Something guttural came out of Abby. Her hand, the knuckles red and raw, drew into a fist that she pushed up against her pink mouth, the eyes wide and frayed with looming insanity.
Disappear. Disappear. Disappear. You have to disappear.
"Did he do it?" Abby rasped. Her hollow eyes bore into Serene's, extinguished of the light that once illuminated them. "Did he do this to my baby, Serene? Did he do this for you?"
Somehow Serene's legs began to move, walking her away from this wild ravaged being assaulting her in the street.
"Serene!"
The scream tore through her.
"Tell me! Oh god, someone tell me what happened."
15
Serene - May 1996
Serene was showing Steve and Dylan how to do a front side flip when the car pulled up with Taylor in the passenger seat, her arm resting out the window, elbow crooked.
"Hey losers," she yelled cheerfully as the driver––a girl Serene knew to be named Julie––pulled up ahead on the street to park.
"Fuck," Dylan said under his breath. "I thought you dumped that bitch."
Steve's expression went rigid as he silently performed walk-the-dog. He twisted his body back and forth, long hair hanging over his face. Moments later, Taylor and Julie sauntered up to them. Serene was as surprised as Dylan to see Taylor. For the past two weeks, Steve had complained about Taylor, how snobby she was, what a little bitch she could be to people, especially other girls, how she talked and talked and yet had nothing to say. Mostly he ended these complaints with, “I have to break up with her.” But here she was, laughing and looking like a sex bomb in a tight mini skirt, tank top and cork bottom heels. She'd feathered her helmet hairstyle and it gave her a softer look. Farah Fawcett came to mind for Serene. Steve hopped off his board and nudged it aside as Taylor came in to kiss him, leaving a smear of glossy pink on his cheek from her shiny, plump lips.
"So what's up?" She said, her eyes skirting over to Serene and back to Steve.
"Not much," Steve mumbled. "Why, what are you two up to?"
Julie raised a single slim brow but said nothing.
"I came to pick you up, babe. We're going to the beach."
"Yeah?" Steve's tone was noncommittal.
"Want to grab your surfboard?" She offered, glancing at Serene again.
"There's no waves," Dylan spoke up.
"So?" She grinned at Dylan. Julie raked her French manicured nails through her bangs, rolling her eyes, her jaw working rhythmically on a small wad of green gum that found its way to the forefront of her straight white teeth every five seconds.
"So you can't surf if there's no waves," Dylan shot back.
Taylor narrowed her eyes at him. "Dylan, this is an a and b conversation, so why don't you c your way out of it?"
“Original,” Dylan scoffed. “Where'd you get that tired line? Oh, I know, Boyz N the Hood?”
Taylor's face colored and her slim nostrils flared. "Hey, freak show, Steve does have a life, and it doesn't involve you glued to his side every second of the day."
"Hey, you guys, come on," Steve said with a groan.
"You're telling me to come on?" Dylan placed his hand on his chest and glared at Steve.
"You know what I mean."
"No. I thought I knew, bro. But I guess I don't."
"Come on," Steve coaxed again.
Dylan held up both his arms in a don't-shoot gesture and shook his head before placing his foot on his skateboard. "Whatever, dude. It's your funeral." He pushed off then, Taylor glaring at his retreating back.
Julie spoke up. She had a slightly nasally voice. "Okay, are you coming or not? Because this is, like, so not fun right now.” Serene noticed that she dragged out the word fun, so it sounded like fun-nuh.
"Babe," Taylor said, sticking out her bottom lip. "Come on. Let's go have some fun in the sun."
Steve glanced at Serene. "Want to come?"
Taylor and Julie seemed to freeze in place at his offer. But then Taylor recovered herself and tossed her feathered hair back.
"Sure, why don't you come?" She gave Serene a small smile, her eyes traveling from Serene's head to her toes and back again.
Serene shrugged. "I mean, if you don't mind."
Taylor put her hand on her hip. "No. We don't mind, do we?" She turned to Julie, who had picked up with her gum chewing in double time.
"Yeah, whatever, there's, like, room and stuff."
"Shoots." Serene flipped her skateboard up with her foot, tucking it under her arm.
"Let me go get changed," Steve said.
"What about you?" Taylor said to Serene when she made no move to walk across the street to her house.
Serene glanced down at the surf trunks she was already wearing and her Billabong T-shirt. "I'm good."
"You don't have, like, a swimsuit?" Julie asked, looking mildly scandalized that Serene would think of going to the beach in the attire she was wearing.
Serene waved her hand over her shorts. "I have dakine."
Julie wrinkled her nose.
"The kind?" Taylor's blue eyes widened as if she were lost in too much foreign dialect.
"Board shorts, sis," Serene snapped. Calling Taylor sis immediately felt wrong as soon as the word left her mouth, and she suddenly felt out of her depth, wondering if she wanted to go anywhere with these uppity girls. Taylor wasn't a sistah. She was a rich haole bitch.
"What happened to your leg? I bet that scar’s got a story." Taylor said of the wide pale line that shot across Serene's right shin, branching out like a streak of lightning. Serene stiffened.
Julie cracked her gum and crossed her arms impatiently. "We still have to stop by your place," she said to Taylor.
Taylor threw her arm around her friend. "Relax, Jules, the beach isn't going anywhere."
"Yeah, but the sun is."
Serene contemplated changing her mind; the idea of spending hours with these girls was growing more unappealing by the minute. She had yet to make any friends at her new school other than Steve and Dylan, although sometimes she chatted up Steve's little sister Carrie, who was a cool kid.
