Brazen Tricks, page 12
I nod, suppressing a shiver at that encounter. “Yeah, I get what you’re saying. You don’t want to turn some fun night with a woman into a risk she’ll get wrapped up in your stalker’s delusions.”
“Exactly. It’s not worth it. I feel like she’s going to break at some point and tell me who she is or show up in person and say something so I can put it all together.”
“But what if that doesn’t happen?” Jordan asks. “You just going to put your life on hold indefinitely?”
Griff flashes one of his charming smiles. “Hooking up isn’t my life, Jordan, don’t worry. I’ve got friends, work’s busy as hell and it’s my dream coming true with Brazen, you know? Skateboarding, my family. I’m good, don’t worry.”
I glance at my girlfriend and she’s rolling her eyes. “I know you’ve got more going on in your life than one-night stands, I just don’t like that this stalker is making you change anything about your life at all. It pisses me off.”
“She’s not making me do anything. It’s my choice. Besides, maybe it’s good for me to go without for a while. It’s giving me some perspective.”
“I’m a little weirded out Jordan’s part of this conversation,” I mutter. “But I want to hear it anyway. How is it good for you?”
“It’s making me think if I want to return to those ways or actually date women, look for someone I could be in a relationship with.”
I don’t know if I believe it. Sure I hope Griff finds someone someday, but it’s really hard for me to picture him dating for real. He’s never shown any interest in a long-term relationship.
Jordan moves to my lap. “Relationships aren’t so bad, Griff. I mean, sometimes you have to share your chair and your beer,” she says as she grabs mine. “But there are perks too.”
Griff smiles at us. “Yeah, I can see that. But you two set a high standard. Not real confident I can meet it.”
I don’t point out all the mistakes we made at first, the roadblocks we hit. Because Griff’s right. It might have been a rocky road to get here, but at least it’s always been clear she’s the one for me. We’re right together, and when that part’s not in question, the rest falls into place. Eventually. In this moment at least, it couldn’t get much better.
The messages from Razzle start coming through when I’m at Mom’s house the next day. I knew Jordan wanted to talk to Griff about all the sponsorship offers she’s been getting, and she made it clear she wanted to do it without me. I’m not offended, I get it. Even though I’m Brazen’s VP now, he’s the one who pushed sponsoring her from the beginning, and he’s always been the point person for her when it comes to Brazen. It’s better that way.
Marco was planning to work on a pergola over their back porch today and I wanted to help him so the timing worked out. We’ve just finished up, and I’m enjoying the newly shaded deck, scrolling through Instagram, when I see the familiar account name pop up in unread messages.
It’s a picture of Griffin and Jordan sitting on the ledge at the top of the Riptide half pipe. Even though I knew they were going to hang and talk this afternoon, the photo hits its intended target. There’s a brief spark of jealousy, but I know it’s purely instinctual and totally irrational. It just so happens that’s a meaningful spot where I’ve sat with Jordan before, but I shake off the emotions and quickly call Griff.
“Hey, what’s up?” he answers.
“You guys are at Riptide?”
“No, we just left. Should be at your mom’s soon.”
“You see anyone following you?”
“Following us? Right now? I don’t think so. Why?”
“I just got a message from Razzle on Instagram. It was a picture of the two of you sitting close at Riptide. You didn’t notice anyone watching you while you were there, did you?”
“Shit. No, I don’t think so. How about you, Jordan?”
I hear her answer a moment later. “It was super crowded. A lot of people were looking at us. I didn’t want to skate, I just wanted to go up there and sit. Damn, I wish I’d paid closer attention.”
“I have an idea,” I tell them. “Stop somewhere together, maybe that smoothie place Summer loves? They have outdoor seating and it’ll be busy right now. If the stalker’s still following you, she’ll want to take another picture to send to me.”
No one says anything on the other end so I continue. “Actually, if you could look super cozy, sit real close, heads together. Look like you’re together. Don’t start kissing or anything,” I add.
“I’m not going to start kissing Griff, Beck,” Jordan says and I can almost hear her rolling her eyes. “But I get where you’re going. What do you think, Griff? You up for it?”
“If we can put this to rest, hell yeah I’ll play along.”
As soon as we’re off the phone I check for more messages from Razzle but there aren’t any. Maybe that means she’s driving too, following them like we hope. The minutes tick by, and when Griff finally calls, he sounds frustrated. “We didn’t see anyone who looked like they were spying on us. Maybe she didn’t follow us there.”
“The smoothies were good though,” Jordan tells us.
“Yeah, I didn’t get any more pictures. Well man, you were right about that feeling someone was watching you. Weird she sent me the photo. Wonder what that’s all about.”
Jordan asks, “Yeah, why would she want you to think I’m cheating on you with Griff if she’s obsessed with Griff?”
“She probably wants Beck to break up with you and thinks that will get you out of the picture,” Griff answers. “Banking on me and Beck choosing each other over you and kicking you to the curb. She’s mentioned how special she thinks my friendship with Beck is, that it’s rare, yada-yada.”
“And if you enjoy threesomes?” Jordan asks.
“And that. Yeah, that’s another clue it’s Fliss.” Griff reminds us of that time at Moses’s party when she and Daisy tried to get a threesome with Griff and then asked if I wanted to join too.
“All right, we’re pulling up to your mom’s,” Jordan announces. “No more threesome talk.”
Chapter Eighteen
Jordan
When we walk inside, Beck’s standing frozen in the middle of the room looking at his phone.
“You get a message?” Griff walks over to him and Beck zooms in on the screen. “So she was there,” Griff bites out.
“Maybe it was a he?” I suggest. I’d been so focused on spotting Fliss that I hadn’t really been looking for a guy.
Moving to Beck’s side, I take his phone to get a better look at the photo. Griff and I are sitting at a picnic table. He’s straddling the bench so one leg is on either side of me and we’re close, our heads together. If you look closely enough, you can tell we’re not actually making eye contact with each other, but taking in our surroundings.
“Looks like that shot came from the parking lot. She probably didn’t even get out of her car.” Griff is frustrated, and I don’t blame him. He’s been putting up with this for over a year now and we were so close to catching her.
“Wait,” Beck says. “She probably followed you here too. We should do a lap around the neighborhood. I bet she’s waiting in her car somewhere until you leave.”
“Who’s waiting in the car?” Naomi’s voice breaks into the conversation and we find her and Summer standing in the doorway. We must not have heard them come in.
“Jordan, you can fill them in. Griff, you take your car and I’ll take my mom’s. The van’s too conspicuous.”
“Hey, what about me? I want to come.” I guess I don’t have my own car but still, I don’t want to be left out here.
Beck tosses me his keys. “You can take the van, but wait five minutes or so. It’ll look weird if we all leave at once. We need to catch her and get this done with.”
I take the five minutes to fill in Summer and Naomi. Fortunately, Marie and Marco have moved to the back deck and don’t seem to notice that all of us are leaving.
Summer bounces in the backseat of the van as I back out of the driveway. “I wish we had binoculars. Or disguises. I want to get in the role!”
Naomi twists around from the passenger seat. “Summer, we’re not the stalker, remember? She’s the one who needs to be in spy gear.”
“That’s a good point. Maybe Fliss dresses in disguise when she spies on Griff.”
We drive down Beck’s street, but the only parked cars are in driveways, and there’s no one else driving by. “Head over to my house. Maybe she knows where it is and is camped out there,” Summer suggests. The Perry house is a couple of streets over, and my stomach rolls as the reality of all this sinks in. Ever since Beck called about the first picture Razzle sent, I’ve been in go-mode. Running on adrenaline. But as we drive down the street, looking around for anything suspicious, it really hits me how messed up this is. Fliss could be following Summer around too, trying to reach Griff through his teenage sister. Summer doesn’t appear freaked out now, but it’s the kind of thing that might terrorize her later, like in the middle of the night when she’s alone with her thoughts.
As we approach Griff’s street, a silver Audi TT pulls out in front of us. It looks like a woman in the driver’s seat, and I quickly decide to continue following her instead of turning.
Naomi’s already got her phone out, taking a picture of the license plate.
“Hang on,” I mutter, realization slapping me across the face. The car is going too fast for the neighborhood, and I decide not to stay on its tail.
“Go faster, Jordan!” Summer urges.
“No, I know that car. I know who it is.”
“But there’s a light at the intersection up here before she gets on the highway. If it’s red she’ll have to stop and then I can jump out and see who’s driving!” Summer is beyond giddy with excitement at this possibility, so I indulge her.
Unfortunately, the light is green, and the Audi zooms through. She pulls onto the ramp for the highway headed to Summerside. I can’t decide whether to follow her or not and I hesitate. If I follow, she’ll know we’ve figured it out. Like Beck pointed out, the van’s not exactly inconspicuous. Still, if I can stay on her tail until she has to stop, we could confront her in person. But then again, she’s in a sports car and the odds of me keeping up with her on the interstate are low.
My phone ringing from the dash helps me make the decision. Especially when I see who’s calling. Sydney.
I pass the ramp to the interstate at the same time I answer the call on speaker. “Sydney?”
“Hey. I’ve got all the evidence to prove it’s Fliss who is razzleydazzles.”
My heart races at her declaration. “Uh, okay. What evidence?”
“It’s a lot. I want to present it to all of you at the same time. Can we meet tomorrow night?”
My eyes dart to Naomi beside me like she might have an answer for me but she just gives me big eyes like she’s as confused as I am. I turn into a residential street so we can switch direction and go back to the house. Not wanting to commit to anything with Sydney, I tell her, “Why don’t you touch base with the others and see if tomorrow night works for them.”
“Okay, good idea. I just wanted to reach out to you first since I know it affects you the most. Well, it affects Griffin the most, but I don’t really know him or have his number, so, yeah. If you think he’d want to be there too, you can invite him.”
This has me frowning as even more confusion washes over me. “Okay, I’ll let him know.” I try to play it cool. We hang up a second later and Naomi and Summer are full of questions.
“What was that about?” Naomi asks.
“Isn’t Sydney your roommates’ friend from high school who transferred here and joined Fliss’s sorority?”
“Yeah, that’s her. She recently decided, along with Fliss and another girl, Daisy, that she was going to find out who Razzle was for us so that we wouldn’t blame Fliss.”
“Huh. That’s pretty odd timing then for that phone call,” Naomi says.
“Yeah, especially because she drives a silver Audi TT,” I tell them.
It feels like ping pong balls are bouncing around in my brain, and Naomi and Summer must be experiencing something similar because it’s silent for several minutes as we all contemplate what the hell is going on.
By the time we get back to the house, we’ve got a few theories. Unable to stay quiet about it, we end up bringing Marco and Marie into the loop. Instead of admiring the new pergola over the back deck as we grill, we throw around various theories about Griff’s stalker situation.
The Audi was parked on his street and left when she saw Griff’s car pull up to his house. He’d spotted it too, and was a little behind us by the time he pulled out of the drive to chase her. Beck had been circling another part of the neighborhood.
By the time we’re done eating, we’ve decided we’ll just have to wait until tomorrow night to get answers.
Marie passes around a box of popsicles. Once we’ve all got one in hand she holds hers up for a cheers. “To finding Griff’s stalker and putting it behind us.”
It might be the strangest toast of all time, but no one’s ready to laugh about it yet. The popsicle toast comes with grave nods. It’s not a celebratory moment, not yet, but hopefully that will come soon.
Beck
“How’d you end up at Riptide today anyway?” I ask Jordan as we leave Mom’s house.
“You know I haven’t been back since my friends visited, right?”
“Yeah, that’s why I was surprised to see that picture.”
“I don’t know, I just felt like it was time to check out the half pipe again. I knew it would be busy and I didn’t want to skateboard, but I wanted to go up there again.”
I know she wants to try it again someday, but after crashing on both her attempts, it’s more of a head game than anything at this point.
“I didn’t like seeing those pictures of you and Griff,” I admit. “But that was the point. As much as I trust you and trust Griff, the idea of anyone implying the two of you have something going on, even a random person on Instagram, it’s not cool.”
“I’m sorry, Beck. I know it sounds stupid but going up there with someone else, someone who wasn’t you, was another little step forward in my Riptide half pipe battle.”
“Battle, huh?”
“Yeah, I feel like I’m at war with that thing. Eventually I’ll conquer it, but I’m not there yet. Still basking in my 720 bliss, wanting to get that perfect and consistent enough to do at the X Games in a few weeks.”
I’m happy to move on to talking about skateboarding, but I have something else I’ve been wanting to tell her since getting those messages on my phone. “Hey. I want you to know that you’re not alone when it comes to letting messages like the ones from Razzle get in your head. Even knowing exactly what you and Griff were talking about and that the second photo was staged, there’s just something about a stranger jumping to conclusions about your personal life that’s unsettling. I didn’t like it.”
“Really? It really bothered you?” She sounds doubtful.
“It’s not like I actually believed the message she was trying to send me. And I doubt you believed some of the things she and the bubbles account said before either. But that’s my point. It still kind of gets to me, pisses me off, and this is after us being together much longer. After me dealing with social media fans for years.”
“I haven’t had anything as bad as those messages from December. Just some annoying comments that are easy to dismiss. Nothing going after why you’re with me.”
“Good. But if it happens again, and it might, my point is, it’s okay to be rattled. It doesn’t make you weak. It doesn’t mean you’re not cut out to handle this world. Griff and I still get rattled sometimes too, and we’ve been in it a long time.”
When I glance over at her, her eyes are a little glassy. Jordan’s voice is thick too when she says, “Thanks. I guess I needed to hear that more than I knew.”
“And you know what I like to do when I feel this way?” I ask, ready to lighten the mood.
“Parking garage?”
“Yep.” She knows me too well.
“I’m down. But you should know we actually have the condo to ourselves for once tonight. I sent the girls a long group text filling them in on Sydney and today. They won’t be back until tomorrow anyway.”
It’s been a long time since we’ve had that kind of privacy.
“But,” Jordan adds, “we also still have that jump into the pool and I doubt anyone will be around this late on a Sunday so we can hit that up first if you want?”
This girl really knows me well. I’ve got a need for an adrenaline rush whenever I get uptight or upset about something, and I’d rather get it out of my system on a skateboard first before the other kind of rush I’m looking forward to.
When we pull into the condo parking lot, Jordan runs inside to change into a suit. I’ve already got board shorts on and I pull out the cornhole boards from under the bed in the back that I haven’t gotten around to painting yet. After dropping those at the pool deck, I head to the area where we stored the boards for the rest of the jump last time. They’re tucked behind the recycling and trash dumpster, but no one’s hauled them away yet. I carry the ramps with me, eyeing the pool shed and wondering if we could store them there next time. It’s then my eyes catch on a car parked in the farthest spot in the lot, on the other side of the condo complex. A silver Audi TT.
My heart kickstarts and I drop the boards along the pool fence before walking over to the car. There’s no one inside though, and I find myself jogging toward the condo.
Jordan left the door unlocked, which is no surprise. I hesitate a moment at the bottom of the stairs up to her room, listening. There’s nothing. Not even movement. Wouldn’t she have come out if she heard me open the door? I debate calling out to her but I’ve got a weird feeling Sydney is here right now, and instinct tells me to stay silent. The only light is coming from Jordan’s room, and I take my first step before she comes out, still fully dressed.
“Exactly. It’s not worth it. I feel like she’s going to break at some point and tell me who she is or show up in person and say something so I can put it all together.”
“But what if that doesn’t happen?” Jordan asks. “You just going to put your life on hold indefinitely?”
Griff flashes one of his charming smiles. “Hooking up isn’t my life, Jordan, don’t worry. I’ve got friends, work’s busy as hell and it’s my dream coming true with Brazen, you know? Skateboarding, my family. I’m good, don’t worry.”
I glance at my girlfriend and she’s rolling her eyes. “I know you’ve got more going on in your life than one-night stands, I just don’t like that this stalker is making you change anything about your life at all. It pisses me off.”
“She’s not making me do anything. It’s my choice. Besides, maybe it’s good for me to go without for a while. It’s giving me some perspective.”
“I’m a little weirded out Jordan’s part of this conversation,” I mutter. “But I want to hear it anyway. How is it good for you?”
“It’s making me think if I want to return to those ways or actually date women, look for someone I could be in a relationship with.”
I don’t know if I believe it. Sure I hope Griff finds someone someday, but it’s really hard for me to picture him dating for real. He’s never shown any interest in a long-term relationship.
Jordan moves to my lap. “Relationships aren’t so bad, Griff. I mean, sometimes you have to share your chair and your beer,” she says as she grabs mine. “But there are perks too.”
Griff smiles at us. “Yeah, I can see that. But you two set a high standard. Not real confident I can meet it.”
I don’t point out all the mistakes we made at first, the roadblocks we hit. Because Griff’s right. It might have been a rocky road to get here, but at least it’s always been clear she’s the one for me. We’re right together, and when that part’s not in question, the rest falls into place. Eventually. In this moment at least, it couldn’t get much better.
The messages from Razzle start coming through when I’m at Mom’s house the next day. I knew Jordan wanted to talk to Griff about all the sponsorship offers she’s been getting, and she made it clear she wanted to do it without me. I’m not offended, I get it. Even though I’m Brazen’s VP now, he’s the one who pushed sponsoring her from the beginning, and he’s always been the point person for her when it comes to Brazen. It’s better that way.
Marco was planning to work on a pergola over their back porch today and I wanted to help him so the timing worked out. We’ve just finished up, and I’m enjoying the newly shaded deck, scrolling through Instagram, when I see the familiar account name pop up in unread messages.
It’s a picture of Griffin and Jordan sitting on the ledge at the top of the Riptide half pipe. Even though I knew they were going to hang and talk this afternoon, the photo hits its intended target. There’s a brief spark of jealousy, but I know it’s purely instinctual and totally irrational. It just so happens that’s a meaningful spot where I’ve sat with Jordan before, but I shake off the emotions and quickly call Griff.
“Hey, what’s up?” he answers.
“You guys are at Riptide?”
“No, we just left. Should be at your mom’s soon.”
“You see anyone following you?”
“Following us? Right now? I don’t think so. Why?”
“I just got a message from Razzle on Instagram. It was a picture of the two of you sitting close at Riptide. You didn’t notice anyone watching you while you were there, did you?”
“Shit. No, I don’t think so. How about you, Jordan?”
I hear her answer a moment later. “It was super crowded. A lot of people were looking at us. I didn’t want to skate, I just wanted to go up there and sit. Damn, I wish I’d paid closer attention.”
“I have an idea,” I tell them. “Stop somewhere together, maybe that smoothie place Summer loves? They have outdoor seating and it’ll be busy right now. If the stalker’s still following you, she’ll want to take another picture to send to me.”
No one says anything on the other end so I continue. “Actually, if you could look super cozy, sit real close, heads together. Look like you’re together. Don’t start kissing or anything,” I add.
“I’m not going to start kissing Griff, Beck,” Jordan says and I can almost hear her rolling her eyes. “But I get where you’re going. What do you think, Griff? You up for it?”
“If we can put this to rest, hell yeah I’ll play along.”
As soon as we’re off the phone I check for more messages from Razzle but there aren’t any. Maybe that means she’s driving too, following them like we hope. The minutes tick by, and when Griff finally calls, he sounds frustrated. “We didn’t see anyone who looked like they were spying on us. Maybe she didn’t follow us there.”
“The smoothies were good though,” Jordan tells us.
“Yeah, I didn’t get any more pictures. Well man, you were right about that feeling someone was watching you. Weird she sent me the photo. Wonder what that’s all about.”
Jordan asks, “Yeah, why would she want you to think I’m cheating on you with Griff if she’s obsessed with Griff?”
“She probably wants Beck to break up with you and thinks that will get you out of the picture,” Griff answers. “Banking on me and Beck choosing each other over you and kicking you to the curb. She’s mentioned how special she thinks my friendship with Beck is, that it’s rare, yada-yada.”
“And if you enjoy threesomes?” Jordan asks.
“And that. Yeah, that’s another clue it’s Fliss.” Griff reminds us of that time at Moses’s party when she and Daisy tried to get a threesome with Griff and then asked if I wanted to join too.
“All right, we’re pulling up to your mom’s,” Jordan announces. “No more threesome talk.”
Chapter Eighteen
Jordan
When we walk inside, Beck’s standing frozen in the middle of the room looking at his phone.
“You get a message?” Griff walks over to him and Beck zooms in on the screen. “So she was there,” Griff bites out.
“Maybe it was a he?” I suggest. I’d been so focused on spotting Fliss that I hadn’t really been looking for a guy.
Moving to Beck’s side, I take his phone to get a better look at the photo. Griff and I are sitting at a picnic table. He’s straddling the bench so one leg is on either side of me and we’re close, our heads together. If you look closely enough, you can tell we’re not actually making eye contact with each other, but taking in our surroundings.
“Looks like that shot came from the parking lot. She probably didn’t even get out of her car.” Griff is frustrated, and I don’t blame him. He’s been putting up with this for over a year now and we were so close to catching her.
“Wait,” Beck says. “She probably followed you here too. We should do a lap around the neighborhood. I bet she’s waiting in her car somewhere until you leave.”
“Who’s waiting in the car?” Naomi’s voice breaks into the conversation and we find her and Summer standing in the doorway. We must not have heard them come in.
“Jordan, you can fill them in. Griff, you take your car and I’ll take my mom’s. The van’s too conspicuous.”
“Hey, what about me? I want to come.” I guess I don’t have my own car but still, I don’t want to be left out here.
Beck tosses me his keys. “You can take the van, but wait five minutes or so. It’ll look weird if we all leave at once. We need to catch her and get this done with.”
I take the five minutes to fill in Summer and Naomi. Fortunately, Marie and Marco have moved to the back deck and don’t seem to notice that all of us are leaving.
Summer bounces in the backseat of the van as I back out of the driveway. “I wish we had binoculars. Or disguises. I want to get in the role!”
Naomi twists around from the passenger seat. “Summer, we’re not the stalker, remember? She’s the one who needs to be in spy gear.”
“That’s a good point. Maybe Fliss dresses in disguise when she spies on Griff.”
We drive down Beck’s street, but the only parked cars are in driveways, and there’s no one else driving by. “Head over to my house. Maybe she knows where it is and is camped out there,” Summer suggests. The Perry house is a couple of streets over, and my stomach rolls as the reality of all this sinks in. Ever since Beck called about the first picture Razzle sent, I’ve been in go-mode. Running on adrenaline. But as we drive down the street, looking around for anything suspicious, it really hits me how messed up this is. Fliss could be following Summer around too, trying to reach Griff through his teenage sister. Summer doesn’t appear freaked out now, but it’s the kind of thing that might terrorize her later, like in the middle of the night when she’s alone with her thoughts.
As we approach Griff’s street, a silver Audi TT pulls out in front of us. It looks like a woman in the driver’s seat, and I quickly decide to continue following her instead of turning.
Naomi’s already got her phone out, taking a picture of the license plate.
“Hang on,” I mutter, realization slapping me across the face. The car is going too fast for the neighborhood, and I decide not to stay on its tail.
“Go faster, Jordan!” Summer urges.
“No, I know that car. I know who it is.”
“But there’s a light at the intersection up here before she gets on the highway. If it’s red she’ll have to stop and then I can jump out and see who’s driving!” Summer is beyond giddy with excitement at this possibility, so I indulge her.
Unfortunately, the light is green, and the Audi zooms through. She pulls onto the ramp for the highway headed to Summerside. I can’t decide whether to follow her or not and I hesitate. If I follow, she’ll know we’ve figured it out. Like Beck pointed out, the van’s not exactly inconspicuous. Still, if I can stay on her tail until she has to stop, we could confront her in person. But then again, she’s in a sports car and the odds of me keeping up with her on the interstate are low.
My phone ringing from the dash helps me make the decision. Especially when I see who’s calling. Sydney.
I pass the ramp to the interstate at the same time I answer the call on speaker. “Sydney?”
“Hey. I’ve got all the evidence to prove it’s Fliss who is razzleydazzles.”
My heart races at her declaration. “Uh, okay. What evidence?”
“It’s a lot. I want to present it to all of you at the same time. Can we meet tomorrow night?”
My eyes dart to Naomi beside me like she might have an answer for me but she just gives me big eyes like she’s as confused as I am. I turn into a residential street so we can switch direction and go back to the house. Not wanting to commit to anything with Sydney, I tell her, “Why don’t you touch base with the others and see if tomorrow night works for them.”
“Okay, good idea. I just wanted to reach out to you first since I know it affects you the most. Well, it affects Griffin the most, but I don’t really know him or have his number, so, yeah. If you think he’d want to be there too, you can invite him.”
This has me frowning as even more confusion washes over me. “Okay, I’ll let him know.” I try to play it cool. We hang up a second later and Naomi and Summer are full of questions.
“What was that about?” Naomi asks.
“Isn’t Sydney your roommates’ friend from high school who transferred here and joined Fliss’s sorority?”
“Yeah, that’s her. She recently decided, along with Fliss and another girl, Daisy, that she was going to find out who Razzle was for us so that we wouldn’t blame Fliss.”
“Huh. That’s pretty odd timing then for that phone call,” Naomi says.
“Yeah, especially because she drives a silver Audi TT,” I tell them.
It feels like ping pong balls are bouncing around in my brain, and Naomi and Summer must be experiencing something similar because it’s silent for several minutes as we all contemplate what the hell is going on.
By the time we get back to the house, we’ve got a few theories. Unable to stay quiet about it, we end up bringing Marco and Marie into the loop. Instead of admiring the new pergola over the back deck as we grill, we throw around various theories about Griff’s stalker situation.
The Audi was parked on his street and left when she saw Griff’s car pull up to his house. He’d spotted it too, and was a little behind us by the time he pulled out of the drive to chase her. Beck had been circling another part of the neighborhood.
By the time we’re done eating, we’ve decided we’ll just have to wait until tomorrow night to get answers.
Marie passes around a box of popsicles. Once we’ve all got one in hand she holds hers up for a cheers. “To finding Griff’s stalker and putting it behind us.”
It might be the strangest toast of all time, but no one’s ready to laugh about it yet. The popsicle toast comes with grave nods. It’s not a celebratory moment, not yet, but hopefully that will come soon.
Beck
“How’d you end up at Riptide today anyway?” I ask Jordan as we leave Mom’s house.
“You know I haven’t been back since my friends visited, right?”
“Yeah, that’s why I was surprised to see that picture.”
“I don’t know, I just felt like it was time to check out the half pipe again. I knew it would be busy and I didn’t want to skateboard, but I wanted to go up there again.”
I know she wants to try it again someday, but after crashing on both her attempts, it’s more of a head game than anything at this point.
“I didn’t like seeing those pictures of you and Griff,” I admit. “But that was the point. As much as I trust you and trust Griff, the idea of anyone implying the two of you have something going on, even a random person on Instagram, it’s not cool.”
“I’m sorry, Beck. I know it sounds stupid but going up there with someone else, someone who wasn’t you, was another little step forward in my Riptide half pipe battle.”
“Battle, huh?”
“Yeah, I feel like I’m at war with that thing. Eventually I’ll conquer it, but I’m not there yet. Still basking in my 720 bliss, wanting to get that perfect and consistent enough to do at the X Games in a few weeks.”
I’m happy to move on to talking about skateboarding, but I have something else I’ve been wanting to tell her since getting those messages on my phone. “Hey. I want you to know that you’re not alone when it comes to letting messages like the ones from Razzle get in your head. Even knowing exactly what you and Griff were talking about and that the second photo was staged, there’s just something about a stranger jumping to conclusions about your personal life that’s unsettling. I didn’t like it.”
“Really? It really bothered you?” She sounds doubtful.
“It’s not like I actually believed the message she was trying to send me. And I doubt you believed some of the things she and the bubbles account said before either. But that’s my point. It still kind of gets to me, pisses me off, and this is after us being together much longer. After me dealing with social media fans for years.”
“I haven’t had anything as bad as those messages from December. Just some annoying comments that are easy to dismiss. Nothing going after why you’re with me.”
“Good. But if it happens again, and it might, my point is, it’s okay to be rattled. It doesn’t make you weak. It doesn’t mean you’re not cut out to handle this world. Griff and I still get rattled sometimes too, and we’ve been in it a long time.”
When I glance over at her, her eyes are a little glassy. Jordan’s voice is thick too when she says, “Thanks. I guess I needed to hear that more than I knew.”
“And you know what I like to do when I feel this way?” I ask, ready to lighten the mood.
“Parking garage?”
“Yep.” She knows me too well.
“I’m down. But you should know we actually have the condo to ourselves for once tonight. I sent the girls a long group text filling them in on Sydney and today. They won’t be back until tomorrow anyway.”
It’s been a long time since we’ve had that kind of privacy.
“But,” Jordan adds, “we also still have that jump into the pool and I doubt anyone will be around this late on a Sunday so we can hit that up first if you want?”
This girl really knows me well. I’ve got a need for an adrenaline rush whenever I get uptight or upset about something, and I’d rather get it out of my system on a skateboard first before the other kind of rush I’m looking forward to.
When we pull into the condo parking lot, Jordan runs inside to change into a suit. I’ve already got board shorts on and I pull out the cornhole boards from under the bed in the back that I haven’t gotten around to painting yet. After dropping those at the pool deck, I head to the area where we stored the boards for the rest of the jump last time. They’re tucked behind the recycling and trash dumpster, but no one’s hauled them away yet. I carry the ramps with me, eyeing the pool shed and wondering if we could store them there next time. It’s then my eyes catch on a car parked in the farthest spot in the lot, on the other side of the condo complex. A silver Audi TT.
My heart kickstarts and I drop the boards along the pool fence before walking over to the car. There’s no one inside though, and I find myself jogging toward the condo.
Jordan left the door unlocked, which is no surprise. I hesitate a moment at the bottom of the stairs up to her room, listening. There’s nothing. Not even movement. Wouldn’t she have come out if she heard me open the door? I debate calling out to her but I’ve got a weird feeling Sydney is here right now, and instinct tells me to stay silent. The only light is coming from Jordan’s room, and I take my first step before she comes out, still fully dressed.
