Riley's Ghost by John David Anderson

Author:John David Anderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2021-11-16T00:00:00+00:00

29

RILEY WAS NO STRANGER TO EMBARRASSMENT. SHE KNEW HOW IT felt to want to be somewhere else. Anywhere else.

Like that day at the Kohl’s. Mid-May. The calendar lurching slowly but surely toward the end of the school year, the temperature inching up past eighty. Riley’s mother had been blessed in the mail with a 30-percent-off coupon, which meant it was time for the Flynns to augment their summer wardrobes. Amanda Flynn got caught up looking at breezy dresses—a far cry from her scrubs—so Riley got to wander off on her own.

That’s how she found herself in the swimsuit section, staring at an expensive stripey two-piece, while also snatching furtive glances across the aisle at the shoe section.

And the boy standing there.

She didn’t recognize him. He was clearly older than her. A high school freshman, perhaps. Or even a sophomore. Curly hair. Dark eyes. Wearing a shirt that seemed tight on purpose. He was staring at his phone—no doubt stuck here with his parents like she was and bored out of his mind. He must have been watching something good, because he smiled and laughed. Then he looked up and caught Riley’s eye.

The smile held.

And Riley melted just a little around the edges. He was only being polite, she knew, but even as she looked away, she imagined otherwise. That his smile was directed at her. That she had prompted it.

“Bikini, huh?”

Riley startled, turning to see her mother standing right behind her. The woman could be so stealthy sometimes. Like a ninja. A nosy, annoying ninja who constantly gives unasked-for advice and nags you about leaving your wet towel on the floor.

“I was just looking,” Riley said, her eyes darting to the boy, who was staring at his phone again and then back to her mother. She thought she was quick enough. She wasn’t.

“Do we know him?”

Riley shook her head, then pretended to flip through some more swimsuit tops, the one still hanging off her wrist, her back to that boy that we didn’t know, hoping, praying the conversation was over. Her mom continued to steal glances at him, though.

“He’s a hottie,” she said in a knowing, under-the-breath voice. “Do they still say that? Hottie?”

Riley groaned. Continued to flip. Not really even looking, just trying to tune her mother out.

“What is it, then? Heartthrob? Hunk? Stud? Am I close? I’m getting colder, aren’t I?”

“Would you please stop?” Riley hissed. “Somebody’s going to hear you.”

“Nobody is going to hear me.”

“I have to hear you. That’s enough.” She glared at her mother now, careful to keep her eyes locked on, not let them stray back to the aisle, afraid the boy might still be standing there, that he might be watching them.

“What? It’s perfectly normal for you to be checking guys out,” her mother whispered.

“I’m not ‘checking anyone out,’” Riley said, changing her voice to imitate her mother’s deeper tone. “I don’t even know him. He’s just some guy.”

“I know. Of course.” Her mother’s voice was softer now, but more serious. “I’m just saying, you’re getting older.

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