It was nine o'clock Friday night when Andie finally texted me, a short, five-word text with a location, a time and the instructions to wear black. I had almost forgotten about her instructions to keep myself free today, as they had been given to me four days ago when I last saw her, and when I texted her back for more information, she didn't respond, but the small indicator under my message told me that she had read it. I resigned myself to following her instructions, changing into a pair of black jeans, a dark hoodie, and sneakers. When I went downstairs, Leighton was sitting in the office off the base of the stairs, and she turned when she heard me descending them.
"Hey," she called softly, the bright light of her laptop behind her shadowing her face as she turned around in the office chair to look at me. "Where are you going so late?" I wanted to roll my eyes at her idea of just past nine being late, but resisted the urge to, knowing it wouldn't help my case, especially since I didn't have an honest answer for her that would placate her. With the information from Andie's text, she would only suspect the worst.
"I'm just going to Andie's," I answered, leaning against the door frame of the office. "She's just having a small bonfire, wanted to wait until the sun actually went down."
"Are you coming home?"
"Yeah, but probably not till late. Don't wait up, okay?" Leighton nodded as if she agreed, the slight sag of her shoulders and the growing circles under her eyes indicating that she was too tired and too preoccupied with work to argue, but I knew she still wouldn't sleep until she heard me come home. "If anything changes, I'll text you."
"Have fun, baby. Be safe." Leighton smiled softly at me before turning back around in her chair as I took a step back, watching her curiously as she gave in to my plans without much of an argument for what felt like the first time, before I turned and reached for the door, slipping outside into the ever-warm Georgia air.
It took me only a few minutes to reach the location Andie had texted me, the baseball field just down the road, and when I pulled into the dirt parking lot, there were three other cars already parked there, headlights off. As my own lights shined across the space, it illuminated the crowd piled in and around the bed of Mac's truck, including Andie, who started waving at me excitedly. I pulled up next to her car, two over from Mac's truck, and tucked my keys into the back pocket of my jeans as I joined Andie. She bounced energetically on her feet as I neared her, throwing her arms around me in a hug.
"What the hell is going on?" I asked, backing away from her and taking in the rest of the group. Diego, Lee, and Alex were all seated on the back of Mac's truck, their legs dangling off the edge. Mac was sitting on the side behind them, his back to me, long dark hair brushing against the skin of his arm he had wrapped around a girl that I didn't need to see the face of to know. Sasha was standing between Diego's legs, his arms draped over her shoulder and his chin resting on her shoulder, Mariana between Lee's with Vi standing in front of her, both of them casting me an unimpressed, sideways glance as I approached. Connor was leaning up against the side of the truck, and smiled at me as Andie pulled me closer to the group and then let go of my hand, leaning back into Connor's chest as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"You'll see. We're just waiting on Verano," Connor grinned at me, resting his chin on Andie's neck. I didn't need to look around again to confirm that Isaac wasn't here. I had realized almost immediately, my eyes scanning the crowd of faces for the only one that I had seen consistently this week, for a lunch two days ago that turned into an all-afternoon excursion into the parts of Rayston I still didn't know, take-out breakfast from the diner at AJ's while Isaac attempted to fix the air conditioning in my car.
"Don't worry, he's almost here" Andie winked at me. "And this'll be fun. You'll love it." I narrowed my eyes at her skeptically before they flashed over to Diego, who had turned his head towards me.
"You want a drink, Loren?" He asked, holding out a brown paper bag with a glass bottle peeking out of the top. I looked at it hesitantly. "It's vodka," he continued, his eyes searching my face. "It's been passed around, if that bothers you." I was about to reach out to take it from him, not caring if a few other people had shared it with the countless bottles I'd shared over the last few months, but faltered at the sound of a quiet voice from the bed of the truck.
"It's perfect for her, then." The comment was made under Izzy's breath, but still intentionally loud enough for everyone around to hear. Andie's eyes widened slightly as she looked at me. Mac, Vi, and Mariana all smirked and snickered, but the rest of the group either rolled their eyes or turned to glare at her.
"Seriously, Iz?" Alex spoke up. "If you're going to start already, you might as well leave. Nobody wants you to ruin this night." Izzy huffed as she looked down at Alex, Mac's arm tightening around her shoulder as he leaned towards her, whispering something in her ear. I looked away from them, to Alex, offering him a small smile as I mouthed a silent thank you to him. He returned the expression, his eyes lingering on my face as I reached out for the bottle Diego was still offering me, desperate now for the relief of an altered state of mind, especially if I was going to have to put up with Izzy all night.
As I was lifting the bottle to my lips, letting the alcohol pass through my lips, wincing at the sharp burn that traveled down my throat with it, headlights illuminated us as Isaac's jeep rolled into the parking lot. He pulled up next to my car, hopping down as he adjusted a black baseball cap over his ears, grinning as he rounded my car to approach us.
"Whoa, who died?" He joked, his eyes scanning over our blank expressions, the combination of dark clothing not helping the dull mood Izzy had set.
"Nobody, unfortunately," Izzy piped up from the back of Mac's truck, her eyes landing maliciously on my face. The crowd around me erupted into groans and complaints at Izzy's comment, Andie turning her head up and snapping at Izzy to grow up.
"You okay?" I peeled my eyes away from Izzy's smug expression to look up at Isaac who had stopped beside me, his eyes cast down at my face, concern etched into his own expression. The grin on his face faltered slightly as he looked at me. Concern and confusion started to etch its way into his eyes as they flashed between Izzy and me.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I responded, swinging the bottle by its neck in my hand. "You want any?" I held it out towards him, and he glanced between it and my face before shaking his head.
"Driving, not a good idea. That didn't seem to stop you, though," he frowned, glancing back at my car.
"Maybe someone else will take me home," I bumped his hip with mine before leaning forward to pass the bottle off to Andie, who was reaching for it, purposefully watching Izzy's face for her reaction instead of Isaac's, wondering if he would register that I made the comment to get under her skin more than anything.
"Alright, are we gonna do this or what?" Diego called out, gently nudging Sasha forward so he could fall from the edge of the truck. Alex and Lee followed suit, Mac and Izzy following suit, Mac pausing momentarily to push up the tailgate. Excited comments and cheers started to pass through the group as we started walking away from the cars, down the dirt parking lot, back towards the woods that enclosed it, running parallel to the third base line.
"Are you going to tell me what we're doing now?" I asked, my question directed at Andie, but it was Isaac who spoke next, throwing his arm around my shoulder as we walked. I looked up at him, admittedly surprised as how casual he was acting, debating shrugging him off until the content, playful smile on his face convinced me otherwise. We hadn't spoken since our last confrontation in the study at Andie's house, when he had begged me for an explanation I couldn't give him before finally storming off. I hadn't thought that he had fully gotten over that night, and I wasn't entirely sure that I had forgiven him for what happened at the marina, but I forced myself to push down my feelings, not wanting to ruin whatever was about to happen, or be the reason he stopped smiling.
"They haven't told you yet?"
"No, they said I had to wait for you. Thanks for being late, by the way." I watched Isaac's face as a shadow suddenly crossed over it. It lasted only a moment, his lips turning down into a frown and his eyes clouding before it was gone, his cheeks dimpling as he grinned down at me, pushing into me so I stumbled to the side as we walked, his arm still thrown around my shoulders, connecting us.
"Anything for you."
"Then why don't you tell me what we're doing?" I glanced around as we neared the woods, our group narrowing to a two-by-two line as we walked down a narrow path. I found myself momentarily thankful for Isaac's arm around my shoulder because he seemed confident in where he was walking, as if he had done this a dozen times, whereas I couldn't see anything more than a foot or two away from me.
"Hide and seek," he beamed at me, his eyes dancing with excitement. I pushed my lips together, frowning as I looked around our surroundings.
"Seriously? In the woods?" It was not something I could feel myself getting excited about. It was warm and humid, and the myriad of bugs were swarming around my face obnoxiously.
"No, here." He nodded his head in front of us, and I looked as we cleared the small stretch of woods and came to an old, tan brick building, small and three stories high. "It's the high school," Isaac continued, clearly taking note of my confused expression.
"We're breaking into the high school? To play hide and seek?" I looked up at him, still not understanding the appeal. It seemed childish, by the entire group around me was fidgeting with excitement. I got the impression this was something they did as a regular form of entertainment in an otherwise boring town.
"Not breaking in," Lee chimed in from somewhere in front of me. "My dad's the principal, and I had a copy of his keys made years ago."
"Cause that really makes it any better," Andie laughed from behind me, as the last of the group filed out from the path through the woods, coming to stand in a small group around Lee, who was working a key into a chipping white side door.
"Aren't there cameras? Or alarms?" I looked around as multiple faces turned to me, shooting me odd and confused glances. Even I found myself surprisingly alarmed at my own questions, not usually one to care about breaking the rules or laws, but Leighton and Dan had crept inescapably into the back of my mind. I couldn't help myself from thinking about what would happened if we were caught.
"We're not in New York, kid, relax" Isaac laughed from beside me, finally taking his arm from around my shoulder. "Nothing bad really happens here. Security's pretty light." Some of the boys cheered loudly as Lee yanked open the door, only to be shushed by the girls standing around them.
"What? Are you nervous?" Isaac was teasing as he looked down at me, and I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest loosely.
"Of playing hide and seek in a school? Please. If this is your idea of an illicit activity, I need to show you a few things."
"Hey!" Lee called out, the door almost entirely closed, separated from its lock only by his fingers curled around the edge. I turned away from the amused grin on Isaac's face to look at Lee, along with everyone else. "Last one in the gym is it! On the count of three!" My jaw dropped as I looked around, my hands falling to my sides as I found myself suddenly caring more about this game than I thought I would have, especially when the tides seemed to turn against me.
"That's not fair! I don't know where the hell the gym is!" I complained, my jaw dropping as Andie only looked back at me with a sympathetic smile, shrugging her shoulders. The mischievous look in her eyes contradicted the smile on her lips, and I knew she wasn't going to help me. I huffed at her treachery, and then my body flinched involuntarily as I felt a hand slip into mine. In front of us, Lee lowered his voice to a hush and whispered, "Three."
"Stick with me. I'll get you there," Isaac winked at me. I looked down at his hand encircled around mine, hesitating for a moment before I wound my fingers around his in return. He rocked backwards on his heels then onto his toes, bouncing between his feet a few times, an innocent and animated light in his eyes.
"Two." The boys in front of me started to jostle into each other as Lee counted down to a half number, causing Mac to shout at him to just open the door. Connor leaned over and kissed the side of Andie's head, causing her to smile but also push him lightly, warning him to watch his back.
"You better not leave me behind, Verano," I warned him, pulling on his hand to bring him closer to the door. "I hate losing." Lee counted down to a quarter number in front of us. Beside me, Isaac squeezed my hand tightly, looking down at me with a gaze that made my stomach churn with a mix of emotions.
"I wouldn't dream of it, kid."
"One."