, hearts, stones? I have almost everything.”
“Something I can put in my purse,” Rachel said, but I could hear the hesitation in her voice. She was as overwhelmed as I was.
While Rachel picked a stone, I wandered around, looking at all the crystals, when one of them caught my eye. It was uneven but not what she referred to as a cluster, more of a rectangular shape. The stone had pink and white stripes all around it.
As soon as I picked it up, the woman spoke, causing me to jump and clutch the crystal to my chest.
“Pink tourmaline.”
“What?”
She giggled.
“It called to you,” she spoke again, but she might as well have been speaking gibberish to me.
“I just thought the colors were pretty,” I said almost defensively.
“Take it. I think your heart is trying to tell you something.”
It was most certainly not trying to tell me something, but I was not about to argue with this woman at her shop.
“Thank you.”
Even so, I was still polite, and this was a gift. You couldn’t deny a gift. Unless it came from a creepy old man trying to sugar baby you up when he didn’t meet the face card requirements.
Rachel got her crystal and some essential oils. I stood next to her while she paid and noticed some cards on the counter. Without thinking, I grabbed one and immediately put it back on the counter.
It was a tarot card. If the description on it didn’t have my skin breaking out in shivers, the picture alone would have. Death was on top of a horse.
“This doesn’t mean I’m going to die, right?”
The girl smiled at me.
“No. The Death card is pretty positive.”
That made me feel a little better.
“You know,” she said as she handed Rachel her bag. “I never change the card on the window more than once a day. Maybe it was meant to find you.”
I was sure it wasn’t meant to find me. I was still not sure something as ominous as Death was a positive thing.
“Thank you for everything,” Rachel said in a sweet, polite voice, and I could have kissed her.
I waved at the shop owner and turned around, ready to leave, when she called after us.
“Change is a good thing.”
All I could do was nod at her.
As soon as we were outside, I turned toward Rachel. “Can we go to Zeke’s now? I’m starving.”
The bar was toward the edge of town. It was the perfect place for people to get rowdy.
While Sunny Pines got the better part of the lake, we were on the opposite side and had a tiny strip to enjoy.
The bar had been here for years. It belonged to Zeke’s great-grandfather and then to his grandpa, who passed it on to Zeke since his dad didn’t want to be a bar owner.
The place was two stories high, with a deck on the second floor. On the back of the property was a small cottage where Zeke now lived.
When we pulled up to Zeke’s bar, I was not prepared for the overwhelming feeling that came over me. The place was packed, and I meant cars parked on the grass around the bar.
My hands got a little clammy just thinking about walking in there, but I took a deep breath and put on a brave face.
I cursed the deck because I could feel people staring at us.
Fresh meat in a small town was like getting your period in shark-infested waters.
I turned to look at Rachel, and she didn’t seem bothered at all. She took the lead, and I followed close to her as she made her way inside.
It felt like prom all over again.
People stared, some gaped. Others started whispering in their friends’ ears. Rachel didn’t notice this, and if she did she didn’t stop to ask me about it. Some stools were by the bar, so she headed there and sat.
Zeke immediately noticed us.
Damn, the man was still fine.
He had long hair in a small ponytail. His arms were nice and firm, and he wore a black fitted V-neck.
He handed out a couple of beers and then approached us. He leaned into the bar so we could hear him. He leaned a bit more on Rache’s side with the comfort of someone who was at ease with that person.
“You’re a baby. You can’t be here,” he told me.
I glared at him, and the fucker smirked at me.
“I will sue you for discrimination if you kick me out. We had enough of that,” I said, pointing my index finger at him.
He chuckled.
“You’re making me feel old,” he told me. Then he turned to Rachel. “This one and her conjoint twin used to try to sneak in here whenever it was packed.”
I scrunched my nose at the twin part.
The place was rowdy, and people were chanting “Birthday shots” over and over again. I was obviously more stressed out than I thought since my mind didn’t immediately go there .
Rachel ordered a martini, and someone bumped beside me before I could say what I wanted.
I immediately perked up when I saw it was Adam, not thinking too rationally about the fact that if he was here, that meant he-who-must-not-be-named was probably also here.
“Astrid!” he exclaimed. “Rach.” He leaned into me and gave Rachel moon eyes. I just patted him because she was way out of his league.
Adam threw a hand around my shoulders and pulled me close to his body. He then turned around and yelled loud enough for the whole bar to hear him.
“Look, Ty, your girlfriend is here.”