Chapter 28 Brady
Brady
Collins: I heard you made a trip up to Boone’s today.
Brady: News travels fast.
Brady: I actually liked being up there. He’s not so bad in the light of day.
Collins: A ringing endorsement.
Collins: Did you see any of the ghost animals that follow Boone around all day?
Brady: You’re telling me that man has both living and ghostly animals following him around?
Collins: Sure does.
Collins: Thank you, by the way.
Collins: It means a lot to me that you would help him.
Brady: How was your day?
Collins: Long. Just got out of the shower and thrilled to finally feel clean.
Brady: Well, Clarke and Sadie invited me out tonight. You in?
Collins: Ouch. My own sister invited you over me?
Brady: I think they have a rule to invite me out once a month.
Collins: Out as in bar or arcade?
Brady: Arcade. Apparently, the bar is closed tonight after someone accidentally slingshotted a rock into the liquor shelves.
Collins: Classic.
Collins: I guess it would be nice to blow off some steam.
I saw Clarke’s truck when I parked. I’d never actually been inside the arcade, but I saw a picture of it in the photo essay that inspired my move here. It was blurry and haunting, which is the exact opposite thing you’d expect an arcade and bowling alley to be.
When the door opened, I was hit with the smell of stale cigarette smoke. Right when you walked in, there was a bar alcove. My eyes landed on Collins immediately—sitting at a large booth with Clarke, Sadie, and some guy I didn’t know.
She was wearing a short black skirt, sheer black tights that looked like they had sparkles on them, and a pair of black leather boots that went up to her knees. I tracked my gaze slowly up her legs until I got to the big leather jacket she loved.
I ran a hand through my hair, trying to smooth it, but it just flopped back down.
I gravitated toward her—moth to a flame or whatever. When Collins saw me, she grinned so wide, I thought someone had turned an extra light on in here. My heart skipped over itself, and I tripped over my own feet—nearly going to the floor, but I recovered—not particularly well.
When I got to the booth, it took me longer than it should’ve to remember that there were other people here. “Hey,” Collins said.
“Hi.” God, she was pretty. Collins slid farther into the booth, so I could slide in next to her. I bumped into something on her hip.
“Sorry…my camera,” she said, and opened her jacket to show me that she was wearing it like a cross-body bag. I’d never actually seen her with her camera. It felt like a big deal—that she’d brought it out with her.
“Hey, Brady,” Clarke said next to her, and then the hellos went down the booth.
“Hey, Clarke,” I said. “Sadie”—I nodded my head—“and guy I don’t know.”
Sadie laughed. “This is Mitch,” she said, gesturing to the man who had his arm around her. “He’s from Sulphurdale.”
Ah, that explained why I didn’t know him. Even though I wasn’t the world’s most social guy, I still knew everyone in this town—at least by reputation if not in actuality.
“Brady,” I said, and reached across the table to shake Mitch’s hand. Weak-ass handshake. “Nice to meet you.”
“How were things at your parents’?” I asked her.
“Fine,” Collins and Clarke said at the same time.
“Their basement is all cleared out, and everything that needed to go is gone. They’re just in the process of drying it all out now,” Clarke said.
“They’re trying to save the shag carpeting,” Collins said, picking up her drink and taking a sip. “And hoping the wood panels don’t start to smell like mildew in addition to cigarette smoke now.”
“That would be a real assault on the senses, wouldn’t it?” I asked as the guy at the bar called a number.
“That’s our pizza!” Sadie said. “I’ll grab it, and then we can meet at the bowling lane.” We all slid out of the booth at the same time, and Collins came with me to get bowling shoes.
“How old do you think these are?” I asked.
“I don’t think you want to know,” she said. “But I’d double up on socks if you have them.”
“Oh god,” I groaned.
Collins laughed. “I’m going to get a drink. Do you want anything?” I shook my head. “Okay. We’re lane two.” There were only two lanes, so even if she didn’t tell me, I would have had a fifty-fifty shot. Plus, I spotted Clarke wiping off her bowling ball with a disinfectant wipe.
“Can you do that to the inside of my shoes?” I asked as I walked up to her.
“Nothing can save those,” she said. “Where’s Collins?”
“Getting a drink,” I said.
Clarke nodded. “So what’s going on with you two?”
I swallowed. “What do you mean?” I tried—and failed, I’m sure—to sound clueless.
“I have eyes, Brady,” Clarke said. “And I know my sister. She’s like that one pistachio in every bag that’s impossible to crack, and most people who try get hurt doing so.”
“Meaning?” I asked.
“She doesn’t confide in people. She doesn’t tell anyone when something is stressing her out, and if someone puts their arm around her, she threatens to bite it off, and the chance that she actually does bite it off is not zero.”
“We haven’t talked about it,” I said honestly.
“Now, that sounds like her,” Clarke said. “But there’s…something?”
“There’s something,” I said. “I, um, really like her, Clarke.” That was the understatement of the century, but I needed Clarke to know that this was real for me.
“Why?” Clarke asked. “I’m not asking that in a ‘I can’t believe it’ way, because I can. She’s wonderful. I know that—I know that the best, probably. I’m asking because I’ll go to the mat to protect her every time—no matter how much I like you.”
That made me smile. “So you should get why I like her, then.”
“Tell me anyway.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “She’s…playful. And unexpected. I like the way her brain works.” I looked over at where Collins was standing at the small bar, sticking a straw in a foam cup the size of my head. “She makes me feel lighter, I guess.”
When I looked back at Clarke, her eyes were softer than they were a second ago. “Those are good answers,” she said.
“The right answers?”
Clarke nodded. “You see her. As her. Collins’s career made her a well-known name in a specific niche, and I think she had a hard time being herself when she was in those spaces.
She didn’t want to let anyone down who admired her work by being a version of herself that she thought they wouldn’t like, so she did what she’s always done—kept her distance.
” I didn’t think there was a version of Collins that I wouldn’t like.
“I went with her to an awards ceremony a few years ago, and the way she chameleoned to the crowd and to the people was kind of…crazy. I didn’t even recognize her, and I’m her twin.
It’s a talent for sure, but it kind of freaked me out.
And I guess I just didn’t know if she was giving you the chameleon or giving you Collins. ”
“And now you know?” I asked.
“And now I know.” Clarke nodded.
“Are you guys talking about me?” Collins’s voice cut through our conversation.
“Yep,” Clarke said at the same time I said, “Yes.”
“So you know that Brady has a massive, giant crush on me?” Collins asked her sister.
“Sure do.” Clarke smiled.
“Hey,” I said. “I don’t think this is a one-sided deal.”
“Whatever.” Collins fought a smile and rolled her eyes. “We’ll see if you still like me after I kick your ass in bowling.”