I was surprised to see that we were at Leah’s house, parked along the curb at the street.
He cut the engine and flipped the kickstand down with his heel. He turned his head to the side and waited, as if signaling me to get off, which I did. When I was standing beside the bike, he gently let it lean over onto the kickstand then dismounted as well.
He turned toward the driveway.
“What are you doing?”
“Going inside,” he said as he began his ascent of the driveway. “You coming?”
“Y-you can’t go inside!”
He stopped and turned to stare back at me. “Why not?”
“What do you mean ‘why not’? Because this isn’t my house, that’s why not. This is my friend’s house,” I explained, then, “Wait, how did you know where to bring me anyway?”
He had already turned back around and was walking to the front door. I felt panic rise inside me. What would the Kirbys do? What if they called the police? Would they arrest him? What if they found out about the fires? What if I got arrested? I’d be grounded until I turn twenty-five. Minimum.
Still too addled to think straight, I came to one comforting, solid conclusion: I had to run. I’d run home and try to sneak into the house and tell the biggest, fattest lie I could come up with in the morning.
I was turning to do just that when I saw the front door open. My heart leapt into my throat and I watched, paralyzed with fear, as the stranger came face to face with Bruce Kirby. Then, to my utter amazement, Mr. Kirby spoke something I couldn’t hear and stepped back to allow the stranger to go inside. I stood at the curb, mouth agape, wondering what in the world was going on.
When the stranger had passed, Mr. Kirby poked his head out and said, “Carson, come on inside. It’s freezing.”
Just then I realized that I was, in fact, incredibly cold. My wet clothes, partially dried by a frigid wind, weren’t helping either. I felt chilled to the bone.
I tried to smile, but it wobbled a bit. I braced myself for whatever bizarre thing might happen next and walked to the door.
Mr. Kirby let me in and I stood in the foyer, completely confused. I watched as the stranger, without a word to anyone, mounted the stairs.
I watched him until he was out of sight then turned my attention back to Mr. Kirby. He was watching me, almost expectantly. I don’t know what he anticipated, but when I said nothing, he clapped his hands together and announced, “Well, now that everyone’s home, I’m going to bed.” And with that, he turned toward the main-level master suite.
Flipping off lights as he went, Mr. Kirby turned back when he reached the bedroom door. He said, almost as an afterthought, “Leah’s upstairs, but make yourself at home. If you’re hungry, there’s leftovers in the fridge or, if you don’t want those, raid the pantry or the freezer. You’re welcome to whatever you want.” All things considered, he smiled in a rather benign way and closed the door behind him.
More confused than ever, I stood staring at Mr. Kirby’s closed bedroom door for several minutes before I moved to climb the stairs. At the top, the first door I passed was the guest room. It was closed, but a light shone from underneath. I considered knocking on it, but decided I’d pushed my luck far enough for the night. I’d have to get the basic information on the stranger from Leah.
At the end of the hall, there was more light, this coming from beneath Leah’s door. I knocked gently then pushed it open.
Leah was lying across her bed watching television. She was already in her pajamas, hair in a ponytail, all traces of the makeup she’d labored over earlier gone. She smiled at me, albeit tentatively, as I closed the door behind me.
“How was the rest of the party?”
I had no idea how to even answer that, so I decided to answer a question with a question, something that I personally hated; it frustrated me to no end.
I felt a frown pinch the skin between my eyebrows so I purposely tried to relax those muscles. “Where did you go?”
“I was ready to go almost as soon as we got there,” she said, her expression conveying what her words did not. She had not enjoyed herself and she did not consider that a good time. I felt very small in