Episode 17: Study Plans and Shady Drives
- Crystal Crawford
- Mar 21
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 1
The three of us passed that notebook around, taking turns looking back over the sketches and comparing them to the pictures in my phone, just in case. When the sun set further, we turned on the porch light and continued. I lost track of time, but it was definitely all the way dark when my Mom opened the back door and poked her head out.
Lockley flipped the notebook shut in her lap.
“Your dad had to leave for a work thing,” Mom told me.
Just after she said it, I heard the car door shut and the car start up in the driveway.
It was a little late for a work thing, but I figured maybe it was a dinner meeting.
The sound of the car faded away as Dad backed out and left.
Mom turned to the others. “Lockley, Collin, are you staying to eat with us?”
Lockley looked at Collin, but Collin glanced at me, as though asking my permission.
I nodded. “Sure—if they want to?”
“Yes, if it’s okay with you, Mrs. Lance,” Lockley said.
My mom smiled. “It’s no problem. I’ll let you all know when it’s ready.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I said, and Collin and Lockley echoed with their own thanks.
When my Mom had gone back inside, Lockley opened the notebook again. “I’m not sure what else to look for, Aubs,” she said softly. “We’ve gone over all of these a dozen—”
Collin’s eyes flicked up. “Uh… Aubrey?”
A hawk sailed in and landed on my upstairs window-sill.
The hawk rested on my windowsill for only a moment—long enough to be sure I’d seen it—then flew off toward my front yard.
I jumped to my feet and ran inside through the back door.
Collin and Lockley were right on my heels.
Mom looked up, startled, as we burst into the kitchen. “What the—”
A knock sounded on the front door.
“Are you all okay?” Mom asked me, wiping her hands on her cooking apron.
“Yes,” I nodded, though my nerves about who might be at the front door had me nearly bouncing. “You’re busy. I’ll get the door.”
I ran past, into the living room.
When I yanked open the door, Tory, Meredith, and Jillian were all standing on my front stoop. A black SUV I hadn’t even heard drive up sat in my driveway.
“Hi!” Jillian said with a huge smile. “We’ve come to pick you up for the study group. Are you ready?”
“Study group?” My mom called from the kitchen, then came out, holding a wooden spoon. “You didn’t mention that.”
I stammered. “Oh. Um, I—”
Tory smiled at her. “Hi, Mrs. Lance. I’m Tory.”
“She probably forgot,” Meredith chimed in with a charming smile. “It’s okay. We can reschedule, if you—”
“No!” I interjected, then tried to cover for my outburst. “No, I mean, we should do that. The study group.” I shot a pointed glance at Collin and Lockley. “We should all definitely do that.”
Collin nodded emphatically. “Yes. Study. Especially after missing today, that’s… that’s important. To study.”
I looked back at my mom. “Oh, wait. You’re making dinner.” I felt like a jerk for forgetting that. I glanced between my mom and the three cheerleaders. “Maybe we can study here? If Tory and the others want to stay for dinner, I can help you make extra food.”
“Okay… if you’re sure you’re up to all this tonight?” Mom looked at me, questioning. Study groups were not a usual thing for me, and I’m sure she was wondering why I picked now of all times to participate in one, especially when she’d just given me a free pass to ignore my homework.
I nodded. “Yes, it’s fine.”
My mom turned to the other girls with a smile. “In that case, you’re all welcome to study here and eat with us. And Aubrey, don’t worry about helping me. You just focus on studying. I hadn’t planned for dinner for so many, so it might take me a bit of extra time, but I can whip something else up to go with…”
“Actually,” Jillian said with an apologetic wince, “we already told someone else to meet us, and they’re expecting us soon.” She looked at me. “I think they have some important notes for you… I don’t want you to miss dinner, but maybe you can come with us for a few minutes to get the notes, and then we can bring you back home?”
Jillian and I exchanged a long glance, during which she was definitely trying to communicate something.
What it was, I had no clue, other than that she really wanted me to go with them.
She turned back to my mother with an innocent smile. “We can have her back in about thirty minutes. Will that be in time for dinner?”
Mom relaxed. “Oh. Sure. I’ve just put the main part in the oven, so that should be plenty of time.”
Jillian was good at this. But as curious as I was, I didn’t intend to go anywhere with them alone.
“Can Collin come? And Lockley?”
Jillian’s eyes had flashed wide when I invited Lockley—just for a moment, but I’d caught it. Her smile froze in place. “Su…uure,” she said, glancing at the others. “I think we have room in the car.”
The others nodded slowly, clearly not sure how much Lockley knew.
“Sure, yeah,” Meredith said after a moment. “There’s a third row. We can fit.”
Jillian’s smile was so stiff it looked like her face might crack, but as far as I was concerned, I didn’t care if I rode in the trunk—I wasn’t going anywhere with those three without as much backup as possible.
I turned to my mom with as genuine a smile as I could muster. “Is that okay, Mom?”
She smiled back. “Sure. I’ll see you in a bit.”
Collin, Lockley, and I followed the others out the front door.
No one spoke until we’d all piled into the SUV—which did, in fact, have a third row—with Jillian in the driver’s seat and Meredith riding shotgun. Tory sat by herself in the middle row while Collin, Lockley, and I all crammed in the back.
Jillian cranked the engine, backed out, and headed us down the block.
I leaned forward from the back seat. “So where are we actually—”
A man in a black trench coat walked into the road at the end of our block.
“Jillian, watch out,” Collin said. “There’s a guy in the—”
Jillian sped up.
Lockley screamed, “Are you crazy?”
The man turned to face us. He wasn’t getting out of the way.
I clutched the back of the middle row. “Jillian, stop.” Why weren’t the others doing anything? “Meredith—Tory!” I yelled, but they all ignored me.
Collin unbuckled and clambered over the middle seat. “Jillian! Stop! You’re going to hit him!” He lunged for the front seats.
Tory spun and pinned him to the seat with one arm—a feat in itself since her arms were lanky and I wouldn’t have suspected she had the strength. “No. Wait,” she said.
Collin strained against her, then stared at her. “How are you—”
“Collin!” Lockley yelled, “Buckle up! We’re about to hit him!”
I had a flash of Collin being thrown from the car if we wrecked, and I felt sick.
The man was just yards away, now, and he wasn’t moving out of the way. We were so close, I could see his eyes.
“Jillian, please!” I yelled. “Stop!”
The man stared right at the oncoming SUV—it felt like he was staring right at me—and clapped.
The road exploded with bright light.
My seatbelt snapped against me as Jillian hit the brakes, flinging us all forward in our seats—though not as hard as I would’ve expected her to hit them. The car didn’t even fishtail or spin.
It was still hard enough that, based on his grunt and the thumps, Collin had been thrown into the back of Jillian’s seat and then possibly the floorboard, but I was still too blinded by the flash to see.
“Collin?” I called.
The road felt suddenly bumpy.
“Did we hit him?” I heard Collin cry out from the floorboard, and I felt a burst of relief that he was seemingly okay.
“Lockley?” I asked, fear still gripping my chest.
“I’m here,” she said, grabbing my arm, and I breathed a little easier.
“Collin, are you hurt?” Lockley asked.
“I’m fine,” he said. “Everyone else?”
“Yeah,” Tory said, “we’re all fine.”
I couldn’t see, so I’d have to take her word on that.
I was about to scream at Jillian about what in the world she’d been thinking, whether I could see her or not, but then my vision cleared… and I froze as I realized we were no longer in my neighborhood.
The others in our vehicle all seemed okay, and were blinking their vision clear like I was… while the SUV slowed to a bumpy stop on a long, dirt road I’d never seen before, in the middle of unfamiliar, thick woods.
***
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