Girl Unseen by Kate Ellison

Author:Kate Ellison [Ellison, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Default Category
Publisher: The Studio, a Paper Lantern Lit imprint
Published: 2015-12-10T05:00:00+00:00

16

Please enjoy this Verizon ringback tone while your party is reached. A Lupe Fiasco song; only half a verse plays until he answers. “Well, well, well.” Austin pauses briefly—a muffled cough, the sound of a door being shut. “It’s you.”

“It’s me,” I say, clutching my phone tightly, suddenly a little nervous.

“I thought maybe you’d died of seasickness last night and no one’d bothered to tell me. Listen, I’m sorry I didn’t get to take you out on a date that didn’t end in you vomiting.”

“I take it that’s not how your date’s usually end up?”

“Not exactly.” He clears his throat. “Are you okay though, for real?”

I pause, sucking in a deep breath. “Austin—I—” and then it breaks open, spills out. “No. Not really.”

“What’s wrong?” He sounds surprised, and genuinely concerned. “Do I hear crying over there, Tithe?”

“I’m not crying,” I say quickly, swiping a hand across my nose. Then I tell him about the slashed tires and he listens patiently, in silence.

“Holy shit. That’s messed up. Why would someone do that? You don’t seem like the type to get into a lot of catfights.”

“I don’t. Maybe it was a prank, but . . .” I squeeze my cell phone extra hard. “It could have been something personal, too.”

“I’m not really following you.”

“It’s this piano thing—has to do with Mom, and this competition—I—I can’t really get into it right now.”

Can’t get into the ghost-Stern of it. The Gray Space of it. The crazy.

“Wanna come here?” he asks. I hear someone calling for him from another room. “Hold on a second.” His palm muffles the receiver, but I make out my name, and Ted’s voice, though the rest is indecipherable. “Ted just asked if you wanted to come for dinner. It must be some kind of occasion, if he’s eating at home.”

My breath catches in my throat. “Oh. Um. I don’t—I don’t know if I can.” I pause, inhale a thick gulp of air-conditioned air. “Can you—do you think you can just come over here?”

A brief pause. “I was supposed to hang with the boys in a few, but I can hang with them any time. And you’re a slippery little sucker.” I can hear the little smile spreading across his face. The stupidly adorable, smug little smile.

“Good,” I say. The resolve tightens inside of me. I’ve started this and I won’t stop. I won’t let it go, no matter what Raina says. “I have a favor to ask you.”

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