Omega

Chapter 4

Adam

What an odd girl. 

Casting a glance back over my shoulder, I saw Carson's lithe figure silhouetted just inside the french doors. I felt a little bad for making her so uncomfortable, but honestly I had really enjoyed seeing her feisty redhead attitude come out. 

She was cute when she was mad. Okay, I admitted to myself, she was cute all the time. 

Not the point, dude. I shoved my hands in my hoodie pocket and rolled my head back and forth as I trotted lightly down the stairs at the edge of the Cromwell property to the tiny sliver of shoreline that made a beeline to my new house. 

The more I thought about her, the more I wanted to kick myself for coming over here today. I don't know what I expected, but the response I got should have been it. I was just so curious about her. She wasn't in the cluster of students who bustled around downtown after school, going on dates to the diner and flaunting their cash on the pier. 

When I saw her sunning herself on the stone steps this afternoon I was pretty shocked to discover she was my neighbor. I had kind of been dreading meeting them, but now that I knew it was Carson, I immediately wanted to make an appearance. In hindsight it was probably a stupid move, but then again, I bet I made an impression.

I let out a grunt of laughter at the thought. Yeah right. If I made an impression it was probably that I'm a serial killer or a stalker or something, showing up on her porch in the dark like that. 

As I trudged up the path to my own back door from the shoreline, I made up my mind to give her some space tomorrow at school. I really didn't want her to think I was weird. Everyone else at Black Harbor High seemed to have that completely covered. 

When I slipped inside the basement door, I could smell dinner cooking upstairs, and I knew my parents would be expecting me to join them for dinner any minute. I kicked off my shoes and changed into sweatpants, then pounded up the stairs to the kitchen. 

Mom was standing at the stove, stirring chili in a giant pot while she held her cell phone pinched between her ear and her right shoulder. When she saw me, she smiled and pointed to the oven, indicating she had made my favorite jalapeno cornbread. I gave her a thumbs up and grabbed some bowls and silverware to set the table. As I was finishing up, Dad came in from the ground level deck that overlooked the sound. We gave each other a nod and he gestured for me to follow him out onto the deck. 

Outside, he passed me a bottle of Corona and we clinked bottles and took a swig before either of us said a word. 

My dad was cool in that he didn't hover around, expecting answers to dumb questions or trying to make me talk about things. He knew if I needed something I would let him know, and I appreciated that he gave me that freedom. 

Tonight it was several minutes of watching the waves lap up against the rocks directly below our deck before he mentioned school. 

"You have an alright day today?" he asked, still staring at the water below. 

"Mmhmm," I answered, not really wanting to delve into the microcosm that was Black Harbor High School. 

Dad nodded and took another sip, respecting my space as usual. 

After another minute I figured our neighbors were a safe subject to discuss with family, so I asked him casually, "That big house next door is the Cromwell place, right?" 

"The Cromwells, yep," he nodded, answering my question before it was even out of my mouth. Then he added, "I think Dr. Cromwell's got a daughter about your age." 

I gave a noncommittal "hmm" and took another swig of my beer. I wasn't surprised that he knew Dr. Cromwell. My dad had created an internet startup company in his twenties, then sold it to Google a few years ago so that he could live debt free and work as a consultant. He made a point to know people and have contacts everywhere, which helped my mom in her real estate business as well. 

"Your mother wants to have them over for dinner one night soon, actually, so if you haven't met her at school yet I'm sure you'll get to soon.  Those two have been through a lot in the last few years, and it really isn't fair how this town has treated them." 

I nodded again, letting him do most of the talking on this subject. I had heard bits and pieces of the rumors surrounding Carson Cromwell's mom and the Baxter Research Center in Boston, but I still wasn't entirely sure what it was all about. When Dad didn't go on, I prompted him just a bit. 

"Yeah, it seems a little extreme... I mean can research really be that bad?" I watched out of the corner of my eye as my dad swirled his beer and seemed to consider my question. 

"I guess anything can be bad if it gets taken too far," he said quietly. "But whose place is it to decide how far is too far?"  When he didn't volunteer to elaborate I dropped the subject and we finished our beers in silence until Mom stuck her head out the door and announced dinner was ready. 

As I sat at the table with my parents, the question kept coming back into my mind. Whose place was it to decide? And how far for what? What exactly was Dr. Cromwell taking to extremes in that lab in Boston? The queries bounced around in my head so long that evening I almost decided to talk to Carson about it tomorrow, but then I remembered I had promised myself I would give her space until she decided she didn't need to carry pepper spray when I was around. 

When I dropped into bed in my basement bedroom a few hours later, my thoughts were still consumed with questions about Carson and her family. 

Hello my pretties! Surprise surprise, Adam has a perspective in this story, too! I decided to include him so that we can all get to know the characters a little more. I am in love with this story so I want to make sure it is as fluid and understandable as possible, and I thought his perspective might help us move things along just a bit. Let me know what you think! 

RWW