P. Hoover - Solstice

I act surprised. “My father?”

She nods.

“Where?” I’m trying to keep my voice calm.

“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that he doesn’t find out where you are. And I plan to make absolutely certain he doesn’t.”

An eerie chill runs though me. The father I’ve never known. My mom said he’d left when she was pregnant. That he got involved in some terrorist group and got thrown in prison after they blew up some giant water still being built in Nevada. Hundreds of people died in the explosion, and he was the person named responsible. He went to prison without even trying to deny his actions, and then he escaped less than a year later. And now, my mom’s planning to run off and meet with him alone?

“I should go with you,” I say, though the thought makes me queasy. His note had been nothing short of cloaked threats.

“No. You shouldn’t.”

“But he could hurt you,” I say.

My mom gives me a small smile. “I’m the one who’s supposed to protect you. Not the other way around.”

I open my mouth to argue again, but my mom stops me.

“Go to bed. You have school tomorrow.”

Even though I’m running late, I take my time, walking through what used to be the parking lot when I get to school. A couple years ago, the city council finally tore up the blacktop and attempted to plant some native greenery. Global Warming kills the atmosphere, so cars are taxed and restricted, and now most people don’t drive, which means a parking lot at a high school is no longer necessary, especially one made of blistering, black asphalt. Sometimes Chloe waits for me here in the mornings, but today she must already be in class like I know I should be.

I check the thermometers before I go in and resync my FON to match it. At one hundred and nine, we shouldn’t have to worry about another heat bubble today. Maybe not all weekend. The reporters must be wrong. And I can hardly believe my mom is actually going away. I mean, this has never happened. I head into school and pass the bathroom, thinking of Tanni, wishing she’d been a figment manifested from the deep recesses of my mind. But I touch the tender bump on my head. The blood’s scabbed over into a thin line which my curly hair hides—even in a ponytail. But it still hurts, and I know the bathroom—and Tanni—were real.

Shayne’s not in Social Sciences. I try not to spend the entire time wondering where he is. And in truth, I’m thinking more about Chloe. I haven’t talked to her since the tattoo parlor. I can’t get the words Chloe will die out of my mind. Or the image of Tanni’s empty eye sockets. And so, as soon as the bell rings, I look at no one, stop nowhere, and head to Study Hall.

Chloe’s there, waiting for me.

“What happened? I must’ve tried to text you a hundred times.” She jumps up from her chair and rushes over before I even get to the table.

I push the image of Tanni out of my mind. But her horrible words won’t budge. Chloe will die. “Nothing.”

“Nothing! I heard you got sent home yesterday. That you bumped your head.”

I nod. “I slipped in the bathroom. It was nothing.” I pull aside my hair so she can see the scab.

Chloe looks at it. “They sent you home for that?”

“Yeah. I think I passed out. Some freshman found me.”

Chloe lets go and walks back over to the table. “I’m so glad it wasn’t something serious.”

I smile and nod, but Tanni’s haunting eyes come back to me, burned into my mind, and I think it was serious. “Yeah, me too. How’d you find out?”

Chloe’s eyes get a dreamy look. “Reese told me. This morning in Physics.”

How did Reese know? I haven’t talked to him since he came by. My chest spasms; I need to tell Chloe about my plans.

“My mom’s leaving town this weekend.” I say it casually, but as soon as the words are out, my stomach starts flipping.

Chloe drops the stylus she’s picked up. She hasn’t started studying. Neither of us gets much studying done during Study Hall. “No. Way.”

I nod and bite my lower lip. “Yeah. She leaves Friday morning.”

“Oh. My. God.” Chloe’s excitement is infectious.

But I don’t want the whole school to know. “Shhhh!” The kids sitting two tables over have stopped writing and look at us.

“Piper, do you realize how huge this is? What are we going to do?”

The flipping in my stomach continues. “She told me to stay home all weekend.”

Chloe rolls her eyes. “I didn’t ask what she told you to do. I asked what we’re going to do.”

“Chloe…”

“What?” Her eyelids lower, and her eyes narrow. She knows I don’t plan to sit around watering the plants all weekend.

“I have to tell you something. I swear I don’t know how this happened and I have no clue how to get out of it.” Or if I want to get out of it.

“Out of what?” she says.

I sigh and make a silent wish she won’t hate me forever. “I think I got asked out for Friday night.” I whisper it because I really can’t believe it myself. And even if it’s not Shayne, I’ve still never been anywhere with a guy alone.

“Like on a date?”

“Shhhh!”

“Shayne?” At least she lowers her voice.

I shake my head, though now that she voices it, I’m torn between wanting it to be Reese and wanting it to be Shayne. I can’t believe Shayne wasn’t in class today.

“Then who?”

“Reese.” I can barely get the name out, and I watch her face to gauge her reaction.

The smile stays on Chloe’s face though it falls into a shadow of itself. “Wow. Reese.”

I realize Chloe is giving me the excuse I need because, as each minute brings me closer to Friday, my stomach tightens from nerves. Or excitement. At this point, I’m not very clear. “I’m going to tell him I can’t go. I’ll tell him I have other plans.”

Her eyes are moist, but she’s fighting to hold back her hurt. “He talks to me the entire class. He seems so interested,” she says.

“He should be,” I say. “He’s an idiot if he’s not.”

Chloe sits there, looking down at the table. I squeeze her hand, but she doesn’t return the gesture.

“I’ll tell him I can’t make it.”

But finally Chloe shakes her head, and her face brightens back to some semblance of what it was before. “No. No, you need to go. You’ve never been on a date.”

I lean close. “I don’t mind. I don’t really want to go.”

“You have to go.” Her smile is halfhearted, but still there.

“No, really. I’ll tell him I have to study.”

Chloe blows out a breath. “Please, Piper. Do you realize how huge this is?”

I nod, realizing also how much trouble I’ll be in if my mom ever finds out.

“I’ll come over beforehand. I can help you get ready.”

I look and see Chloe’s eyes have returned to normal, happiness shining through her. Like she really is happy for me somewhere inside. And Tanni’s horrible words come back to me hard.

Chloe will die.

It can’t be right. Not now. Chloe’s only eighteen like me. She’s got her whole life ahead of her. The whole thing was a dream. Or a nightmare. And just not real.

I smile. “Are you sure? Because I don’t mind—”

Chloe puts up her hand. “Don’t say another word about it. So how about Saturday?”

Saturday. I haven’t even thought that far in advance. “How about it?”

“Let’s go somewhere. Let’s do something fun.”

“Like what?” I ask.

Chloe shrugs. “Leave that to me. So where’s she going?”