Twenty
“Ember!” I call, chasing her down the trail. “Ember, wait up!”
She runs faster, trying to get away from me. After she picked herself up off the ground, she threatened Danny, who slowly left and took off.
“And when I do stop, what are you going to do?” She calls back, her voice different than usual. “Beat me up? Cut me up with that knife you’re holding? There’s too many of you and only one of me, Gemma!”
I look down at my hands and then look around, confused. I’m not holding a knife, and unless I’m the one on drugs, there’s only one of me and I’m sure of that.
“You’re hallucinating, Ember.” I slow to a walk and when she sees me not chasing her, she slows down too, matching my pace. We’re a distance apart. “I don’t have a knife and there’s only one of me.”
“Maybe you’re right,” she shrugs, watching me closely as she walks backwards. I’m not sure where we are, it’s too dark to tell. “But I’m not high enough not to know that you’re seriously pissed. As soon as you reach me, you’re going to beat me up until I tell you.”
“No,” I reply, shaking my head. “But we can talk right now.” I stop and Ember copies me, but not before taking a few extra steps away. “Just tell me why you’re hiding this from me and things will go back to normal.”
Several minutes go by as she studies me closely. Eventually, I just start to think it’s the drugs. For all I know, right now she can be watching two other versions of me having a tea party.
“Do you promise?” I nod and she sighs. “You’re my best friend, Gemma.” She meets my gaze but something else is in her eyes, and whatever it is, it sure isn’t sincere.
“No, Melody and Scarlett are,” I remind her. “And I don’t have a best friend. Not anymore.”
“Oh come on,” she whines, throwing her hands in the air. “Mellissa is dead! Get over it already! It’s time to move on!”
“You’re just making me angry, Ember,” I snap, my hands clenching into fists at my sides.
She takes a few steps towards me, a grin on her lips and anger in her eyes. This time I take a few steps back, wanting to distance myself from her. Any sign of the sober Ember I’m used to is completely gone, and in her place is someone I’m unfamiliar with.
“So now you’re the one afraid?” She asks, smiling wider. “What do you think I’m going to do? Push you? Attack you? Hit you with a car?”
My eyes grow wide and she starts laughing, one that’s completely different from the laugh I constantly hear.
“So you’re…you’re the one?” I whisper, blinking back tears. “You hit Mellissa and I?”
Ember shakes her head no, another laugh escaping her lips. However I don’t believe she’s telling the truth, whether I think she’s being honest or not.
“I know who is, though,” she replies, taking a few steps closer. For each step she takes, I take one backwards. “Scared of me?” She smirks. “Should be. Are you going to start running? I think you should.”
Then without warning, she starts sprinting towards me at full speed. For a moment, I’m stunned, but I quickly regain control. I turn around as fast as I can and run away like my life depends on it. Knowing she’s much faster than me, I pump my arms harder, willing my feet to carrier me further than they ever have before.
“I’m going to get you!” She calls, still laughing.
A fork comes in the trail and I have no idea which way to take. Still undecided by the time I reach it, I keep running forward and burst into the trees. It isn’t long before I’m tripping over logs and bumping into trees, but I quickly break through again, ending up in a clearing.
The playground sits in darkness a short distance away and I run for it, not seeing the figure as I’m sprinting. Barreling into the person, we both start to fall but they quickly catch us.
“Gemma?”
My eyes see the cigarette in the person’s fingers before I finally look up to see who it is.
“Rhyson,” I gasp, my lungs feeling like they’re going to burst. Every breath comes out panicked, making it hard for me to talk.
“What are you doing?” he asks, meeting my eyes. “Oh my god, Gemma, what’s wrong?”
I shake my head, knowing I don’t have time to explain. “We need to hide and be quiet,” I spit out, grabbing his hand. I tug him along until we’re underneath the playground and ducking under the slide.
“What’s going on?” He asks but I cover his mouth with his hands, just in time for the bushes to ruffle at the edge of the clearing.
“Gemma,” Ember sings, her voice causing me to panic all over again. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
I peek out from the slide with Rhyson right behind me. Ember’s walking across the clearing, listening as she looks around for where I went. She looks smug as she grins, waiting for find me.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” She repeats, still singing. “And maybe I won’t hit you with my car!”
Rhyson stiffens next to me as Ember stalks out of the clearing. When she’s gone, we both fall onto the stand and let out a breath of relief. For a while, we’re both silent. Partly because she might still be near enough to hear us, and party because we have no idea what to say about what the hell just happened.
“We need to go tell Michelle,” Rhyson finally says, his voice low. “She’ll send out Michael and some other Haven counselors to find her and take her to the hospital until she’s sober again.”
“I guess this has happened before?” Rhyson nods and then watches me, waiting for me to explain what happened. I tell him and lean my head back on the slide, never wanting to move ever again. All my limbs are so tired that I don’t think I’ll be able to get up.
“We’ll have to leave the details out if you still want to see Scarlett,” Rhyson replies. “But we need to be careful on the way back. Ember’s pretty unpredictable.”
I nod and watch him stand up. He’s so tall he has to duck so he doesn’t hit his head. Extending a hand to me, he helps me to my feet.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah,” I say, rubbing one of my shoulders. “Just completely exhausted. If we have to run again, you’re carrying me”
Rhyson smiles. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
~~~
“I knew this was going to happen,” sighs Melody, shaking her head. She’s pushing pasta around her plate with her fork. Last night when I got back to the cabin, I told her what happened. “Every year it’s the same. Whether she gets better at Haven or not, when she goes home it all comes crashing down.”
I draw patterns in my tomato sauce, not hungry for dinner. Rhyson watches me closely from my left as he leans on his hand.
“Our group just keeps getting smaller and smaller,” I mutter, not meeting anyone’s eyes. Instead I feign complete interest in my food. “Who knows? Maybe I’m next.”
Melody laughs, but she doesn’t understand that I’m serious. She only knows what happened in the cabin with Scarlett, but doesn’t have any idea about the notes or what I found at home. Beside me, Rhyson tenses before taking my hand in his under the table.
“Don’t talk like that, Gemma,” he tells me sternly. “We’re going to figure this out.”
“I’m going to go get some water,” Melody says, rising to her feet. Once she’s gone, I dig in my jean pocket and pull out a small, crumpled piece of paper. Letting go of Rhyson’s hand, I smooth it over under the table on my knees.
“Another one?” He asks, leaning over to get a look.
“I found it this morning in art,” I whisper. “Whoever it is, they know exactly where to put these things so that I find them.”
Rhyson takes it from my hands and brings it closer so that he can see the words through the wrinkles. He’s about to speak, but quickly closes his mouth when someone takes Melody’s seat in front of me.
“Gemma,” Danny smiles, but it’s strained. His eyes keep flickering over to Rhyson, who’s looking away as he hides the note in his hands. “I was wondering if you wanted to go canoeing.” He says the word with too much emphasis, as if I don’t already know he’s talking about heading to the island. “I think there’s something we still need to talk about.”
Rhyson raises his head and stares at Danny. If he’s angry with him, he doesn’t show it. However Danny almost winces, starting to feel uncomfortable.
“Danny, Gemma’s busy tonight. But I’m not.” Fear flashes across Danny’s eyes. “I need help with something. Meet me at the beach in twenty?”
The only thing I’m busy with is a meeting with Michelle, but if I keep up my I’m-getting-better-and-everything-is-just-sunshine-and-rainbows façade, it will be done in five minutes tops. Even though I do need to talk to Danny, I’m much more interested in knowing what’s going on between him and Rhyson.
“Uh, s-sure,” Danny stutters, quickly standing up from the table just as Melody heads over. “Maybe another day, Gemma?”
I tell him sure just as Rhyson hands the note back under the table. Despite my smoothing efforts, Rhyson had clenched his fist so tight into a ball that it’s difficult to open it without tearing it.
“I’ll see you after?” I ask Rhyson, standing on the trail outside the mess hall. He nods, brushing pink hair behind my ear.
“I’ll come by your cabin.” He presses his lips gently to my forehead, but he’s distracted. His eyes look as if he’s somewhere far, far away.
It isn’t until he’s gone and I’m on the trail alone that I finally open the note.
Everyone knows but you.
I’ve been thinking about it all day, but I still don’t know what to think of it. As I stroll into Michelle’s office, I shove it in my pocket and sit down in the chair, putting on a fake smile.
“Hello, Gemma. How are you today?”
“I’m fine,” I reply, making my voice sound as normal as possible.
“Last night must have been quite difficult. Ember has always been insensitive, I’m afraid.” I shrug as she looks through a bunch of papers, looking for a specific file. “She should be back in a few days and will be under supervision. On another note, I got word that Scarlett should be going home in a week or two. She won’t be coming back to Safe Haven.”
She stares at me, searching my eyes to give something away about how I feel.
“Well, I’m glad she’s doing okay,” I smile.
Michelle sets down her papers and continues to watch me as closely as possible. “Anything you want to talk about today, Gemma?”
“Nothing particular.”
“Well then.” She breaks eye contact and offers me a Tootsie Pop. “I think we’re done for today.”
I have to bite my tongue to prevent myself for snapping about how we haven’t done anything. Instead, I take the sucker, offer a smile, and stroll out the door as I put it in my mouth.
When I reach the dirt trail I quicken my pace. Hugging the tree line, I speed walk to the beach. When I’m almost there, I go right into the woods and do my best to be quiet as I look for Danny and Rhyson.
They’re talking, but I can’t hear what they’re saying. Danny keeps looking away from Rhyson, as if he’s trying to find some way to escape. Even from a distance, I can see that Rhyson’s angry. His whole body is tense as he talks quickly and quietly to Danny. Abruptly, he turns around and starts stalking towards the trees at the side of the beach, diagonal from where I’m from. Danny follows, slouching like he’s dreading whatever is about to happen.
As they disappear, I start to follow.
It looks like I’m going to be doing more spy work than I thought.