“Wow,” he said. “Looks like a photograph.” ?Their arms were touching. He took a deep breath.
“Feels nice to get away from it all, doesn’t it?” ?Ty said before turning back to her basket and starting to assemble the “picnic”—a baguette, some Brie, a bunch of grapes, an apple, and a bottle of red wine. Classy. He wondered how old Ty was—it hadn’t occurred to him to ask.
“Great spread,” JD said. “Did you bring a knife?”
“Of course,” Ty said, reaching deep into the seemingly bottomless basket and pulling out what looked like a hunting knife. It was silver, and there was a snake engraved in its hilt. Not exactly your typical kitchen utensil.
JD drew back in mock fear. “Whoa. I didn’t know you were packing heat.”
“What can I say?” Ty shrugged and batted her lashes. “I always come prepared.”
“Good to know,” JD said. “I’ll call you next time I need help gutting a deer.”
“I’m good at that,” Ty answered evenly. JD wondered if she was kidding or not. The she laughed—that low, hoarse laugh that made her sound kind of like a woman from a black-and-white movie. It was sort of sinister, actually. She had a laugh like a ninety-year-old smoker, Tina had said. He didn’t know why the thought popped into his head just then, but it made him totally uncomfortable.
It wasn’t possible. . . . It wasn’t at all possible that Ty had been the older girl Tina was talking about, the one who had dated Chase briefly and driven him almost to madness. The one who had led him on.
But then again, Ty had mentioned that Chase died with a lipstick mark on his face. Why would she have known that? Again, the detail haunted him. He wanted to bring it up again, but how?
Trying to shake off the eerie feeling in his gut, he set to work slicing the apple, and they settled onto the floor, munching on bits of fruit and cheese. Everything felt slick and heavy in his mouth, and even as he started to feel full, he felt like he couldn’t stop eating. She poured the wine into clear plastic cups and he sipped his freely, enjoying the way it loosened his tongue and calmed him down a little.
“So, do you see Ali often?” he asked. He figured he’d start by finding out how much time Ty even spent in Ascension, and go from there.
“Oh, we spend a lot of time together. The three of us travel everywhere.” She reached into her bag and dug out a strip of photo-booth snapshots. The picture was black-and-white, timeless. “That’s us,” she said. “Me, Ali, and Meg.”
JD was startled to see that the third girl in the picture was the same Meg he’d met at Drea’s memorial service, the one with the red ribbon around her neck. She was wearing it in the photograph.
And he’d seen her with Crow, too.
“We’re inseparable,” Ty said. “Or at least we used to be. I actually think we’re growing apart. We want different things.” Her eyes drifted back to the window, where the sunset had turned dusky, pinkish, like a faded rose.
“Really? That’s too bad.” JD took another sip of wine. He didn’t usually drink, but he was starting to feel warm and more relaxed. It had just really hit him that he was on a date with a girl who could have passed for a supermodel. He still couldn’t quite believe it.
“It happens.” Ty shrugged and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. For a minute, she was quiet. Then she blurted: “It’s been happening for a while. I want . . . I want to live my own life, I guess. To have a life. And she and Meg don’t really understand that. So I’m taking matters into my own hands.” She looked vulnerable then, more like Em than ever. ?The impression was so strong he almost reached out and kissed her. He almost couldn’t stop herself. But then she smiled again and the resemblance faded. “People change, you know? And I’m changing. I know I am.” ?The thought seemed to please her.
Ty’s words made something stick inside of him. Change. Would he, JD Fount, ever change? Had he ever taken matters into his own hands, or fought to have a life? Even his younger sister thought he was lame. When was the last time he’d really been proactive about anything, anything that mattered? He kept letting himself get jerked around . . . but maybe he deserved better.
“Hey, are you all right?” Ty reached out and touched JD’s arm. He hadn’t realized it, but he’d been balling his fists.
“Oh, yeah . . . ” he said sheepishly, stretching his fingers. “You just got me thinking. I’ve been growing apart from someone too.”
Ty raised her eyebrows. “Wanna talk about it?”
Maybe it was the wine, or the way that Ty was looking at him so sympathetically. Or maybe it was the weirdness of the place, the space high up in an abandoned building with the sun smoldering pink outside their window, but JD suddenly felt compelled to share everything. “This girl I’ve known . . . forever. My friend Em.”
Ty looked at him, wide-eyed. “Not Em Winters?”