I take another drag, wanting to hold onto it while it lasts.
11
Kenley
“Do you really think she’s gone?” I ask, once the cannabis loosens my tongue. That’s why I smoked it. Being with Ozzy is one thing. Although we’re not close, there’s no bad blood. But sitting in tight quarters with Finn and Ezra, I needed something to get through the moment.
My question is directed at Finn. He’s the one that would know. His sharp jaw tenses and he stares at his knees. He hasn’t spoken a word since he and Ezra arrived.
“The real question,” Ezra says with a dark chuckle, “is do you think she jumped off the bridge?”
“Shut up,” Ozzy mutters, glancing between me and Finn.
“It’s a fair question,” Ezra says. “Her car was found on the bridge. It wouldn’t be the first suicide from that location.”
Everyone knows the story of Skip Carson, who came back from two tours in Afghanistan and leapt off the bridge.
“Why would she do that?” I ask. “She had everything going for her. Smart, popular, rich. In nine months she’d be out of here—at the school of her choice.”
Or at least, that’s how it appeared. Something nags at me, though. My last, unexpected interaction with her. She hadn’t been any of those things.
“Popular
ity doesn’t mean you don’t have problems,” Ezra says. “I mean, her life looked pretty fucking shallow to me. Maybe she peaked too soon and realized nothing for her would get better after high school.”
He smashes the tiny end of the joint, extinguishing it with his fingers, and tossing it in the ashtray.
“What do you think?” Ozzy asks Finn.
I don’t expect him to answer, but he exhales and runs that hand through his hair. “I think she took off.”
“Without you?” I blurt.
Our eyes meet. There’s hurt in the vibrant green.
“She’d been going through something lately—what, I don’t really know. She’d become distant, and although we’d always agreed to go to the university together, she started talking about getting away—like far away. She kept bragging, some money stashed that her parents didn’t know about.”
Ezra, Ozzy, and I gape at Finn. It’s the most I’ve heard him speak in a long time, and the information? Well, it’s a little shocking.
“Did you tell the police all that?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I figured if she really wanted the hell out of Thistle Cove that badly, I’d let her get a head start.”
There’s a mix of bitterness and sadness in his voice and he leans back in his seat, obviously done talking.
Ozzy tugs at his cap.
“I’m with Finn, she bolted. I think this whole thing is just about creating drama. Everyone is all riled up and talking about her and in a few days, she’ll reemerge with some fantastical story about how she flew to Paris and forgot to tell everyone.”
“Harsh, but possible,” Ezra says.
“It wouldn’t be the first time she’s pulled a prank.” He glances at me. “Really, I just think Rose is too selfish to take her own life. Where’s the fun in that? But having the whole town wondering where you are? Disrupting the school year? What better way to make a splash.” He winces. “Sorry, wrong word choice.”
He has a point. I absorb the information, trying to process everything.
I’m deep in thought when Ezra kicks the toe of my shoe with his. “What about you, KK, she was your bestie, what do you think?”
Finn’s eyes flick up, curious. My cheeks heat, either from the weed or the attention. Probably due to the former, I say something I never normally would.