long between when we left the Shell and when we got to Dennyâs since Brad drives fast, and we stayed at Dennyâs for a long time. The waitresses there can verify that.
The actual lie part, how and where we met, was a little harder. I told Sterling that Brad had called me earlier and we had arranged for him to meet me at the Shell. The cops can check your phone records and since there was no call, we had to figure something out. The Shell is like halfway between Anacortes and I-5, not exactly where youâd choose to buy gas if you just pulled off the freeway. Brad had told me he was heading home after hanging out in Bellingham with some friends who go to Western, but he hadnât explained how he ended up at that particular gas station. It turned out he had just dropped off this kid from Anacortes who needed a ride home. He didnât really know the kid but his Bellingham friends did, and Brad was just being nice. Itâs comforting to find out that my creep alarm does work, and the reason I let myself get in the car with him is that he really is nice.
We decided that it would be okay if I changed my storyabout there being a phone call and admitted that it was a chance meeting, but kept the part about us knowing each other before. If it came up, I would just say that I told it that way to Sterling because he doesnât approve of me and I thought it would sound better if our meeting-up was planned. It turns out that Brad and I know some of the same people and we both go to Bellingham parties enough that it would be safe to say we had met there and knew each other.
If you remember, I was stuck at the gas station because my phone died and Josh and Alex, who were supposed to show up and take me to a party in Bellingham, had gotten another call. They changed their minds about going north and stayed in the Valley at another little gathering, figuring that since I hadnât called them, I must have changed my mind too. When I found myself at the Shell with a dead phone and no ride, and there was my friend Brad, it was perfectly natural to head off into the night with him.
So Brad and I got our story all straight and coordinated, and what was funny was that it was so easy. It felt like we were old friends. There were none of those uncomfortable silences where you know the other person is seeing the situation way different from the way you are and itâs hard to decide what to say for fear of being taken all wrong.
What all this means, of course, is that Iâm staying in contact with Brad. He didnât just fade back into the night like a dream. Heâs come up here a few times and weâve hung out and we have a great time together. We even hiked up Sugarloaf Mountain together, which is something I wouldnât have done if Brad hadnât been there because Kristen climbed it with that weasel before she went missing. Iâm not the granola type. I like being outside and Iâm athletic enough and even go running for exercise, but I run on the track at school or beside the road in town, and hiking up some steep, lonely trail in the woods has never been my thing.
Well, after school the day the cops quizzed himâthey actually went to his school, which might have been embarrassing for him, but he said he didnât mindâBrad called me to let me know how it went. He said the session with the cops was pretty easy because none of it felt like a lie and the little bit of clarifying we did was harmless and really no oneâs business but ours. Besides, and he even said this, it feels like we have known each other for a long time. I agree, so when he asked if he could come up on Sunday, there was no hesitation on my part. I just had to think of something to do.
So we hiked up Sugarloaf Mountain. Itâs not a real mountain, the kind with snow, but Brad says it feels like you could be in the foothills below Mount Baker when youâre on the trail. Iâd been to the parking lot
The actual lie part, how and where we met, was a little harder. I told Sterling that Brad had called me earlier and we had arranged for him to meet me at the Shell. The cops can check your phone records and since there was no call, we had to figure something out. The Shell is like halfway between Anacortes and I-5, not exactly where youâd choose to buy gas if you just pulled off the freeway. Brad had told me he was heading home after hanging out in Bellingham with some friends who go to Western, but he hadnât explained how he ended up at that particular gas station. It turned out he had just dropped off this kid from Anacortes who needed a ride home. He didnât really know the kid but his Bellingham friends did, and Brad was just being nice. Itâs comforting to find out that my creep alarm does work, and the reason I let myself get in the car with him is that he really is nice.
We decided that it would be okay if I changed my storyabout there being a phone call and admitted that it was a chance meeting, but kept the part about us knowing each other before. If it came up, I would just say that I told it that way to Sterling because he doesnât approve of me and I thought it would sound better if our meeting-up was planned. It turns out that Brad and I know some of the same people and we both go to Bellingham parties enough that it would be safe to say we had met there and knew each other.
If you remember, I was stuck at the gas station because my phone died and Josh and Alex, who were supposed to show up and take me to a party in Bellingham, had gotten another call. They changed their minds about going north and stayed in the Valley at another little gathering, figuring that since I hadnât called them, I must have changed my mind too. When I found myself at the Shell with a dead phone and no ride, and there was my friend Brad, it was perfectly natural to head off into the night with him.
So Brad and I got our story all straight and coordinated, and what was funny was that it was so easy. It felt like we were old friends. There were none of those uncomfortable silences where you know the other person is seeing the situation way different from the way you are and itâs hard to decide what to say for fear of being taken all wrong.
What all this means, of course, is that Iâm staying in contact with Brad. He didnât just fade back into the night like a dream. Heâs come up here a few times and weâve hung out and we have a great time together. We even hiked up Sugarloaf Mountain together, which is something I wouldnât have done if Brad hadnât been there because Kristen climbed it with that weasel before she went missing. Iâm not the granola type. I like being outside and Iâm athletic enough and even go running for exercise, but I run on the track at school or beside the road in town, and hiking up some steep, lonely trail in the woods has never been my thing.
Well, after school the day the cops quizzed himâthey actually went to his school, which might have been embarrassing for him, but he said he didnât mindâBrad called me to let me know how it went. He said the session with the cops was pretty easy because none of it felt like a lie and the little bit of clarifying we did was harmless and really no oneâs business but ours. Besides, and he even said this, it feels like we have known each other for a long time. I agree, so when he asked if he could come up on Sunday, there was no hesitation on my part. I just had to think of something to do.
So we hiked up Sugarloaf Mountain. Itâs not a real mountain, the kind with snow, but Brad says it feels like you could be in the foothills below Mount Baker when youâre on the trail. Iâd been to the parking lot
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