Love from above ebook sample by Jon Broeke

Love from Above By Jon Broeke

Brotherhood Books Published in South Africa by Brotherhood Books in 2014

SAMPLE For the full book visit

www.amazon.com

CHAPTER 1 Beatrice Singer hated everything she owned. She looked again at the pile of clothes lying on the bed before sighing loudly. She had no idea what she was supposed to wear. She looked down at the light blue towel that was fastened around her bust and fleetingly imagined going to the lake in that, before laughing out loudly at herself and looking back at the bed. The large purple flower, which covered the bedspread that sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d got when she was twelve, was hidden under the mass of clothes that sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d steadily been adding to over the last hour and a half. She moved over to the pile, frowning at the mass before she spotted the bottom of the leg of a pair of blue jeans. She grabbed the scrap of material and pulled, causing a plethora of shirts, skirts and blouses to fall to the ground at the foot of the bed. She ignored the mess, looking closely at the jeans in her hands, before grimacing and throwing them back on the bed and groaning. As she threw the jeans she spotted something. She scrambled onto the bed, pulling the jeans off again and trying to recover what sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d spotted. She found the shorts, also denim, but with a little yellow flower stitched into the fabric just where her leg exited the hole, before she moved off the bed, almost losing her towel in the process. Fastening it again, she looked

at the shorts. They were cute, not too short, but short enough to be sexy. They were perfect. She pulled the towel off and pulled the shorts on before looking at the pile again, standing completely topless in the middle of her bedroom. She stared at the pile for a moment before deciding on a red flannel shirt that she could tie at her midriff, showing her tummy to all the boys, which was never a bad thing. She pulled the shirt of the pile and slipped her arms through the holes. She did up the top button and three more down her front before taking the ends and tying them around her stomach. She moved over to the mirror that was standing on a stained teak stand in the corner of the room and looked at herself. She thought she looked good. Her brown hair, the color of milk chocolate, some boys had said, fell over her shoulders and down her back. Straight and sleek like it always was, parted on the right into a sort of half fringe that she fastened out of her eyes with a pin. The shirt complemented her somewhat too pale complexion, and the shorts showed enough leg to be hot, but not enough that her dad would tell her to return to her room and change. She smiled. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always thought that her mouth was a little too wide for her face, her lips a little too plump, but guys seemed to like it. The same with her eyes, she thought they were too small, too ordinary, just a dull shade of grey, but the guys seemed to like them too, so she didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think about it too much. She frowned at the mirror, making her mouth smaller and her eyes bigger. She didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t

understand what people saw in her, and, okay, she did think about it a lot of the time, but she couldn’t do anything about it. The closest plastic surgeon was in Portland, or maybe Los Angeles, but that was a little too far away from Lakeview to go and get anything done. Besides, how would she pay for it? She smiled at the thought before looking away from the mirror at her bed again, suddenly realizing what a mess she’d actually made. “Great,” she said, moving over to the bed. “Now I’m going to be cleaning for the next hour.” She picked up the first of the many shirts off the bed as her cell phone began to ring, playing All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor, Bea favorite song, for the moment. She looked around and saw it sitting on the desk, nestled next to the grey lap top. She moved over the phone and picked it up before looking at the screen. Her shoulders sunk as she saw the picture on the screen. The guy was good looking, wavy dark hair moosed up into one of those trendy hair styles, a white t-shirt that hugged his muscles, a big smile on his olive tinged face. Three months ago Bea would have been happy about getting a call from Lionel Costas, but since they’d broken up about two months ago, now she wasn’t so keen. She looked at the screen for a long moment, contemplating not answering the phone, but she knew he would keep calling if she didn’t, and then show up on her door step, his motorbike annoying

Mrs. Fallon, the neighbor, so she slid her finger across the screen and put the phone to her ear. “What do you want Lionel?” she asked, somewhat annoyed that he was calling her. “I heard you’re heading to the lake?” he said. His voice was gravelly and obviously upset. Bea’s annoyance turned into upsetedness of her own as she heard his words. Yes, she was going to lake, and no, it was none of his business, but more importantly, how did he know? “Who told you that?” she asked, not even trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. “Felicity told me,” he replied. Felicity Daye. Of course. She’d hated Bea since they were in pre-k together, though Bea had never figured out why. “So what if I am?” she said. “Are you going with him?” Lionel asked. “If you mean Chad, it’s none of your business, but yes,” she said. She could almost hear the steam coming out of Lionel’s ears as he became really angry. “I don’t believe this!” Lionel shouted down the phone. Bea’s anger level rose immediately. She did not like being shouted at. “Believe it,” she shouted back. “Are you two, like, together now?!” Lionel was still shouting.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no,” Bea shouted back. “We weren’t together when I ended it with you, and we’re not together now. Just piss off Lionel.” “Bea…!” she heard him shout, but she’d already pulled the phone away from her ear. She slid her finger across the screen again and ended the call before throwing the phone onto the bed on top of the pile of clothes, which were still there. Lionel had been insanely jealous of Chad Greenly. Bea had told him that there was no reason. She’d known Chad since she was three. He had lived down the road for as long as she could remember. They’d gone to pre-k together, then elementary school, then middle school, then high school, always in the same classes, always in the same group. They were best friends. Okay, so Chad was a total hotty. He had blonde surfer hair that fell in waves and made a girl just want to swim in it. He had these deep blue eyes that made you think of the ocean, and not care if you drowned or not. He’d been on the swim team from the moment there was a swim team to be on, so he was well built, with muscles over muscles over muscles, but he and Bea were just friends. Regardless of how Bea felt about him, they were just friends, and he’d had nothing to do with the fact that she’d broken it off with Lionel. He had been one of those boyfriends that are great at the beginning. Bringing her flowers, spending all his time with her, taking her out all the time and making her feel, like, really special, but then

he became one of those boyfriends who wanted to know where she was every second of every day. Who called her at all times of the day and night, and if she didn’t answer showed up at her door and almost broke it down with insane knocking and screaming, which woke the neighbors, who already didn’t like her very much. Eventually her dad had told her that she had to end it, which she was planning on doing anyway. It had had nothing to do with Chad, but the fact that he’d told Lionel, in no uncertain terms, to leave her alone, after he’d got a little too stalkery, made Lionel hate him even more than he already did. It had worked, though, mostly, except when Lionel was told that she was going to Cottonwood Reservoir for a party with Chad. She sighed again, hoping he wouldn’t call back, and especially hoping he wouldn’t show up at her house, partly because she didn’t want to see him, and partly because her dad had threatened to pull out the shotgun and deal with the guy permanently the last time he did. She smiled again at the thought, but then felt really bad. Lionel was a pest, but she didn’t really want him dead. Not really. Besides she didn’t want her dad going to jail for shooting him. She smiled again at the thought before starting to pick up, fold and put away the clothes again. * It didn’t take her as long as she thought it would to clean up, only half an hour later she was looking at the purple flower on the white

bedspread on the double bed. She looked closely at the flower, which was a lavender flower, or so the attendant that sold it to her had said. I need a new bedspread, she thought. She looked around the rest of the room. It looked like a sixteen year old slept there, not a twenty-three year old. She still had posters of her favorite bands on the walls, next to posters of some hot guy from some TV show she hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seen for years. The curtains that covered the windows on the far side of the room, which looked out onto the street at the front of the house, also needed updating. They also had purple flowers on them, matching the one on the bedspread. It had been a matching set her mom had bought when she was twelve, and was in serious need of upgrading. The rest of the room was alright. The door was behind her was painted white, but need of another coat. There was a white desk, with a black metal frame, pushed up against the wall under the window. Bea had spent most of her high school years sitting at that desk, looking out of the window, instead of studying. There was a dark wooden built-in wardrobe next to the door, which was in still in fine condition, pretty much the only thing in fine condition. The only other thing in room was the carpet, a purple one that her and her mom had bought at the same time as the bedspread, hence the match. It covered most of the ground, reaching from the edge of the desk to the edge of the wardrobe, across, and touching the two

walls the other way across the room. It was also due to be tossed, large sections of it thread bare. As she looked around the room she couldn’t help but connect the lack of movement in her room with the lack of movement in her life. She’d had such big plans when she’d bought the bedspread and the matching pieces. Your life looks incredible when you’re twelve, but now, at twenty-three, she hadn’t accomplished anything. She was still living at home, working at the diner in town, and driving a yellow, clapped-out, 1970 Mazda Savanna GT 2 that her dad got from a family friend when she was sixteen, and wondering where, the hell, her life was headed. She hadn’t studied, hadn’t had any idea what to study. She still didn’t, she just knew she didn’t want to be stuck in this room, in this life, working at that diner, driving that car, when she was thirty. She sighed again as she sat on the bed and picked up the Samsung Galaxy S3 smart phone. The clock on the lock screen told her it was 12:40 PM. Chad would be there any moment and they would be off to the party, and she was going to try and forget about her life, or lack thereof, for a little while. It was a good idea, but not working so well, since she was still mulling over it, sinking more and more into a depressive state, when she heard the unmistakable rumble of Chad’s truck. He had also got a second, or maybe ninth, hand car for his sixteenth birthday, but his had been much bigger than hers, a 1951

Ford F1 pickup truck in bright blue. Of course where Bea drove her car, but knew nothing else about it, which was especially clear when she’d failed to put oil in it for three years until Chad had had to virtually rebuild the entire engine, Chad was very careful with his truck. He washed it regularly, so it always shined, he kept it in great condition, so the engine roared, not from breaking cogs and dying gears, like Bea’s, but from sheer joy of driving. Bea quickly jumped off the bed and looked out the window. She could see the blue body of the truck shining in the sunlight, could see the front end of the truck, the grill looked like it was smiling at her, bidding her to come for a ride, and she wasn’t about to disappoint. She moved from the window to quickly grab her swimming stuff and headed out the bedroom door. * Chad pulled the truck to a stop at the curb outside Bea’s house before he killed the engine. He opened the door and stepped onto the tarmac of the road before closing the door again and moving around the truck onto the grass that made up Mr. Singer’s yard. He looked up at the house as he walked across the grass. It was painted white and yellow, but needed another coat, like virtually all the houses in Lakeview, but this house had always been a little cleaner than the rest, a little neater. That was probably the reason he’d always felt a little out of sorts when he came over here, like he had to clean his shoes and wash his hands before he knocked on the door. He smiled as the same feeling

over took him as he approached the house, but he knew it was completely irrational. Mrs. Singer had always been super cool, and Mr. Singer, or coach as the kids in Lakeview knew him, was okay. Chad climbed the three stairs onto the porch that ran across the front of the house and flattened out the t-shirt he was wearing before ringing the bell. The t-shirt had a picture of his favorite band on the front, and his blue jeans were clean, as were his boots, he’d been sure of that before leaving the house, but he still felt nervous. The yellow painted, wooden front door, on the other side of the screen door, opened as Mr. Singer pulled the wood out of the way. He was a big man, six foot easy, and was intimidating. He was in his early 50’s now, with greying hair, but he was still really well built. A former college football player, and now the head football coach at the local high school, he had kept himself in shape, and Chad had always been a little frightened of the man, especially since he had been one of Chad’s assistant coaches for 11th and 12th grade. Mr. Singer smiled as he saw the young man standing on the other side of the screen door. “Hi Chad,” he said, his voice deep and gravelly. “Hi Coach,” Chad replied, giving the man his most charming, and respectful, smile. Mr. Singer pushed on the screen door and Chad stepped back, allowing it to move past him. “Come on in,” he said.

Chad nodded as he entered the house. “Thanks sir,” he said as he stepped into the house. Right inside the front door was a corridor, the floor of it covered by a carpet which looked almost Persian, full of different colors and designs. It had been something that had always fascinated Chad, since he was a child coming over to visit Bea. The carpet ran up the length of the corridor, ending at a swinging door at the far end, which he knew led to the kitchen at the back of the house. Between that door and the front door he’d just come in, were three more doors on his right, and four on his left. He knew the first door on his right led into Bea’s bedroom, while the others were the second entrance to Bea’s ensuite bathroom and the dining room, while the doors on his left were the main bedroom, the second entrance to the main, ensuite bathroom, the spare room and the living room, respectively. The layout of the house had always interested Chad. It was like the whole house was built backwards, or built after they put the corridor in, like they’d really wanted the corridor, but the rest of the house had been an afterthought. It had always amazed Chad, especially the living room, dining room and kitchen. They were all open plan, so basically they opened up at the back of the house into one huge room, which Chad thought was really cool, though rather odd. He’d never said anything to Bea or anyone about it though. He didn’t think it would matter, since her dad hadn’t built the house or

anything, they’d just moved in there years ago, but it just seemed rude. The door to Chad’s right opened at that moment and he saw Bea, smiling broadly at him. He couldn’t help but smile back at her, he never could. She had one of those smiles that you just needed to join. One of those mouths that just called for your attention, and she’d had his attention since the first day they’d met. He could still remember what she’d been wearing that day, a yellow sundress with sunflowers on it and sandals. Her hair was pulled up into two pig tails, reaching down to touch both of her shoulders, the color of milk chocolate. He could still see the little girl in his minds’ eye as he looked at the twenty-three year old standing in front of him, but things certainly had changed. Gone was the sundress, replaced by an exposed midriff under a red flannel shirt, and not an inch of extra weight there. The shorts were rather short, showing off a healthy length of leg, which looked great too, but he smiled as he saw the yellow sandals on her feet, yellow, still her favorite color, and reminding him of that little girl. “Ready?” she said. Chad almost missed it, thinking about her and their lives together, but he did hear. “Yes,” he said. Mr. Singer crossed his arms over his chest. The movement pulled the grey t-shirt he was wearing tight over his pectoral muscles, making him look even more intimidating to Chad.

“”What time will you be back?” he asked. Bea shrugged. “Not sure,” she said, looking at Chad. “10ish?” Chad nodded. “Cottonwood reservoir, right?” Mr. Singer asked. Bea nodded. “You have your phone?” Bea laughed at the still over protective man. “Yes daddy,” she said. She moved towards him before kissing him on the cheek. He nodded, but Chad could tell that he was almost on the verge of telling her she couldn’t go. He looked at Chad. “Alright,” he said. “Drive safe.” Mr. Singer was talking directly to Chad, and Chad was listening intently. “No speeding, and have her back by 10. Understood?” From the look on Mr. Singer’s face Chad could tell that he meant business, and arguing, or not following his order, would be met with severe repercussions, so Chad didn’t even consider arguing. “Yes sir,” he said. Bea laughed as she looked at the horrified look on Chad’s face. She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards the front door. “Bye daddy,” she said as she pushed the screen door aside and walked out the house, Chad in tow. “Bye sweetie,” Mr. Singer said. He stopped inside the house as the screen door closed in front of him, but he watched them as they moved towards the truck. “Have fun.”

Chad looked back and smiled, but the smile in Mr. Singer’s face vanished. “Not too much fun,” he said, an air of menace surrounding him. The smile vanished off Chad’s face and Bea laughed again as she noticed. Moments later they were at the truck. Chad struggled to get the car keys out of his jeans pocket, but once he did he unlocked the passenger side door for Bea, who opened the door and climbed in the truck, before he moved around to the driver’s side. He dared one last look at Mr. Singer as he moved past the front of the truck, but as soon as he saw the look of peril on the old man’s face, he wished he hadn’t. He stumbled with the lock on the driver’s door, but managed to get it open before climbing in the truck. The engine roared to life as he turned the key and slowly, a little too slowly, he took off down the street, Bea giggling like a school girl. * Bea was still laughing as Chad turned the truck left and heading off up the road. “What are you laughing at?” he asked. Bea laughed even harder. “You’ve known my dad almost as long as I have,” she started. “Why are you still scared of him?”

Chad shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “You dad is a scary dude.” Bea laughed even harder. “You don’t see it,” Chad said as he stopped the truck at an intersection. He looked as two other cars passed in front of the truck. “Because he’s your dad and you’re his little girl, but he can be seriously vicious when he wants to.” Bea chortled. “Oh, I’ve seen it,” she said. “You remember when Mr. Turnbull wanted to cut that tree down and he pulled out the shotgun?” Chad laughed too, thinking about the event. “I remember,” he said as he pulled away from the intersection, turning left onto the Klamath Falls-Lakeview Highway. He pushed the accelerator down and was at speed very soon. Bea was impressed at how well-kept the truck was. “I’ve never been so scared in my life,” he continued. “I seriously thought he was going to shoot him.” “I think he was,” Bea added. “If my mom hadn’t stopped him.” She laughed as Chad did the same. “That was a while ago,” he said. Bea’s laughter subsided as she nodded. “Ten years, or so,” she said. “Ten years?” Chad said. “What happened?” Bea looked at him before laughing again, but there was bitterness behind the laugh now. “Nothing,” she said.

Chad frowned. “What do you mean?” he asked, noticing the bitterness. “Well,” she said. “Look at us.” Chad shrugged, still not entirely sure he knew what she was talking about. “What about us?” he asked. “Where are we going?” she asked. She was looking hard at him now, while he was watching the road. He frowned. “Cottonwood reservoir,” he said. “For the party.” Bea sighed. “No,” she said. “I mean our lives. Where are our lives going? We’re not kids anymore. Are you going to be happy working for your dad for the rest of your life?” Chad knew Bea knew what a low blow that was. He hadn’t had many options after high school. His parents couldn’t afford college, and even if they could have, he didn’t have any idea what he wanted to do, so his dad had forced his hand, telling him that either he came to work with him at his construction company, or he moved out. Without any other options, Chad had gone to work for his dad. That had been five years ago and he’d hated every single day since, not wanting to do the work, but not having a choice. Now he was stuck, and he didn’t have a clue as to what he was supposed to do. How could he live without his parents? What did he want to do with his life? Where was he going? These were all questions he’d asked himself dozens of times.

“That’s low,” Chad said. Bea opened her mouth, but closed it again without saying anything. He knew she was sorry. He knew she didn’t mean to hurt him, but it still hurt. “I’m sorry,” she said. “But I still have a point. Where are we going?” Bea turned in her chair and looked out the window at the scenery passing outside the truck. It was beautiful driving through Oregon. Something Chad really loved about living there. If it wasn’t the trees, it was the mountains, or the small towns, like Lakeview. He really loved Lakeview, and didn’t really want to leave, but he knew he wanted more from life. He just didn’t know what. “You’re right,” he said. Bea turned in her chair, looking back at him. Chad saw her look, but he kept looking out the windscreen, checking for cars, but also looking at the forest ahead as he drove towards Cottonwood Reservoir County Park. “I have no idea where we’re going. I don’t want to work for my dad forever, and you don’t want to work at that diner forever either, but what can we do?” He peered over at her for a moment before turning back to the road. He slowed the truck before turning off the main highway onto the dirt, Lake County Road, and continuing on. “Neither one of us can afford to go to college,” he said. “And even if we did, what would we study?” He paused, waiting for her to answer, but she didn’t. Instead she turned back to the window and

looked out the sporadic trees and dirt that covered the ground as they drove on the dirt road, heading towards the park. “I don’t know,” she said, still looking out the window. “I just want my life to mean something.” “I hear you,” Chad replied. “I just don’t know what to do.” He looked over at her for a moment again, but she didn’t look back, just staring at the passing scenery. He looked back out the windscreen before sighing. “Let’s just have fun today, alright?” he said. “We’ll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. Cool?” Bea looked back at him as he drove the truck, looking straight ahead at the road. She smiled. Tomorrow was something they’d started saying in high school. Whenever something bugged them, whenever they had, seemingly, insurmountable issues, they would say: Tomorrow. They’d deal with tomorrow. It would be better tomorrow. It had kind of becomes their thing, and it meant so much to Bea. Chad could feel Bea looking at him, and smiled. “Okay?” he asked again. Bea chuckled softly. “Okay,” she said, playfully bumping his arm as it rested on the steering wheel. He playfully recoiled. “Hey, watch it now,” he said. “Don’t attack me while I’m driving.” Bea laughed as she looked out the window again. The scenery was pretty much the same, except that the crops of trees were starting

to get more dense the closer they got to the park. There were different levels as well as the ground started to lift in ridges and valleys. It was really beautiful. Chad was looking out the windscreen, focusing on the twisting road ahead of him that led to the park, and the lake, but he glanced over at Bea again. She was looking out the window, staring at the trees as they passed outside the window, getting denser and denser the further they drove. He looked at her face, her brown eyes, which he’d always liked. Her lips, that he always thought fit her face perfectly, even if she didn’t. He looked down her body, her breasts, and her legs. Everything about her was perfect to him. Yes, he was madly in love with Beatrice Singer, but he would never tell her. He’d been in love with her since the day they’d met. Since he’d seen her standing in that sun dress, twisting her pig tail with her finger, the way she was doing with a strand of hair right now. He had always wanted to tell her how he felt, but it never seemed to be the right time. So he never had, and probably never would. He sighed silently in his head as he looked out the windscreen back at the road. Up ahead he could see the water of the reservoir rising out of the ground. The lake wasn’t very large, only about 3 miles of shoreline surrounded by forest. Chad slowed the truck and pulled over, off the dirt road, onto an even more rustic looking dirt road, which led a couple of yards, right up to the foot of the lake.

He pulled over the truck right next to three other cars. One was a blue 1983 Camaro Z28 which Chad knew belonged to Rick Caldwell, a friend of Chad’s from high school football, one was a truck, similar to Chad’s, but not in as good a condition, even though it was newer, a red 1995 Ford F150, which also belonged to a friend of Chad’s from the football team, Troy Harrold, and the third was a brand new pink Volvo S40, which Bea groaned at as she saw it. “You didn’t tell me she was going to be here,” she said as she turned to Chad. He stopped the car in the line with the others and turned off the engine. “I didn’t know,” he said as he looked over at Bea. “I know as much about today as you do. I’m actually surprised. I would think Felicity would think this is below her.” Bea nodded, she obviously thought the same thing. She looked over at the Volvo again and scoffed. “What is that?” she asked. “Her fourth new car in as many years?” Chad looked out the window at the car. It looked brand new, like it had just been driven off the dealership floor. He half expected it to not have its number plates yet. He turned back to Bea. “Pink?” he said. “I know right?” she replied, before they both started to laugh. Chad looked out the windscreen, down the side of the lake. He could see the rest of the group already setting up for the day. He could

clearly make out Troy and Rick. They were both wearing football jerseys, both University of Oregon Ducks jerseys, which made sense since they were both playing for the team. Chad felt a pang of jealousy. They’d got out of Lakeview, gone all the way to Eugene, Oregon to study, whatever it was they were studying, Chad wasn’t sure, but they were studying, and making something of themselves, while he was stuck with his dad. He breathed out hard as he looked at them. Bea looked out the windscreen, in the same direction he was looking, before looking at him again. “You okay?” she asked. He looked over at her and saw the concern on her face. She could obviously tell that this was hard for him, it was hard for them both. All their friends from high school had gone on to other things, were finishing up their studies at university and moving on to their amazing lives, while she was also stuck in that town. He finally understood what she was talking about. He smiled at her before nodding. “I’m fine,” he said. “Tomorrow, right?” She smiled back, before nodding, more forcefully than was entirely necessary. “Tomorrow,” she replied. She grabbed hold of the handle and opened the door. Chad took another look out the windscreen at the group further down the beach, and sighed again before opening his own door and getting out the truck.

CHAPTER 2 Chad and Bea walked up the beach, away from the truck, towards the rest of the group that were already gathering firewood for the bonfire they were planning to make on the beach, and larger pieces of logs for them all to sit on around the fire. Bea could hear their footsteps crunching on the sand as they approached their friends, who turned to see them approaching. “Bea, Chad,” said Rick as they reached the group. He and Troy each had the end of a large log as they moved it from the tree line, down the beach, towards the others. Bea looked around at all the faces. She knew every person in the group, mostly. There were a couple of unfamiliar faces, but she figured they were probably girlfriends from college. She did recognize Felicity Daye, sitting on a log that the guys had already moved on the opposite side of the pile of firewood they’d already placed. Her blonde locks were quaffed around her face. Her pink polo shirt looked perfectly pressed, along with the pink cardigan she had tied up around her neck and the pink skirt, which was rather too short, that she was wearing. She was also wearing pink high heel, strappy sandals, which were completely impractical, but Bea had to admit,

beautiful. She looked like a sorority girl, and Bea had to admit again, that she probably was one. She looked like that girl from High School Musical, that Sharpay one, and acted like it too. Bea cast a polite smile in her direction. They weren’t friends, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be civil to each other. Felicity returned her smile with one of her own before turning to the other girl sitting on the log with her. Bea recognized Terry Parker’s ginger hair and lack of fashion sense immediately. She’s been a hippy in high school, and it seemed that she’d continued the trend in college, wearing a pair of denim overalls, over a white t-shirt and a pair of sandals with a huge sunflower over the toe. She looked in Bea’s direction and gave her a genuine smile. They’d never really been friends in high school, but they hadn’t been enemies either. Bea smiled back, thinking that it was funny to see her and Felicity sitting together on the same log, on the same beach, in the same state, considering the fact that they had been enemies in high school. Funny how things change. Bea looked around at the rest of the group. She recognized Troy and Rick, wearing their Oregon Duck jerseys. She saw Grant Taylor, with his long, scraggly looking hair, carrying his guitar around and hanging by the water. He always had his guitar in high school, and still had it now. Bea remembered hearing something about a recording contract, but wasn’t sure if it was true or not, or what the details had been. He was standing with a pretty

girl with short blonde hair who she didn’t know, but the way she was touching Grant’s arm, Bea could tell that she was his girlfriend. There were two other pretty girls, both with long, dark hair and wearing University of Oregon t-shirts hanging around near a large, red cooler, which had been placed near the tree line. Bea didn’t know them either, but put them with Rick and Troy, partly because they were exactly their type, and partly because of the t-shirts. Bea noticed that there were more girls than boys at the party. The odd ones out where Felicity and Terry, who, Bea assumed, had boyfriends coming, or didn’t have them. Bea didn’t feel much about that, in terms of Terry, but she relished the fact that Felicity didn’t have one. Of course she wasn’t one to speak, not having one either, which took the fun out of it a little. Rick and Troy dropped the log opposite the one already placed, which Felicity and Terry were sitting on, and moved over to Chad and Bea. They both extended their hands to Chad at the same time, but he went to Rick first. “Chad, my man,” Rick said as they high fived and power hugged and did the obligatory guy things that needed to be done when you’re from the same football team. “How you been?” “Doing good,” Chad said as he moved on to Troy and repeated the process. Rick moved to Bea and gave her a big hug. “How’s it going Bea?” Rick asked, still hugging her.

“Doing good,” Bea repeated what Chad had said. She hugged Troy too before moving with them towards the rest of the group. “Hey everyone,” Bea said to the group. They all said hi back as the welcomes were recited and Bea sat on the new log. Rick clapped Chad on the back. “Greenly,” he said. “Come help me get another log.” Chad nodded. “Sure,” he said as he followed Rick. They walked the few meters up the beach towards the tree line, as Bea watched, and disappeared into the woods. The beach wasn’t very big, hardly big enough for Chad to drive his truck on, and it ended a few meters up in a sheer wall of trees. That wall wasn’t very thick though, opening to Lakeview County Road, but then the real forest of Cottonwood Reservoir County Park started, which was acres and acres of trees. Bea could smell the leaves on the summer day breeze as they swayed backwards and forwards. She looked away from the tree to the others. Felicity was ignoring her, looking at her cell phone, but Terry was looking in her direction. “So what have you been up to?” she asked Bea. Bea shrugged. “Working at the Food Bell Diner,” she said. “How about you?” Terry smiled. “I’m finishing my dissertation in Environmental Studies,” she said. Bea frowned at her, not knowing what that meant. Obviously Terry realized that she had no idea.

“It’s about crops and sustainability and such,” she clarified, though she could have been speaking Greek for all the sense it made to Bea. “I’m going to go and work with my folks.” That made sense. Bea remembered that Terry’s folks owned Parker farms, one of the biggest producers of Hazelnuts, pears and apples in Lake County. They’d visited the farm for a field trip sometime during elementary school. “That’s cool,” she said. “Certainly better than working in a diner,” Felicity added. Bea didn’t engage, she just simply nodded and smiled. She’d expected something of the sort from Felicity, so it wasn’t a huge shock. “How about you Felicity?” Bea asked. “What are you studying?” “I’m not at U of O,” she said. “I’m an executive vicepresident at Daye International.” She sounded really proud of herself, considering it was a job that she wasn’t qualified for, and was given by her daddy. Bea didn’t say this, she just thought it. “That’s great,” she said. She had no idea what Daye International did, only that it was supposed to be some big company in Portland that dealt a lot with China, or so the papers said. Bea was a little puzzled as to how Felicity was working in Portland, when she saw her driving around Lakeview almost every day, but again, she just thought this. She didn’t say anything.

At that moment Chad and Rick approached carrying another large log. They dropped it on the sand, making a three sided box of large logs around the firewood. “Hi Chad,” Felicity said, waving at him with her fingers. Chad smiled politely at her. “Hi,” he said, before turning to Bea. “Drink?” he asked. Bea nodded before he turned and headed towards the cooler. Bea couldn’t help but look in Felicity’s direction and swell with glee when she saw her face drop. Chad had been a small part of Bea and Felicity being enemies in high school. Even though Bea had tried to convince the insane blonde, on several occasions, that she and Chad were just friends, the crazy blonde had been adamant that there was something going on between them, especially after she and Chad had dated for about three weeks, and he’d broken up with her. It had had nothing to do with Bea, at all. Chad had broken it off because he’d discovered that Felicity liked to keep her options open, as in with the entire football team, or so Rick had told him, but Felicity had been sure it was Bea’s fault. Even when she and he hadn’t gone out, ever, Felicity had still been convinced that he’d broken up with her for Bea, and, apparently, she still hadn’t got over it. Bea just smiled as Chad returned to the logs, two cans of Pepsi in his hands. He passed one to Bea as he sat beside her and

opened his. She opened hers as she watched Felicity’s face cloud over even more. Maybe this party was going to be fun after all. * Many hours later, the sun had set over the lake, which Bea had watched and thought was completely beautiful, and the fire was roaring. Now everyone was sitting on, or around, the logs, chatting about times gone by. Bea had learned that the girls she didn’t know, the pretty brunettes that she assumed were dating to Rick and Troy, were named Janice and Heather. They were both dance majors at the University of Oregon, and were, indeed, dating Rick and Troy. Heather was with Rick, while Janice was with Troy, or it was the other way around. They were so similar Bea had given up trying to tell them apart about ten minutes after being formally introduced to them. They were sitting on the sand in front of the third log Rick and Chad had carried up to the firewood, their heads in their respective boyfriends’ laps. Troy and Rick, so they’d told Bea, were both majoring in philosophy, though she had no idea what kind of jobs they could get after school with a degree in philosophy. She’d asked, and they’d had less of a clue than she did, they were only interested in what they considered themselves to minoring in, which was girls and football. Both had got into Oregon on full scholarships to play for the Ducks. Rick actually had a chance at the NFL next season, considering being put on the Draft.

Troy, however, had hurt his knee three years ago playing high school ball. He was still able to play at a college level, but the pros were out for him, so he really had no idea what he was going to do after college. Bea could commiserate. It was the reason her dad had stopped after college, blowing out his knee in the 1974 Rose Bowl, playing for the Ohio State Buckeyes. That was the reason he couldn’t go to the pros and now worked as the head coach at Lakeview High school. Bea knew he’d been unsure of the job, working with kids, and not being able to follow his dream of playing professionally, but it was something he’d learned to love doing. She was sure that Troy would find something he loved to do as well, which she’d told him, telling him the story of her dad at the same time. He seemed to appreciate the support, even if he didn’t really believe it at that moment in his life. Again, with the condition of her own life she could commiserate. Grant had got a record deal, in Nashville, but it had fallen through at the last minute. That was two years ago. He was still living there, playing at clubs and bars, trying to get someone to take his music seriously. He’d traveled down to Lakeview just to see everyone. It was the last summer get together they would have before getting out of college and starting their lives. Bea knew it too, and it made her even more concerned about her life. From the look on his face Chad was thinking the same thing.

Bea just kept thinking: Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, just like they’d said in the car, but she had no idea if tomorrow would even come, and if it did, what would it hold? She pushed the thought, and the sinking feeling that had come to the pit of her stomach, away, and had smiled as Grant had introduced her to the pretty blonde that had been standing with him at the Reservoir. Her name was Holly Sharpe, and she was his girlfriend. She was also a singer hoping to make it in Nashville. They’d met in a bar that they were both playing in and really hit it off. That was two years ago, in about a month. They seemed very much in love, touching each other all the time and looking at each other constantly. Not like Troy and Rick and their respective others, who Bea knew weren’t really serious about each other, only enjoying a college relationship that would end as soon as graduation came, if not sooner. There was something more between Grant and Holly, and Bea was sure they were going to get married, have kids and live happily ever after. She left a small pang of jealousy and looked over at Chad. She wanted that. She wanted happily ever after, with the man of her dreams, but that was never going to happen, and maybe she had to realize that. She looked back at Rick as he finished his story. “So Chad came out of nowhere,” he said, Troy almost falling off the log as he laughed. Heather, or Janice, which ever one it was, lifted her head from his lap as he kicked and tumbled, looking back at

him, an annoyed look on her face. “And he hits the guy so hard that his helmet, his shoe and his mouth guard all go flying in different directions, saving my ass.” “He’s exaggerating,” Chad chimed in. “It was just the shoe and the helmet. There was no mouth guard that I remember.” The whole group laughed. “Oh there was a mouth guard,” Rick said. “Oh yeah,” Troy agreed. Chad shrugged, laughing. “You were great,” Rick said. “You totally could have made scholarship at Oregon, and then the three amigos could still be together.” “No,” Chad said. “I was never good enough to play past high school. Besides my dad needed me for work.” Bea could see the sadness behind his eyes, but she was sure she was the only one that could. “Well,” Rick said. “I think you were good enough. Better than most of the pricks I play with now.” The group laughed again. “Hey,” Troy said, looking at his friend, and causing the group to laugh more. “Sorry dude,” Rick said. “Present company totally excluded.” Troy nodded as the rest of the group laughed even harder. Rick looked back at Chad before lifting his beer, which was his seventh one, and which he’d already virtually finished.

“Chad the train,” he said, saluting Chad with the beverage. Chad laughed as the rest of the group lifted their drinks. “Chad the train,” they all said in unison, including Bea. They all smiled as they took a drink, Chad waving them off with his hands, but Bea could still see that sadness behind his eyes. He threw his legs over the log and stood. “Dude,” Rick said as he saw his friend stand. “Where you going?” “To shake hands with the mayor,” Chad replied as he walked off towards the trees. All the girls groaned at the reference while Rick, Troy and Grant all laughed. “Shake it, don’t break it,” Rick chorused as Chad walked away, waving over his shoulder at his obviously inebriated friend. “Ew,” said Janice, or Heather. Rick leant forward and started to whisper in her ear. Bea had no idea what he was saying, but she could guess, and the redness that was spreading across Janice, or Heather’s, chest said she was right. She expected them to get up and move towards the trees themselves, but they didn’t. The night was still young, she guessed, plenty of time to go into the woods and shake hands with his mayor, which she was sure was what he’d said. Grant pulled his guitar onto his leg and started to strum a few notes on it. He looked up at Bea.

“Remember this?” he asked, as he started to play the unmistakable first note to Taylor Swift’s Love Story. Everyone listened as Bea just smiled. “Didn’t you sing this?” Troy asked Bea. She shook her head. “No,” she said. “That was Taylor Swift.” Grant, Terry and Holly all smiled, obviously understanding the joke, but it was completely lost on Troy, Rick, Heather and Janice. Felicity obviously just didn’t care. “No,” Troy said, obviously really trying to think. “You sang it. At the talent evening. Senior year, right?” Bea chuckled slightly as she nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “Didn’t you win?” Terry asked. Bea shook her head. “We came in second,” Grant said. “Natasha Gallon and her damned tap shoes came in first.” Bea laughed. “She was really good,” she commented. Grant laughed too. “Yes, she bloody was,” he replied, causing the whole group to laugh again. “Sing,” Rick said. Bea looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “I’m not going to sing,” she said. “Sing,” he said again. “Sing, sing, sing.” He started chanting, which was joined quickly by everyone else, except Felicity.

“I’m not going to sing,” Bea said. “Grant is a professional musician, and so is Holly. They can sing.” She looked at the two of them for support, but Holly shook her head, lifting her hands in surrender. “I’m not going to sing,” she said, smiling teasingly at Bea. Bea decided, at that moment, that she didn’t like her. “Come on,” said Grant. “For old times’ sake?” Bea decided she didn’t like him either. “Sing, sing, sing…” Rick and the others continued to chant. Bea closed her eyes, knowing that he wasn’t going to stop until she sang, especially with the amount of beer he had consumed. “Fine,” she said, begrudgingly. The group in front of her all started to clap, again except for Felicity, who crossed her arms and looked annoyed. “But be warned,” Bea said. “I haven’t sung since high school.” “You’ll do fine,” Grant said as he started playing again. “Well,” said Bea. “Fair warning.” The group went silent as Grant played the intro to the song. Bea could feel her heart pounding as it started to race. She was so nervous. She hadn’t sung in years, let alone in front of anyone. She licked her lips, and considered running to the truck and hiding, but she knew they would grab her and drag her back until she actually sung the stupid song, so she may as well grit her teeth and do it.

She took a deep breath as Grant got to the end of the intro, and started singing. The words came to her like she’d rehearsed the entire thing yesterday. She felt like she was standing on that stage again, singing to the faceless crowd sitting out in the darkness. And she loved it. * Chad stood at the edge of the tree line and listened to what he thought was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard Bea sing. It must have been senior year, for that talent competition, where, in his opinion, she’d been robbed of first place by some ridiculous girl and her tappity shoes. He leant against one of the trees as he watched. He could see Bea singing away in the light cast on her by the fire. She took his breath away. She was glowing more than the flames. He was sure the fire was jealous of her at that second. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from her as she sang the words: Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone. I love you, and that's all I really know. I talked to your dad – go pick out a white dress. It's a love story, baby, just say, 'Yes. It was like the words were echoing what he was feeling inside. He was madly in love with her. He knew it, he’d always known it. The only time he’d actually had the courage to tell her was on that night, standing at the back of the auditorium, watching her sing that same song, he’d decided that he was going to tell her how he felt, no matter what the result. He would get down on one knee and tell her that he

was in love with her, and that he wanted to be with her, and let the chips fall where they were going to fall. But then she’d lost, and had been so heartbroken about the whole thing, that he hadn’t had the courage anymore. He’d stopped himself telling her how he felt, and she’d stopped singing. It had been one of the saddest nights of his entire life, but now he had another chance. He could tell her now, tonight. Nothing had changed. They were still here, still together, and maybe it’s what they needed. Maybe their tomorrow could be together, and not separate, and then anything was possible. He suddenly saw a whole future open up in front of him. University, a real job, a family, a little house somewhere, anywhere, it didn’t matter as long as Beatrice Singer was by his side. He smiled as she sung the last line: We were both young, when I first saw you. The rest of the group started to applaud and he took a step out of the trees, his resolve set, when something caught his eye. He looked up and saw a flash moving quickly across the sky, moving towards the trees. It looked like a shooting star, or a comet, but it was smaller, and much, much closer. Chad frowned up at the light as it passed over his head, only a couple yards above him. He turned, following the light with his eyes, before he saw a dust cloud rise up from the ground. What the…? he thought. Did it hit?

He looked back at the group, his resolve not wavering, not yet, but then he looked at the now settling dust cloud and curiosity got the better of him. Slowly he turned, walked back across Lake County road, and back into the forest, moving around the trees, towards the dust cloud that was virtually gone now. If he hadn’t seen it, he wouldn’t even have known it had happened. He moved around more trees, looking at the ground, then at the sky, trying to figure out what the thing was, and where it had landed. He moved past another tree, then another, looking around, until he found himself in a little clearing. It looked like a natural clearing, not like the crash of a star or something had burned and blown up half of the forest, so he wasn’t even sure he was in the right place. He looked around, searching the forest bed for anything that looked out of place, but he couldn’t see anything. He’d just about given up, figuring he’d imagined the whole thing, when he was a little red light blinking in the undergrowth. Frowning he moved forward, walking slowly towards the blinking red light. He bent down as he reached it, trying to look through the undergrowth it was buried in to see what it was. It didn’t look menacing, kind of like the light on an alarm clock, or on a cell phone. He pulled away the small branches and rotting leaves that

covered whatever was making the light, to reveal with looked like a toy jet. It was about 12 inches long, about six inches wide and about three inches thick. Made completely of polished metal, it looked like a long flat paddle, curved on one end, but flat on the other, and also slightly thicker. There were small fins coming out the sides at the flat end, like tail wings on an aeroplane or something. The little light was glowing on the front curved end, but Chad couldn’t make out a light source. It seemed to be coming out of the ship itself. Chad frowned at the toy, thinking someone must have lost it, crashed it into the forest while flying it in the middle of the night. He stood up and looked around. “Hello?” he shouted at the night sky. He listened for the sounds of anyone coming, looking for their lost model plane, but he couldn’t hear anything except for the night sounds. “Hello?” he shouted again, again listening, but still hearing nothing that could be a person looking. “I’ve found your toy plane,” he shouted into the night air, but still there was nothing. He looked back at the toy plane, sitting in the leaves and branches. “I can’t leave it here,” he said out loud. He bent down to have a closer look. “It looks seriously expensive.” He stood, looking around again, but there was still nothing around him, except for the trees.

“If you can hear me,” he started. “I’m taking your model and I’ll hand it in to the Sherriff. Okay?” He listened again, hoping to hear something, anything that said that the owner of the model was going to find it again. He looked back at the metallic object. He knew how upset he would be if he’d crashed a model in the woods and not been able to find it again. He had a fleeting thought about leaving it where it was, but was worried about some kid coming along and stealing it, or it getting even more damaged by staying out in the woods all night. He looked around again, wishing that someone would come along and collect it, so it wouldn’t be his problem, but there was nothing but the hooting of an owl, and something he thought was a bat, but wasn’t too sure. He looked at the model for a moment before he sighed and bent over. He picked the model up before marvelling at it. It was incredible. Sleek, and incredibly light, like it wasn’t even metal, but it most definitely was. It was warm too, like there was power emanating from inside it. He thought something that valuable, which most surely was, would be labelled, but he couldn’t see anything to tell him who it belonged to. Come to think about it, he couldn’t even see any openings. It seemed to be a completely sealed unit. The only openings Chad could see were two small circles at the back, in the flat end, about two inches in diameter, but they seemed closed off too, like a ball fitted in them or something.

Chad turned it over so he was looking at the front so he could look at the light, still blinking, but without any noticeable bulb on it. Interesting, he thought. He would have thought more, except at that second a massive jolt of electricity passed through his hands where they were touching the model. He felt his entire body spasm. He wanted to scream, but he couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. Nothing would come out as his mouth opened in a silent scream and then everything went dark.

For the rest of the book visit