“What else?” She shook a pill from the bottle in her hand, swallowing it without water.
“The song. I can’t forget that song.”
• • •
My family went to Lake Swart every summer when I was young. The water was pristine, the bluest blue I’d ever seen, and the shore was covered in white sand. There were fourteen cabins in all, and in any given summer, most of them were occupied. It was the same families every year, and we got to know each other well during those summers together.
It was tradition for our parents to throw a beach party the first night at the lake. They spent the night drinking beer, and we made s’mores. It was when everyone caught up with each other, and all that we’d missed since last summer. S’more Night was legendary.
The bonfire blazed, sending up smoke and debris that twirled through the evening sky. The whole beach was illuminated. From the boombox by the folding chairs a DJ promised to play ‘all the hits from the seventies, eighties, and today.’ The big red cooler, half buried in the sand, was so full of beer and soda that the lid wouldn’t close.
Families started to trickle in. Brandon arrived first, wearing a Yankees hat and cargo pants. His pockets were already bulging, no doubt from whatever rocks he’d collected along the way. He was tall and lanky, with dark eyes and skin. Lee joined us next. He was older than the rest of the lake kids, making him our leader by default. He wore a red bandana and a Van Halen t-shirt. He had a lollipop tucked behind his ear like a cigarette, and a Walkman clipped on his belt buckle. Sarah and Jennifer arrived at the same time. Though sisters, they were opposites. Sarah was tall and loud. She liked makeup and manicures, and by the way she looked at him she liked Lee too. Jennifer was short and shy. When she laughed, she covered her mouth with her hand. I wondered if this would be the summer that I told her I loved her.
Marcus, the youngest of our summer regulars, arrived last, and a collective groan went out from the group.
“Oh great. The loser’s back,” Lee sighed.
“Aww, come on. He isn’t so bad.” I replied.
Brandon opened the box of graham crackers and passed them around. “Speaking of not coming back, did you guys hear about Franklin?”
I looked around the group. None of the others reacted. “What happened?” I asked.
“His family moved.” Brandon answered, unwrapping a chocolate bar. “They won’t be back this summer, or maybe ever.” He passed the chocolate to me.
“That sucks.” I broke off a block and passed it to Jennifer. I blushed when her hand brushed mine. I wondered if she had a boyfriend.
“That isn’t what I heard,” Marcus said, taking the seat to my left.
“Shut up, Dorkus. Nobody cares what you heard.” Sarah snapped.
Lee leaned forward, feigning interest. “Well come on, weirdo, what’d you hear?”
I knew where this was going. Lee was looking for fuel, something he could use to tease Marcus for the rest of the summer, and that dope Marcus was dumb enough to give it to him.
Marcus cleared his throat, speaking in conspiratorial tones. “He vanished. They never found him.”
“Bullshit.” Lee tossed a marshmallow at him.
Brandon shifted uncomfortably. “Marcus, that is messed up dude. Why do you always have to go there with your creepy-ass shit? His family moved, that’s all.”
Marcus shook his head and brushed crumbs off his ‘I Want to Believe’ t-shirt. “He went missing here at the lake.”
“No way.” Jennifer speared a marshmallow and held it over the fire.
“Yes, way,” Marcus continued. “It was in the paper. He lived in Greenbriar, one town over from me.”
Lee scoffed. “This is the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard. If he went missing at the lake we would’ve known about it.” He pulled a white Bic from his pocket and struck it, holding the flame beneath his skewered marshmallow. He was showing off, I knew. The marshmallow caught fire; he just laughed and blew out the flame.
Marcus frowned at the lighter. I knew what he was thinking: it was likely swiped from Lee’s parents. Lee teased him mercilessly last summer for being a tattletale. Apparently the lesson stuck, because Marcus ignored it and went back to telling his story. “My family and his were the last ones here, remember? You were all gone by then. The police came and everything. They even asked me questions about where he was, and when I’d seen him last.”
“How would you know anything, dweeb?” Lee flicked a bit of hot marshmallow at Marcus.
“Because after you guys left, we hung out in the woods. We found this cave down by the boulder path that…was weird.” His face screwed up into a perplexed look.
Jennifer inspected her toasted marshmallow. “A hidden cave? I want to see it.” She took a bite from her s’more. Melted chocolate dripped down her chin, and I shivered.
“Me too!” I said, a little too quickly. “Why don’t we meet up in the morning, by the path?”
“We’ll all go,” Lee announced, decision made. “And when we don’t find anything, I’m going to toss you in the lake, freak.” I hoped he meant Marcus, but he was looking at me when he said it.
• • •
“What about you?” I asked, trying to get a look at the label on her pill bottle.
“I don’t remember what I don’t remember. Sounds stupid, right? My parents put me into therapy after that summer. You probably didn’t know that. They put me on so many goddamn pills that I can’t tell the real from the nightmares anymore.”
I nodded. “I had nightmares, too. I kept dreaming about Franklin’s face, and Marcus…I still dream about them.” I couldn’t bring myself to mention Sarah.
She fidgeted with an unopened pack of Camels. “Was the cave real?”
• • •
The next morning we met at the Boulder Path. It was an unmarked
