The Arrival by CM Doporto

Author:CM Doporto [Doporto, CM]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CM Doporto
Published: 2014-01-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

I decided before my party started to see Bryce. He owed me a better explanation for our breakup. For the past seven days I had managed to ignore the voices inside my head telling me to talk to him, maybe because I was still mad at him. Since he lived three houses down and behind us, I couldn’t hide any longer. Why I had to see him then, I didn’t know; I just did. Maybe the guilt over what happened between Dimas and me prompted me to do it.

Mom told me she’d spoken to Bryce’s mom. So he knew I was home. She also admitted to inviting him to my party, despite the fact that he dumped me. In Mom’s eyes, everyone was a friend in our quaint little neighborhood. As a child, I didn’t mind the close-knit relationships because that meant I had lots of playmates. But when I entered high school, I hated that everyone knew each other’s business.

“I’ll be back in a while,” I informed Mom as I headed out.

“Okay. Make sure you’re home before the party starts,” she said, with an understanding glance.

Even though she didn’t ask where I was going, she’d figure it out. She had a habit of staring out the kitchen window. I took the alley to get to Bryce’s house, because it was much quicker than going around the whole block. I had no idea if he would be home, but if he had the same schedule as last summer, he probably had just finished a soccer game.

Instead of knocking on the kitchen door at the rear of the house, I went around to the front. For some reason, the old habit didn’t feel right. As I passed the open garage, I noticed his bag, along with his cleats and socks, piled in the corner. I followed the walkway and rang the bell.

The door opened slightly, and Bryce’s mom peeked at me. “Oh, Miranda. What are you doing here?”

“Hello, Mrs. Jackson.” She caught me off guard when she didn’t automatically invite me in, because she was always nice and overly cheerful. “Is Bryce home?”

“Sorry. He’s not here,” she said, closing the door.

I stuck my hand out. “Can you tell me when he’ll be back?”

“I thought you two broke up.” She snipped the words curtly as her eyes narrowed into a razor sharp line. What the heck happened to my sweet sixth grade teacher?

I wondered why her demeanor had changed. “I just want to talk to him for a minute, that’s all.”

“Right now is not a good time.” She pushed on the door, but I propped my foot against it.

“Okay, I’ll try later.”

“Please don’t.”

I retreated, and before I could say anything she shut the door in my face. What the heck had I done to deserve that kind of treatment? She couldn’t know anything about Dimas. Right? What had Bryce told her? I walked down the path toward the sidewalk, trying to sort out my confused mind.

“Psst, hey.”

A shadowy figure in a white T-shirt emerged from behind a shrub.

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