One Black Rose - August Part 1

August.

(One Black Rose.).

by Maddy Edwards.

Chapter One.

"Hey," said Carley. She'd been lying in the hammock on her front porch, but she tumbled out of it when she saw me coming up the driveway.

"What's up?" I answered, running my fingers through my brown hair.

"Want to go to Nate's party tonight?" she asked. Her eyes were bright and pleading. "It's not like you're going to get any sleep anyway." She looked perfect as usual; her red summer dress danced around her legs as the warm breeze caught it, and her blond hair fell in rings over her shoulders.

I made a face at her. "Sure," I said. She was right. I needed something to distract me from what had happened.

"Awesome," said Carley. "We've been very lax in our party attending activities. I'm glad you agree and are ready to fix it." She beamed at me, shielding her eyes from the sun.

"Who else is going?" I asked, sitting in the blue rocking chair that was normally her perch.

"Oh, everyone," she said, grinning. "I mean, probably not the Cheshires, but Nick." She started to tick off pretty much the name of every kid in Castleton.

"Let's get ready," she said, wrapping one hand around my arm and leading me into the house.

"Is your mom okay with this?" I asked. Mrs. Hightower had come back right after the Solstice party and had been staying at the house on weekends. Sometimes Carley's dad was there, but a lot of the time he had to work and was too tired to make the drive all the way to Castleton. Mrs. Hightower had proven herself to be pretty relaxed. I think she knew that because she was only staying with us on weekends she couldn't really supervise us too closely.

"Of course," said Carley. "If we didn't tell her she probably wouldn't notice." After a pause she said, "You look better today."

I only nodded. I might be looking better, but I still felt numb inside. It had been a month and a half since the Solstice party. I had been sure I could get through the party and I had; I knew I was strong and it wasn't that bad. It was the stuff that had happened afterwards that had devastated me.

Carley put her hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. "Just don't think about it!"

"I'll try not to," I said, even though I knew it was with me all the time.

We were standing in the Hightowers' living room. If a magazine wanted to take a picture of a house that said "Summer in Maine," the Hightowers' place would be perfect. The living room had a nautical theme, complete with a blue- and white-striped couch. I loved the couch. The whole place was decorated in different water and flower themes. Mrs. Hightower was an interior decorator and liked everything to be perfect.

We split up to go get ready. My room was at the end of the second floor. It was cute, with a green carpet and bedspread. Most importantly, it had its own bathroom. As I walked down the hall I pa.s.sed Carley's room, which was a study in pink tones. She loved the color pink with all her heart and let people know whenever possible. When I realized how much she loved it I was surprised that she ever wore any other color.

After showering I pulled on a white tank top and jean shorts over my bathing suit. Nate lived on the ocean and his parties always included a midnight swim. Since it was still early August I knew the night would stay warm, but I brought a hoodie just in case. Once I'd put my makeup on and flung my hair into its usual ponytail, I headed downstairs to the kitchen to meet Carley.

Unsurprisingly, she was wearing a pink dress and sandals. Her light blond hair swept down over her shoulders in soft waves. She had put together a quick dinner of sandwiches and salad, and just as we were finishing it we heard Nick's familiar horn blare.

"He's so lazy," Carley scoffed as she put her dishes in the dishwasher and grabbed a cardigan off the peg by the fridge.

The kitchen was painted bright green, with pink countertops. The walls were covered in pictures of the family. Carley had told me it had been a fight to get her mom to even make s.p.a.ce for a place to hang up jackets and coats, but her dad had finally insisted.

"Let's go," she said.

I grabbed up my bag and followed her outside. The sun was just going down and the night had cooled off slightly, but not enough for me to bother putting my hoodie on.

Nick got out of his car to open the door for Carley. I was left to climb in myself, but I was used to that. Nick had eyes only for my friend, even though she was too blind and self-absorbed to notice.

"What's up?" Nick asked me from the driver's seat. He always asked me that. He knew I was really upset, and Carley had given him the headlines about why, but as Carley and I agreed, Nick was a guy and did not like discussing feelings even when they weren't his own.

"Nothing much," I said, and lapsed into silence. That's how it had been for the whole month of July. My friends had made attempts to talk to me, and I had answered, but that had been about it. After that my mind would instantly dart back to Holt leaving and the pain in my chest that made it hard to breathe.

Nate's house wasn't far and we soon found ourselves turning into his long driveway. His was one of many houses along the coast that were ma.s.sive and surrounded by woods, so that it required its own mile-long driveway. Or at least it seemed that long as we drove up it.

"Where is Nate from again?" I asked while Nick maneuvered his car around all the others in Nate's driveway.

"New Jersey," said Carley. "Loads of people come here from New Jersey."

"Yeah," said Nick, "but more come from Ma.s.s."

"Whatever," said Carley. She checked her face in the mirror.

"This place is packed," said Nick, getting out of the car and walking around to Carley's side. We could already hear music playing and I saw lots of people streaming around to the back of the house.

"I guess everyone's outside," he said, and we followed the flow of people around to the back.

Nick was right. There was a large stone patio at the back of the house, with lots of tables and chairs and a couple of couches. In one corner was a music system, where Nate, his girlfriend Katie, and his best friend Liam were DJs.

"I don't know how Nate gets away with parties like this," Nick commented. "My mom would have my head."

"Your mom barely lets you go out at night," Carley pointed out, walking over to one of the tables to snag a beer. "Nick, drink," she encouraged.

"Naw," said Nick. "I'm driving."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to go talk to Katie. Autumn, come." She led me towards the speakers and the music.

Katie, who had been dating Nate all summer, had dark hair, a slim build, and wide shoulders; Carley had told me that she was an excellent swimmer . Tonight she was wearing a green halter top and white shorts. She grinned when she saw us.

"Hi," she said. "How's it going?"

"Great," Carley yelled above the music. "What's up with you?"

The night pa.s.sed in a blur. Carley kept drinking beers, which made her flirtier and louder. Since Holt had left I'd had a permanent stomach ache, which my mom attributed to my not liking the Maine food, but which I knew had to do with stress and sadness. I'd never been much of a drinker, but I hadn't had anything at all this summer. Carley claimed she didn't know why she hung out with people as boring as Nick and me; Nick always countered that drinking didn't make people interesting, even though both of us wondered if Carley agreed with that. I was always quiet. I didn't have enough energy to argue anymore.

"What do you think?" Carley yelled to me. She had stuck a bunch of flowers randomly in her hair and was now doing poses to show them off.

It was past midnight and she was up on a table. Nate was still blaring music and pretty much everyone there was dancing, playing pool, or making out. I was sitting on a couch next to Nick. I'd been ready to go home for at least an hour, but I didn't want to ruin Carley's good time.

"Looks great," I called to her.

I'd long ago pulled on my hoodie and was tempted to pull it over my head and go to sleep on Nick's shoulder. I guess I wasn't ready to party. But at least it kept me from reading Holt's letter over and over again.

"Hey, everyone," Nate yelled. He pulled off his shirt to reveal a thin, freckled chest. "Swim time."

"Yay!" someone said.

"Let's go."

"Last one in sucks."

"We aren't letting her go in alone," said Nick.

I knew Nick wasn't much of a swimmer and I thought the cold ocean water might do me some good. At least it would get Carley to stop accusing me of being a "ma.s.sive, depressing bore that I'm not sure I want to stay friends with," so I stripped off my hoodie and shorts and raced in after everyone else. It might just have been my imagination, but I thought I saw a dark head of hair and a glimpse of pale blue eyes as I ran. When I looked for Samuel Cheshire in the crowd of kids, though, there was no one there.

Since it was midnight and Nate had a private beach, there wasn't much to see along the sand going into the water. There were no other people and no boats. If I'd come out there alone I'd think it was creepy, or that the shark from Jaws was going to leap up out of the surf and eat me. As it was I followed Carley, who was laughing hysterically, about up to my knees.

"This s.h.i.t is cold," she said to me as she stood there shivering.

"Yeah," I said. I didn't want to go any further. A couple of the girls who were braver, like Katie, went in ahead of me.

"You know," said Carley, "we should go out more often. This is awesome."

Just as she said it one of the guys ran up from behind us with a girl over his shoulder and tossed her in. She gave a loud squawk right before she hit the water, and the splash she made soaked Carley.

I started to laugh. "You're right, Carley. This is fun!"

She glared at me through her wet bangs.

Even though she was drunk, she gave me a clear look for a minute. "That's the first time I've seen you laugh since you got the letter," she observed.

Instantly my face fell. She was right. Ever since Holt had left me the letter saying that he was putting his family in ma.s.sive danger by being near me, and that he therefore had to leave Castleton, I hadn't smiled, let alone laughed a until tonight.

"Katie," Nate called, wading out of the water with us back to the beach. "Katie, where are you?"

He almost b.u.mped into us. Almost everyone had come out already. The ocean was cold at night and Nate had goose b.u.mps on his arms.

"Have you seen Katie?" he asked.

"I thought she was one of the first in," said Carley. "She probably got out and went to dry off or something." She waved her hand to dismiss the issue. When Nate still looked worried she turned to me and said, "Autumn, did you see her?"

I realized now that I hadn't seen her since she'd run past me into the water. "I haven't," I said, "but I might not have seen her get out." Actually, now that I thought about it I was almost certain that I would have seen her get out, unless she'd gone far down the beach and gotten out there.

Nate turned to look at the water. "Can you two check the house?" he asked.

Carley rolled her eyes at me, but agreed. "Guys are so overprotective," she insisted as we walked towards the house.

I could hear Nate behind us, asking everyone on the beach if they'd seen Katie and begging them to help him look. I had a bad feeling, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Right as we reached the door to Nate's house there was screaming from the beach. Both of us turned around and started running back.

Nate, who was waist deep in the water, was holding a white cover-up. It was what Katie had been wearing when she went in to swim.

"Where is she?" he yelled frantically. "I don't think Katie ever made it out of the water! Where is she?"

I had the horrible realization that Nate was probably right. She had run right past me on her way in. I should have seen her get out, and I hadn't. Katie, the high school swim team captain, had disappeared into the icy blue ocean.

Once Nate found Katie's cover-up floating in the water without Katie inside it, pandemonium set in. All the guys plunged back into the water to look for her, while some of the girls went to the house just in case she really was inside; others sat down and cried. The police had been called. An hour later there was no sign of Katie. Everyone who'd just been at the party for fun was instantly sent home.

The next two days were a blur of activity. Everyone at the party was questioned. Nate spent hours talking to the police, his parents, Katie's parents, and the police again. I heard all about it through Carley. Search parties were organized. We spent the days combing the beaches around Nate's house with hundreds of other volunteers. If you looked out into the water you didn't see people swimming and laughing. You saw coast guard ships. They were searching for Katie. I would go home at night exhausted, then get up the next morning and do it again. There was no other choice. Even if I was tired, Katie was missing.

Four people I hadn't expected to see searching were Lydia and Leslie Cheshire and Susan and Logan Roth. Not only were the four of them out searching on the two days that I was there, but they were working together. After the events of the beginning of the summer, where the Cheshires had attacked the Roths, to say that I was surprised to see the four of them together was an understatement.

When I had first seen Logan I had felt a jolt. He looked so much like his older brother that for a moment my heart leaped. I was tempted to say something to them, but I would never have the nerve to approach a group that Lydia and Leslie were a part of. I hoped that Susan might come and talk to me, but all four of them avoided me. They made sure that there was always half a beach of distance between us. Throughout the day, whenever I could I watched them. Not only were they working together, but they would often bend their heads close, talking quietly. I wondered what had happened to make the four of them tolerate each other's presence. And I wondered what that had to do with Katie going missing after a party.

A couple of days later the search was called off. The coast guard and the police would keep looking, but they no longer wanted large numbers of people by the beach. The next morning when I woke up, since I couldn't go out and search for Katie I went to my desk and pulled out the letter. It was creased from having been read so many times; I had entire pa.s.sages memorized, whole paragraphs I recited to myself. It probably would have been better if I hadn't read it; maybe that would have given me a chance to get him out of my head. As it was, nothing could get him out of my head. He was always at the back of my mind. And even when I wasn't thinking about him, I was.

I had planned to ask him a question that would solve everything, but I hadn't gotten the chance.

Carley came into my room with her eyes puffy and red. She looked like I had felt for the past month and a half: tired and upset. She held a newspaper in her right hand.

I quickly stuffed the letter back into my desk. Normally Carley would chide me for looking at it; she had gotten tired of me being sad a while ago. But today she was clearly upset about something else. Instead of sitting in my chair she sat down on my unmade bed. Unlike me, she was already dressed for the day in a white jean skirt and a dark blue t-shirt. Her ma.s.s of blond hair was pulled up off her neck, and as I looked at it I realized that my own limp brown hair really needed to be washed that day. But Carley had news that made clean hair seem a lot less important.

"There's some new info in here," she said, waving the newspaper in front of me. Even her voice sounded hoa.r.s.e.

"What does it say?" I asked.

Tears started falling from Carley's eyes and she snuffled. Immediately I went over to her and put my arm around her shaking shoulders. "What happened? What's wrong?" I asked quietly. I tried to ignore the panic inside me. Had something happened to Holt? To Nick?

She just handed me in the paper. On the front page was an article about Katie Calliger. My heart sank. For the few days we'd been hoping against hope that she would be found alive and well. Maybe she'd just wandered down the beach and fallen asleep in a cave that the searchers had missed or something. Or so we had all hoped.

She and I hadn't been close, but we'd always said hi when we saw each other. She and her family had been coming to Castleton every summer for most of her life, so she was friends with everyone I knew here.

The article in the paper said that Katie had drowned. Her body had washed up on the beach not far from Nate's late last night. The article went on to say that Katie had won several medals for swimming and was captain of her high school swim team. It would take weeks for toxicology reports to come back. I knew that Katie had probably had a couple of beers, but that had been early in the night and she was a big girl. They shouldn't have made her so sick that she'd drowned.

"Oh, Carley," I breathed, "that's so awful."

"I know," said Carley. "I can't believe it. I saw her on Sat.u.r.day morning and she was so excited, and then we saw her at the party and she was so happy that she and Nate had finally gotten together."

I grabbed Carley a tissue off my nightstand; she took it and blew her nose, then sat there dejectedly.

"Is there going to be a funeral?" I asked. The article hadn't said.

"I heard that her family wants to take her body home. I think they might have a quiet dinner or something for all her friends here, just so they can remember her, but that's about it." I knew that Carley and I wouldn't be invited; we weren't that close to her. But it was still sad to hear about it.

"Anyway," said Carley, taking a deep breath and trying to calm down. I rubbed little circles on her back. "I thought maybe you, Nick, and I could go swimming. I don't really want to be alone, and he said he would come over. Not anywhere near where her body was found, but maybe at the beach somewhere." She looked at me hopefully. I knew what she wanted. I'd been hard to get out of the house since mid-June.

"Alright," I said reluctantly. "But if we see any of the Cheshires, I'm leaving."

"I wish you would tell me why," said Carley, exasperated. She knew that Holt had left, but she didn't know all the stuff about Fairies and feuding.