6:05 a.m.
“We’re going to need a bigger fire.”
I woke with a start. The danger of pretending to be asleep was actually falling asleep. I looked at the world between my fingers. Alex crouched in front of me, staring through his long, straight bangs. Alex, the enemy.
“What?” I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and pulled my blanket tighter. A thick grayness filled the room, the dim before dawn.
“It’s snowing harder. The power’s still out, and so is the cell signal.” Alex waited for me to say something. Snow splattered against the window, as if to prove his point.
My mouth felt like the inside of a snail’s shell: slimy, with a touch of grit. Still the three of us. Still alive. TV still there. No new strangers. I checked my watch. “Why are you up at six?”
“It froze in here overnight.” Alex rubbed his hands together.
That’s what happens when you leave the front door open.
“And I wanted to restart the fire and maybe get some coffee going, before you both woke up freezing cold.” He said it like we were in this fun camping adventure together.
I scrunched my nose up as Otis gave me an oversized lick on the face.
“He likes you,” said Alex. “He has good instincts.”
“Mmm.” I wasn’t so sure. Alex didn’t even look tired. His T-shirt wasn’t even creased. I wondered if he’d actually slept at all.
“I washed already. A splash of water and clean teeth is great for making you feel alive.” He said it with a grin, in that annoying I-know-what-you-were-thinking way, only if he did, he’d be a lot less nice to me.
And, actually, my breath probably stunk of puke, so maybe he didn’t mean it nicely at all.
I pushed Jade’s arm gently to see if she was awake. She blinked like she’d forgotten I was there. Then frowned when she remembered. “Still alive then?”
“Apparently.” I leaned back, so I wasn’t scarily in her face. “It was just a migraine. Painful but not life threatening.” I smiled, like it was nothing.
“Great, we all survived.” She sat up, pulled back her hair, and rearranged it into a tight bun on top of her head. Going from the sleep of the dead to absolutely awake in seconds. “Is the power back?”
“Not yet.” I tried the light switch, realizing I’d only taken Alex’s word for it. But he was right, there wasn’t any power, and the snow was still steadily falling.
Jade gave Otis a hug and Alex a grin. “Thanks for the loan. He kept me warm.”
“Anytime.” Alex turned to me and smiled. “Good to see you can talk now.”
I shivered. “You’re right. We need to warm this place up.” It was freezing outside of my blanket cocoon.
“Dad will be back soon,” Jade said. “We can go somewhere fun for breakfast, like Soto’s. They have the best shakes and doughnuts.”
“Shakes in the snow? Was that an invitation?” asked Alex.
“No,” Jade and I said at the same time. Something else in common then.
“Anyway, if the power’s out here, it will be out there too.” I stared at the snow-covered windows.
Jade sighed. “You’re right. Thanks for dashing my doughnut dreams.” But she gave a tiny smile. “Hopefully it will be back soon and then we can go.”
“Yep, hopefully.” I tried not to sound too cynical.
I had about two hours max to get rid of Alex. Or the real danger would be explaining to Mum why there was a guy in the house. She’d expect the worst—of me, anyway—and I’d be grounded for a hundred years. “You should go while it’s light, before the snow builds up even more,” I told Alex. I didn’t care what he was up to. I just wanted him to leave. “You promised you’d leave early.”
“Soto’s won’t be open this early in the season, anyway. Not enough customers,” said Alex, ignoring me completely.
“So wait, how do you know about Soto’s if you don’t know your way around here?” I frowned at him.
“Like I said, I got disoriented in the dark and the snow. I didn’t say I’d never stayed at my aunt’s before.” He was right, but it still felt wrong.
“Mr. Soto will be there. He’ll open up for us. He and Dad are friends.” Jade grinned. “We’re the only BIPOC in the hood.” Then she looked at me and paused. “I didn’t mean…I’m sure he’d welcome you too.”
“It’s strange, isn’t it? This new situation.” I smiled my best caring-sister smile.
“You could say that.” Jade stared out the window.
Alright then. Even thinking of myself as a sister felt weird.
Alex prodded the fire with the poker. It had reduced to a mound of ash scattered over a few crusty logs. “I’ll build this fire back up. As a thank-you for not throwing me out last night.”
“And then you’ll go.” I stared at him, arms crossed, unmoving.
“Sure.” He got on his hands and knees and poked at the ashes. “You got any more firewood?”
“Not much,” said Jade, looking at me.
“Alright, I’m sorry. I wasted a log. I didn’t know how to build a friggin’ fire.” There were only two dry logs left. I threw one on and struck a match. “It’s all we’ve got, until our parents come back.” It went out immediately.
“No, not like that. Here.” Alex grabbed a newspaper, shredded the pages, and bundled them into a loose paper ball. “First you need kindling.” He grinned at me. “Eagle Scout training.”
I didn’t grin back.
Jade went over to supervise. “You know there’s a stack of recycled paper waste for that, in the kitchen too.” Now she remembers.
“This is fine to get it started.” Alex struck a new match, setting the paper on fire before replacing the log on top.
“At least it’s there if we need it,” said Jade. She stayed mesmerized by Alex’s fire-starting technique. “Oh, that’s cool, a pyramid of paper. I normally crunch it up under the logs.” Great, geeks bonding over fire building.
Otis snuffled around the closet. He could probably smell the dog treats Uncle Marvin left.
I pulled out the Tahoe guide from the bookshelf and passed it to Alex. “It’s almost light. We can find you a real map and get you on your way.” I could be amazingly helpful when I didn’t have a migraine.
Alex placed it on the floor. “So, I’ve been thinking. About my aunt’s, since it’s snowing so hard, and I’ve proved that I’m trustworthy, and not a dangerous murderer.” He raised his brows at me. “Maybe I could stay until your parents get back, and then catch a ride?”
“Well, I was thinking, it’s best you go now.” A gust of wind buffeted against the roof. “Unless you want to witness my mum killing me for letting you in?” I knew for sure Oliver wouldn’t be blaming Jade.
Jade blew on her hands and rubbed them together. “I don’t know. They wouldn’t have wanted us to let Alex freeze out there. Dad would have helped him, if he was here.”
Of course he would. What perfect dad wouldn’t?
“I don’t think they’ll mind. Do you, Lottie? Not when they see how helpful he’s been and how cute Otis is.” Jade was all about the dog. “And how bad your migraine was.”
Helpful how? “Yeah, and you’re not the one who’ll be blamed.” I glared at Alex.
He just smiled. “They won’t mind when they find out how you saved a lost kid and his dog from freezing to death in the snow. Like Jade said, they’ll take you out for breakfast, right?” He patted the rug for Otis to come and sit next to him. “They can drop me off on the way.” He was so bloody charming. Mum would eat it right up. And it wasn’t like I had proof that he’d done anything. I could have gotten it wrong, jumped to conclusions from a lifetime of assuming the worst and being right. But the key…
I flicked my fingernails with my thumb. “I don’t know.”
He raised his brows, daring me to kick him out. “It’s the perfect solution. You won’t have a frozen dead boy and dog on your conscience. And I won’t be lost.”
“You wouldn’t be on my conscience.” I tried staring him down, but he wouldn’t even look at me. I went into the kitchen.
Jade grabbed the dog treats from the closet. “Luckily my uncle left these behind. There you go, good boy.” She fed a few to an eager Otis.
I raised my brows.
She shrugged.
“Alex is a stranger. Your dad will go mental if we let him stay.”
“Not if I we explain what happened. Honestly, Lottie, let it go. We might have saved their lives—who’s gonna be mad about that?” So much for sibling solidarity.
It must be nice to know that your parent had total trust in you. I checked my phone signal. Still dead. They would have definitely tried contacting us by now. They had to be on their way back. I checked my watch. It was Dad’s old one and dangled from my wrist. I’d forgotten how early it was. Mum would still be sleeping.
Jade came to the fireplace clutching a saucepan full of water and three mugs preloaded with Swiss Miss. “I got one for you too,” she said to Alex.
Great. I tried a different tactic. “Won’t your aunt be worried,” I asked, feigning innocence, “that you were missing all night?”
“She’s not there yet, so she won’t be worried.” Alex placed the saucepan over the fire on a grid he’d created from the ornamental pokers. Trying to prove how clever he was.
“How convenient.” I went downstairs under the pretense of changing into more layers. My head settled into a soft throb. I needed alone time. It was hard enough to think, post migraine, without having to try to outmaneuver Alex and Jade. I could force him to leave by telling him I knew he’d been staying, that I’d heard the key, that he probably didn’t even have an aunt, that I knew he’d met with his friends last night. Or not friends. I had no proof though. Alex could say I was crazy, having migraine delusions, and Jade would tell me she knew they were trouble, as soon as she heard it was AJ and Nico. But were they, or had Alex double-crossed them too? So many questions throbbing around my head.
The wind whistled through the cracks in the windows. I could see my breath. I went into Mum and Oliver’s room and rifled through their closet. I was unfolding Mum’s pale pink Patagonia vest when I turned and noticed the radio at the side of their bed. A windup, solar-powered radio. Of course, Jade was right. There was an emergency radio. Oliver would be prepared. He’d never leave his kid in the back of a car with only a thin blanket and a sad smile the way some dads did. I shivered the memory away.
My fingers hovered over the dial. The click echoed in the silence. I waited, counted to a painfully slow ten, then turned it up, little by little. It crackled, playing in and out of tune, louder then softer, until I found it—the emergency alert channel.