Crash Into You (3 page)

“Oh, no, no we aren’t delivering any food.”

He looks at me puzzled like he can’t really imagine that I would be here for any other reason.

“We don’t work at any restaurant delivering food,” Nathan offers up helpfully next to me. I shoot him a dirty look but he’s all smiles. Figures he would pick now to suddenly be in a good mood.

“Oh, well, whatever it is you’re selling, we aren’t interested in. We’re a private community, we have rules about this type of thing, you could get in trouble for even being here, you know.” He states it in the same annoyed way, like he has to chase people trying to sell them stuff door to door away time and time again. Which was probably true, he seemed like the type who didn’t have very much going on outside of this community, the type to sit around and obsess about every little thing and try to fix it.

“We have rules about people being allowed to sell things in here,” he’s still going on about it, not giving me a chance to correct him. “You could even get the police called on you, so I wouldn’t come back around to this neighborhood if you know what’s good for you.”

I roll my eyes; this guy clearly is overly obsessed with his complex. Not to mention I’m pretty sure he’s full of shit. You can’t get arrested for selling things door to door, could you? I mean, maybe in a private community you could be asked to leave, but not arrested. Not to mention this didn’t look like a private community, it looked like regular old apartments to me. Didn’t private communities have gates and security? We had driven right in like we owned the place.

I’m about to tell him he’s right, just to shut him up, and get out of there. Maybe we could park a street over then walk down here, or something. No way did I want to get involved with this guy by asking him for help. That would be a disaster. Of course, before I have a chance to say anything, Nathan decided to be helpful again.

“We aren’t selling anything either, we’re looking for someone!”

“Oh, are you Ed and Stella’s grandchildren? I think they’re around here somewhere…” He trails off, looking around the little apartment complex.

“No, no, we don’t have any family around here! We’re from out of town!”

I shoot Nathan a death glare. Why the hell wouldn’t he shut up?

The man pauses, looking at us suspiciously again, the way he did when he first saw us from the grass with his neighbor. “Who are you looking for then?”

“Well, actually, if you could just point us in the direction of apartment number…” I glance down at the paper in my hand with Stephanie’s mom’s address.

“No, no, I don’t fool around with numbers, but what’s the name? I know everyone in this entire complex, on a first name basis with all of them. So, if you just tell me who it is you’re looking for, I’ll get them for you.” He looks proud of himself, like the fact that he knows everyone around here is a big deal. Like he’s the most popular kid in school, or something. Somehow I doubt this guy was that well liked around here.

I glance down at the paper again, starting to get nervous again. The problem was that I didn’t exactly know Stephanie’s mom’s name. When Eric had first given me the sheet of paper I had thought it had Stephanie’s mom’s name and address on it, but after looking at it again, I realized it was Stephanie’s name and her mom’s address. Which made no sense, I mean, why the hell had Eric given me Stephanie’s name? I already knew what it was!

“The name?” the guy’s asking again.

“The name? Well… the name…about the name…well, the thing is this-“

“You do know the name of the person you’re looking for, don’t you?” The old man is squinting at me now, like maybe my story is a fake one, and I’m really up to no good.

“Of course she knows the name!” Nathan chimes in from next to me; sounding like the idea of me not knowing it is pretty ridiculous. “Tell him the name.”

“The name? The name…” I search my mind for Stephanie’s last name, trying to remember it so bad that I feel like a headache is forming at the front of my temple.

“You don’t know her name?” Nathan asks, shocked.

“Well, not exactly…”

“Sounds like a made up story to me! Now, I won’t have any trouble in my neighborhood! You turn right around and drive out of here! Before I call the cops!” The man is really getting going now, even kind of yelling.

“Jim! Jim!” The man starts screaming. “Come quick! It’s some teenagers here to cause trouble again! I think they have eggs!”

Wow, what was he talking about? He hadn’t even looked in our car. Why would he think we had eggs?

Nathan reaches past me and rolls the window up, drowning out the guys yelling. “Let’s just get out of here for now, before the cops come, I don’t want them calling my mom.”

I look out at the guy who’s waving someone over toward the car now, still yelling. I sigh and throw the car into drive, zooming past him, and turning around in a nearby driveway. I can still hear him yelling when we zoom by him and out of the complex.

Well, that was a disaster.

I didn’t know what I was supposed to do now. We clearly couldn’t go back there now. Any sight of our car and that guy would call the cops for sure. Not to mention he probably told everyone else in the complex by now to be on the look out for us. Even if the cops did come and I could explain it, they still might want to call our parents to at least let them know what was going on. That couldn’t happen, there would be no way to explain that to my aunt or Nathan’s mom.

I pull into the parking lot of a grocery store a few miles up the road. Neither Nathan or me have said anything since we flew out of the apartments.

“Do you think he got my plate number, or anything?” I find myself asking him.

“I doubt it, he was squinting just trying to make us out, no way he could see a plate number with how fast we got out of there.” He sounds sure, and it reassures me, at least a little.

“Well, I guess at least I can say I tried, right?” I look out the window at the people moving in and out of the grocery store, hands filled with bags.

“Look, I know you aren’t going to tell me why we’re here, or what you have to do, but it must be pretty important if we came all this way and you’re being this secretive about it. Are you sure you want to let it go this easy?”

This was what I meant about Nathan always being there for me. He always used to make me feel better about everything that was going wrong in my life. I knew he would never judge me or tell anyone anything. He still had that way about him, even when he didn’t care about me like that anymore, even when he didn’t know what the exact situation was, he still knew exactly what to say. He still knew exactly what I needed to hear at the right moment. And that was because he still knew me; deep down he still knew me.

“I don’t want to let it go, but I don’t have a choice. I mean, you saw the look in his face. It was the same one that was on yours when I didn’t even know her name, it’s kind of hopeless.”

“It’s not hopeless, you just have to get creative,” he says raising his eyebrows. I don’t say anything and after a second he opens the car door and starts to climb out. “I’m going to grab something to eat in here, you want anything?”

I shake my head no and he shuts the door without another word.

My eyes drift toward the floor where a bunch of his unopened snacks were. Typical. Guys could have all the food in the world and still want more. Eric would always eat off my plate, even when his was full of his own food.

Eric. Ugh, I was gong to kill him. Who sends me off on a wild goose chase without a first name? I pull my phone off my dash, ignoring all my missed texts and calls, I scroll through my contacts until I find his name. Then I tap his name and wait patiently while it rings. I’m not going to yell at him, I’m not going to yell at him.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

What was taking him so long? Watch him not pick up. That would be just my luck. I picture him dong something stupid like eating or watching football, seeing me name on the screen, and putting his phone back in his pocket, thinking he’ll just call me back later. I feel my body start to heat up with anger. If he didn’t pick up I swear--.

“Hello?” His voice comes in loud and clear on the other end of the line.

I jump a little. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn’t think he was going to pick up.

“Oh, hello,” I say casually.

“What’s good?” he asks. I can hear a bunch of noise in the background like he’s out somewhere.

“What’s good? What’s good? I’ll tell you what’s good! You sent me on a manhunt for a woman with no name! And I practically got chased out of her neighborhood by a crowd of angry neighbors who were ready to burn me at the stake!” I can feel myself breathing really heavy into the phone, all angry.

“Wait, what? How did you get kicked out of a neighborhood? It’s a public place.” He sounds confused, like he can’t understand what I could possibly be upset about.

“Some guy said he was gong to call the cops! And I can’t go back because if he sees me he will call them! Then I’ll be arrested and go to jail forever! And you don’t even care!” I’m being dramatic, but I don’t care.

“You’re being dramatic,” he tells me. I hear a girl giggle in the background.

“Are you with a girl right now?” I’m practically yelling into the phone. “That’s why you couldn’t come? Because you had to hang out with some girl! Some girl who’s more important than me! Your best friend!”

“No, listen, it’s not what you think. I can’t get into it right now.” I can hear him moving around now, like maybe he’s trying to get away from someone. Huh, probably whatever hoe he’s hanging out with. “Just, relax, calm down. The situation is still fixable.”

“I don’t want to fix it!” I declare, “I’m mad at you! And whatever dumb girl you’re with!”

“I’m not with a girl,” he says calmly. “Listen to me, you can still do this, you can still do the right thing. Stephanie’s mom works at this 24-hour diner in town. It’s called Murphy’s, Google it, her shift starts at 4 in the morning.”

What the hell was he talking about now! A 24-hour diner! Why hadn’t he told me about that before! “Why didn’t you tell me that before?”

“There was no need, she wasn’t working tonight, but now it seems like that’s the only option.”

“I can’t stay here all night! I have an aunt! And a life! And a aunt!” I’m raising my voice again, super annoyed at him.

Eric laughs like the idea of me possibly getting in trouble for being out here all night is hilarious. “Sure you can, just tell her you’re staying at Angelina’s.” I hear the sound of a girls voice calling him in the background. Wow, I thought he said he wasn’t with a girl!

A bunch of static fills my ear and then the line goes dead.

Oh, great.

She worked at a diner! Now I had to go find some shady diner and stalk this woman out at work? I felt like this was getting more and more out of hand. I glance at the clock on the dash, it was only 6, what was I going to do for nine hours? Besides, I was with Nathan. I couldn’t just say ‘oh by the way, we’re staying for an extra 9 hours, no big deal.’ This was such a disaster. I felt bad for Stephanie, I did, of course I did, but I had tried. That’s all you can do sometimes is try.

My phone buzzes in my hand, a new text.

Her mom’s name is Kathleen… Oh, and I’m proud of you.

Eric.

How did he know so much about Stephanie and her mom, anyway? I mean, now he knew where she worked, too? Not to mention her name and address. And the hours she worked, that was way over the top. Only someone close to a person knows things like that. I want to think it’s suspicious and sketchy, if it was anyone else I probably would think it was. With Eric it was different though. He had a way with people like no one else I had ever seen. He was always talking to everyone in the wellness center, no matter what age they were. Something about him made you wan to confide in him, trust him, so it made sense that he would know things other people didn’t. I feel like he had a lot of those. Just look at me and him, he knew way more than anyone else in my life, besides Angelina.

That was what made this whole thing even harder. Eric had a great heart. If he thought I should be doing this, if he thought I shouldn’t just turn around and go home now, chances are he was right. Chances are this was something I needed to do.

Nathan swings the car door open then, climbing in the car for the second time that day with his hands full of bags containing way too much food. He barely shuts the door before he starts pulling things out happily. He has a huge sandwich and a bag of chips in his hand. A big messy sandwich and a messy bag of chips, sigh. Then he’s pulling another huge sandwich out, jeez, how hungry could he be?

 
But he’s holding one out to me.

“Oh,” I say, surprised, “but I told you I didn’t want anything.”

“I know what you told me.” He jingles the sandwich in his still stretched out arm, after a second I take it. “But,” he continues, “you haven’t eaten all afternoon so I got you one anyway.”

“Well, thanks, I guess.” I look down at the sandwich. It’s turkey and provolone cheese, my favorite. I know he must have special ordered it, because they normally don’t make turkey sandwiches with provolone cheese and leave them in the case. I had given up a long time ago that any grocery store would have one ready for me when I walked in, choosing instead to walk right past the cold case and go stand in the line for specialty sandwiches. That’s why it had taken him so long in there. I feel my heart instantly warm, glad that he remembered my favorite sandwich, and that he had even thought to do that for me.

“You’re too skinny,” he announces, starting to unwrap his own sandwich now.

“Hey! I am not!” I say it instantly, without any thought or hesitation.

“Yes you are.” He pulls the thick bread out and digs his teeth into the whole thing, taking in every layer of meat and cheese. He sighs happily then swallows and turns his attention to me again. “You’ve lost at least 20 pounds, if not more.” He takes another huge bite out of his sandwich like he hasn’t just insulted me.

“I have not!” I unwrap the sandwich now, getting ready to start in on it. It’s true I had been thinking about food just minutes earlier, but my appetite had gone down when my stress level had gone up. I wasn’t even that hungry, but I felt like I had to prove a point now. A few seconds earlier I was ready to tell him thanks for thinking about me, but no thanks. I couldn’t help it; my Aunt Jenna had taken me out to a huge breakfast that morning, where I had ended up eating more food than I thought possible. Besides, I was a little too stressed out with everything else going on to think about food. That’s what having anxiety did to a person, made everyday things that you were supposed to do seem like not a big deal.

But I felt like I had to eat now, to show him that I did actually eat, I felt like he thought I had an eating disorder, or something. I take a huge bite out of my sandwich, totally overselling how happy I am about eating it right now. He’s barely paying attention to me, like he didn’t mean the comment in a mean way, just more of an observation. It was something I was already self-conscious about and the fact that he even noticed made me even more so.

The truth was I had lost a lot of weight in the wellness center. They were all about eating healthy, I was even coffee deprived, which was my biggest addiction…well, besides Nathan. But even if the food in there hadn’t of sucked, I probably wouldn’t of had that much of an appetite anyway. I was way too depressed in there to think about food let alone eat it. All I could think about and obsess over was Nathan. It was so ironic that he was sitting here noticing how skinny I had got, when he was the whole reason that I had got this way. I want to tell him that, I want to tell him that I was too busy thinking and crying over him while everyone watched my every moment and told me how to act and what to feel to eat. But of course I can’t.

“Whatever,” Nathan says, still munching on his food, “I’m just saying I hope you’re taking care of yourself, that’s all.”

“Since when do you care if I am or not?” I pick a piece of turkey off the side of the bread and pop it into my mouth.

“I don’t,” Nathan shrugs, “it’s just really noticeable, that’s all.”

Oh, it was just really noticeable, was that all? Great. Not to mention he had just declared, once again, how little he cares about me. This is the best day ever.

“There’s nothing to notice, can we just drop it, we have bigger problems.” I know I’m coming off as annoyed, but whatever. To be honest, I am annoyed. Not only did I have to act like I didn’t care that he could care less about me, I also had to pretend that him noticing that I lost weight didn’t bother me. Plus, I was still forcing more and more food down my throat. Food I didn’t really want at the moment.

“True,” Nathan agrees, for once. “So, what are we going to do?”

I bite my lip, I’m scared to tell him what Eric told me about Stephanie’s mom working at the diner. What if he started asking me more questions? What if he wanted to know why I didn’t tell him about going to her work before? What if he says no he way in hell he’s going to go down there in the middle of the night with me? Or what if he has no desire to stay that long? What if he tells me to bring him home right now? That’s what I was the most scared off, that he could possibly want to go home and not be a part of this anymore. I knew I could always just suck it up, drive him home, then turn around and make the two hour drive back down here all by myself, but I wanted him here. Something about the two of us being together here, something about him being here with me made the situation seem to have a little more help, and it seemed to make me stronger.

“Well, I talked to my… umm… my contact…” I trail off, waiting for Nathan to jump in with some sarcastic comment or question, but after a few seconds he doesn’t say anything, so I continue, “and they said the person I have to see works at this local diner in town.”

“Okay, great.” Nathan pops the last piece of his sandwich in his mouth then crumples up the wrapper and tosses it into one of the plastic bags on the floor. “Let’s go.”

I look down at my half eaten grinder. Geez, he ate fast. “Well, there’s just one problem. She doesn’t get in until four in the morning.”

I see Nathan immediately look at the clock on the dash and raise his eyebrows at me.

“I know, I know it’s a long time, but trust me this is important. I know you’re on two a day practices so you probably had to be up super early this morning…” I trail off, hesitating before I say the next part. “So, I was thinking maybe we could get a hotel.”