Gravity - By Abigail Boyd Page 0,2

back to the scene of the little party.

The remnants of the gathering looked discarded and sad now that everyone had deserted the room. I crumpled the leftover wrapping paper pile sitting on the counter and deposited it on top of the recycling bin. Gathering the books and the box with the necklace, I set them on the basement steps to take down to my room.

The sliding glass door opened as Hugh and Claire came back inside. True to form, Claire had insisted they walk all the way around the house and come in through the back door. Hugh walked past me, patting my shoulder as he continued to the hall and disappeared upstairs. Probably to work in his studio, I figured.

He owned an art gallery in town called Erasmus, and these days he was always so buried in paperwork and formalities he hardly had time to paint. He snuck in every opportunity he could find, even if it only happened to be a spare five minutes.

Claire stacked the dirty plates from the kitchen table on her arms like a waitress and carried them into the kitchen. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes distant. She looked as though she was watching a play inside her head. I wondered if it was a comedy or a tragedy.

"Do you want any help?" I asked. Dishes were usually one of my few chores. My voice sounded too loud as it rang out in the room.

"Of course not...it's your birthday," she said dismissively. She scraped leftovers into the trash. The tines on the fork she was using snapped, and she flicked it into the trash with an exasperated exhale. She grabbed a metal one from the silverware drawer and continued her cleaning. We stood silently for a minute; the only sounds those of metal against china, and the soft thudding as the cake hit the bag.

"Did you have a good birthday?" she asked finally, looking into my eyes for the answer. I knew she wanted me to say yes. I shrugged instead.

"I feel older," I admitted, managing an expression close to a smile. I wiped a smudge off of one of the cabinets with my finger.

She smiled back, but undisguised worry filled her eyes. "You are older," she said.

She never handled emotions well, preferring to pretend not to feel them at all.

I excused myself and went in the living room to lie down on the couch. I felt more tired than I had initially realized as I curled up on the puffy gray cushions. Heaviness settling over me and my thoughts slowed down as I drifted off.

A sharp sound jolted me awake in what seemed like the next moment. I sat up, hitting the coffee table with my shin as my legs swung out. The sound came from behind me, outside the picture window. My brain still half asleep, I turned and peered out of the curtains. A figure stood across the street. Fear instantly seized me, though I didn't know why. There was nothing obviously threatening about them, no weapon, but that didn't stop my pulse from speeding up.

I rubbed my eyes, trying to focus better. I realized that it wasn't my vision that was blurry; the person looked hazy and out of focus. I got up and opened the front door, walking out onto the porch.

The clothes were my first indication. She still wore the same yellow hoodie, jean shorts, and purple flip flops as the last time I saw her in June. I stopped on the grass, not realizing I had continued walking off of the relative safety of the porch. Jenna, who disappeared almost three months ago, now stood a few yards away from me. For a moment, I felt nothing. Not the shock I had imagined I would feel if I ever saw her again. Neither of us moved, nor said a word as we looked at each other. Her features were a flat mask.

And then she ran. Without a second thought, I started to run, too. My legs moved before my thoughts caught up. Something inside me screamed for me to stay where I was, but I paid no attention to the warning. No cars drove in the empty street. The dark sky above looked purple, the clouds racing each other across the horizon. I couldn't find the sun. I must have slept longer than I thought.

I pictured the collection of medals that decorated the wall of Jenna's room, declaring her the fastest girl on the track team. I