Chapter One - Just Breathe
Sitting in the Johnny Cakes parking lot at 5am isn't what I expected to be doing on my first day back in Green Grove. I've gone eight consecutive days without a sleeping pill. Each night I unsuccessfully chase the oblivion that used to come so naturally and each night I inch closer to giving in. I made it to 4 o'clock before calling, the guilt of waking him lessened by the genuine happiness that I hear in his voice. Despite the early hour, he acts as if being woken while it's still dark outside is a pleasant surprise. I think he's just excited to have me back, a fact that fills me with warmth. No matter what has happened in the last year and how my life has changed, I have one person who will always pick up the phone when I call. It's more than I left with, and I hold that knowledge close as I wait for him.
It's strange to be here again. I've always thought of Green Grove as a slow moving place, so I'm surprised to see all the changes that have occurred while I was away. I notice that the paintwork on the diner is fresh, and at the rear of the building a new glass extension gleams. I've been noting the superficial differences in the place that used to be my home since I flew in last night. The new lights on Main Street, the fancy fencing around the library, the new bed in my room. Small changes that are evidence of life continuing here without me. Later this morning I'll have to confront the big changes. Strangers that were once friends. Classes that I have no interest in. Halls that I've outgrown. I wonder if this is what Danny felt like when he came home from Juvie? Returning from an absence five times as long as mine under the cloud of a crime he didn't commit. Only to be rejected by almost everyone, including me. Puts my return in perspective.
I'm broken from my thoughts by a flash of movement to the right of my car. A smile breaks over his face as he walks towards me carrying two large coffees. I can't help but smile back as I lean over to open the passenger door for him.
"Lacey!" He says, giving me an awkward half hug, "man, I can't believe you're back. You look so different"
"You saw me two weeks ago Rico" I say laughing, reaching for my coffee before it gets spilled.
"Yeah, but that was mature, awesome Seattle Lacey. This is mature, awesome Lacey in a Green Grove context. That kind of amplifies the awesomeness."
"Is that your way of saying that I was... less than great when I lived here?"
"It's my way of saying that I never got the full Lacey friendship experience before. And I'm glad that we finally get to be friends while actually living in the same city"
"Me too. Thanks for meeting me Rico. I really just needed to get out of the house you know?"
He shrugs "Anytime. I mean, you must be nervous about later right? Can't be easy to go back after all this time." He glances at me from under his lashes, waiting for me to say something.
When I left Green Grove just over a year ago, everything was crazy. Tess Masterson had just been shot, Whitney had disappeared with her dad, and Danny and Jo were trying to deal with the fact that Charlie was their shared half brother. As much as Rico and I wanted to help and did what we could for our friends, there really wasn't room for us amid all the revelations and drama. Our fledgling bond formed as we sat on the outskirts of the unfolding events, and solidified as the weeks passed. When my mother told me that my father had been diagnosed with stage three stomach cancer, I didn't hesitate. I was packed up and on a plane within 48 hours, with Rico being my quiet support. I did try to call Danny a few times before I left, but although I left messages I didn't get a response. I wanted to call Jo, but as she was keeping a constant vigil at her mothers hospital bed, I thought it best to slip away quietly and contact her in a few weeks. Soon enough weeks turned to months, and I just didn't know how to approach either of them.
While I was starting a new school, and trying to manage my dad's treatment schedule and aftercare, I learned that Rico's friendship once given was completely unshakeable. Being an awkward soul he preferred to communicate in writing, updating me on the goings on in Green Grove in hilarious emails, and checking in throughout the day with witty, well timed texts that managed to stave off my loneliness and isolation. Eventually we graduated to evening Skype sessions that would last for hours, watching crime shows where we'd solve each case before the characters did. We had an unspoken agreement that apart from the big stuff, we would avoid conversations about Danny and Jo. He made sure to let me know that Jo's mother was making a full recovery, and that Karen Desai had checked herself into a facility to deal with some kind of breakdown. He tried to gloss over the fact that Danny was now staying with the Mastersons, but I could sense that the relationship between Danny and Jo was still a sore spot for him. It definitely was for me. But as the months passed and my fathers health continued to deteriorate I thought about it less and less as I struggled with the impending tragedy alone.
I looked up from where I'd been studying the cup cradled in my lap. Apart from Rico, I hadn't been in touch with anyone from Green Grove for a year. It wasn't a conscious decision, it was just that I hadn't felt particularly close to anyone when I left, so getting in touch had felt pointless. Now, faced with having to go back to that school again in a few hours, I felt a twinge of regret.
"How are they?" I ask. He hesitates before answering, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.
"You mean Danny and Jo?"
"Well yeah. And Phoebe, Cole, Sarita... You know, everybody."
"They're ok. I mean, they're largely the same. Phoebe is running drama club. Sarita is, well, kind of a bitch. Cole is captain of the football team, and is like, crazy good in the chemistry lab. Danny and Jo are cool, more involved in school life than they were before. We hang out sometimes, but its not like it was." He says looking away.
I nod slowly. "And you? How are you Rico?"
He is adept at avoiding questions like these, and as a result I've never been quite sure what his daily life is like now. I know that his break up with Andie a few months ago was hard on him, but he, like me, doesn't share pain well so we've never talked about it.
He looks at me warmly "I'm just pleased you're back Lacey. My partner in crime right here by my side."
He looks up at the diner "Speaking of crime..."
A man has emerged from the front door of the diner to collect a box from the front stoop. He is tall and well built with delicately greying hair and a healthy tan. His eyes flicker left to right, resting on my car for a moment before moving on. I know that he can't see us from this angle, but I still freeze, sensing that Rico is doing the same. After a few minutes the man hefts the box up and disappears inside.
"So that's the new guy? Looks pretty normal to me." Rico had talked about the new owner of Johnny Cakes a lot lately, convinced that there was something off about him. His name was Jake Patterson, and had arrived with his two children out of the blue a few months ago. They had been pretty tightlipped about themselves and where they had come from which wasn't suspicious in itself (well, not to anyone but Rico anyway), but three weeks ago there had been an incident at the diner that sent Rico running to skype me.
Robberies were rare in Green Grove, and armed ones were pretty much unheard of, so when the hooded man took a gun out of his pocket in the crowded diner most of the patrons watched with wide eyed interest, thinking that it was an elaborate high school prank. When the intruder demanded all the cash from the register and shot a few rounds into the ceiling all hell broke loose, with people screaming and diving under tables. Rico had been at his usual booth at the back, and from his hiding place under the table he had a perfect view of the counter as Jake flew over it, tackling the robber to the ground and pistol whipping him with his own gun.
"I'm telling you Lacey, he took that guy down like a seasoned street thug. Seriously, he took the gun from him without blinking, and smashed him in the face with it. Twice. He's supposed to be an ex-accountant for gods sake."
I can tell that Rico is excited. This is what he sounds like when we're in the middle of a crime thriller and he's convinced he's figured out how it all went down and who was responsible. It was enough to spike my interest.
"Ok, I'll admit that's a bit strange." I said thoughtfully. "How about we come back after school? I want to get a closer look at him, maybe see if I can strike up a conversation"
I look over at him and his smile is blinding. I chuckle as I start the engine "come on, let's head to the school, we can hash out theories before it gets crowded."