That was why they’d backed off? Those two jerks had been teasing me since grade one. Mostly about my lack of height. But in grade nine they’d graduated to a new subject—my small boobs.
Until recently.
Thanks, Stewart.
Maybe it was time to call a truce?
The boat slowed to a stop, and the tube drifted to shore.
“Aw, I wanna go again.” Adam bobbed around as Will struggled to get off.
“Nah, let someone else have a turn. Do you girls wanna go next?” Ben sat up, peering past Kelly to her friends.
“No, let the little kids go first.” Kelly sent a smile my way, her eyes calculating. The way she looked at me had blood rushing to my limbs, getting me ready to run. Or fight.
Little kids. I was two years younger. Two.
“Emmeline, you and Bree are up next.”
My gaze shot to Ben. He stared right back. What had he just called me?
His face morphed until his eyes were a deep brown, his hair longer and shaggy, and his skin not quite as tanned. I pushed the heels of my hands into my eye sockets. When I checked again, he was back to normal.
What. The. Fuck?
“Come on, Andy.” Bree waved me over to the life vests stacked near the picnic rug.
I hadn’t slept well, but that wasn’t normal. Then again, this was me. I wasn’t normal. Feeling other people’s emotions—that wasn’t normal. Having a gut instinct so strong it felt like the plunge of a knife—that wasn’t normal.
And now faces warping and hearing things. That face had been so familiar. And Emmeline ... that name was like a key to some lock that protected buried treasure. Or imprisoned buried nightmares. My insides churned when I heard it.
“Andy?” Bree called from the water’s edge as she snapped herself into Adam’s life vest.
“Yep. Coming.”
Ben held out a vest for me. “That should fit.”
“Thanks.”
My gaze collided with Kelly’s. Her hand covered Ben’s abs as she smiled sweetly. “Have fun.”
“I will.” I bared my teeth before heading to where Bree was waiting. I secured my floatation device and waded in, grabbing the side of the tube. “How did you get in?”
“Back up and plonk your butt down.”
I gave it a go, but the tube shot backwards and I landed arse-first in the water.
And the crowd went wild. Yeah, that’s it. Everybody laugh. One of them sounded like a donkey. I stood, following the sound. It was the redhead. Lee edged away from her, wiping his fingers across his brow.
“Nice wedgie, sis. The glare is unreal. Lucky we’re wearing sunnies.”
Truce, truce, truce.
I reached back to pull my bikini bottoms from between my snow-white cheeks as Bree paddled closer to shore. So much for not flashing my behind.
“You might need to jump like I did. We’re the same height.”
Yes, I was the size of an eleven-year-old, and so was my nine-year-old sister. Thank you for the reminder.
Performing a spin and jump, I managed to land perfectly the second time around. Bree bounced, clutching the handle to stay on.
“Sorry. Think of it as payback for calling me short.”
“You ready?” Mr Hooper called out.
We both gave him the thumbs up before the rope went taut and our heads jerked backwards with the force of the take-off.
The wind whipped the hair off our faces. Water spray peppered us. I had to hang on. Every time we skimmed through the wake, our bodies would become airborne in the roughest trampoline ride ever. As we came closer to the barrage, Mr Hooper turned in a wide circle and the tube skimmed way off to the side. Our ride smoothed out for a few seconds until we straightened up and were pulled back across the waves.
“This is awesome!” I screamed as we passed the onlookers. Bree laughed hysterically. I checked her face to make sure there was no trace of panic and witnessed pure joy instead.
The roar of the boat’s engine changed to the rumble of hooves as I was sucked into the memory of another exhilarating experience. Riding a horse galloping at full-speed down tree-lined pathways and through wildflower-covered fields. I could smell the horse, feel the prickle of its hair under my palm. My white-knuckled grip tried to slow it down. Only it didn’t. Because I wasn’t on a horse. I was riding a giant, inflatable, plastic doughnut.
I had never ridden a horse in my life.
Okay, I was officially freaked out.
What the fuck was happening to me?
_____
Rockhampton, Australia
26th June, 2006, 9:27 a.m.
My knee jiggled up and down as I bit my thumbnail. I sat near the main entrance of the shopping centre, surveying every person who walked through the doors. Where is she? Jess was never late. Wrapping my hands around the nape of my neck, I squeezed to try and ease the sting.
Gone.
The word stamped into my frontal lobe with the fall of a gavel.
Gone? What did it mean, gone? And what the hell was it, anyway?
I flipped open a magazine that had been abandoned on the bench seat, staring through the pages until the print became blurred, scribbled blotches. It was like my mess of thoughts had tumbled onto the paper in a haphazard chaotic porridge.
Gone. Gone. Gone.
I should’ve made her stay.
Dead.
With a gasp, I tossed the magazine away, not bothering to hang around. I jumped on my bike, unlocking it before racing home.
“Mum!” Bursting through the door, I skidded to a halt finding Ben, Kelly, Stewart, and the brunette in the lounge, taking turns on the PlayStation.
“She’s in the kitchen.” Ben glanced my way before fixing his eyes back on the game.
Kelly didn’t smile. She edged closer to Ben and watched me until I’d left the room.
Whatever, honey. If you want him,
