Hilltop House

Cora, Eleven

Brian's truck was surprisingly clean. For as many times as Cora had seen him pull beer out of it, she'd figured he'd be one of those people who smoked and drank and ate in his car, no concern for the upholstery or anything, trash all over the floor. But he'd been mildly surprising her since she'd met him. Pleasantly mildly surprising her, she mentally added.

She'd asked him where they were going, but he wanted to keep it a surprise. "What is this, a date?" she'd added in her natural sarcasm.

He'd not answered her right away, and suddenly Cora had thought she understood why he'd acted stupid the night before. But then he'd replied, "Not necessarily. I just thought you'd like this place. And you really need to get out of your house."

Being the over-thinker she was, Cora was still pondering his choice to throw in the word "necessarily" when they pulled off the highway and began driving through woodsy hills and houses until they were all at once in a charming town, passing things like cafés and gift shops and cute restaurants, holiday lights and decor adorning the lampposts and windows of every establishment. When they crossed a bridge and Cora saw water, a harbor, her excitement grew. She'd known they were within an hour's drive of the ocean, but her mother had literally had no time to do anything with her once she'd started her two jobs. Besides that one day they'd gone thrift shopping and the day Maeve had taken Cora to register at the school she was now attending virtually, they hadn't done anything together. Even finding a moment to talk to each other was difficult. But Cora had never seen the ocean—never even been to a lake!—and became visibly animated, gasping, turning to look out the window and watch for signs of water.

"You happy?"

"Yes! Oh my gosh, I've been wanting to go since we moved here!"

Brian turned to glance at her then looked back at the road. Cora felt her cheeks warm and wondered whether she was dressed properly. She'd not dressed any special way for the trip—just dark jeans and a black sweater, Doc Martens and a warm knit hat. Her jewelry was minimal, some silver cat earrings. She didn't feel the need or desire to do much around Brian. He didn't do anything special around her, either. It was nice not to have to worry. But maybe he should've told her where they were going.

"You're not swimming, all right? No getting in the water."

"Why would I? It's November."

"Ok, ok. I just don't know about you, that's all. You might do some crazy stuff."

"Me?" Cora scoffed but was secretly pleased by the comment. Maybe not so secretly.

Brian laughed a little as he turned into a near-empty parking lot. Cora caught sight of their destination beyond the wintry, leafless trees and started opening the door the minute the truck came to a full stop, but Brian took hold of her arm. "Hold up!"

Cora glowered at his hand on her and he immediately removed it.

"Sorry, sorry. I just don't want you to get more sick. Take your coat. Please? It's windy down by the water."

The girl huffed. "Fine, dad."

"That's right. Listen to your elders."

"Shut up."

They got out of the truck in good spirits, Cora actually glad to put her coat on. She pulled her hat down over her ears as well. The walk to the sand was brief, and within minutes there they were, looking right out at the ocean, beach stretching left and right. The water was deep gray, and a fine mist hung over everything in spite of the dryness of the cold air. Cora stared at the bright horizon, the meeting of dark water and white sky, her face all smiles.

"Before you go out there," Brian added, "I've got to tell you about this sand. It's special, all right?"

The girl lowered her brow. "What do you mean?"