“Why?”
“He said it would hurt more. He said I needed to make Harry a memory—something that didn’t feel real anymore.”
“He was just doing what he thought was best, Ara.” David choked back tears.
“I know.” I nodded. “But he was wrong. They all think they know what I need—but they don’t.”
“What do you need, sweetheart?” he asked. “Tell me, and I’ll make it happen.”
“I need to go back, David—to that night. I need to put down that goddamn phone, and if I can’t do that, I just need to die.”
“Ara.” David grabbed both my cheeks, thrusting my face up until I looked into his eyes. “What do you think your mother would feel to hear you say that?”
“That’s just it.” I pushed his hands away. “She wouldn’t feel anything, because she’s dead, and it’s my fault. No matter what you try to say, it’s my fault.”
“It was no one’s fault. Get it through your head.” He grabbed me more firmly, not letting me break away this time. “You wanna blame someone, blame the truck driver, blame the tire shop who fitted used tires, but don’t blame yourself because it won’t bring them back.”
My brow creased tightly in the middle. I grabbed his hand slowly. “Wait, I never said there was a truck.”
David stiffened, staring ahead, his mouth hanging open a little, like he was about to say something. I retraced my story in my head.
“David?” I sat back so I could look right into his eyes. “Tell me how you knew that?”
“I—” He winced, scratching the back of his neck. “I kind of already knew.”
“Did…did my dad tell you?”
“Not everything.” He wiped his thumb over a line of tears on my cheek. “But he told me why you were here.”
“When?” I yelled. “Why?”
“Ara, calm down, it’s okay.” He went to pull me closer, but I pushed away as hard as I could.
“You’re traitors—both of you.” I jumped to my feet to get as much distance from him as possible.
“Sweetheart, don’t be upset.”
“No. All this time. All this time, you knew. You knew and you made me talk about it. Why?”
“Because I knew it wasn’t just their death bothering you. I knew it went deeper.” He stood up too. “Turns out I was right.”
“So…” My eyes went wide, realisation sinking in like nausea. “So, you were spying, for my dad?”
“Ara, no—” He extended his hand.
“What would possibly make you want to do that, David?”
“Ara, it wasn’t like that.” He edged closer, both hands out now.
“When did he tell you—how long have you known?”
“Please, just—”
“When!” My scream echoed off the rocks and came back to haunt me with its severity.
“When you first came here.” He walked slowly toward me, as if I were a mental patient he was going to grab at first opportunity. “He caught me during football practice, watching you on the swing, and—”
“You were…watching me?” An eerie sensation travelled over my neck and spine, like a hand just touched my shoulder in a room that was supposed to be empty.
“Not like you think.”
I backed away one step at a time in unison with his. “You’re a creep.”
He stopped walking, lowering his arms as his green eyes flooded. “I know how this sounds, Ara-Rose. But it wasn’t like that. I swear. Just, please. Listen to me.”
I laughed, though it wasn’t out of amusement. “All this time—you’ve known about me. Even when we talked in the library?”
He nodded.
“Well—” I shook my head, “—I guess it makes sense now why you were so…” Friendly? Eager? Was that it? What was it with him? Did he enjoy the company of messed-up young girls? Perhaps it was a complex of his: Knight Syndrome. I felt like such an idiot. I turned and marched off to vent my anger away from anyone that could get hurt.
“Ara?”
“David, just leave me alone. Don’t follow me!”
I didn’t look back; I didn’t want to know if he followed or if he turned and went back home. As far as I was concerned, hiding a secret from someone, hiding that you were playing a game with them—that you were probing to get info out of them—was a friendship-ending offense. If I never saw him again, that would even be too soon.
The forest showed me down an alternative path to the one we came in on. Billowing grass grew up between old tire tracks, and I followed them, hoping they’d lead me into town. But my trek of rage drove me forward quickly, submerging me into an eerie surrounding, with the trail fading to thick shrubs, and at the end of it, only ugly, tangled trees and thorn-laced vines. I stopped walking. The once background sound of birds singing and leaves rustling in the wind was now unnervingly loud.
Real smart, Ara. Go off the beaten track.
I wandered over and slumped heavily onto a nearby log, hugging my arms across my body. I wasn’t sure what to be worried about out here; back home I knew there could be kangaroos around, but also knew they very rarely attacked. Here, there could be any manner of man-eating creature, and that’s without even thinking about the foxes. I really hoped they could read David’s signs on the border.
I checked my phone; no service, and it was getting late. The gentle breeze stopped then and a cunning silence looped around me, stealing the tranquillity of the woods. Even the midges dancing in beams of light disappeared with the warmth, leaving a cold kind of concern creeping under my skin.
I kicked a ladybug off my shoe and looked back up the slope I just walked down. There was no denying it. I was stupid to walk off like that. And I shouldn’t have yelled at David.
I took a really long breath, lifting my shoulders all the way up, and let it out slowly, then stood up, dumping my phone in the pocket of my dress. Maybe he was waiting for me back by the lake—maybe it wasn’t too late to apologise.
I steeled myself for a round of grovelling, but after only one step back up the hill, crashed right into the warm embrace of strong, firm arms. “Ara!”
“David?”
“You silly girl!” He wrapped me up almost restrictively, his fingertips pressing against my ribs. “Don’t ever run off like that again. I couldn’t find you. I was worried sick.”