Five
It felt wrong to sit in the basement and record the podcast the following Tuesday morning, even to Thea. They’d agreed to broach the recent murders with caution, leaving all names out of it and asking that if any listeners had information, they should come forward with it. After that, they fell back into a slightly terse stream of banter as they discussed the horror movies they’d seen that week — a rewatch ofCarriefor Thea and cult classicThe Lost Boysfor Bryce, which had broken Thea’s heart, since Bryce had traitorously enjoyed hot, earring-wearing vampire Kiefer Sutherland without her.
Then they moved onto another true crime story — one that Thea had been dying to talk about for a while now.
“‘Our Jane Doe was given the eerie name of the “Lady of the Lake” when she was found drowned on that fateful day in 1977,’” she read from her notes. “‘To this day, nobody has been able to identify the body. All that’s known about her is that she was a twenty-something woman dressed all in white.’”
“Which is weird in itself,” Bryce chimed in. “She was in a summer dress, barefoot, in the middle of a freezing Minnesota winter. None of her other belongings ever turned up, and there was no evidence of assault save for the bruises on her shoulders, which suggested her head was pushed below the water by someone else.”
“But what was she doing there?” Thea wondered aloud. “We’ll probably never know. It’s crazy to think that someone out there might’ve been the last person to see her alive.”
“It’s devastating.” Shuddering, Bryce sipped her flask of coffee before she continued. “Our Lady of the Lake was buried in an unmarked grave not too far from where she was found. Some of the town members even left fresh flowers for her each year, but I still don’t understand how there wasn’t one person there who could have helped to identify her. I speak from experience when I say that people in small communities have a way of knowingeverythingabouteveryone.”
Thea shrugged, glancing up to find Mikey motioning for them to wrap it up. “Maybe she was a secret agent or something.”
Bryce rolled her eyes. “All right, that’s about all we have time for today. Next week’s episode will be all about a man who was killed by a lethal order of ramen noodles. Make sure you listen and subscribe, and please stay safe out there.”
“Bye,” added Thea. It was the only thing she could think to say after such a subdued episode.
As soon as Mikey cut the recording, Bryce pouted and slipped off her headphones so that she could press her face to the table without obstruction. “I didn’t like that.”
“We didn’t say or do anything wrong.” Thea resisted the urge to reach out for Bryce’s extended hand, instead swivelling around on her chair to face Mikey. “What didyouthink, Mikey?”
Mikey lifted his brows in surprise. “You’re askingme?”
“Yes.” It wasn’t as though Thea and Bryce ignored his very existence. It was just difficult to focus on anything but Bryce sometimes. Too difficult.
“I thought it was fine. You kept it respectful and sensitive.”
“Speaking of ‘respectful and sensitive,’” Thea ran her tongue across her teeth and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, “what happened after we left on Friday, social butterfly?”
Cheeks reddening, Mikey scratched the bristle across his chin uncomfortably. “Well… I drank one too many of those green cocktail things and probably made a huge ass of myself. I vaguely remember accidentally dropping a chicken nugget down Hannah’s dress.”
“Some girls like that,” shrugged Thea with as much optimism as she could muster.
“Ido,” Bryce admitted, voice muffled against the table. “As long as I can eat it afterwards. Didsheeat it?”
“She’s a vegetarian.”
Thea winced, and Mikey nodded as though to say he’d told her so.
“She should’ve had Thea’s celery sticks instead,” said Bryce. “Apparently everyone was saving food in their dresses on Friday.”
Mikey raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask. Thea was glad. If she talked about Heidi, Bryce would accuse her of liking her again — which wasn’t the case. Though they’d had fun on Friday and Heidi was very clearly a goddess sent down from the heavens, she didn’t leave Thea with the same depthless flutters Bryce did. Nor did she feel that unbreakable cord tying Thea to Heidi the way it always had with Bryce.
Bryce was special, Thea was beginning to realize. She wouldn’t find that same connection anywhere else. Even if it meant a lifetime of drowning in unrequited feelings, Bryce was Bryce. Thea couldn’t stop thinking about her, loving her, no matter how many other attractive people she met.
Mikey’s continuing complaints broke her from her thoughts. “You shouldn’t have left me there. You’re sorry excuses for wingwomen.”
“Youtry taking care of a terrible teen.” Bryce groaned and finally straightened up.
Thea snorted at that, though she still felt awful about Liv and Bryce’s argument. “Is she still grounded?”
“Forever. Anyway, Mikey, you should stop pining and just ask her on a damn date. If she says no, then you have your answer and you can move on.”
“But… whatifshe says no?”
“Then you have your answer,” repeated Bryce, and then shivered as though something was crawling down her back. A spider, or her own experiences with persistent, needy men? “Just make sure you drop it after that. Having to reject a man more than once is uncomfortable for all parties involved.”