Spin

Chapter Nine

LILAH

(Age 14)

My fingers trailed across the water's surface as I made my way out into Silver Creek. The day was hot, one of the hottest I could remember. It didn't take long for me to abandon the sweltering heat of the cabin.

I was at my usual spot, down the trail behind my house. I held back a sigh as the water reached my thighs, sending a pleasant chill up my spine. For a moment, I was tempted to drift out even further. To submerge myself and feel the heat leave my body like a demon being exorcised. But then, I reminded myself that the creek was dangerous and that I was out here alone.

I was used to it... being alone. Some days I wondered if my existence was possibly the loneliest one ever lived by a teenage girl. Aside from Maggie, who I was forced to communicate with, on account of her being my mother, the only other person I talked to regularly was my best friend, Sam. In truth, she was my only friend. We'd been in the same grade since elementary school, but she lived in Silver City so I didn't see her much in the Summer.

I knew that I was an oddity—that girls my age were supposed to be surrounded by friends, spending their summers chasing fun and adventure... and boys. And I did want those things, sometimes so much that the ache made me sick. But, there was always something stopping me.

Deep down, I knew I would never be good enough. Because, who was I?

I was nobody. Just some poor, creek-crawler that no one gave a shit about. I heard the whispers at school and around town... everyone seemed certain that I'd end up just like Momma. Penniless. Husband-less. Faithless. Abandoned by the past with no hope for a future. Living every day, a slave to my own sinful nature. 

I was nobody. And how could that ever be good enough?

A sound caught my attention.

Soft.

Rustling.

Footsteps.

My head jerked toward the trail, my body, snapping around with it. It took a moment for my brain to register what I was seeing. Or, who.

Noah Montgomery stood on the banks of the creek, gawking down at me just as hard as I was gawking up at him, frozen mid-step like a deer caught in the headlights. He moved suddenly, taking a step forward, then paused and jerked backward, unable to make up his mind if he should stay or go. Playing a game of tug-of-war with himself.

In the back of my mind, images surfaced—memories of our time here, our safe haven, hidden among the trees.

But, that was a long time ago. More than enough time for us to become strangers to each other. To ourselves. It might as well have been 100 years with how much we'd each changed, Noah especially.

A steely numbness began to course through me, shielding me like armor, protecting me from the past, from this boy, who looked more like a man now.

Noah's face morphed into an emotionless mask—a blank slate that did nothing to hint at what he was thinking as he stood there, staring down at me.

I expected him to walk away, to turn around and go on about his business just like always. To my astonishment, he inhaled a deep breath and started making his way down the bank.