The giant question mark in the back of my head. My rescuer, if Rachel was to be believed.
The night of the storm was a complete blank spot in my brain. I couldn’t remember what happened, and it freaked me out that I couldn’t remember, so I did my best not to think about it because I didn’t want Rachel and Joe sending me to a shrink or, God forbid, a real hospital. From far away, Norah was speaking to me, or maybe to someone else, I couldn’t tell, there was a strange ringing in my ears—because there he was.
“Caitlin! Snap out of it!”
“Is she okay?”
“I think so; she just does this sometimes.”
“I’m fine,” I said, still unable to tear my eyes away from him. “Curly-ish hair, expensive coat—what’s his name?”
Trish looked over, saw the tall, dark-haired guy I was staring at, then looked back at me, clearly amused.
“That’s gotta be a record. Adrian’s so quiet it usually takes new girls a day or two to get all doe-eyed.”
Norah leaned over to Trish and not-so-quietly whispered, “Caitlin got lost during that freak storm last week. Adrian found her. Probably saved her life.”
“Oh, did he?” Trish asked. “He was out there just conveniently waiting to rescue you?”
“He lives down the road,” Norah pointed out as she bit through a baby carrot. “I’ve seen him walking around the woods before. Our properties mingle.”
“What’s his name again?” I asked, trying not to stare as he ate his lunch at the picnic table kitty-corner from ours.
“Adrian de la Mara. Stony Creek’s finest specimen of true manhood, unless you count Julian.”
I asked, “Who’s Julian?” at the same moment Norah countered, “Dude, they are so not from Stony Creek. We don’t make men like that.”
“Excuse me, we make damn fine men up here,” Trish bristled, then frowned. “Although, you’re right, they’re not Stony Creek born-and-bred.” She switched back to me. “And Julian is Adrian’s older brother. Just moved here, in fact—Julian, not Adrian. Adrian’s been here since, like, what—sixth grade?”
Norah said something in reply, but I was already lost in thought.
I’d had no idea that he was my age, or our neighbor, or that we’d be going to the same school. I guess it made sense that he’d been out on a sunny day, just like me, wandering around the woods. I mean, people did that, right? And it made sense that he’d seen me fall and had … had …
The details were foggy. Rachel said I’d been hallucinating pretty bad for a while after he brought me home. I didn’t remember that, either.
And there he was. I don’t even know how I recognized him—one, because he was sitting with his back to us and I couldn’t see his face, and two, because he was a dark gray blob in my only memory of that night before I passed out on the front doorstep.
“Keep your rescue on the down low,” Trish warned. “Literally every girl here who’s hit puberty would punch you in both ovaries if they thought Adrian had so much as smelled you.”
Norah made a gagging noise and started packing up.
“All right, not every girl,” Trish conceded, “but most. There’s money down on who can get a date with him first. It’s scary.” She grinned and leaned in. “I may have put twenty bucks down that he’s gay, but the others are holding out hope.”
I’d only seen the back of his head, so I didn’t know what all the fuss was about, but I guess the back of his head was … nice? His hair was dark and wavy and brushed the collar of his wool coat.
“Yeah, sure,” I agreed as I absently waved good bye to Norah. “I’ll keep it to myself.”
Trish leaned in conspiratorially. “Good. Now, I’ve known you for a whole three hours and I have a good feeling about you, so I’ve decided to let you in on a highly classified secret.”
I looked curiously at her around a bite of ham and cheese. She seemed eager to include me in the community, and I wasn’t going to actively stop her from trying unless she got nosy about my personal life.
She grinned. “Every Halloween a bunch of us from all over Warren County have a party in this big old abandoned barn up on Black Spruce Mountain. There’s a little initiation ceremony for people who’ve never been before, but don’t worry, it’s nothing embarrassing. And don’t worry about your cousin seeing you there, only juniors and seniors are allowed in. I know that’s really soon, but you should come—it’d be a good way to get to know everyone.”
She mistook the look on my face for concern. “If you’re worried about getting in trouble, just say you’re spending the night at my house. My parents know I’m going and they’d totally let you stay over.”
My mind chose that moment to go completely blank, and because I couldn’t think of a good reason to say no, I shrugged yes.