“Don’t be a baby,” Clare whispered.

I put the car in drive and pulled out of the lot.

10 MARISA

10

MARISA

Saturday, March 12, 2022

4:45 p.m.

The tangerine sun glowed bright over the James River as it hovered above the tree-lined horizon. I stood on the bank, watching the water lap gently against the rocks of the muddy shore. The wind wafted over the trees, fingering the edges of my hair.

Clare’s body had been found in this spot four days after she’d gone missing. It had been a jogger, running along the road as the sun was rising, who’d spotted the splash of red floating on the water. But he’d kept running. Then something had prompted the young man to turn around and look closer. He’d told Richards he hadn’t realized he was looking at a body until he was within feet of it. Clare had been lying facedown, her red hair splayed on the water.

I’d never see her again. Shit. I’d made so many foolish choices that night.

“Why’re you late?” Clare said. “Where are you?”

“I’m still at Jack’s.” I held the phone to my ear as my head swirled. My body felt like it was melting into the scavenged couch on Jack’s front porch.

Jack had dropped out of high school, left his parents’ house with no plans of college, trade school, or a job, and now shared a small house with a group of guys in Ashland, an old railroad town twenty minutes north of Richmond. His life was one continuous frat party. The charm that had drawn Brit to him last year was wearing thin, and she was currently not speaking to him. I liked the idea of my older sister on the outs while I had the inside track.

“He has nothing you need,” Clare said.

“Last day of the year, and then I’ll turn over a new leaf.”

“You can’t keep doing this, Marisa.”

“I’m not. Tomorrow, I’m on the straight and narrow. I want to celebrate the New Year right.”

“I have something to show you. You need to come home.”

“What? Tell me.”

“Not over the phone.” Music and laughter blended in the background. “Show-and-tell is more effective.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.” Lights from the front porch glowed brighter.

“Then hurry up and get here.”

My head grew fuzzier after the call, and I never made it to the party. By the time I stumbled home the next day, she was missing.

A fresh gust of wind brought me back to today and the shores of the James River, flowing with currents of loneliness and loss. “What did you want to tell me, Clare?”

My last call from Clare had been at 10:02 p.m. How many times had I stared at her name in my call log? I still had a screenshot of it in my photos.