The Cover-Up

Chapter One

She sat by the riverbank, her sketchbook hanging lazily from her hand. It was opened to a half completed drawing- a face at first glance, but with closer inspection, you would realize it was not only one face, but two. The first face, already completed, was her. She was never great at drawing self-portraits, but she had put lots of time into this one, and it seemed accurate enough to continue with the drawing. She had captured perfectly the spatter of freckles across her nose, her blonde hair with lighter streaks that signified the end of a summer full of sun, and even the small dimple in her cheek. The second face, though, was going to be harder. It was supposed to be her best friend. She had his image engrained in her mind, but it was slowly fading away. After all, she hadn't seen him in almost four months.

With a sigh, she tore her gaze away from the setting sun hanging just above the river. She was aching to reach over and pull out her pink and yellow colored pencils, to sketch an image of the setting sun, to memorize the swirls of colors across the sky that symbolized the last sunset of summer break. But no, she had to focus. She had come here to draw him, to remember his face.

Andrew. That was his name. She often repeated it over and over again, conjuring up her favorite memories with him. She was determined to keep him alive in her mind. For all she knew, he still could be alive.

She pulled her sketchbook onto her lap, setting her pencil lightly to the page. She drew an outline of a face, but couldn't seem to move the pencil any farther. She could see him in her mind's eye- his laugh that lit up his hazel eyes, his wildly curly brown hair. She could almost feel it running through her fingers.

She hadn't seen Andrew in almost four months, since the very beginning of May. They had been about to finish their junior year of high school. They were dreading the upcoming summer, for they knew it meant working on college applications and essays, but they were also excited for it. They were excited to spend time together, to drive late at night down the beach strip with the windows rolled down, to taste the salt water of the ocean and feel the sand on their skin as they spent countless summer days at the beach. It was going to be a great summer together. Rae and Andrew, inseparable since preschool.

Until the accident, that is.
And now Andrew was gone.
Not dead, maybe, but gone.

Rae dropped her sketchbook to the ground in frustration, then stood up to stretch out the kinks in her muscles. She made her way down to the small rocky beach at the river's edge, watching the water lap up against the shore. Oh, how she wished she was home. She so dearly missed the ocean.

At the beginning of August, Rae's mom had moved her and her younger brother Walter to a small town farther inland called Windham. Her mom had wanted to get away from the tragedy following Andrew's accident, and she had wanted a fresh start for her children.

It was a fresh start, all right. Tomorrow was Rae's first day at her new school. She was dreading it, already knowing she wasn't going to make any friends. Coming in as a senior, she knew she was going to be greeted by friend groups that had been set in stone since freshman year. Luckily she only had one year there until she was off to college, so she wasn't so concerned. It was Walter that she was worried about.

Walter was twelve. He was going into seventh grade. It's not usually hard for young kids to make friends, but it had always been hard for him. He had been diagnosed with various mental illnesses at a young age. He'd thrown a fit about moving away- he had always hated change- and had refused to pack his bags until the day before they moved, resulting in Rae and their mom packing them for him. He was going to have a rough time at his new school.

Rae felt a buzz in her pocket, snapping her out of her reverie. A text from her mom, saying to come home before it got too dark. Rae shoved her phone in her pocket, snatched up her sketchbook and keys, and headed back to her car.

She was frustrated. All she had come to do was finish the sketch of Andrew, but she had ended up sitting by the river for almost two hours, during which hardly anything was accomplished except for an outline of a face. She had wanted so badly to finish the sketch tonight. Starting at a new school in a new town felt like a betrayal to her best friend. She had only wanted to spend the last night of summer remembering him, which led to fantasizing about what would have been. A summer full of laughs and memories.

But she would never have the opportunity for a perfect and memorable summer with her best friend. The boat on the intracostal waterway took that opportunity away from her.