I gave a quick glance behind me, making sure I still wasn’t caught, then hoisted myself out into the side yard.
The bush broke my fall. If Dad noticed the broken branches, I’d just blame it on the neighbor’s cat.
Stealthily, I clung to the shadows near the house as I made my way around front. The evening bugs were out in full force tonight, filling the air with noise. Just before I stepped out into the driveway, something hard clamped down on my shoulder.
“Ah!” I whirled around, ready to punch whoever was there.
“You scream like a girl,” the voice remarked.
“I do not,” I muttered, then gave her a light shove on the shoulder. “What the hell are you doing out here, Sadie?”
She rolled her eyes so hard I thought they might fall out of her face. She flipped her long golden hair behind her shoulders. “Please. You didn’t think I’d actually let you do this.”
“You aren’t my mother,” I snapped.
“No, I’m your best friend.”
She was. Sadie had been my best friend since we were five and they’d moved in down the street. I’d thrown a rock at her, and she threw one back. She had better aim than I did. I still had the scar. Since that day, we’d been inseparable. We did everything together, but not this. Not tonight. This was my dare. Not hers.
“This is my dare.”
“You can’t go out on the lake alone at night,” she argued.
“I’ll be back before anyone even knows I’m gone.”
“This is stupid,” she disputed. “All those rumors are just made-up stories to scare us all. It’s why they call it Rumor Island.”
“I know that,” I said, stepping into the driveway. I didn’t have time to argue with her. Geez, she was going to wake up my parents. “Which is exactly why it will be an easy dare.”
“Wait and go tomorrow. We can take our dads.”
“You don’t win a dare by bringing your dad.” I scoffed. Was she even for real?
“Eddie.” Sadie grabbed my wrist, stopped me. I turned and glanced down to where she gripped my arm. If she slid down just a little bit more, we’d be holding hands.
Sadie was my best friend, but lately, I looked at her with new eyes… grown-up eyes.
“I won’t let you go,” she said.
“Go home, Sadie. I’ll come over tomorrow.”
“I’m coming with you.”
I sighed loudly. “You are the biggest pain in the ass, ever.”
She laughed and fell into step beside me. She knew she’d get her way. She always did.
“How’d you get out here anyway?” I grumped as we stepped out onto the street.
“Snuck out the window, just like you.”
My bike was hidden in the bushes just down from our house. My dad always complained the neighbor did a terrible job keeping them trimmed. I thought it was pretty handy; the out-of-control branches made a nice hiding spot.
I grabbed it up, climbed on, and glanced over my shoulder at Sadie. Her brown eyes twinkled when she stepped onto the small petals coming out from the wheel and slipped her arms around my torso.
I took off as I had a million times before. We rode like this all the time. In a couple years, I would trade in this bike for a car, and she would ride shotgun instead of behind me.
I’d miss this bike, though. It was a good excuse to get her to put her arms around me.
The ride to the lake was quiet. I steered to the opposite side where the beach was. This side was calmer. It had more houses and less places for people to just spend a day on the water. The docks, the beach, and all the other stuff everyone liked were on the other side.
I drove through someone’s yard and right down to Mr. Schroder’s small dock. The canoe he used for fishing was tied up and bobbing in the water.
“If we get caught, we are so dead,” Sadie said.
“We’re not gonna get caught.”
Creeping out onto the short dock, I hopped down into the canoe. Holding out my hand, I helped Sadie down into the rocky boat.
She sat on one end, and I untied the boat and shoved us away from the dock. The wooden oar was inside, and I used it to row us away from shore.
“What are we even looking for anyway?” she asked, fear creeping into her voice.
“To see if any of the rumors are true,” I said simply.
“You really think a bunch of murderers are hiding from the law out there?” She scoffed. “Or that the island is cursed by some witch who was burned at the stake a hundred years ago?”
I snickered.
“Oh, I know!” she said. “Maybe that’s where the Loch Ness Monster lays her eggs!”
“I fully believe the Loch Ness Monster isn't a myth,” I replied, serious.
“Yes, I know.” She laughed. “You and your imagination.”
“Just because you’ve never seen something doesn’t mean it isn’t there,” I told her.
“Usually not seeing something means exactly that. It’s not there.”
I flashed her a smile. “Then why’d you come along if you thought nothing would be there?”
“Someone has to make sure you stay out of trouble.”
We were away from shore now, the canoe bobbing unsteadily over the water. The wind out here was strong and cold. I glanced out across the water, making out the dark, skulking shape of Rumor Island.
“Shouldn’t be too long to get there,” I said, tossing her the backpack off my shoulders. “Here, hold the flashlight.”
“This is so dumb,” she commented.
“You love spending time with me,” I teased, my arms already getting tired of rowing.
“Always,” she whispered. I glanced up, our eyes connecting for long moments.
A large wave collided into the side of the boat and jostled us both. Sadie fell to the side, and I grunted. “You okay?”
“Fine,” she said. “You’re a terrible driver.”
“Get the flashlight out. Shine it out there. It’s too dark.”
She did what I asked, and we rowed in silence for a while toward the island. I didn’t expect to find anything at all except what everyone knew for sure about the island. Some woman lived out there alone, becoming a recluse after her beloved husband died.
She refused to leave the island because he’d loved it there. She rebuffed everyone’s attempts at friendship. Eventually, everyone gave up, pretty much forgot she even lived there, except when she came to town for supplies.
“The water’s rough tonight,” Sadie said, breaking into my thoughts.
“Yeah.” I agreed, rowing again. I thought momentarily to turn around, but the looming shape of the island and the house perched onshore was close. We’d dock and spend five minutes on land, long enough to say we’d been out there, searched around, and found nothing.
Looking back, I knew I should have turned around. I shouldn’t have gone at all.
“Wanna go see a movie tomorrow?” Sadie asked.
I groaned. “You wanna see that new chick flick, don’t you?”
“I saw that stupid action movie with you last week,” she argued.
“Fine,” I muttered. “But I’m getting popcorn and candy.”
“Like that’s anything new,” she rebutted.
I laughed, glancing up at the way the long blond strands of her hair glowed in the dark and waved out behind her like a flag.