Dawn by McKayla Box

Chapter 11

“Hey,” Gina says, snapping her fingers in front of my face. “Earth to Presley.”

I’m sitting across from her at a small table in the back of Juanito’s, our go-to taco and burrito place near the beach. Maddie is next to her and Bridget is next to me. I had a text from her on my phone when I got back to my car at the beach, telling me she, Bridget, and Maddie were heading there for a late lunch if I wanted to meet them. I didn’t know what I wanted right at that moment, but I was still in shock from seeing Trevor, so I said yes and headed over to meet them.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “What?”

“I asked how last night went,” Gina says. “But clearly you’re still in some sort of sex-induced coma to function.”

Bridget laughs and puts her arm around my shoulders. “She missed her boy.”

“Did he surf with you this morning?” Maddie asks.

“Uh, no,” I say. “I mean, no he didn’t surf with me this morning. And last night was fine.”

Gina raises an eyebrow. “Just fine? That’s anticlimactic. Was hoping you were going to tell us you orgasmed like you’ve never orgasmed. Turns out Eric Logan looks good, but literally has no idea what he’s doing in bed. Was like a fucking tutoring session.”

Maddie and Bridget both laugh and shake their heads.

“Do you guys know what Brett’s been up to?” I ask, ignoring her story. “Like, have you guys seen or talked to him since you’ve been back?”

Maddie shrugs. “No, haven’t seen him. Figured he’d be there last night, but never saw him.”

“And that is an awkward way to avoid my question about orgasms,” Gina says. “What gives?”

I look down at the burrito on the waxed paper in front of me. I’ve barely touched it, even though it’s one of my favorite meals. “Uh, nothing. I was just…I thought he’d be there last night, too. Was surprised he wasn’t.”

“Did Trevor know where he was?” Bridget asks.

“I…I didn’t ask him,” I say.

A weird silence settles in at the table.

I sigh, push the burrito away, and look at them. “Something’s going on.”

They wait for me to say more.

“Trevor hasn’t been Trevor,” I tell them. “And then I saw something before I came here and I’m all fucked up over it.”

Bridget touches my arm, but doesn’t say anything.

“I don’t know if I’m overreacting to nothing or what.” And then I launch into everything.

How we barely communicated the last few months.

How I didn’t see him over Thanksgiving.

How he quit working for his dad and didn’t tell me.

How he wasn’t waiting for me when I got home.

How he was late getting to the party.

How he didn’t answer my texts this morning.

And how I saw him in the parking lot in his best friend’s truck with a strange girl.

Maddie pushes away her own food like she’s not hungry anymore, either. “Well. Shit.”

“You should’ve called him out when you saw him,” Gina says. “Just straight up screamed at his ass in that parking lot.”

“I was in shock,” I say. “And he wasn’t doing anything with her. It was just…weird.”

“It’s super weird,” Bridget says. “Super weird. No wonder you’re so freaked out.”

Gina reaches across the table and reaches for my hand, giving it a firm squeeze. “I know. Not trying to be a bitch. I’m just so pissed. At him. For you.”

“You didn’t ask him about the lack of communication while you were at school?” Maddie asks.

“No, not really,” I tell them. “I just asked if everything was cool and he told me it was. And we had a nice time last night. First at the bonfire, then we went back to his house for a little while before he took me home.” I shake my head. “But I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was just…off.”

“If that motherfucker is—” Gina starts, her eyes narrowing to slits.

“We don’t know that he’s doing anything,” Bridget says, cutting her off. “Let’s not jump to conclusions.”

Gina is still glaring.

“Trevor’s always been good to you,” Maddie says. “Better than he has to anyone else he was ever with. So I’m with Bridget. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“Well, what the fuck?” Gina says, her eyes wide. “He’s not texting her. He’s acting weird. He’s in the parking lot with some bitch in Brett’s truck. I mean – that’s all fact. That’s not getting ahead of anything. Motherfucker needs to set some shit straight.” She looks at me. “And I’m not trying to tell you what to do, Pres. I swear. But I’m pissed for you. It’s not okay that he’s acting like this.”

I agree with her. It’s not okay that he’s acting like this. Maybe it’s nothing. But either way, he needs to tell me what’s going on.

“The thing with the truck this morning was just weird,” I finally say. “Why would he have been driving Brett’s truck?”

Bridget and Gina both shake their heads like they have no idea.

“I don’t know the answer,” Maddie says. “But I’ve heard that…maybe Brett’s not doing that great.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

She stirs the straw in her drink. “Nothing specific. I’d tell you if I knew something. But my dad mentioned something about seeing him a couple of weeks ago and he didn’t look good. Kinda thin, just…not good. My sister mentioned to me a couple of days ago that she heard he was still kinda messed up over Jake. I asked her what she meant, but she didn’t have specifics. Just stuff she’d heard. And I texted him last week. I was bored in between finals and I hadn’t heard from him in a couple of months, so I just texted him to see what was going on with him.” She shakes her head. “He never texted me back. I didn’t try again because I figured he was either blowing me off or…I don’t know.”

“But none of us has seen him?” I ask.

They all shake their heads.

“And no one’s talked to Trevor?”

They all shake their heads again.

“Something’s going on,” I say, as much to myself as to them. “I can just feel it.”

“You need to talk to him,” Bridget says. “Just talk to him. You guys have been able to talk before. I’m sure he’ll talk to you, Pres.”

“But he hasn’t been talking to me.” I let out a frustrated sigh. “He didn’t tell me about quitting working for his dad. I asked him what he was doing with Brett and he was vague. I’ve tried to talk to him the last few weeks and he’s barely said anything to me. I feel like I had to drag him down to the bonfire last night. And then I see him today with some girl that I’ve never seen before and he’s handing her an envelope and it’s all just super fucking weird.”

“Agreed,” Gina says.

“But it’s not like you saw them making out or anything, right?” Maddie says.

Gina shoots her a look.

“Relax,” Maddie says. “I’m trying to make a point.” She looks at me. “Right?”

“Right,” I admit.

“So that’s good,” she says, her voice encouraging. “And he did come last night and you guys did hang out, right? And things were cool?”

I nod. “Yeah.” Things weren’t exactly cool. They were mind-blowingly hot. But I don’t tell them this.

“So those are good things,” she says. “And probably not things that would’ve happened if he was fucking around. I don’t know what the deal is with the chick in the parking lot, but nothing happened. Maybe there’s a good explanation. He’s never given you a reason not to trust him.”

“That’s what I was going to say, too,” Bridget says. “He’s never given you a reason to doubt him. It’s not like there’s a history here. So…I know this sounds dumb, but I think you just have to talk to him.” She squeezes my arm. “I’ll be there’s a good explanation. For everything.”

I look down at my uneaten burrito.

I don’t feel nearly as sure.