It's been a few days since I last went to visit Father Mulligan. I want to go and see if he's learned anything but I know that it'll take some time. Ever since I visited him, I've had the feeling multiple times that I'm being watched. It only happens when I'm alone though, so I've been doing my best to stay with someone at all times.
Brooke and I are at Lena's house helping her set up for her party. It's in 5 hours. Brooke seems to be more stressed out about it than Lena, which sort of surprises me. Lena is usually the one who goes crazy when planning a party. I guess this summer she's changed; I was too busy with my own problems to notice it.
"Okay, so I think this place is coming together nicely," Lena says.
Brooke and I nod in agreement. That compliment from Lena seems to help Brooke relieve some of her stress.
"I think once we finish getting the food tables set up, we can be done until it's time to put the food out which we can do right before the party starts." Brooke starts unfolding another table and Lena and I follow her.
Once all the tables are in place we put the tablecloths over top of them and we stop and admire how we transformed Lena's back yard. If a lot of people show up, I think this will be a really good party.
"This place looks amazing if I do say so myself," Brooke says. Lena and I laugh at her. That's the most positive thing she's said about this party yet.
"It does look amazing. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to start getting ready for tonight. I'll see you both later!" Lena turns and heads into her house.
"Did you invite Aiden for tonight?" Brooke asks as we gather our belongings.
"I wasn't sure if I was going to but then he asked to hang out tonight. So I told him about the party and he agreed. So yes, I did invite him," I say as we leave Lena's backyard.
Brooke playfully nudges me, "So what are you going to wear?"
"I don't know, probably jeans and a shirt," I say.
"No you should totally wear a dress. Dresses look really good on you," She says.
"I'll think about it," I say to make her happy.
We get in Brooke's car and head back towards her house. As we pull into her driveway we see that her parents are standing on the front porch, as if they are waiting for us.
"That's super weird, why are they standing there?" Brooke asks. I shrug my shoulders and we get out of her car. "Hey mom and dad, what's up?"
Her parents look at each other and then look at us. A big smile appears on both of their faces. They start handing me an envelope as we walk towards them.
"What's this?" I ask.
"It's from Lowden," Mrs. Geiger says.
My heart starts to jump inside of me. I pretty sure it might jump right out of my body.
"Do you want some privacy to open it alone?" Brooke asks.
"No I'm fine," I say. I take a deep breath and then rip open the top of the envelope. I carefully take out the letter as if one wrong move could destroy it. I start reading it and I'm surprised by what I find.
"Well?" Brooke says and her mother shushes her.
"I got in," I say and wave a relief rushes over me. I have been so anxious about getting in ever since I decided to apply and now I finally have a plan for the future again.
Brooke's family pulls me into a hug and both her parents keep saying how proud they are of me. I feel happy, it's as if my parents are the one's saying how proud they are.
"I knew you would get in, you're like the smartest person I know. Lowden would be absolutely crazy not to accept you." Brooke pulls me into a hug herself.
"Charlie, your mom and dad are watching you right now, and they couldn't be more proud of you. I hope you know that," Mrs. Geiger says.
I smile and look down at the letter. "Yeah, I know they are proud." I feel a tear developing in the corner of my eye. I quickly blink it away. Right now is not the time for tears to fall, maybe when I'm alone but not in front of them. I don't want them to see my vulnerable side.
"Oh this is so exciting! I can't wait to tell Lena tonight," Brooke says.
We all walk into the house and Brooke pulls me upstairs. "What are you doing?" I ask.
"We have to start getting ready for tonight and then tomorrow we have a big day planned because we have to buy college supplies for you," She says as she starts going through my closet looking for an outfit for me for tonight.
"I'm assuming new clothes are on the top of the college supply list," I say.
She looks back at me, "Of course they are silly. It's the most important item."
"Oh Brooke, what would I do without you," I say and I flop down on my bed looking up at the ceiling.
"You would probably be tragically dressing yourself," She says.
Brooke is probably partially right on that one. I don't care about clothing, well not nearly as much as she does, but she wants to design clothes in the future so of course looking good is going to be a priority for her. As for me, my future goal is just to survive.
As I'm lying there listening to Brooke shuffle through my clothes, I feel a surge of exhaustion come upon me. I decide that shutting my eyes for a few minutes won't hurt. I can't imagine that resting my eyes would bring about those dreams. At least I hope it doesn't.
There's a girl. She's looking right at me. She looks so familiar. I know I've seen her before.
"Charlotte, be safe," she says.
"What? Be safe from what?" I say.
She starts walking towards me. She's holding something in her hand. It's my locket. Why does she have my locket?
"Be safe," She says again and hands me the locket.
"What is going on? Are you the one who sent me this locket? How is that even possible? Please tell me!" I plead to her.
She looks at me and pain fills her eyes. I try to reach out to her but I can't. I can't speak anymore. I keep trying and nothing is working. I need to stay here and get some answers. She starts disappearing before me. No! I scream inside my head.
My eyes shoot open and I see that Brooke is staring at me.
"What happened? I was trying to wake you up because you were saying 'no' in your sleep over and over again," Brooke says. I can see the concern in her eyes as she sits next to me.
"I was?" I say. I must have actually fallen asleep.
"Yeah, what were you dreaming about?" She asks.
"I don't remember. I guess it was just nothing." I lie. I'm not sure why I decided to lie to her but for some reason I couldn't get myself to tell her about that dream. I remember every bit of it and it frightens me.
"Okay, well lets get ready for the party," She says. I'm not entirely sure if she believes me but she doesn't push it any farther.
After I'm showered and dressed I look at myself in the mirror. I'm wearing a blue and white striped halter maxi dress. It makes me think I should be going to a boat party or something. It's almost time to leave so I head to Brooke's room to see if she's dressed yet. When I peek inside I see that she's not in there. She must've already gone downstairs.
"Brooke?" I yell her name as I head down the stairs.
"In the kitchen," Brooke yells back.
I walk in and see that someone else is there. I'm not sure who it is until he turns around.
"Aiden, hi, I thought we were meeting at the party?" I ask.
"Yeah, sorry. I was driving by and saw that both your cars were here so I figured I would drop by. I can head out and meet you at the party if this is weird or something." He looks so nervous. I can't help but smile at that.
"No, it's perfectly fine. We're about to head out anyway." I say.
"Okay, awesome. You look great by the way," He says.
I can feel my cheeks starting to blush. "Thank you."
Brooke walks over to me and whispers to me, "You should ride with him and tell him your big news."
I had completely forgotten about Lowden since that dream. I decide to take her advice and ride with him. It'll give me a chance to talk with him alone at least.
I turn to Aiden, "Is it okay if I ride with you?"
"Of course," Aiden says.
We all head out the front door and Aiden and I get into his car and I wave to Brooke. She winks at me as she gets into her car; she so desperately wants something to happen between Aiden and I. Aiden pulls out of the driveway and I direct him towards Lena's house.
I don't how to start a conversation, I am just way to awkward. "So I got the acceptance letter from Lowden today," I say.
"Really? That's awesome. Congratulations," Aiden says.
"Thank you," I say. I wish I were a better conversationalist.
"Are you excited about it?" Aiden asks.
"I'm more excited than I thought I would be. Are you?" I say.
"Yeah. I mean part of me isn't excited about starting over again but then again, part of me is," He says.
"Yeah I know what you mean," I say. My mind keeps wandering back to the dream as we drive. I just keep thinking about those words. Be safe. That's exactly what was sent to me with the locket. It just can't be a coincidence. If only I could figure out who the girl is in my dreams, then things might start making sense again.
"You seem quiet," Aiden says.
"Sorry. I'm just tired," I say. I wasn't really sure what else to say. I can't really tell him the truth; he would probably run far away from me.
I see him peek at me from the side. I can tell he wants to say more but he doesn't. I feel bad; I shouldn't be so caught up in my head when I'm sitting next to someone I want to get to know. I start to think about things to say but then we turn onto Lena's street and I'm shocked by how many cars there are. There must be around two hundred people at her party.
"Wow she sure knows how to throw a party," Aiden says.
I laugh at his comment. "Yeah she does," I say as I stare at the mass of cars and people. "I had no idea this many people would come to a last minute party."
"I just hope she has enough food," Aiden says as he miraculously finds a spot right out front. Someone must have just left.
"Yeah I'm pretty sure we didn't buy enough food for this many people. We were thinking that there would be like twenty people, maybe thirty tops. I never would have guessed this many people would come," I say. I'm still shocked at the number of people. I'm going to be spending most of my time here searching for Lena. "We should try and find Lena first, to say hi."
"Okay, lead the way," He says. I grab his hand and pull us into the mass of people that stand in front of us.
It takes us only a few minutes to find Lena. She's standing towards that front of her house. That must be her plan so that it's easier for people to find her to say hi.
"Lena!" I say shouting across her living room. She turns her head and a big smile immediately appears on her face.
"Charlie! Hi! I'm so glad you're here. There are so many people. I am utterly shocked, I never would have guessed," She says. She seems just as surprised as I was about the number of people here.
"Lena, this is Aiden," I say to Lena and then turn to Aiden, "And Aiden, this is Lena," I say. They shake each other's hands and politely smile at one another. "Did you even invite this many people?"
"Well not exactly. Apparently my mom has been planning this for weeks and sent invitations out weeks ago. She wanted it to be a surprise about the number of people, that's why she told me last minute to send out invitations and to tell you and Brooke," Lena says.
"Why wouldn't she want to tell us sooner? Also, what are you doing about food and refreshments because I know we did not put out enough for this many people," I say.
"My mom actually catered the party so the food and drinks are not a problem and she knows that if either of you knew about the size of the party, one of you would give it away some how," She says. Her mom is definitely right on that one. One of us, most likely Brooke, would say something unintentionally and ruin the surprise.
"You definitely have a lot more mingling to do than originally planned," I say.
"Yeah I do which reminds me that I should probably get back to it. Today is definitely not going to be a day of hanging for me." Lena hugs me and then smiles at Aiden. We watch as she disappears into the sea of people.
"Brooke is going to have a heart attack when she pulls up." I turn to Aiden.
"Yeah this is definitely not the small get-together that you had described when you invited me," Aiden jokingly says.
"Do you want to get out of here? I don't know half of these people and the half that I do know, keep looking at me like I'm lost puppy or something," I say.
"Yeah sure, whatever you want. Lena won't get mad at you right?" Aiden asks.
"No she'll be fine. We already said hi to her and I probably wouldn't see her the rest of the party anyway." I motion for Aiden to follow me out of the front door.
"So where are we off to now?" Aiden asks as we get into his car.
"Do you like lakes?" I ask.
"I love lakes, which way do we head?" He asks and I can see the excitement in his eyes. I point him in the direction of Lake Hill. The name of the lake isn't very creative; it was given its name because it is surrounded by hills.
We pull away from Lena's house and before we know it, we're pulling in near the lake. There is no parking lot; people just have to park along the road. We get out of the car and I show Aiden the hill that will lead us to the lake. We start heading down the hill carefully. The hill off of the road is the steepest one. The other sides of the lake have more gradual hills but there's no road to come in from any of those directions, just forest.
I don't remember the hike down ever being this long but for some reason, it feels longer than usual. It feels like we've been walking forever when the hill finally levels at the bottom. As I look ahead I can make out the clearing of the lake, just a few more trees to walk through.
We walk through the trees that surround the lake. I've always liked this place. The lake is so peaceful. It reminds me of my family. We weave through the trees until I spot a peculiar one. It's looks a lot older than all the other ones. I don't know why but I'm drawn to it and for some reason I start circling the tree and dragging my fingers over its ridges. I can see Aiden watching me curiously.
"What are you doing?" He asks.
"I'm not sure. There's just something about this tree." I keep circling it and when I look up, I notice something. Just above my head is a carving. Someone taller, similar to Aiden's height actually, carved something into this tree. It looks like a heart with some initials in it. They must have been high school sweet hearts, considering only high school kids hang out here.
"Looks like someone else really like this tree," Aiden says and gestures towards the initials.
"Yeah, it does." I say.
"I wonder who they were," Aiden says.
"What are the initials?" I ask.
"It says MS and SJ Forever." Aiden says and he continues to stare at the letters like he's trying to figure out a puzzle.
I keep walking around the tree until it registers in my mind about what he just said. SJ, it can't be coincidence that someone with those exact initials would send me that note and be carved into this tree.
"Do you know who they stand for?" I ask Aiden. I try to hide eagerness but I'm not entirely sure if it worked.
"Well I have a hunch. My dad's initials are MS and he dated Susanna Jacobson whose initials would be SJ. So it could be them"
If those initials are Susanna Jacobson's then I might be able to get some answers after all. I just can't believe that after all this; SJ was right under my nose the entire time.