Homewrecker

09 - 𝓵𝓪𝓴𝓮𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓼𝓮

I caught sparkling glimpses of lake water in between the pine trees on the left side of the road through the window before the car started to slow and then pulled into the driveway of a sprawling home constructed of dark wood, grayed stones, and expansive windows.

It was somewhat smaller than the Solidays' other home, but it was still bigger than most homes back in Shiloh. Sunlight glittered off the undulating surface of the lake behind it, through the pine trees that encompassed the property, and I could just barely make out the wooden boards of a dock in the backyard, a hammock lazily swinging back and forth tied to two of the pine trees in front of the brush.

It wasn't until David pulled his keys from the ignition and opened his door that I realized there was a pair of Birkenstocks on the grass beside the hammock, bare legs peeking over the folded fabric.

There was also another car parked in the driveway, one just as sleek as the Solidays, but it was beaming red with the windows rolled down. Kayaks were on the ground near the front doors, lifejackets tossed aside on two wooden Adirondack chairs on the porch. I hesitated for a moment in the backseat as everyone else started to crawl out of the car, stretching out their legs and arms like they had been crammed in the car for more than an hour, David already retreating to the back to retrieve the bags.

This was, like, a legitimate lake house. A massive one.

And yet, despite its size, I still didn't feel like it had room in it for me.

Natalie looked at me through the tinted windows, tilting her head to the side as she tapped her knuckles against the glass. "Bronwyn?" she asked, smiling when I looked away from the immense lake house and turned to her. "Come on, you have to meet Jason!"

Right, Jason, I thought. There are more of them.

She had been right about the cooler air near the lake, though, as I stepped out of the Suburban and onto the smooth pavement of the driveway, breathing in the fresh scent of lake water, pine needles and sap, and the flower petals from the garden edged around the front porch.

Arrangements of azaleas in varying colors were bright and in full bloom already, and I felt a familiar ache in my chest that seemed to be becoming permanent as I thought about that paycheck on the kitchen counter my mom had saved to buy flowers for outside our trailer to make things up to me after that night. Now, just a few days later, wearing clothes bought for me by a stranger in Shelridge, I had no idea where either of them were.

My thoughts were broken as I stared at those azaleas when I heard footsteps pounding against the ground and then the pavement, accompanied with an excited shrieking. I jumped, whirling around to see the blurring figure of a girl running past me, the hammock in the backyard now swinging fast and one of the Birkenstocks overturned on the grass.

I turned, and to my total surprise, for the first time since David brought me back to her home, Andi was beaming. She was enveloped in the arms of the girl, stumbling backward but laughing, the girl's brown hair caught in her lipstick.

I glanced over at Natalie, who was rolling her eyes. "Kimberly?" I mouthed.

She shook her head. "Taylor-Elise," she whispered to me, grabbing onto one of the handles of the suitcases in the back, casting them a quick glance. "She's Andi's best friend," she explained, before hollering, loudly, over her shoulder. "Hey, Andi! Get your stuff! I'm not carrying these lights."

Andi shot her a quick look but otherwise ignored her. "We are going to do so many videos this summer! Look at your hair! It's so cute!"

I grabbed one of the bags, not even sure who it really belonged to, trying to stifle the frown I could feel furrowing my eyebrows and tilting the corners of my lips. It wasn't like I really knew Andi but in the past twelve hours, she had been nothing but disinterested and evidently aggravated. Seeing her so excited, even enthusiastic, was sort of jarring as I watched them.