Mångata Bay

|06| rain

|a n d r e w|
🌊

My job at The Monsoon is really helping me get closer to my coworkers—mainly Aspen. We talk when she's not waiting tables or hanging around Will. Fortunately for me, Will wasn't working today, so I had less of a battle to fight just to speak with his girlfriend.

"Thanks for walking me home," Aspen says as she stands on her rickety front porch while I stand on the sidewalk with my hands in my pockets.

"No problem. I can also walk you to the bay if you'd like," I say, cracking a smile.

Aspen laughs at me, making my eyebrows furrow in confusion. She points two fingers at the sky. "It's going to rain in, like, two minutes you dufus."

I squint at the slightly overcast sky. "The weatherman this morning said it would be cloudy for a while but not to expect any rain."

Aspen shakes her head at me. "Well, you should start listening to a different weatherman, because it's going to start pouring in a little bit." She rests one hand on her hip and reaches up to brush a strand of hair out of her face, revealing a deep purple bruise on her forearm I hadn't noticed earlier.

I frown at it. "What happened there?"

She peers down at it and cringes, but she masks it with a humored smirk. "Tripped down the stairs."

I don't point out that her house is a single story; I know she's lying, but why would she lie about that? Aspen has more secrets than I initially thought when I offered to buy her a drink after she saved me from drowning.

"Aspen?"

Aspen turns around at her name to see Will, who looks like he just woke up, standing in the doorway.

"Oh, hey, Will," Aspen says, forcing a smile and stepping toward him. He wraps and arm around her waist and I don't ignore how she tenses under his touch. Will looks past her, toward me, and sends me a short wave. I return it and smile politely back.

Aspen glances at me. "Well, it was nice catching up, Andy, but you should probably go before it starts raining."

I narrow my eyes slightly at them both but step back nonetheless. "Sure. See you both later."

The couple disappears inside, leaving me standing on the sidewalk by myself, my thoughts as my only company. I sigh and tilt my head up at the sky just as the sound of thunder rumbles, shaking the ground. Rain pours down in thick sheets all at once, drenching me completely within seconds. I sigh up at the sky.

Really?

I spin on my heel, starting the long walk back to my house.

🌙

Apparently I get sunburnt easily. Just from one walk to Aspen's house in the sun without sunscreen is enough to turn the skin on my shoulders fire truck red. The warm rain biting at me from all directions on my walk home didn't help any, and the rain still hasn't let up three hours later as I sit on the couch in our living room.

"Shower's open," Rose announces, slapping a hand onto my shoulder from behind. I recoil in pain and swat her hand away.

"Ouch! Don't touch my shoulders, Rose!"

My sister squints her eyes at me and cocks her head. "How did you get sunburnt? You were at work while the sun was out earlier." She brushes past me towards the laundry room with a handful of clothes. I trail behind her and answer impatiently, "I know that; The Monsoon closed early. I walked Aspen home, and I didn't think I'd need sunscreen."

Rose turns to me with a mischievous smile and a quirked eyebrow. "Aspen, huh?"

I pick up a dirty sock from the floor and toss it at her face in retaliation. Rose throws it back and ducks out before we start a full out war.

I amble into my bedroom and grab a random t-shirt and basketball shorts before heading towards the bathroom; however, my phone buzzing on my bed stops me in the doorway. I read the caller ID and smile.

"Hey, Aspen, what's up?" I greet, trying to sound casual.

"Andrew, something is very wrong."

I frown. "What are you talking about? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but..." her shaky voice trails off, spiking my anxiety.

"But what? Aspen, if something's wrong you need to tell me."

"You'll think I'm crazy just like Will," she mutters, distraught. I shake my head and lean against my door, pressing my phone harder to my ear.

"No I won't, I promise."

"Okay," she says, taking a breath, "I think Darcey Harrison is dead."

It takes me a few seconds to remember Darcey Harrison; she's Aspen's friend from The Monsoon who didn't show up to work the past few days. I question, "What do you mean she's dead?"

"Andy, I think someone murdered her."

"Why do you think that?"

"She hasn't answered her phone for the past few days, and when I stopped by her house no one was home."

I cross one arm across my body and peer out the window at the rain. I sigh and contemplate the situation. "Okay, there are plenty of places where she could be, Aspen. What makes you think she was murdered?"

"I know it's a stretch, but just hear me out." She pauses, then continues, "While I was visiting her house, I found her cross necklace on the ledge next to the door. She wears that damn thing everywhere, whether she's sleeping or showering or swimming; that necklace has not left her neck since the fourth grade."

"Aspen—"

"And you know that cliff at the end of the bay? That really tall one? The police have it closed off," she exclaims, her voice frantic and heavy with emotion.

"You can't just jump to these conclusions, Aspen," I say, trying to calm her down.

"But, Andrew, you don't understand," she pleads. Her voice cracking, she confesses, "This has happened before."