I wished she’d spoken in Spanish so I could have understood her better. Because long into the night the words—misused as they might have been—still echoed in my head:
Nobody girl.
Nobody girl.
Nobody girl.
Me.
**********
The beginning of that summer was unbearably hot. A month after school ended, I got a job working evenings as a hostess at the IHOP in town. Working nights allowed me to continue helping my mama at the motel.
Though it wasn’t much, the extra income allowed me to buy a few new summer clothes—ones I desperately needed—and help put some more decent food on the table.
I was happy to be busy, and relieved to be helping around the house. And I was also thankful to be so tired every day that I barely had the strength to miss Preston.
Both boys were working on their family farm that last summer and would leave in August for college on the East Coast. My heart pinched whenever I thought about it, even though I hadn’t seen Cole since school ended and hadn’t seen Preston since that night when we’d danced under the lights of the Laundromat.
Just the thought of them being so far away caused grief to well up in my throat. They’d been a constant in my world, seemingly all my life. I couldn’t remember a time when their twin smiles hadn’t been waiting for me right up the road, even if I went months and months without seeing them.
Cole surprised me one evening as I was leaving work. I laughed when he stepped in front of me, grinning and almost causing me to trip over my own feet.
“Hi,” I breathed, joy rising within at his familiar face. “What are you doing here?”
He grinned. “One of my friends mentioned he saw you working here.”
I nodded. “Just for a month now.”
“I’ve missed you. You’re a hard person to pin down, Annalia Del Valle.”
I laughed softly. “Right, because so many are trying . . . to . . . pin me down.”
“I am. I’m trying to pin you down.” His eyes were searching and I looked away on a laugh, feeling slightly awkward.
“I thought we’d see more of each other this year with going to the same school, but we really didn’t, did we?”
I shrugged, knowing it was my fault. I’d avoided them there. And the bedbug incident, as I referred to it now in my mind, had been proof that I’d been right to do so. “You were seniors this year. I was just a freshman. Our paths just didn’t cross much.”
He smiled. “Hmm. Well, here we are tonight, our paths crossing. I thought you might need an escort home.”
Nerves prickled. Preston had seen my house, and I hadn’t liked it. I didn’t want to repeat the experience with Cole. I turned back toward the door when I heard Cathy—my coworker and the girl who usually gave me a lift home—exiting behind me. “I’ve got an escort tonight, Cathy.”
Cathy grinned and waved as she turned in the direction of her car. I turned back to Cole. “Where’s your truck?”
“Preston has it tonight.”
I cleared my throat, refusing to think about where Preston might be. Or namely who Preston might be with. I nodded. “You can walk me to my turnoff.”
His eyes lingered on me for a moment but then he nodded. “All right.” We walked in silence for a few minutes before he asked, “Are you really okay? After what—”
“I’m fine.” My cheeks colored and I was glad for the dim outside lighting. I didn’t want to talk about the incident —it still mortified me.
He looked thoughtful for a moment before he put his hands in his pockets and glanced up at the moon. He seemed especially pensive tonight and reminded me of his brother. “Are you okay?”
It was still strange spending time with Cole without Preston there. I was so aware of his absence—probably even more so than if I’d been completely alone. Although it was funny because I hadn’t felt that way when I’d spent time with just Preston.
“Yeah, I’m fine. We’re, uh . . . we’re leaving in a couple of days.”
I stopped and turned to him, startled. “A couple of days? I thought you were leaving mid-August?”
He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “Our dorm opened up earlier than we were originally told it would, and Preston thought it’d be good to get out there and look for jobs before school started.”
My heart sank. “Oh. Jobs. Right . . .” I licked my lips, a sense of panic filling my chest. I blinked at him. “You’re here to say goodbye.”
He nodded and it was the first time I thought I’d seen an expression of sadness etched into the lines of Cole’s handsome face. “Yeah.” He looked off into the distance for a moment before meeting my gaze again. “I could have borrowed my dad’s truck tonight but I kind of just wanted to walk. I’ve been walking through town, just . . . remembering. Feels so strange to know I’m going to wake up somewhere other than here for the next four years.”
I took a deep, calming breath. Despite my sadness, I was happy for them. “You’re finally getting out of here,” I said, offering him a weak smile, the only one I could muster at the moment.
He smiled back and took my hand as we started walking again, giving it a squeeze. “I’m going to miss this place,” he said, grinning wider.
I tilted my head and looked at him sideways. “Yeah? Where are you gonna be?”
“In a college classroom, gettin’ myself educated.”