“Like what?”
“I don’t know.” Luke shrugged again. “Apparently her and Miles were at a shopping mall one day and they bumped into a friend of his father’s. He was trying to introduce her to him, but she kind of freaked out and just took off, like she’d seen a ghost or something. They tried to follow her, but then some lunatic jumped out and attacked Miles. The police showed up and the whacko got arrested, but not before giving Miles Filmore the Third a broken nose.” Luke shook his head with a grin. “Miles was really pissed about it. That was the last time he saw her.”
“Woah, that’s kind of dramatic.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s probably why I wasn’t sure whether to believe it or not.”
“You didn’t see the broken nose?”
“No one did. Miles skipped school for nearly two weeks. He was such a vain prick.”
I slapped Luke on the shoulder forcing myself to chuckle with him. It was an effort.
Swallowing hard, I gazed down at the picture of Dani. She looked lost and wistful, oblivious to the fact the photo was being taken. She was sitting on a picnic table, some swanky guy’s arm snaked around her butt. I assumed it was Miles. He sat on the bench below her, grinning at the guy over his shoulder. Dani, Riley, whatever her name was, looked as though she was trying to block out the world for a second. My heart cracked. I’d seen that look in her eyes before. “Can, I um, borrow this?”
Luke looked totally weirded out by my request, but nodded anyway. “Sure.”
I slapped the book closed and headed for the door. I wanted to get home. To get out. Away from what I was seeing. I knew as soon as I got to my room, I’d open up the book and scour every page for more shots of her, but at least I could do that without an audience. At least my brain could burn with questions and no one would be there to ask me what was wrong.
My fingers hit the doorframe as I went to swing out of the room. The questions had already started and I turned to look at Luke who was heading back to his computer.
“I don’t suppose you know what school she went to before Lowell.”
“Yeah, I do actually. She was at Washington High.”
“How do you know that?”
Luke blushed, scratching at his curls. “I was, ah, in the office one day and I kind of saw her file on the desk and read it when no one was looking. I don’t know, man, I was curious about her, she was so pretty and waif like, but kind of strong at the same time.” He shook his head with a dry chuckle. “I must sound like such an idiot. She just kind of captured me a little bit.”
“Yeah, I know that feeling.” I tapped the doorframe with my knuckles, my voice sounding distant.
“So do you think it’s the same girl?” Luke pointed at the yearbook in my hands.
It took me a second to pull myself together, but I finally managed a head shake. “Nah, probably not. Maybe she has some long, lost twin or something.”
“It could make a good story. I bet your Uncle Alex would love it.”
“Yep.” I pressed my lips together. “I bet he would.”
Although shaken, my brain started ticking the second I walked down the stairs. Mom and Dad bought my excuse of needing to get some homework done and we left a short while later. Luke was still looking at me a little oddly as I left, but I didn’t have the mind space to think about it. Riley was Dani. I wanted to deny it, but I couldn’t, because I knew. In my gut, I knew that Dani had secrets and I had just found a layer I could peel back.
I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to anymore.
Chapter 17
ZACH
May 2014
I stayed up all night trawling through the Lowell High Yearbook. That picture was the only one I could find of Dani. I studied every inch of it, soaking in her facial expression until it was etched into my brain. It was Dani. Unless she did have an identical twin, that dark haired chick with the sad blue eyes was my Dani.
Not my Dani. I shook my head as I pulled into the school parking lot.
I felt shattered. My brain had been ringing with questions all night, Luke’s words swirling around like a maelstrom, crashing against one another until my head ached.
Having only caught an hour’s sleep before my alarm went off, I decided to skip my morning swim and take my time getting ready. It hurt to think Dani had probably looked for me at the pool. She couldn’t even text me to find out where I was, being phoneless and all, but that was her problem not mine.
I jammed on the brake and jerked to a stop between the white lines. Part of me wanted to be furious with her for hiding something from me, but it’s not like I was her boyfriend or anything. Sure, we’d kissed, like once, but that didn’t make her mine.
Dani didn’t have to tell me anything and I hated it.