On the other side, she heard Aaron clear his throat and scoot the gravel with his toe. Did he think she meant Ray “looked” pretty good? Like looked, looked? She hoped so much he wasn’t getting jealous. That’s all she needed. Selfish as it was, she wanted them both and wanted God to show her which one to go with. But she understood if Aaron moved on to someone else, someone he didn’t have to date with his brother, if that’s what people called what they were doing. He was twenty after all. No one expected him to be tied at her side forever.
“I guess we’ll have to get fast food.” She tried to sound happy about it. It wasn’t Ray’s fault church lasted longer than usual… well, it was, but it was for a good reason.
“Okay, we’ll meet you at the arches. See you in a few.” Aaron grabbed Ray playfully by the back of the neck and led him to his Mustang. Sometimes they rode together. Sometimes they didn’t. Just depended on the mood and what they had going on after church. Aaron had to be at work at six for overtime, so he wanted to be able to eat and leave if they went out. Sloan liked that about him. He could be jealous of Ray. He could be annoyed by him. But he always took care of him and always made sure they had money so Ray wouldn’t have to work while going to school. Now when summer came, the free ride on Ray’s part was over. But for now, Aaron took care of him. It was one of the qualities she admired most about him.
With her stomach rumbling, Sloan slid in the driver’s seat, put her foot on the brake, and pressed the push-button start. The Charger roared to life. The sound never got old. She put on her seatbelt and stopped when her eyes glanced at the passenger seat.
Roses. Five long-stemmed red ones lay there with a black ribbon tied around the stems in a perfect bow. They were beautiful, but she couldn’t imagine where they’d come from. Her mom was the only other person with a key to the car, and it had been locked. Whoever it was had been crafty. Scanning the area, she noticed the window was down slightly more than she remembered — which wasn’t much — but she didn’t think it was enough for someone to break in. But what did she know?
Gingerly, she picked up the flowers and brought them to her nose. The sweet smell of fresh roses made her sneeze. Allergies stunk.
Between the stems of two of the roses lay a white folded-up piece of paper. She took it out and unraveled it, hoping to have a clue for who gave them to her.
5 Days.
Nothing more. No name. No address. Not even an explanation. Five days till what? Five days since what?
She tossed the flowers in the seat and put the car in drive. Maybe Aaron and Ray knew about it.
Still, those words in cursive computer letters wouldn’t get out of her mind
5 Days…
CHAPTER TWO
Four Days Before the Fall…
SLOAN HATED MONDAYS. SHE’D HATED THEM before her attack. She hated them now. Every Monday, she groaned when the alarm clock went off, hated rolling out of her warm covers, and winced at the thought of putting her feet down on the floor. If she could just have Mondays off too, it would be lovely.
Sadly, her alarm clock kept doing its duty, thanklessly singing that same annoying song every five minutes from six o’clock on. It sure didn’t deserve the beating she gave it every Monday, but beat it she did. She slammed the alarm clock silent at six twenty-five, pained that the night — and the weekend — went so quickly.
It wasn’t even that she stayed up exceptionally late on Sunday nights. She just didn’t like Mondays. And the worst Monday of all would be the one after graduation in a few weeks, the first one where she’d have to work at the grocery store to make some extra money for college. Time just needed to stop and let her breathe. Breathing would be nice.
Sloan forced her warm feet onto the cold hardwood and gritted her teeth. Maybe if she invested in a rug, it wouldn’t be so bad. She’d have to get right on that.
Dragging herself into the bathroom to get freshened up, she fixed her toothpaste on her toothbrush and brushed her teeth while cringing at herself in the mirror. Wow, she looked rough. Messy hair. Sleepy eyes. Not zombie-ish yet, but it was getting there.
The mirror over the sink reflected the window on the opposite wall. Since it was warmer, her mom kept it open most mornings unless it was unseasonably cold. Tennessee still had cold snaps way into May. From the window, if the wind was just right and the trees hadn’t budded all the way yet, Sloan could see all the way across the street. Today was one of those days.
The sun had barely come up, but there was enough light to see to the sidewalk in front of the neighbors’ house. Some mornings, she saw Mindy and Kenny standing out, waiting for the bus. It had probably already come this morning, though. She was running late.
A shadow across the street caught her eye, and she stood up a little straighter with her toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. The shadow moved again, enough for her to see it wasn’t a shadow at all: a person dressed in black. He stood with his hands in the pockets of his zipped-up jacket. His feet were just a little apart, and his chin tilted up toward the sky.
With her toothbrush still firmly hanging out of her mouth, Sloan stood higher on her tippy toes to see him better. She could swear he looked familiar.