Part of me was wondering if any of this was even worth finding out. I lay back on my bed, trying to figure out what I was going to do.
Later that evening Tia texted; I had been watching videos on my phone, trying to take my mind off everything, but there are only so many videos of creepy stories on YouTube you can watch before you recognize the same old formula.
Tia: Hey, wanna come over?
Me: Sure.
Tia: Okay, but lets just keep it a girls night?
Me: You don’t want Clay to come?
Tia: I think maybe we should talk more about what you brought up today. Without…the baggage.
Me: Okay.
I pressed send. I felt weird about leaving Clay, but if I was going over I guess I had to respect her rules.
“You’re staying here, grey boy.” I smiled at him in my bedroom.
“Aww, and I was just starting to like dogs,” Clay said sarcastically.
“I’m sure you were.” I shook my head. “I’ll be back tonight, and you got a party waiting for you.” I pointed to the journal. Clay didn’t look too impressed.
When I got to Tia’s, most of the lights were off. I knew her parents were gone, so I went straight to the basement door and Taz greeted me.
“Hey, you.” I patted his head.
“There you are.” Tia was putting on some music.
The basement was a bit of a mess—blankets, glasses, and pillows were strewn everywhere.
“Well…you guys partied last night.”
“What else is there to do?” She sat down in a beanbag chair.
“Feeling any better?”
“I feel like my head exploded.” She popped a painkiller.
“Yeah, well, at least you got memories from it, right?”
“I can’t remember a thing.”
I laughed as I sat down in the other beanbag chair beside her. Tia was a lot of things, but she was one of my favourites. That’s for sure.
“Be honest with me, Anna. Did you break into the school last night?”
I shied away from eye contact. “I did.”
“I knew it! And you didn’t bring me?”
“You were in no shape for that.”
“Oh, shut up,” she said with a laugh. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Yes.”
“Shit, no way!” Tia looked at me. “That means you found….”
“The pages. Yup, I found them. They were hidden in the picture frame on his desk.”
“What did they say?” Tia’s eyes were wide.
“It was actually really tragic.” I paused. “It was about an aunt I didn’t know I had.”
Tia was hanging on to my every word. “Oh yeah? What did he write about her?”
“He wrote about her dying when he was seven years old.”
“Oh my God.” Tia put her hands on her head. “What was her name?”
“This is the freaky part.” I looked over at her. “Her name was Annaka.”
Tia sat up straight. “Seriously? That’s….”
“Unexpected. I know.” I nodded. “I was named after her. It’s a weird feeling, but I guess Mom thought I could honour her in some weird way?”
“I wouldn’t call it weird.” Tia put a hand on my knee. “If you were named after her, she must have been special. And clearly that rubbed off on you.”
“Why do you say that?” I smirked.
“Well, for starters, you’re the first person I’ve ever met with a real-life imaginary friend.”
I shook my head. Maybe Annaka was special, and I hoped that I would someday understand why. Until then, I’d stick with Anna. I looked back to Tia and her eyes were locked on me.
“Have you done any more thinking about your dad?”
“First of all, let’s not call him Dad. His name is Blake,” I replied. I had decided to let that word go—it was a dream that was never going to happen. “And I’m feeling a lot of things…not all good.”
“Well, do you still wanna find him?”
“Would you?” I didn’t mean to sound harsh, I was honestly curious. I wasn’t sure if what I was feeling was valid.
Tia thought for a moment before replying. “I think I would,” she said. “As much as Clay doesn’t think you should, I think it’s normal to feel that curiosity. And it’s not you betraying your mom—it’s being honest to yourself.”
There was too much pain he had caused my family already. But maybe if I did want to find him, nobody had to know. It could be a secret.
“Where would you start?” I asked.
Chapter 21
Tia brought down the phone book and began looking for leads.
“This is pretty old school,” I teased her as she flipped through the pages.
“Better than nothing,” Tia replied, not looking up.
I had already tried searching Blake Morrison on social media, but there was no one by that name living in Yarmouth. Maybe he wasn’t tech savvy.
“My Mom said he wanted to start a business,” I mentioned. “I never asked what kind, though.”
“Do you think you could follow up with her?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. It took her almost seventeen years to finally bring him up. I think it’ll be a little while until she wants to talk about him again.”
“That’s real,” Tia said, keeping her eyes on the book.
I wondered what Clay would think of all this. Then I realized: I knew. He would think it was stupid. But he was wrong. I wanted Blake to be accountable, and I wanted him to know that
