"So you didn't get her number?" Tyler asked as they pulled out of the hospital parking lot a few minutes later, following the Oldsmobile Indy and her mother had gotten into.
"Naw, but I got a name. Indy Goodwin. Think she goes to Public." He admitted absently, his eyes glued to the powder blue car ahead of them as they wove through the dark back roads of Old Ipswich.
"I didn't know anybody but Gorman lived out here anymore." Tyler commented, eyes narrowed in thought. Mystery girl – Indy Goodwin, he mentally filled in – was a complete unknown, and the land out here contained some serious magic. Maybe she had soaked it up just living in the area? Didn't seem likely. There was something more to this Indy, and Tyler had an odd feeling of déja vu. There was something about her...
Before he could pinpoint exactly what it was, the car pulled into the gravel drive way of an old house next to a lake, Tyler Using to keep them from being detected. Indy and her mother dragged themselves into the house, both looking dead tired. Both boys Used to see past the walls, and it made even Reid's bad boy heart to hurt to see Indy climbing the stairs up to her room and flop onto her bed, balling into the covers until she fell asleep, still in her dark club wear. Both of them heard, even out in the car, her last words of the night.
"Reid..."
Morning found Reid and Tyler passed out in the Hummer, parked outside of a modest sized old house on the fringe of Old Ipswich, only a few minutes from Old Garwin Manor. Both of them started awake at the sharp tapping on the glass, jumping to see the dark-haired girl from the night before rapping on the dark windows with a knuckle and a frown.
"You better get outta here before my mom wakes up." The girl suggested, her voice slightly distorted by the glass, still-bloody eyes narrowed alertly at the two sleepy boys.
"Yeah, uh, we'll go." Reid said awkwardly, still waking up. "But you, uh, never gave me your, um, your number." He sounded like an idiot. He was never this inarticulate. What was wrong with him? Maybe it was the bloody eyes, staring unblinkingly at him. Maybe it was because he suddenly remembered him and Tyler Using last night to make the huge vehicle invisible. Or maybe it was just her.
"You just don't give up, do you?" She asked, a smirk curving up one side of her mouth. He gave her a cocky look, purposely taking her in, everything from the same old sneakers from last night to her fluffy black pajama pants to her thick hoodie with an obscure college name printed across her chest, to which he paid extra attention. She scoffed, unimpressed. "Why are you here, Garmin?" She asked, getting his name wrong. Reid's eye twitched, his self-assured smile falling. Who was this girl? Did she live under a rock or something? How did she not know the name Garwin?
"Just making sure a beautiful girl was alright." He said smoothly. "It's what we Garwins do when we come across damsels in distress." He could tell his words were not the wisest by her own twitch of annoyance.
"Firstly, I am not a damsel in distress, and secondly, I didn't need your help. If you'll remember, I left you, and you followed me." She bit off before sighing and absently running a hand through her hair. "This is ridiculous. Either leave or come in. I'm not talking to either of you through a car window." She said, acknowledging Tyler with a nod.
"N–" Tyler started, convinced of her safety, just as Reid cut in "Sure, we'd love to come in, Red."