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Zoe
Zoe held the wine bottle out to the girl on her right, who took a tiny sip and then handed it off to Alita.
“Holy cow, you guzzle guts!” Alita cried. “Leave some for me!”
“It’s okay,” backpack girl said. “I’ve got another.”
“When’s Jason coming?” Zoe asked. She could already feel the alcohol doing its job.
Alita and backpack girl exchanged a look that made Zoe think this was a prank after all.
“He’ll be here,” Alita said without looking at her. She tipped the wine bottle up, polished it off, and then looked at her friend. “Open number two.”
The girl giggled and pulled out another bottle. One of them started some music on her phone. Another pulled out a bag of weed and some rolling papers.
Zoe’s mouth watered at the sight of it. “I thought people around here didn’t smoke pot.”
Alita laughed. “Who told you that?”
Zoe wasn’t about to admit that she was quoting Nelson. She imagined these girls didn’t even know who Nelson was. Actually, they probably did because their school was so small. But she’d bet they pretended they didn’t know who he was. Zoe shrugged. “I dunno.”
“Yeah, this is a respectable town.” Alita said the word respectable with a good dose of irony, and a few of her friends giggled. “But some of us are still cool.” She took the joint and lighter out of the roller’s hand before she could light it. Then Alita did the honors and took a long pull. When she’d exhaled, she smiled at Zoe and strode toward her. “This is the best stuff. Try it. I’m curious how it compares to the stuff in Mississippi.”
“Missouri,” Zoe said, taking the lit joint from between Alita’s manicured nails.
“Whatever.” Alita giggled.
Zoe took a long drag and within seconds felt the first inklings of a good high. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, so happy to finally have some pot.
But then something unexpected happened. It felt as though a giant black umbrella was being lowered over her. She was tempted to look up, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to see anything. Yet, it was there. She had to move. The umbrella was about to cover her, and she had to move, or she would be trapped. But if she jumped to the side, they would all think she was nuts. There is no umbrella, she told herself. She needed to get out of the way. She couldn’t. She needed to get out of—and then it was too late. She was trapped. And she could hear the tee-heeing of the creatures who had lowered the umbrella. What had they given her? Had the joint been laced with something? No, because Alita had smoked it too. So what was going on?
Something bumped into her arm. She opened her eyes to see someone was handing her another wine bottle. Hoping that more wine would dampen the effects of the pot, she took the bottle and chugged it.
Alita laughed. “Woah, take it easy, Missouri.”
Tires crunched on gravel, and Zoe turned to see a small red Dodge had arrived. Jason. Thank God. So it hadn’t been a trick. They really did want to hang out with her.
Jason got out of the car. Something wasn’t right. He looked furious. “Zoe, get in.”
What? She looked around for clues.
“Calm down, Jas,” Alita said. “We’re just having a little fun.”
“Zoe,” Jason said, “get in the car.”
While Zoe normally didn’t like being bossed around, something in Jason’s voice scared her. She looked at Alita, who was red with fury. A few of the other girls were giggling.
Zoe started toward Jason’s car and found that more difficult than it should have been. Her legs were thick and heavy. She tried to go faster, and she could feel the eyes of a thousand critics boring into her back. The umbrella was gone, but she could still hear the tee-heeing. She opened the car door and fell into the front seat. She closed her eyes. The effects were still coming on, but they didn’t feel as good as usual.
“I’ll call you, Alita,” Jason said. “Don’t call me.” Wait, what had that meant? Was he going to break up with her?
He got behind the wheel, and Zoe opened her eyes. “What’s wrong?”
He gave her a dirty look and then stomped on the gas, spraying chunks of dirt behind him as they took off. “What is wrong with you?”
“Huh?” Why was he mad at her? Tears burned at her eyes. “They told me you would be there,” she said weakly.
Now out of sight of the others, Jason pulled the car over and looked at her. His face fell, and he looked away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry. Look, Zoe, if anyone tells you that I will be somewhere drinking, it is never true.”
“She didn’t say you’d be drinking,” Zoe said. She tried to say it quickly, but she didn’t think she’d managed. Her words drifted out of her and seemed to hover between her mouth and Jason’s ears.
“Whatever. Let’s get you home. I’m sorry they did that to you.”
“Did what ...” She thought there was more to that question, but it didn’t come.
“I don’t know exactly what they had planned, but it wasn’t good.”
Her heart sank. So it had been a prank. But it hadn’t happened yet. Jason had intervened.
“Why are you so nice to me?”
He laughed.
“It’s not a joke. I’m serious.”
He shrugged. Both hands had a tight grip on the wheel, and he wouldn’t look at her. “I don’t know. I’m nice to everyone, I guess. Always have been. I guess I want people to like me, so I’m nice to them.” He glanced at her. “But with you, it’s even more than that. I think you’re interesting. You’re new, from away.” He stopped at a stop sign and took a deep breath. “And I guess that you’re Esther’s granddaughter, so I want to help you.”
“So you don’t like me.”
He looked at her. “What? I didn’t say that.”
Her eyelids felt heavy. “But you don’t.”
“Oh.” He caught her meaning. “No, Zoe. Sorry, I don’t think of you in that way.”
“Don’t be sorry,” she tried to spit out. “I didn’t say I was in love with you or anything. Aren’t you worried about what being nice to me will do to your rep?”
He laughed. “Not at all. This is a small town. I’m nice to everyone, so most people like me. And it doesn’t matter what my family does to embarrass themselves, people will still like me. Believe me, my mother has already test-driven that theory.”
She didn’t know what that meant. “Where are we going?”
He gave her an incredulous look that made her feel small. “I’m taking you home.”
“I don’t want to go home. Can you drop me off at the church?”
He looked at her again. “Why do you like hanging out alone at church so much?”
“No, I won’t be alone. I’m helping Rachel with stuff there.”
“Oh.” He actually sounded impressed. “Sure, I can take you there. She won’t care that you’re drunk?”
“I’m not drunk.”
“Sure.”
They said nothing else until he pulled up in front of the church. “Thank you, Jason. I’m sorry I made your life more complicated.”
He sighed. “You’re welcome. And you didn’t. Don’t worry, once you’ve been here a while, things will settle down, and people will leave you alone.”
She believed that. People would leave her alone. They would forget she existed. She slammed his car door shut and started across the lawn as Jason drove away.
Rachel came down the front steps and met her halfway. “You’re drunk.”
“I’m not drunk.”
Rachel grabbed Zoe’s chin and turned her face up to meet hers. She studied her for what felt like a long time and then let go. “Come inside.”
Slowly, Zoe followed Rachel inside, glad that Derek wasn’t sitting on the front steps this time.
Rachel pointed to a chair. “Sit.” She grabbed her phone and dialed.
Was she calling the police? Zoe’s chest tightened in panic. “Please, don’t ...”
“Delivery, please.”
Zoe relaxed—a little.
“Large pepperoni and a two-liter of coke.” She rattled off the church’s address. Then she hung up the phone and turned to glare at Zoe, who slid down in her chair.
Rachel moved a chair so she could sit opposite her. Then she stared at her for an uncomfortably long time before saying, “Tell me what happened.”
“Alita, that’s Jason’s girlfriend, told me that Jason had told her to pick me up and take me to the boat landing.” She remembered the text. “Jason acted like I was stupid for believing her, but she had a text message from him. She showed me!” When she said it out loud, her story sounded pathetic.
“So she took Jason’s phone and sent a text with it?”
Zoe looked at her hands. “I guess.”
“But Jason’s the one who dropped you off, so he was there?”
“No, he only came at the end.” Suddenly, Zoe’s mouth was so dry it hurt. She tried to swallow. “To get me.”
“Well that was nice of him.”
Yes, it was so nice of him. Because Jason was a saint, and she was such a charity case. “I didn’t do anything that bad.”
Rachel scooted her chair closer to Zoe’s. “Remember the tent revival I mentioned, where I met my husband?”
Something about Rachel’s voice made Zoe focus. She sat up a little. She’d never seen Rachel look so serious.
“I’m about to tell you something that my own daughter doesn’t know. I want to trust you with it. Can I do that?”
Zoe didn’t know what to say. Of course Rachel could trust her. But she was a little scared of what Rachel was about to say. This didn’t make any sense. A secret that Rachel’s daughter didn’t know was also a secret that Rachel thought Zoe needed to know? What on earth? “Yes. You can do that.”
“What I didn’t tell you about the tent revival is ... I didn’t go there alone.”
