A Kiss in the Dark by Gina Ciocca

Author:Gina Ciocca
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Twenty

SENIOR YEAR

It’s a picture-perfect day for the pennant hunt. Not too hot, a clear blue sky, and a hint of leaves shedding their green for cloaks of gold and red—everything I love about autumn in Georgia. It’s so perfect that I decide to go for a run before diving into my homework and then heading over to Old Mill later in the afternoon.

When I get downstairs, it’s chaos. Michael is wearing half of his breakfast, and my mother yanks his shirt over his head, snapping, “Get a new shirt and your brother and let’s go. I have a lot to do today.”

“Where are you going?” I ask.

“Zoo,” Michael responds, at the same time my mother says, “The boys have a playdate with Ethan. And we’re going to be late.”

I turn to Mom. “Ben’s brother?” It takes only a heartbeat for the plan to form. “I can drop them off,” I say, ruffling Michael’s hair.

Mom eyes my running clothes—a hot-pink Dri-Tech tank top and tight navy-blue shorts—as if I’m about to walk out of the house in pasties and a thong. “Are you looking for a reason to run into Ben?”

Yep. I want explanations. For why he keeps telling me he wants to talk, but then clams up and storms off instead. For why I feel like I’m missing something every time I have a conversation with anyone lately.

Mostly it’s because I’m not sure we can be friends again, but I still want to try. And I want to know why he doesn’t anymore.

* * *

Mrs. Collins answers the door with a dishrag in her hand. Ethan runs up behind her, a red-haired blur.

“Ahoy, Captain Edgar!” Michael says with a salute. Of course, Aaron has to be a pain in the ass, loudly pointing out, “His name is Ethan,” as they run like a pack of wolves toward the basement door.

“Macy,” Mrs. Collins says, sounding pleasantly surprised. “We haven’t seen you in a while. How have you been?” She nods to my brace before I can answer. “Cheerleading casualty?”

“Sort of. I’m not on the squad anymore, but my last injury never got the memo.” I step inside at her prompting and immediately feel my boldness waver. Ben’s mom has never been anything but polite to me, but more than once, the way I’ve caught her looking at me makes me wonder if she knows about the night Ben stowed me away as a drunken refugee in her basement. “How is everything with you?” I say.

“Fine, fine, though I have to wonder what I was thinking, volunteering to take four boys to the zoo. They’re learning about mammals in school, and sometimes my good intentions get ahead of my common sense. We’re waiting on one more.” She waves toward the tall, wrought-iron stools at the kitchen island. “Sit down. I see your mother now and then at soccer games. We were just saying that we should get everyone together one day.”

I’m willing to bet that it was my mother who did the saying.

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