Don't Look Behind You (Don't Look Series Book 1) by Emily Kazmierski (summer reads .txt) 📗

carts with a bench seat and a lap bar. Esau plants his feet, his legs taking up most of the space. Leaving me a tiny bit of footroom.

“Stay on your own side,” I hiss, but he doesn’t move.

Slamming my thigh into his, I try to shove him away. His thick legs don’t budge.

“You’re the worst,” I mutter.

He ignores me.

The roller coaster clickety-clacks as it climbs to its highest peak. Anticipation coils in my belly as we pause at the top. I can see for miles. The deep blue of the ocean. The swaths of golden sand. The large houses along the shore.

A scream rips out of my lungs as the ride dives toward the wooden planks below.

Esau laughs at my surprise, the sound emanating from deep in his chest.

We skid around the first sharp turn and my body slams into his. I scramble to get away, but the g forces push me against him, not letting up. By the time the ride ends a minute later, I feel battered and bruised from fighting to stay in my own space.

“I didn’t know you were so desperate to be close to me,” Esau taunts, glancing at me with ebony eyes.

“You wish,” I splutter, looking away.

Noah catches up with us as we’re dumped out on to the wooden planks of the boardwalk. “How was it?”

“Super fun. Esau and I are bosom buddies now.”

“Sure,” he drawls, looking between Director Grumpy Pants and me. Esau’s displeasure is obvious.

“Twinkies next,” Viv says, grabbing my arm and drawing me away. “You like fried food, right? You’re going to love them.”

“I’m a vegetarian,” I say, “but I’ll see what they have.”

“Perfect!”

Oh my goodness, deep fried Oreos are delicious. And possibly heart-attack inducing. Three of them dusted in powdered sugar and drizzled with fudge sauce were enough for one day.

“Run lines with me? I don’t have mine memorized yet.” Marisa asks as we’re standing in line for the gondolas.

“Sure,” I say, glancing over my shoulder at the burbling crowd. No familiar figures. I’m safe, I chant in my head. With a mental effort, I look to where Esau’s standing, seemingly absorbed in watching the volleyball games out on the sand. For once his face is relaxed enough that he doesn’t look like he’s about to murder someone. I wonder what’s up his butt? You know what? Never mind. I do not want to go there.

“I don’t have another copy of the script,” Marisa says with a tap on my shoulder, “so we’ll have to share.”

“That’s okay. I don’t need one.”

Marisa’s eyes widen as Fiona and Viv gape at me.

“I’ve done the show, remember? I practically have it memorized.” I’m flustered, as if they could tell I was thinking about a certain broody director a minute ago. Clearing my throat, I school my features into an easy smile.

“Let’s see what you’ve got,” Fiona says.

Marisa gives me an act and scene.

I close my eyes, letting the words come flowing back. How it felt to stand on the stage in my costume, the lights in my eyes. Lines flowing from my lips like honey. The applause, afterward. Beaming faces in the audience that I’ll never again behold.

Marisa begins, and I stay right with her. Line for line. Word for word.

By the time we’re done, everyone in our group is staring at us.

“Wow, that was… really good,” Noah says.

“No kidding. You’re going to try out next semester, right?” Fiona asks. “You’ll be cast for sure.”

I shake my head. “Acting isn’t for me. I’m much more comfortable behind the curtain.” Lies on top of lies.

“Nonsense. Esau would have cast you, right Director?”

Esau’s eyes zero in on mine. “Like she said, she’s better off backstage.”

I open my mouth to retort, my ego stung. But we’ve reached the front of the line. “Girls only,” Marisa says, grabbing my arm and tugging me into the bright pink gondola with her, Fiona, Viv, and Erin.

“Later, Fifi,” Dariel calls to Fiona.

Noah frowns slightly as us girls arrange ourselves in the suspended pink car, but Esau merely rolls his eyes.

I settle in as we rise into the air, glad to get a break from his scornful gaze.

The back of my neck prickles as if I’m being watched.

Peering over the side of the gondola, I look down at Noah and Esau where they’re climbing into the next one. They sit as far apart as possible. Neither of them is paying us any attention.

Down on the boardwalk, people criss-cross the wooden planks. Eating. Yelling. Laughing. My eyes dart back and forth, looking. For a moment I see a cruel mouth under a down-turned cap, but when I blink the man is gone. I swallow the nerves.

“Now that we’re alone, want to hear something really freaky?” Fiona leans forward.

“Ghost stories, yes!” Viv grins.

“This isn’t a ghost story. It’s absolutely true,” Fiona says. “On the drive out this morning, I thought we were being followed. This blue car with dice in the mirror was behind us for almost an hour.”

“What?” I whisper, gripping the plastic seat with white fingers. So it’s true. He followed me here. Waited until we were all swimming to leave me that note. My throat constricts. No, no, no, no, no. Every law enforcement agency in the state is looking for him. And there were police on the beach. There’s no way he could have gotten past them without being spotted.

But it happened anyway.

“Don’t freak out!” Fiona cries, waving her hands. “It was a false alarm. They turned off a different street.”

I shudder, focusing on the central white pole that anchors our floating tram. Try not to picture a certain heavy gait. Brutal hands. The figure I thought I saw in the crowd below.

It wasn’t him.

Couldn’t have been.

I’ve missed seeing you.

Now I’m even lying to myself.

Chapter 6

Day 101, Wednesday

Aunt Karen said that someone moved in right across the street the day after we moved into the old house. But I’ve never seen him. He must be a gamer or something and never comes outside. It kind of weirds me out