True Colors (The Masks #1)(43)
They were silent after that, both comforted by my encouragement. Dad parked the car and unloaded the bags, nervously handing the keys to me.
“Drive it straight home. You use your Mini while we’re away. I’m only letting you drive it this one time because of your mother’s inability to pack sensibly.”
“Craig.” My mother’s warning tone made Dad grin. He winked at me as he walked to the trunk and helped unloaded the two big suitcases that never would have squished into my little car.
“Do you guys want me to stick around until you’ve checked in?” I slammed the trunk shut.
“No, that’s okay sweetie. We don’t want you to be lumped with a big parking fee. You just get going.” Dad’s eyes glistened. I could see he was proud of me. His little girl was all grown up. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him, trying not to let my glee at their departure show too much.
“Love you, Dad.”
He squeezed me tight. “Love you too, Peanut.”
I stepped into Mom’s embrace and whispered yet again, “I’ll be fine. Please trust me.”
She pulled back and held my face in her hands. “Promise you’ll call Seth or Layla if you need them.”
“I promise.”
And with that, they finally let me go. I leaned against the car, waving at them until they had hauled their bags onto a trolley and headed inside. You’d think they were leaving for a year the way they kept looking at me.
With a little jump of glee, I slid into the driver’s seat and enjoyed the power of Dad’s engine igniting.
“Sweet ride,” I whispered, tempted to drive it the longest way home possible.
I didn’t. I played the good girl, knowing that when Dad called from Hawaii, he’d ask. I pulled the car into the garage as instructed and noticed that Eric’s Jeep wasn’t in his driveway.
Why would it be? He’d already texted to tell me he’d be home on Saturday morning as he was going out with Dale tonight. For once, Dale wasn’t heading north to see his girlfriend, Nicole. She was coming to him and since Dale had a free night, he asked if Eric wanted to hang out. Eric wasn’t the biggest socialite and seemed to have a very small group of friends, from what I could tell. Dale must be a really great guy if Eric was willing to give him a whole evening.
I hoped they had fun, in spite of my disappointment. I’d so much rather spend my evening with Eric and having to wait was a total downer. But I refused to be a needy girlfriend...not that I was his girlfriend...yet. I grinned.
I thought about texting Stella, but what was the point? She basically hadn’t spoken to me since I told her she wasn’t the only person in the world. It was getting super awkward hanging out with the group. Her evil glares and scoffing tone whenever I spoke was getting old super-fast. Between Chase and her, I was getting major outcast vibes and I knew it wouldn't take much more until I spent my lunchtimes hanging out alone. The thought was far from appealing, but I hated the subtle cold-shouldering that was in play. It made me feel like such a loser.
I decided I was cool with my own company outside of school though. It’d give me time to think. I was still trying to work out what kind of business Liam was into. I wouldn’t put it past Liam to be involved in some sort of cheating ring within the school. Like maybe the smart kids were somehow helping Liam and his buddies get good test scores or something?
It was only a theory and didn't really have time to flourish because another thought hit my like a bullet in the night...Liam had said, "blood on your hands." What had he meant by that? Was the guy he’d been talking to a murderer?
Dashing up to my computer, I pulled up the history I’d found on Liam. I decided to try searching in the Burbank local paper again, this time looking for anything involving murder about two years ago. I found four articles —one shooting, two robberies and a domestic violence case. It was horrible reading the meaty details, but I was able to rule out two that had already been solved. The shooting and one of the robberies remained a mystery. In fact the robbery wasn’t even a robbery; it was attempted. The owner of the car had been bashed over the head with a blunt instrument, but the weapon and the culprit were never found. The article suggested that the person was trying to steal the car, the victim tried to stop him, and then it got messy. I couldn’t help wondering if there was a link to the other car thefts happening in the area at the time. There were a couple more articles I found about the case, but it quickly went cold.
I exited the screen and sat back with a sigh. Reading about those murders had really unsettled me. I felt jittery and my house suddenly felt ginormous and cold. Not really wanting to kick around by myself all night, I decided to walk to the nearest shops. I should have taken my car, but I loved this time of day. The sun hadn’t set yet and the air was refreshing. I was hoping it would clear my head and help me sleep.
Wandering down Montana Avenue, I stopped to buy an ice cream and sauntered past the shops, watching people out of the corner of my eye. I wasn’t in the mood for reading, so I kept people’s masks in place and found the task easy. It was such a relief to know I could switch off if I wanted to. I pretended for a while that I was just an ordinary girl, licking on an ice cream and in no particular hurry to go anywhere. My nerves stopped clanging together and my mind shifted from murder mode into swoon mode. I started thinking about Eric and what we might do over the weekend. I was thinking a Saturday-morning surf followed by a little make out session on the beach. We could then go home, get cleaned up and spend the afternoon chillin’ at my place...just hanging out on our own.