Out of Sight

Chapter 2

When I got to Mam’s, the parking lot was packed. I had just gotten my license a month before and my mom let me drive around Kyla as long as I respected the driving curfews. I had to park on the street next to the pier, there were so many cars. I had always been a terrible parker. Especially parallel parking. The only spot on the street was in between two cars. I was pretty sure I could make it, so I put my car in reverse. After about twenty tries, I finally made it into the spot. I put the car in park and let myself relax, knowing I didn’t hit any cars tonight.

I got out of the car and locked the key. I began the block long walk to the pier.

I had taken a shower and eaten dinner after the meet. It was now eight o’clock and I felt fresh and hungry for some Mam’s. I was wearing a pair of cuffed jeans, my burgundy KHS sweatshirt, and a pair of Rainbows flipflops. My short brown hair was freshly washed and the brunette curls were almost dry by now.

When I got to the store front, Mam’s was just as busy as it usually was on a Friday night. Luckily, there was lots of seating room in the ice cream parlor. It was also a really nice night out, so there were a few students standing outside and eating their ice cream.

“Hey Desiree,” my friend Lindsay called out from one of the booths.

Since I didn’t see Megan around yet, I walked over to say hi to her and the friends she was sitting with.

“Hey Lindsay,” I replied, standing at the head of their table. Lindsay was one of my friends that wasn’t on track. She was a drama kid. She had starred in every musical since junior high school. She was quirky and funny and everyone loved her. She was a little over the top, but so were the people she hung out with. They were lots of fun in small doses.

She moved over to make room for me in their booth.

“Are you meeting Megs?”she asked me as I sat down.

“Ya. She’s late as usual though,” I replied with a laugh.

Megan was notorious for her inability to use a watch. I had grown accustomed to it after four years of friendship. If we were supposed to meet at eight, I would tell her to meet me at 7:45. She would still be about five minutes late.

Just then, Megan walked through the door. Checking the time on my phone, I saw that she was right on time for her: five minutes late exactly. She waved when she saw me and Lindsay.

“I’ll see you later,” I told Lindsay as I stood up from her table.

I met Megs in the back of the long line for ice cream. Mam liked to take her time serving ice cream, striking up a conversation with each patron. She knew each of us by name, not that hard to do in a small town like Kyla but still admirable. Her feeble hands moved slowly as she scooped ice cream anyways.

“Hey,” she greeted me as I joined her in line. The person in front of us turned around at the sound of her voice.

“Megs!”

It was her next door neighbor, a middle school kid she and I used to babysit. He had a major crush on Megan for as long as I could remember, always resentful of their age difference.

“Hi Joey,” she replied, still looking at me. Her eyes screamed for help but I simply turned to the case of ice cream and surveyed the flavor choices. I could feel her glare as she grudgingly turned towards Joey and started an awkward conversation.

Just then, I heard a few guys come in the store.  They got into line just behind me. I glanced back to see if it was Charlie, to no avail. It was a few VHS track runners. They were freshly showered and changed into normal clothes so they couldn’t be easily identified as being from Vito. However, I recognized one of them as the pole vaulter I had bumped into earlier at the meet. Besides, one of the idiots was still wearing his VHS letterman jacket.