Dawn by McKayla Box
Chapter 24
“South,” Bridget says. “That’s Mexico.”
We’re sitting at The Hut. After I watched Trevor and Brett leave, I walked back to the cars and we headed here to get some food and figure out what we saw. I’ve introduced Sunny to Maddie and Gina and now we’re picking at a couple of boxes of fries and I’m stirring the straw in my drink.
“That’s what I thought, too,” Gina says. “Mexico.”
“How far is it?” Sunny asks.
“By boat?” Maddie says. “Maybe half an hour? We used to go down once a summer, but I can’t remember exactly.”
“They might not be going anywhere,” I say. “They might be meeting another boat. They might be going south to get out of the harbor, then turning north. We have no idea what they’re doing out there.”
We’re quiet for a few minutes.
“I can try and get his phone,” Sunny says. “I know I couldn’t get a look at it earlier, but maybe I can sneak into his room when he falls asleep or something.”
I shake my head. “No, he wakes up at everything. He’d heard you. I promise he would.”
“So how do we find out?” Gina asks. “How do we figure out what they’re doing?”
“I can’t believe I’m going to say this,” Bridget says, shaking her head. “But we need a boat.”
We all look at her.
“If we had a boat, we could get into the marina, then follow them out,” she says.
“At night?” Maddie says. “It’s not like it’s crowded out on the water at night. I don’t think we could follow them like we did in the cars.”
Bridget’s mouth twists, then she nods. “Yeah, I guess.”
“But wait,” Gina says. “If we had a boat in there, we could get into the marina.”
“So?” Maddie says.
“So then maybe we could put a tracker on the boat,” she says. “Like a GPS thing. Then we’d know where they’re heading.”
“We just go to the spy store and buy a tracker?” Bridget asks. “Can you even just buy something like that?”
“I don’t know,” Sunny says. “But you could buy a phone.”
We all look at her.
“You could get a phone and put the Find My iPhone thing on it,” she explains. “Or that stupid Life 360 app that my parents tried to get me to put on mine. It tracks your location in real time. But if you bought a phone and we could get into the marina, then we could put it in their boat without them knowing it.”
“Damn,” Gina says. “I like it.”
“How do we get in the marina?” I ask. “None of us have a boat. Our families don’t have boats. We need access to the marina, and we have to get in there when they aren’t there.”
“We don’t need a boat,” Maddie says. “We just need to get through that gate. That’s it. So it might be as easy as just hanging around and slipping in when someone else goes through.”
“And when we know Trevor and Brett won’t be here,” Gina adds.
“I can get in,” Sunny says. “I know I can.”
“How?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes. “I’ll pretend to be a dumb girl and I’ve forgotten the code and bat my eyelashes and I guarantee someone will let me in.”
I lean back in the booth. “I don’t know. This is starting to feel…I don’t know. More than weird. Maybe we just need to leave this alone.”
“You get the phone, I’ll get it on the boat,” Sunny says. “I promise.”
Gina nods.
“Best idea yet,” Maddie says.
“I agree,” Bridget says.
Before I can say anything, the door to The Hut swings open and Shanna, Lisa, and Jessica stride in.
“Oh. Great,” I say. “Just what we need.”
They walk to the counter to order and Lisa looks in our direction, then does a double take. She taps Shanna on the shoulder, whispers in her ear, and Shanna whips her head in our direction.
Gina holds her middle finger up high.
“Who’s that?” Sunny asks.
“The anti-Christ,” Maddie says.
Sunny frowns, confused.
Before we can tell her anymore, the trio head in our direction.
“Nice to see you dried out,” Bridget says, eyeing Shanna up and down.
“Fuck you, Bridget,” Shanna snaps. Her eyes narrow. “I see your little dipshit sorority has picked up a new pledge. You could do so much better, sweetheart.”
Sunny stares at her, but doesn’t say anything.
“We are not in the mood tonight,” I tell her. “Go bother someone else.”
“Where’s lover boy?” she asks, ignoring me. “Oh, I forgot. Trouble in paradise.”
I know she just wants to get under my skin, but after I pushed her in the fountain the other day, her bullshit is just hitting me different. It’s not the sharp needle it used to be. It’s more of a dull poke that I’m able to ignore.
“Who the fuck are you?” Sunny asks, laughing.
Shanna’s cheeks redden. “Was I talking to you?”
Sunny looks at me. “Is she for real?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Who are you?” Shanna snarls.
Sunny looks at her for a long moment, then busts out laughing. “You’re like a cartoon.”
Shanna’s rage simmers. “You better watch your mouth.”
Sunny laughs and looks at us. “This is hilarious. She’s like every stereotype from every bad movie.”
“Bitch, you better shut up.”
Sunny laughs again. “Even her dialogue is bad.”
Shanna puts her hand on Sunny’s arm. “Bitch, I just—”
But she doesn’t get another word out.
Sunny’s arm sweeps over Shanna’s and she grabs Shanna’s wrist, then twists it.
Hard.
Shanna yelps.
“Oh, fuck yes,” Gina whispers.
“Don’t fucking touch me,” Sunny growls at her. “Ever. Do you understand me?”
“You fucking bitch!” Shanna squeals. “Let go—”
But Sunny doesn’t let go.
Instead she twists harder and slides out of the booth, standing up and holding Shanna’s arm at an awkward angle.
Jessica and Lisa both step back.
Shanna squirms but can’t get loose from Sunny’s grip. Her knees buckle and she drops to the ground. Sunny still doesn’t let go.
“Stop,” Shanna whines. “You’re hurting me.”
“No shit I am,” Sunny says. “If you call me a bitch again, I’ll break your arm. Do you hear me?”
Shanna’s face is completely red, but she nods and manages a very weak, “Yes.”
Sunny lets go of her wrist and Shanna’s arm falls to her side. Sunny stands there, not moving. Shanna looks up at her, then pushes herself off the ground. She’s rubbing her wrist and cradling her arm against her body.
Sunny laughs and shakes her head and slides back into the booth.
Shanna glares at me, then turns and walks away, Jessica and Lisa trailing behind her.
“Well, holy shit,” Maddie says, after a soft whistle. “That was something else.”
“Where did you learn to do…that?” Bridget’s eyes are as wide as saucers.
“My dad,” Sunny says with a shrug. “He got me into taekwondo when I was little. I stuck with it. Who is that anyway? Does she go to Sunset?”
“She used to,” I tell her. “And you just handled her better than any of us ever did.”
“What a fucking loser,” Sunny says. “I think she’s watched Mean Girls one too many times.”
We all laugh.
Sunny fits in just fine.