Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Chapter One

Clementine, British Columbia. A little mining town that was built in 1956. As if stepping into a story about a peaceful town where everyone knew each other. Pies would chill on a windowsill while children played outside during the summer months. The town was surrounded by the picturesque scenery of the Canadian mountains and the lake that fed into a river that was 20 miles away. It was used for more than 20 years before its residents were all forced out of their homes during the 1970s.

Now, a black car touched the pavement of the street. The low hum of the music inside caused a bird to fly away from picking at the ground. Slow and steady, the car was careful not to disturb the town. Courtney Flores, the driver of the car, looked through the dingy windows of the shops. She almost expected to see a face staring right back at her.

A chill ran down her spine at the thought. She forced her shoulders to relax as she told herself to not let her imagination run wild. It was tempting, though, as she was the only one in her friend group who had arrived first.

Her brown eyes took notice of the clock, 8:05. The summer sun, which was blocked by the grey skies, still tried its best to light the town around her. She could see how anyone might get a little spooked by the empty town once the sun set. Her friends would not be able to make it until after sundown, from what she was told.

Luckily for her, a family friend had a wedding five hours away, and she thought it would be best to drive there right after. Unluckily for her, she didn’t realize how boring it would be to be just by herself and how tiring the constant stretch of road would be with trees surrounding her on every side.

The music in her car blared through her speakers as her last-ditch effort to keep herself awake. She might have been a little cocky when she thought she could pull off a full day on only four hours of sleep.

Just a bit longer, and she would be at her residence for the next five weeks. From the pictures that Gwen showed her, it was a nice looking house. Made of brick and a wraparound porch. However, it was different from the houses that she had passed by on her way through the town. No, this house was made for someone big.

It was probably for the owner of the mine, Courtney had decided as she pulled into the long stretch of the driveway that led her to the home.

She put the car in park and looked up at the house. She reached over and turned down the volume before she got out of the car. Even with it being the first week of July, there was a chill in the air. She could only assume it had been because of the clouds that had been covering up the sun’s rays for the past two days, along with the cool air that came from the waters of the lake.

She opened up the trunk of her car to get her luggage. She stared at her three suitcases filled with clothes, toiletries, and books. She brought two of the three out and placed them on the ground.

Courtney, for a moment, saw one of the lights on the second floor turn on. From the corner of her eye, she could almost see someone standing in the window. She was supposed to be the only one there. Gwen and the others were not going to be there until after 9:30. She was told that it was only going to be them for the next month.

“Come on Courtney, you’re being silly.” She scolded herself as she cautiously turned her body to get a better look.

Nothing. The light was out.

“See, silly!”

She made her way to the front door and pulled out the key that was mailed to her earlier that week. Along with the key, the owner had sent a list of things that needed to be done and what was to be provided for them. Money in a box that was strictly used for supplies and gas for the trip to the nearest market that was over 2 hours away. No drinking on the property, apparently, there was an incident with the volunteers last month.

Courtney placed her suitcases in the foyer before she turned on the light. The inside wasn’t as rustic as she once thought it would be. It appeared that Tim Marshal, the new owner of Clementine, had redone the inside last year and put it back to its newfound glory before he worked on the town. Wooden floors and light blue walls that had elegant carvings of flowers on the crown molding. It was as if she walked into a home that just came out of a 1950s magazine. The only thing that resembled anything from 1997 was the television and computer in the living room.

The house seemed colder than it did outside. Courtney gave her body a little shake as if that would get the chill out of her bones. She walked around the lower level of the house, turning on the lights. It wasn’t as if she was still freaked out about what she thought she saw. That would be ridiculous, and Courtney was nothing that resembled anything close to ridiculous!

Courtney got to the bottom of the wooden stairs and stared up at the shadowed hallway that it led to. She walked up the steps and made sure that the bottoms of the suitcases didn’t touch the stairs, she didn’t want to cause a scuff mark.

She reached over and flipped the light switch. The light fixtures that went down the hallway quickly lit up. Even with the grey tone that seeped through the windows, it still didn’t give Courtney the light she needed to feel calm.

“As the first one here, I get to pick out the first room and bed.” Her cheerful voice was met with the house's uneasy silence. She paused as she took her hand off the light switch. “Why am I talking to myself?”

Courtney took a look around the second floor. It had a foyer of its own, and a small table in the middle with a potted plant. The rooms surrounded the large hallway, and Courtney looked at each one. She needed to decide which room felt more like her.

There were four rooms upstairs. Each had two double beds and furnishings that distinguished each one. The first bedroom had a warm color scheme, which reminded Courtney of fall. It was cozy as the brown curtains kept the clouds from view. The cream-colored bedding did seem inviting after the long road trip.

The second bedroom was an average-looking room. The covers for that room were dark green, and the furnishings were dark colors of red and brown. If the first one could be described as fall, the third would be winter. It's light blue bedding and dark blue curtains made Courtney think of a cold winter night back home.

The third bedroom was fresh and inviting with its calm blue and yellow color scheme. The blue lining at the bottom of the beds ruffled out, reminding Courtney of ocean waves. This room had an added nook with several windows. The added light would make the glass oil lamps shine on a bright sunny day. And the yellow loveseat that was placed in the nook made Courtney imagine herself sitting there with a book and a cup of tea to unwind from a day full of work. This room seemed like a good contender. 

The last room was the largest by a foot or two, but it was enough for her to notice. The curtains were drawn back, which gave her enough light to see what the bedroom looked like. There was only one queen bed situated in the middle. The covers for the bed were brown, with the sheets being light green. She eyed the room for a moment and noticed another door, a second closet, maybe?

She walked over and opened the door. A gasp for air came out of her as she saw just what the door held. It was a private bathroom.

Courtney quickly got her suitcases and put them on what she deemed her new bed. It took her only five more minutes to get the rest of her things and come back up to her room. She placed her backpack on the bed, brought her toiletry bag into the bathroom, and began to unpack everything. The medicine cabinet was soon filled with her toothpaste, eye cream, and lotions.

Courtney was humming to herself as she began to take off her shoes. She was going to take a hot shower before she did anything else. She deserved that shower! It was probably going to be her only alone time for a while if she was going to be rooming with everyone in the house.

She would work on dinner after, and hopefully, Tim didn’t provide them with only things that came from a can.

She walked over to the old heating radiator. It was an antique, but it was obvious that Tim made sure to take good care of the place. She needed her room to be all nice and toasty right when she got out of the shower. She turned it on, turned around, and began to get undressed.

Bad decision. Her skin soon crawled with goosebumps as it was desperately screaming at Courtney to put something back on. She reached over and grabbed her towel that still sat on her bed and wrapped it around her body.

Courtney froze. Something in the back of her mind was telling her that someone was watching. That primal gut feeling that allowed her ancestors to escape the dangers of days of old.

Brown eyes scanned the room. Nothing out of the ordinary. The image of the figure in the window flashed in her mind. She scoffed at herself, she was fine.

Courtney ignored the voice and went into the bathroom. The hot water ran into the tub, and the steam rose to fill the room. That made Courtney feel better, the steam was warming her up already!

The shower was long. After her usual routine, she just stood there. She soaked up as much hot water as she could. She even sang herself a song, a little private concert for the shampoo and conditioner bottles. She kept singing even when she turned off the shower and wrapped the towel around her. She reached to grab the other towel to use it to wrap around her wet hair. Her hand touched nothing. She looked down and saw that the towel was not where it should have been.

Courtney let out a frustrated sigh. She had left it on her bed in her haste to get warm! She opened the door and saw something unsettling. There, in front of her, was a guy. He was giving her a smug smile, and his eyes did not make eye contact with her as he should have been.

Instinct was a hell of a thing. Whereas Courtney’s fist was ready to make contact with his head in an instant, but his body ducked down at the perfect time to avoid being hit.

“Whoa!” He took a step back, the smug look on his face never left. “Chill out, if I wanted to do something, I would have.”

Courtney ignored that. “I’ll have you know that my boyfriend is going to be here any minute!”

He stared at her for a second before he turned his attention to one of the antique lampshades. He messed with one of the frills that hung from it.

“Oh yeah? What’s his name?”

He didn’t seem to buy it from the look he had. The creep found the whole thing amusing!

“Trent.” She told him. She refused to move from her spot.

She wanted to look for a weapon to use, but she also didn’t want to take her eyes off him.

He hummed before he looked back at her. “Sounds like a wimp.”

She hated the way he said it. The emphasis on the p made too much of a ‘pop’ sound for her liking. He was toying with her.

“He’s actually a well-skilled boxer, so you should be scared.” She didn’t even find herself convincing.

“Two lessons at The Y isn’t what I would call skilled, babe.”

She glared at him as he moved his hand down and turned on the light. One hand clenched to the towel while the other was balled into a fist. She felt like she was going to throw up. Scared about some stranger being in her room while she’s in nothing but a towel.

Courtney could only assume he was a squatter when the nearest town was over two hours away, and no one told her that someone else was going to be there. Still, Courtney didn’t want him to know this. So she used her nails to dig into her palms. She needed to ground herself, and the pain was a good thing to focus on instead of the fear.

“Don’t call me babe.” She seethed, the pain was good for her anger.

“Or your scary boxer boyfriend’s gonna beat me up?” He laughed.

His eyes scanned her again. Wondering what she was going to do next. He eyed her closed fist and took another step back.

“Told you I wasn’t going to do anything.”

“A strange man is in my bedroom, and when I got out of the shower, he was standing in front of my door. How exactly is someone supposed to act?”

He raised his index finger and tutted at her. “Wrong. This is my room.” He reached and pulled open the drawer to reveal that his shirts were already placed inside.

“Then why didn’t I see you when I got inside?” She challenged him. Just because he had clothes in the room did not mean he was not a squatter.

“I hid in the closet.” His thumb pointed to the closet, its door now ajar.

“You what?”

“Thought I’d scare the new arrival but then-,”

Courtney’s mind was quicker than his mouth. He saw her naked and didn’t come out because of it. She thought she was safe in this room! How foolish could she be!

“You saw, didn’t you? You little pervert!” Courtney’s anger forced the fear and need to protect herself out the window as she stalked towards him and reached for one of his band t-shirts. “If you don’t get out, I’m going to burn everything you own!”

She reached her arm up and threw the shirt at him. He didn’t seem to mind the material that landed on his shoulder. His eyes had found focus elsewhere. It was back at Courtney’s chest. The towel had slowly loosened as her hand had left it in her rage to grab anything.

“And what a shame that would be.” His tone showed that he was only half paying attention.

She raised her foot and kicked him. Her original aim was for his knee, but she hit something more appetizing. He yelled out a curse and used his hand to steady himself on the dresser.

“Get out!” She used all her strength to shove him out of the room. It was easy, as his focus was now on trying to breathe.

“You freakin’ bitch.” He yelled at her as she slammed the door in his face. She reached for the key that was hung around the knob and locked it.

“Oh no, a creep's calling me names, what am I ever going to do?” She yelled back before she turned around.

With shaky legs, she moved and collapsed on the bed. She needed to get her mind in order. Now that the threat was out of the room, it left her time to think.

Okay, it was reasonable to believe that he was another volunteer that they weren’t told about. Tim had said that he sometimes gets volunteers last minute. He could have gotten there before her if he had lived close by. But from the looks of him, he didn’t seem like someone who willingly volunteered. His parents were probably forcing this on him to teach him responsibility.

Everything about him screamed future prison record. His sleeve tattoos, his pierced-up face, and ears, and his mohawk. He probably set fires for fun.

She decided to ignore his existence as she got dressed. She eyed his shirts that popped out of the opened drawer. They were all lazily put inside, as if he had just dumped them inside and said, ‘That’ll do.’

Courtney opened up the door and saw that he wasn’t there anymore. She was cautious as she walked to the stairs of the upper floor. He didn’t seem to be hiding behind anything. She got to the bottom of the stairs and looked into the living room. He was on the couch watching some old black-and-white show.

“If you are here volunteering, you wouldn’t mind me calling up Tim, now would you?”

“Knock yourself out.” He didn’t turn around and waved her off.

He didn’t seem to care. She let out a simple ‘humph’ at him before she turned around. The foyer had a table that was placed next to the living room wall. The phone was, like most of the house, an antique. It was a white rotary phone. Her finger was about to get to the third number when the guy spoke up again.

“Though I would use the phone from the kitchen. Front one doesn’t work.”

Courtney listened and realized that he was right. No sound came from the phone's head and it further annoyed her that he was right. She slammed the phone down and stalked through the dining room and into the kitchen. This phone was newer. It hung on the wall, its yellow tint matched the light-colored theme of the room.

Her index finger showed her annoyance as she punched in Tim’s number. It rang once. By the third time, the guy had appeared at the archway that connected the dining and kitchen. It was also right beside the kitchen’s phone. He leaned against the archway’s frame as he stared at Courtney.

“Hello?” Tim’s voice was hoarse, she must have woken him up.

“I have a strange guy here who says he’s volunteering, is this true?” Courtney’s voice was filled with judgment that she refused to hide.

His arm reached over and took the phone from her. “Hey, it’s me, got here early and I don’t know where you found little miss sunshine, but she’s kind of a bitch.”

“I am-,” she found herself at a loss for words as she lunged at him.

He moved and pulled his arm back so she couldn’t get the phone. He opened his mouth, his tongue stuck out at her, showing her the tongue ring. She still reached to try and take it back, desprate and annoyed mixed in her motion.

She decided to yell at the phone in hopes that Tim would hear. “Tim! Tim, where did you get this jerk? Give me the phone!”

“Manners. It’s a magic word, starts with a P.”

“Persecution.” Courtney seethed up at him. “As in what I’m about to do to you if you don’t give me that phone!”

He watched her in amusement but paused when he heard Tim’s words. Courtney couldn’t make it out, it was just murmurs. He placed the phone closer to his ear. He rolled his eyes but gave Courtney the phone.

“Courtney, do you know what time it is where I’m at?” Tim sounded exhausted with both of them.

“No. But-,”

“It’s nearly 5 in the morning.”

“Oh. Well, he was spying on me and-,”

The stranger leaned in close to cut her off, “I was not spying! She’s the one that got into my room.”

“Both of you listen carefully. You both work there, so stop calling me over something so childish.”

“But he-,” Courtney couldn’t finish as Tim had hung up on her.

Courtney couldn’t believe this! Tim didn’t even hear her out! He should know that his volunteer was peeping on his female housemate. That’s a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen!

He stared down at her as if to say, ‘I still win.’ She turned away from him. Courtney had decided to ignore him. She needed to make dinner for the rest anyway.

He didn’t seem to mind as he watched her try and decide what to take out of the fridge to make for dinner. The fridge was filled with fresh vegetables, eggs, and fruit. She quickly pulled carrots and broccoli out and ran around the kitchen. She opened cabinets to find the broth for the stew she had in mind. She found the potatoes, but no broth.

She must have been mumbling to herself because the stranger decided to talk.

“The extra broth is in the basement.” He advised as he leaned against the counter.

“Then how about you do something useful and get it?” She snapped as she pulled out potatoes.

“My working hours don’t start until tomorrow, so no.” He stated as she placed two-fifths of the basic food group on the counter.  “But don’t worry I bet boyfriend Trent will be right on that.”

“Go die.” She didn’t look at him as she walked to the door that went to the basement.

From the top of the stairs, Courtney could see the light flicker on. With each step, the wooden stairs creaked out at the weight.

It must have been a long time since the stairs had anyone on them, Courtney decided as she got to the bottom of the stairs. The basement was large. Filled with different sorts of furniture and knick-knacks. But most of it was junk from the previous owner. She was able to find the shelf that held most of the canned food. It was at the far left of the basement.

She almost couldn’t see what was on it because the light from above could barely make it to her. Her hand grabbed for a box of broth, but something went up her spine, and she froze in place.

It was like the feeling before; she was being watched. She knew it had to be that weird guy from upstairs. She could feel his intense presence behind her. He used the shadows of the basement to hide himself after he snuck down the stairs. She could tell that he took a step toward her, waiting to blow hot air in her ear to scare her.

She quickly turned around, ready to catch him in the act, but stood there in silence. No one was behind her. It was just her and a family of spiders down in the cold, damp, basement.

That relieved but confused her at the same time. Was she tired? She could have sworn she felt someone down there with her. Maybe the uneasy feeling she had in her stomach was nothing but adrenaline running on all cylinders to keep her away from a place so riddled with dust and possibly a rat or two.

Courtney knew that no one was down there with her, but that did not stop her from rushing back up the stairs with broth in hand.

Courtney was able to make her dinner in peace. The weird guy had grown bored and went back into the living room. As the broth and mixed vegetables simmered in the pot, she looked up at the clock. Only fifteen minutes and her friends would be there.

It eased her mind to know that Tim knew that the other volunteer was supposed to be there, but he had already lost her respect the moment he decided to hide out in her closet to try and scare her. He continued to dig his own grave by not even apologizing for being a creep.

She checked the stew and saw that it would not boil over if she left it for a minute. She walked to the living room and decided to set some ground rules with Mr. Peeping Tom. When she got to the living room, she saw that he had fallen asleep on the couch, the television still playing some old show.

Courtney opened her mouth, ready to loudly wake him up, but stopped when she saw lights flash through the curtains. It briefly lit up the living room, and Courtney forgot about the teen on the couch. She rushed out of the house and saw the familiar faces of her friends getting out of Geoff’s old van.

Geoff looked over his van, making sure it had survived the trek there. DJ and Trent surrounded him and were making comments about how some tree limb almost got stuck under the car. Gwen and Bridgette had opened the back door to the car and began to take things out.

Courtney ran towards them and shouted a happy, “Hey!”

Bridgette raised her hand and frantically waved it at her. “Courtney! Did you wait long?”

“No,” Courtney smiled as she walked to the back of the van to help unload. “Dinner should be ready!”

Bridgette laughed as she reached in to grab her suitcases. “You seem happy?”

“Just so happy to have good company!” She grabbed a suitcase, not caring whose it was. “Come on, you will not believe who I had to deal with!” 

Her voice changed to annoyance while her face twisted in discomfort. “I didn’t know there was going to be anyone else here, but Bridge, this guy is such a creep!”

“Wow, what did he do?” Bridgette looked to Gwen, who had just noticed the two walking to the house.

With a quick wave, Gwen quickly followed. She got to Courtney’s other side, “What’s going on?”

“Some weird guy was hired and..” Bridgette looked from Gwen to Courtney. “Well, what did he do?”

Courtney stopped several feet in front of the open door. She didn’t want to be inside while she informed her group about what had happened inside the house. Plus, she didn’t want the stranger to refute everything.

“I was getting out of the shower and there he was in my room.” She told the group as they got to the wraparound porch.

“My room.” The familiar voice that grated on Courtney’s nerves sounded from behind her.

There he was, standing at the front door, arms crossed, with a grin on his face. She wanted to punch him.

“No way!” Gwen’s voice rose an octave that Courtney had to raise a hand to cover her ear.

“What are you doing here!” Bridgette was equally excited.

The two dropped their belongings on the porch and left Courtney to stand there in shock. There were two of her friends, fawning over some jerk! Mouth open, she watched as this guy talked to her friends with such familiarity that it made her sick. He went and ruffled Gwen’s hair as Bridgette continued to hug him.

“Duncan!” Courtney felt Trent nudge past her to rush up and give him a high five. “What are you doing here? I thought you were still serving?”

“Surprise!” Geoff cheered as he walked up the porch steps to be with them.

“Wait hold on,” Courtney began, her head spinning at her friend's excitement over someone so gross, and then the realization hit her. Her voice became shocked as she stared slack-jawed at the teen before her. “That’s the Duncan?”

“The Duncan?” the creep named Duncan smirked. He turned to Geoff. “I get a title now?”

“We talk a lot about you,” Geoff said as he adjusted the hat on his head.

“Oh! So this must be my replacement!” Duncan joked.

He gave her a quick glance. A light ribbing if you were friends with him, but Courtney knew that look. He was making fun of her, and that pissed her off. Courtney stood there, ignoring Bridgette as she laughed and said that Courtney wasn’t a replacement.

Courtney stared at them talking. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves so much that they forgot Courtney and went inside to put their stuff up.

She stayed outside, her mind still trying to get it together. This was the Duncan that she kept hearing about when she moved to Grandview. Every one of her new friends praised him. ‘Oh, remember what he did in grade 9?’ ‘Yeah, but then he did this!’ The boys would talk so highly of him that Courtney’s judgment from him going to a juvenile correction was put on the back burner. She remembered what Gwen once told her, ‘He’s kind of a jerk, but he’s cool.’

“Emphasis on the jerk,” Courtney mumbled to herself as she heard everyone talking so cheerfully in the house.

Hearing their happy voices made her feel stupid for standing outside. And annoyed that they forgot about her to go and talk to Duncan, the Neanderthal. That was his title to her. Or Jackass. Dipshit. Asshat. The list could go on, and Courtney would still have so many names that she could address him as.

She dropped the suitcase at the front door and shut it. They were in the kitchen making their bowls of stew. Their laughing faces made her stomach churn and her body feel hot. She snapped when she saw Duncan pick up a bowl to make himself some. She rushed over, shoving Trent in the process, and snatched the lid before placing it on the top.

Duncan matched the look on her face. Annoyed about what was going on.

“Move, I’m hungry.” He glared at her.

Her response was simple as she kept it covered, “Starve.”

The laughing stopped, and the tension in the air was thick as everyone watched the two. Geoff let out an awkward laugh and placed his hand on each of their shoulders.

“I see you two already know each other.” He said. Usually his million-dollar smile could calm any argument, but when it didn’t, he continued. “Duncan, this is Courtney, the-,”

“Stick-in-her-ass Courtney, yeah, I got it.”

“Stick in-,” Courtney was at a loss for words for a second before her grip on the handle tightened. “Oh! I am not being called that by some perv!”

“What did you do?” DJ asked from his spot near the fridge.

“I didn’t do anything!” He snapped, turning to see that everyone was giving a look of judgment.

“You hid in the closet and saw..” She could not even finish the sentence as her face began to heat up from the thought. Embarrassed at the thought that someone she didn’t even know saw her naked.

“Saw what?” He raised a brow, now taunting her. “I fell asleep in that closet. The only reason I woke up is from your loud ass singing. Pitchy, by the way.”

“You fell asleep!” She yelled, not believing any of it. “And I’ll have you know I was not pitchy, you jackass!”

“Bitchy too,” Duncan added as his hand reached and gripped the top, their pinkies touching now.

“If you knew I was in the shower, why would you creep outside my door? What if I came out naked?”

He jerked the lid off, causing her hand to slip and hit the rim of the pot. “Then I would be liking you way more right now.”

A loud clap caused both to look over and look at Bridgette. She looked like a tired mother dealing with her children. Courtney resented that look.

“Time out! We are not going to be staying with each other for 5 weeks and have you two fighting. Now Duncan, what made you think it was an okay idea to scare a girl after a shower?” She asked him, her disapproving look pierced through him.

“Yeah, dude, that’s fucked up.” Gwen agreed, her voice muffled by the food in her mouth.

“Well, one, I thought it would be funny.” He told her while his hand went into the pot to grab the ladle.

“And?” Bridgette tried to coax another reason.

Duncan shrugged, “Actually, never mind, it was just the one.”

Trent put his fingers at the bridge of his nose and groaned. “Unbelievable.”

Courtney felt some sense of triumph. They were totally going to be on her side and tell their ‘friend’ how weird he was.

“Now, let’s all shake hands and start over!” Geoff tried to calm the situation, but his words were poor.

Courtney’s face dropped. He was taking Duncan’s side? There was no reason for her to shake his hand, he should be the one apologizing!

“Babe.” Bridgette lightly scolded her boyfriend before she turned her attention to Courtney. “Courtney, we aren’t-.”

Courtney didn’t want to hear anymore. If they were going to pick this idiot's side, it was fine by her!

“It’s fine!” She brought her hand away from the pot, suddenly not hungry at all. “I’m tired and going to bed.”

She didn’t want to argue with those that she thought were her friends. Now they just looked like traitors who tried to sweep the actions of asshat extraordinaire under the rug so they could have a nice stay at the town they needed to clean up. If they wanted that, they could hang with him as much as they wanted!

She left the room and could hear Bridgette call out to her. She was stopped by Trent, telling her to let Courtney go. She needed to cool off, he thought. Trent would never be used as boyfriend cover ever again, Courtney decided as she walked through the dining room.

“Better not be falling asleep in my room!” Duncan called to her, which caused her to stop at the steps.

She wanted to go back to the kitchen to stab him. No, she told herself as she walked up the steps, if she did that, then there would be witnesses. That guy needed to die alone and sad! She went to her room and angrily took out her laptop from her book bag. It was a graduation gift from her mother, and Courtney was thankful for it. Her little saving grace from this nightmare that she had walked herself into.

She opened it up and put the wireless password on it, and soon she was in her Instant Messenger. She looked at the user name that had been chatting with for over a year.

It didn’t start out like this. Courtney wasn’t some naïve girl who just messaged random strangers on the message boards. It was something her counselor encouraged her to do. Pen pal with a troubled teen who would come from either a group home or juvie. She told her that colleges really loved community services, and this could prove to be well-received as amazing communication. She was apprehensive at first, but the prospect of it looking good for her college application caused her to agree.

The first letter she got from him was interesting, as he decided that they should play a game. Courtney remembered reading over the conditions of the game. It was simple, whoever could guess the other person's real name first won. He probably did this out of boredom and to see if she would stay. Well, Courtney was game. How hard would it be to guess someone’s name?

They wrote letters back and forth for months, and eventually, the game was almost forgotten, maybe a hint or jab here and there, but for the most part, they signed their names off with their pen names.

It was not until May that they moved to online chat. She only let him know a hint of what she was doing over the summer. That was another rule, nothing too specific that could easily be located; the harder the game, the better the feeling when someone won.

Courtney told him that she would be working at a bed and breakfast for summer vacation before she went off to college in the fall. Interesting, he was too, said he got himself a job at a construction site.

She could hear the laughter from the main floor and felt her gut twist. They were still down there having fun and had once again left her alone. No one even came up to check on her! She needed to vent. Fingertips quickly typed out a message and pressed send, not knowing when it would even be read.

She looked over her username. It wasn’t anything important, just a quick idea of what she was drinking the moment she read the letter.

Chamomile: Just got to my new job. Met the most obnoxious person ever! I don’t even think you would like him! Haha. So how is your new construction job going?

Courtney didn’t even know when he would read it, and her need to get a response made her get up. She wasn’t going to be anxious over this! Definitely did not have butterflies in her stomach as she waited.

She needed to do something to distract herself. Her dark eyes spotted the dark blue shirt that peeked out from the dresser drawer. Her lips twitched into a smirk as she came up with a plan. While the traitors and the jerk were downstairs, she was going to do something devious.

Duncan and the others sat in the living room, talking about what they were going to be doing for the next couple of weeks. God, he missed them. He would never say that, though, because he didn’t need them to think he was soft. With Courtney upstairs, it almost felt like old times. It couldn’t go beyond almost because Bridgette was giving him a look for a while.

When Geoff got up to go check out the old TV, Duncan raised a brow at her. “What is it?”

“You need to go apologize to Courtney.” Bridgette wasn’t beating around the bush, and that made Duncan annoyed.

As if he did something wrong! He didn’t do anything, how was he supposed to know that she was going to get out of the shower with just a towel on? Everyone seemed distracted, leaving Bridgette and Duncan room to discuss the situation. Duncan wished that Geoff had never left the couch.

“Why?”

“Because it may sound stupid, but we all were expecting you two to get along.” She told him before her lips touched the glass of water.

“Meh, come on Bridgette, she doesn’t really fit the crew, does she? I mean, look at her.”

“Funny, I think she would say the same thing about you.” Bridgette moved to tuck her legs under herself on the couch. “Come on, do it. Go get her some dinner and bring it to her, I know she’s probably starving up there by herself.”

Duncan put his bowl on the coffee table as he thought it over. It had been almost a year and a half since they all were able to hang out, and was he going to let some prissy girl ruin that? That answer was almost yes until Bridgette put her hand on his shoulder.

“Please, for Geoff. He kept this secret for so long because he knew we would be happy to see you.” She tried to convince as she stared at him.

He looked over to see Geoff enthusiastically talking about how, after a hard day’s work, they could drink some beer he brought, and let out a groan.

“Fine. Fine!” He angrily got up from the couch as Bridgette smiled up at him. She sure was proud of herself for convincing him.

“Why are you upset?” Gwen asked as she watched him stalk out of the room.

All he could do was yell back at her as he left the room, “Fuck off!”

“What the hell did I do?” Gwen screamed as he walked further from earshot.

Duncan grumbled as he fixed the princess her bowl of stew. Probably was pouting upstairs about how no one went up there to comfort her. Good, he thought to himself as he grabbed a spoon.

She needed to know that these were his friends first. He had known them since they were all in elementary school, and to him, she was just some outsider who cozied her way up to his friend group while he was gone. If he was there, she would have never been able to join, and he wouldn’t have to deal with this headache.

Duncan noticed that someone had turned off the stovetop, making the stew colder than it should have been. Was he stupid for feeling like he won even the smallest battle? Who was to say?

He walked up the steps as he thought exactly what he was going to say. ‘Here’s some stew, so stop being a bitch and come down and hang out before Bridgette mom glares me for the rest of the night?’ That was stupid, and she would probably bitch at him for it.

He noticed something in the first room at the top of the stairs. The light from the hallway shined into the room, illuminating the bed. A large pile of clothing. Jeans, shirts, jackets, and his duffle bag. The grip on the bowl tightened, that bitch.

He rushed for the room that was rightfully his which was further down the hall. He began to pound loudly on the locked door. His foot kicked it at random points for good measure as he started to yell profanities at her.

“Fucking bitch! Open this door up and get out of my fucking room!”

“I’m so sorry, but I can’t hear you!” Her voice said on the other side of the door.

“Open it up or I swear I will break it and wreck your shit!” He gave the door a final kick, and he heard the oak make a crack, finally breaking.

He took a step back and turned his back to it. He needed to calm down. He needed to remind himself of what Mr. Pugh told him during his mandated anger management classes. He had to use the ‘tools’ he was given during those sessions.

“Don’t you dare kick my door again, idiot!”

The sound of her voice made him turn around, and the thought of every progress he had made with Mr. Pugh flew out the window. He pulled his hand back and threw the bowl of stew at the door. She would have to clean it up since it’s all over her door.

The door opened, and Courtney opened her mouth, ready to yell again, but was silenced by the bowl hitting her chest. The warm stew soaked in her white shirt, and the sound of the bowl hitting the ground was the only thing heard in the quiet hallway.

Well, shit.

Everyone rushed up the stairs, probably worried after hearing the screaming match the two had with one another. Trent quickly got in front of Courtney as she tried to lunge forward.

“I’ll kill you!” She tried to push Trent away, and from the look of it, she was about to break free.

“What happened!” Bridgette asked as she looked from the mess on Courtney to Duncan. “You were supposed to bring her dinner!”

“He tried to break down my door!” Courtney stopped trying to break free.

Her chest heaved as she tried to calm herself down.

“You had no right to fucking touch my stuff!” Duncan shot back.

“Wait! Hold on!” Gwen yelled over the two. “Is this because of a fucking room?”

“Not just any room, my room! I put my stuff in there first.” Duncan told her, was he being stupid? Maybe, but right now he was too pissed to care. It was the principle of the matter now!

Bridgette brought her hands in the air. “Enough!”

Courtney and Duncan looked at her. Her arms moved to cross over her chest as she stared the two down.

“Everyone is tired, and the best idea is to sleep. Both of you are cranky over the long car ride here, and honestly, I don’t think any of us want to deal with the bull that you two are having right now. So, Duncan, you sleep in the room with your stuff-,”

“Wait, hold on-,”

She put her hand up to shut him up. “You will be rooming with Geoff. Gwen and I will have the room across from Courtney’s. Trent and DJ get the remaining one. Tomorrow is going to be a new day, and I don’t want to hear any arguing between you two until noon, do you understand?”

“I am perfectly capable of being friendly, it’s him that you should be concerned about.” Courtney’s statement caused Duncan to glare.

“Listen here-,” Duncan took a step forward, but realized that this would prove nothing. He let out an annoyed laugh. “You know what, fine! I’m too tired to deal with this bullshit anyways.”

He walked into his new bedroom and shut the door. He could hear them talking about who was going to clean up the mess. If they wanted a peaceful night, they would have to do it themselves to give both Courtney and Duncan time to cool off.

Duncan picked up his clothes and did what he did when he got there and dumped all of it in the dresser drawers. He started to dwell on the incident. Great, now he had to ‘reflect’ on why he did it. He knew why he did it, he was pissed. He could just hear the peer group telling him to think about it more. Which, frankly, he didn’t want to do because that was stupid and she was stupid.

Maybe Bridgette was right. He needed to sleep.

He walked over to his bed, stripped down to his boxers, and flopped down. He was going to sleep as long as he could. At least for the rest of the night, he wouldn’t have to see Courtney’s face again.

Everyone was able to clean up the mess and ‘close up shop’ downstairs and retire to their new rooms by 11 that night. For the past hour, Courtney had been tossing and turning in her bed. How could she get along with that jerk?  More importantly, how could Bridgette and them be friends with someone so mean? She knew he would get upset that she moved his stuff, but to the point of threatening to break her door down? That was just insane.

And holy crap, it was so cold in her room! She sat up, the thoughts of the day were not the only reason for her not being able to stay asleep. Her bones ached from being curled up on her sides. She needed to get up and walk around.

She turned up the knob to the heater and waited for the warmth to fill the room. She reached over and grabbed her laptop before she sat down on the bed. She opened it up, a happy thought in her head to see the familiar user name pop up with a new message.

Her smile fell when she saw that he still had not responded. She kept the laptop opened as she got up to go to the bathroom. Maybe splashing some warm water on her face could help? It always seemed to do the trick with cold water when she was hot.

Her damp face touched her purple hand towel when she heard a familiar ding! on her laptop. She rushed out, now giddy over his response. This was something she never told her friends. Courtney didn’t want to face the judgment over her friendship with some stranger. She could just hear their concerns about what if he was just some weirdo psycho and how you never know who’s on the other side of the screen. Which she had to admit, she probably would have thought the same, but the way her stomach was filled with butterflies as she laid on her bed told her a different story. She kicked her legs back and forth as she read his message.

Arson: oh god what did he do? Let me guess, he put the guests in the wrong room?

Chamomile: Haha so funny… No, actually he stalked outside the bathroom and waited for me to get out. I had a problem with it, but since every one of my coworkers are friends with him, they are acting like he didn’t do anything wrong!

Courtney might have changed some things about the situation, but she needed someone on her side! It felt like everyone wanted to act like Duncan didn’t do anything and that ticked her off. It was not like she expected them to be in the middle of a room and go to whoever they liked most, but still, her stomach twisted in knots at the thought that her friends would much prefer to hang out with Duncan than her.

Arson: well your coworkers suck

Relief washed over her.

Chamomile: I know right! I mean, they’re good people, but I thought they would at least be on my side.

Arson: You want me to beat him up?

She let out a laugh at the suggestion and sat up. How sweet!

Chamomile: I don’t know… He seemed pretty tough

Courtney felt her cheeks heat up. Was she flirting? Was this flirting over messaging? Should she have added one of those emoticons that were in the right-hand corner?

Another ding made her look at his response.

Arson: How tall is he?

She laughed again and typed away.

Chamomile: About 6 feet tall, why?

Arson: I could take him

Courtney felt the butterflies in her stomach multiply at the thought of him fighting for her. Of course, he just meant as a friend, but the thought of it being because of something more made her want to squeal. 

God, she was so pathetic as she fawned over someone she had not even met yet! She felt like such a loser! She fell down on her bed. The plush feeling of her pillow enveloped each side of her face. The sound of another message being sent caused her to sit up quickly.

Arson: you still up?

Chamomile: Yep! Might go to bed soon, but first, tell me about your day! How was it?

Courtney stared at her screen for a minute. Did he get busy? Or maybe he was thinking over what to say to her?

Arson: got in a fight with some guy at the worksite

Chamomile: what happened?

Arson: pissed me off. everyone is treating the newbie with kid gloves

There was a pause.

Arson: I might have gone overboard though

Chamomile: If you feel bad about it, just apologize.

Arson: NO

Chamomile: What about giving him a snack? A silent apology is better than none.

Arson: What are we in grade school?

Arson: I’ll get him a beer or some shit

Courtney’s smile was interrupted by a yawn. It felt good to vent and better that he was on her side.

Eyes now heavy, she quickly typed out that she was going to bed. He sent a quick ‘night’ before she closed her laptop and went back under her covers. The heater had finally kicked in as she snuggled into the soft sheets. Tomorrow was going to be a long first day, and she needed to get as much rest as possible.

The alarm clock rang out, signaling a full day of work. Courtney sat up and got ready for the day. Her teeth were brushed, and her hair was tied up in a bun with a white cloth headband to keep any stray hairs away from her face. She opened the door and could hear some of her friends downstairs. She rushed down the steps and thought about what needed to be done that day.

What building would she be in? Or would she be taking care of some of the animals that were in the barn out back?

Courtney rounded the corner and walked into the dining room. Everyone was sitting down and eating. Several boxes of cereal and bowls were placed on the table.

“Good morning, everyone!” Courtney’s cheerful greeting caused her friends to look at one another.

She grabbed a bowl and began to pour the cereal into it. The smile never left her face as she looked up to her friends. “So how did everyone sleep?”

“I slept great.”

She looked over and saw Duncan walk in from the kitchen. His bowl of cereal was already full with a spoon inside. The air became tense as the others wondered what would happen.

He placed the carton of milk beside Courtney’s bowl before he sat down to eat his own.

“Thanks.” She mumbled before she poured the milk into her bowl.

The two ate in silence, which caused Bridgette to let out a sigh of relief.

“See? All we needed was some sleep. So on to the schedule! DJ?” She looked at the man who held a piece of paper.

“So everyone already has their jobs picked out, well, besides you two.” He looked over to Courtney and Duncan. “Sorry, first-come, first-served.”

Duncan swallowed and looked at him. “Whatever, what’s left?”

“Well, there’s cleaning up Gus’s Drug Store, painting the outside of the hair salon, and that’s all that was given for the first section.” He told them.

“I call cleaning up the Drug Store!” Courtney quickly claimed, interrupting whatever Duncan had to say.

Duncan winced at the level of volume by him. “My ear, woman!”

“Duncan,” Gwen warned, which caused him to roll his eyes.

“It’s cool, it’s cool. I’ll paint the hair place.” He agreed. “Now what is everyone else working on?”

“Bridgette is making sure the farm animals are getting fed and cleaning their little homes. Gwen and Trent are going to be cleaning up the movie theater, while me and Geoff are replacing the floorboards in the town hall.” DJ told him before he got up. “And remember to hydrate, yesterday might have been cold, but the forecast calls for bright skies today.”

“Where are you going?” Courtney looked at several of her friends standing up.

“We finished eating and want to get as much done as possible,” Geoff told her as he picked up Bridgette’s bowl.

“Honestly, I thought you would be the first up,” Gwen said.

Courtney took a moment before she swallowed her cereal. “I had trouble sleeping last night. My room was freaking freezing!”

“Weird, ours was fine. You guys have problems?” Gwen looked over to the others as they went to the front door.

“Coolish but not terrible,” Trent said before he looked at Geoff. “You?”

“Slept like a baby.” Geoff jogged out of the kitchen before he gave Bridgette a kiss on the cheek. “Sorry, gotta run, don’t want DJ to get the good hammer!”

“Pretty sure all hammers are the same, babe!” Bridgette called to him.

He gave her a wave before he ran past DJ and out the door.

“We’ll find you some blankets later, okay?” Bridgette gave Courtney a comforting smile before she got up from her chair. Her eyes went sharp as she looked at Duncan. “Play nice.”

Duncan didn’t say anything and just continued eating. In under a minute and 20 seconds, everyone was out of the house. It left Duncan and Courtney in uncomfortable silence. Courtney was not going to be the one to say anything, and she knew he would rather stab himself in with a spoon than talk to her. Which was fine, silence was good. Great even!

She dropped her spoon in her cereal before she turned to look at him. He was drinking the remaining milk from the bowl. Gross.

“Listen, we don’t like each other, but for the sake of everyone else, we have to at least pretend like everything’s fine. Okay?”

He placed the bowl back down and said a simple. “Cool.”

Courtney looked back at her bowl, she decided to throw the rest out in the backyard. Squirrels could eat Cheerios, right?

“Unless you say something stupid.” His announcement made her snap her head to him.

“Excuse me?”

“You can be fake in front of them, but why do I have to?” He told her before he got up with his bowl. He moved past her and made a show of his words. “I’m authentic.”

“I’m surprised you know what that word means.” She said as she watched him walk into the kitchen. She raised her voice so he could hear her. “And I’ll have you know that pretending like everything’s fine isn’t bad, it’s what they want!”

“You’re saying stupid shit already!” He called to her from the kitchen.

Courtney had to take a deep breath. She couldn’t kill him. Murder was bad, and she would go to jail. Those thoughts ran on repeat like a mantra as she walked through the kitchen and out the back door. Duncan was watching her as he ran water through the sink.

She dumped the remaining milk and Cheerios in the grass and walked back inside.

“Hope you fall off the ladder.” She said as she shoved him to put her bowl in the sink.

“Oh, go choke on some dust.” He spat back at her.

Gus’s Drug Store was what most of the shops that had yet to be fixed up looked like. Dusted old shelves, chipped paint that peeled off during the years of being unkept, and the smell of water damage. A long vine from outside had found its way into the shop and stretched over the wall and to the ceiling.

A box fan was placed in front of the open door to help ventilate. Sadly, Courtney just wanted to listen to the soft hum of the fan blades going around while birds chirped in the background. She had that for the first hour of working, but it quickly changed with the loud sound of metal and classic rock blasting its way into the store from the speakers of Duncan’s boom box.

She took out her annoyance by angrily scraping out the rust from the corners of the metal shelf. Her hand went a little too hard and fast, and her knuckles rammed against the edge. She cursed and let go of the sandpaper.

“Stupid!” Courtney didn’t know if she was scolding herself or Duncan, but she did know that she wanted to go over there and kick the boombox until it stopped producing sound.

Whatever, the shelves were done, and now she could focus on the next objective. But first, a water break!

She had to remind herself to drink water, the warning DJ gave them earlier that day still rang true in her mind, and by the way the sun was hitting the town, she needed it. She missed the weather from yesterday, with its slight chill. Today was different, the air was warm, and the inside of the store, with little air flow besides the box fan, made it worse. It felt like it was hitting close to the mid-80s at.. She looked at her watch, 11:27. Goodness, time sure flew by with how much cleaning she was doing.

She walked to where she had placed her water bottle. Right on the counter that held the old cash register. It gave her the perfect, and by perfect, it was actually really awful, look at Duncan painting the front of the faded pink hair salon. She grabbed the bottle and gulped down the water as she observed him.

He must have been hot too, since he discarded his shirt and was now painting in just his jeans. His muscles flexed as he climbed two steps up the ladder to get to a new angle. He probably thought he was so hot with his nicely toned arms.

Probably had nothing to do, so he just focused on his body in juvie, Courtney forced her thoughts to be as judgmental as possible as she stared at him.

His paintbrush stopped, and she watched him climb back down the ladder. Pink speckles of paint covered areas of his naked torso and arm. He picked up his water bottle, unscrewed the top, and chugged. His Adam's apple moved with every drink, it made Courtney do the same. Her eyes went to look at his torso, but instead locked with his own.

Courtney choked on her water and, in a panic, took a step back, tripped over her feet, and fell. Her back hit the dust-covered floor, her water now wasted on the front of her shirt. Her pride and back now bruised, she let out a pathetic, "Ow."

She stayed there for a moment, hoping that something in the universe would kill her from embarrassment. Did he see? Oh crap, if he did, he probably thought that she was checking him out! She strained her ears to listen for him through the loud guitar solo from the base of the boombox. He wasn’t saying anything, so maybe he didn’t! She sat up and looked out the window.

He was there.

“Jesus!” She brought her hand to her heart. Him being right at the window surprised her.

The grin on his face was soon followed by laughter. It was from the gut and filled with mockery as he put his hand on the storefront window.

She glared at him, but her embarrassment made her tongue-tied as she spoke, “Sh..shut up!”

He pulled away from the glass and raised an unopened water bottle for her to see. He walked over and placed it on top of the box fan.

“Since you’re sooo thirsty!” He mocked before he walked back across the street and to the hair salon.

She hoped he did fall off that ladder!

The Comet, the Clementine theater, looked like it had not been given a refurbishment, even before the town closed down. Red carpet with a crowning of light dust gave it a decaying glow. The walls had small cracks throughout, and the lights needed to be replaced.

Tim told them that he was going to make sure that an actual group of professionals would put in new theater seats and a new white screen. Trent and Gwen were left with everything else.

Gwen had already filled several bags with trash and nature. She just finished vacuuming the carpet to try and get rid of as much dust as possible. Trent stood on a ladder and put liquid filler in the cracks in the wall.

Gwen threw another bag in the pile with the others. “It’s so fucking hot!”

“Take a break.” He called to her as he focused on making sure the crack was filled in.

“I’m going to go change.” Gwen huffed before she wiped her dusted hands on her shorts.

Trent looked down at her and said, “Can you bring back some more water?”

Gwen waved at him before she left the theater. God, it felt so much better outside than inside that stuffy place! It might have been hot outside, but the breeze that came every other minute made it more preferable.

When she got to the house, she raced up the porch steps and through the door. She wanted to call Tim right then to thank him for installing central air a few months back. She walked up the stairs, her sneakers squeaking at how fast she went to her room.

She walked in, closed the door, and threw her black shirt as far from her as possible. She stood there for a few minutes just enjoying the cool air in only her bra and shorts. Gwen wished that she had picked one of the other jobs. Yes, hanging out with Trent alone was nice, but he didn’t stop Gwen’s skin from screaming about the heat.

Courtney and Duncan might have been the last to pick jobs, but theirs seemed easier in hindsight. Painting the hair salon was in the open, the sun might have shined down on her, but at least there would be a breeze, and the drug store was small, and it might have been easier to clean because of that.

Gwen wasted as much time as she could before she reached down and picked up her black tank top. She put it on and left her room. She stopped when she noticed Courtney’s door was open. She could have sworn that the door was closed when she rushed past it. Gwen knew for a fact that Courtney would have kept it closed to keep a certain punk from looking at her stuff.

She reached for the doorknob, ready to close it, when her eyes caught sight of the room. She didn’t know if it was because of the colder temperature or the way the room looked darker than it should, but it gave her an uneasy feeling.

Don’t be ridiculous, Gwen thought to herself before she closed the door and ran down the stairs.

She grabbed two water bottles from the fridge, restocked them, and went to the front door. She was about to leave the house when a loud ringing echoed in the foyer. It was so loud that it overpowered the ringing from the landline in the kitchen.

Gwen placed a bottle on the table that held the rotary phone and picked it up. “Hello?”

Nothing.

Her voice was now a little irritated as she asked again, “Hello?”

Static, what Gwen could have sworn was light breathing, and then nothing again. The person had hung up, and soon so did Gwen.

The loud chime from the large clock caused Gwen to look up at it. 12:15. She had to get back to Trent, she had completely forgotten how long it took to walk from Main Street to the house! Down the path to the main street, and the weird phone call was forgotten as she thought about finishing up that day's work.