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  “Not necessarily. Tell you what, let’s be friends for now and take it super slow. We both have to get over the death of our spouses. Secondly, I don’t want your husband’s ghost coming after me.” Elise chuckled and so did Derek.

  “I would like to be friends though. We’ll see where it goes.” Elise said. She kissed Derek on the cheek and unlocked her car doors.

  “I’ll give you a call later.” Derek replied.

  “Sure thing, Mr. Cooper. I’ll be seeing you.” She smiled. Derek waved as she drove off. He sighed to himself thinking that he couldn’t wait to enter into a friendship and possibly a new relationship in Springbrook.

  Tareeq looked at his phone and saw that the time on his read nine o’clock. He was already finished with his biology homework and decided that he would spend the rest of the evening watching a movie. Since it was a Friday, he wasn’t going to go to bed anytime soon. He turned on the television and browsed through the channels searching for a horror movie that might happen to be on. Once he found what he was looking for, he sat back into the sofa and got comfortable.

  As he watched the slasher movie, his mind wandered to Mia. He couldn’t stop thinking of the hurt that was etched onto her face like a painting. Tareeq was never in the business of hurting someone’s feelings especially a girl’s feelings. The guilt was swelling so much that he couldn’t concentrate on the screams that emitted from the T.V.

  Tareeq got up and looked outside, the trees were swaying back and forth in the wind and he could smell the rain coming. He decided that he would take a walk to clear his mind. He grabbed his jacket and put on his Timberland boots that were at the front door. He made sure to take a key and text his father that he was just going to take a walk around the neighborhood.

  The night air smelled like the autumn leaves that fell to the ground. The howling wind was so cold that he zipped his jacket to his neck. Placing his hands in his pocket, Tareeq started down the driveway and towards the street.

  The neighborhood was quiet except for the rustling of the trees. The streetlights were dimly lit and gave off an eerie feeling to him. He started down Aberdeen Terrace but in the opposite direction. Although he always listened to music on his nightly walks, he made a decision not to. He was in a different neighborhood and didn’t know if someone was going to hit him over the head and rob him.

  As he made his way down Aberdeen, he made a right towards the woods. The woods were deathly quiet which made it easier for him to concentrate on his thoughts. He thought of the time that his mother used to take him on walks when he was a toddler after he had a nightmare. She would always show him the bright moon and tell him that there was a rabbit in the moon that would watch over him whenever he was afraid.

  He caught a tear that escaped his eye and wiped it away. Ever since his mother died, he would walk by himself, hoping that he would find her in the moon like she said she was if she ever went away. Tareeq looked up and noticed that the moon was indeed full tonight. He looked up at the rabbit in the moon and smiled. There was a bright star next to the moon letting him know that his mother was watching over him. He found comfort in it.

  “The moon sure is full.” A voice said behind him. Tareeq jumped and squinted in the dark. He put the flash light on his phone and saw that Mia was standing there behind him. She was in an oversized sweat shirt with oversized sweat pants on. He looked down at her feet and saw those accursed Converses on her feet. She smiled at him and continued walking deeper into the woods. As always, Tareeq followed her.

  “What are you doing out here?” He asked, still shining his flash light onto the path.

  “Oh, just wanted to go for a walk. I can’t sleep.” She said. “I usually take a swim.”

  “About that, I just wanted to apologize to you.”

  Mia stopped in her tracks and turned to face Tareeq. She looked at his face and could tell that he was sincere in his apology.

  “It’s okay, you were just having fun.”

  “But at you and your friends’ expense. I was acting like a real ass and I shouldn’t have followed you.”

  “I knew it was you.” She giggled. “Since you’re so cute, apology accepted.”

  Tareeq smirked and continued to walk with her. They made it to Lake Springbrook and Mia sat down by the lake’s shore. She picked up a rock and threw it into the water.

  “I wanna show you a trick.” Mia said to him. She pointed to the water’s edge and Tareeq looked inside. The water started to sparkle like glitter with greens, purples and different hues of blues. The sparkle of the colors came to the surface and made a rainbow like symphony of different colors.

  “How’d you do that?” Tareeq asked. He was astounded by the effect that the water made.

  “I didn’t do anything.” Mia laughed. “The water is magic.”

  “Girl, stop playing.” Tareeq sat on the shore and laughed. Mia frowned at his reaction, she threw another rock into the lake and the waters did the exact same thing as before.

  “I’m not playing. You know nothing about Springbrook much less the lake.” She scoffed.

  “Well, explain why it does that then? It has to be something with the algae.”

  “It’s not algae; the lake has history. This town was named after this lake because of the mystery that it holds in it. Lake Springbrook has healing properties; it can heal any sickness that a person may have.”

  “Dead-ass?” Tareeq chided, trying not to smirk. “Next you’re going to tell me that mermaids have an underwater kingdom or something.”

  Mia rolled her eyes and threw another rock into the lake.

  “I knew you wouldn’t understand; you people from the city are all the same.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—’’

  “Yes, you did. Just because we don’t have polluted waters and beaches like the city does, doesn’t give you the right to ridicule our town!”

  “You’re right.” Tareeq lowered his head and sighed. He threw a rock into the lake and watched as the glitter came up and made a beautiful colorful ripple.

  Why am I acting like a clown? He thought to himself.

  “Tell me more.” He whispered. He raised his head and looked into her brown eyes. Her eyes glistened against the backdrop of the white moon light. Tareeq blushed and gulped.

  “Promise me you won’t act like a douche then.” She demanded. Tareeq held out his right pinky finger.

  “I promise.” He said. Mia gave him her pinky finger and wrapped hers around his. She kissed their fingers and smiled.

  “Don’t break this promise, or I’ll eat you.” She giggled. That’s when Tareeq blushed even more and wiped the sweat from his brow.

  “Get on with it.” He quipped.

  “Um, so like I was saying before, this lake has healing properties that can heal any sickness. When the first free people of color settled onto this land, they were sick from different types of diseases that they’ve gotten. The founding women of this town brought the ailing settlers here to bathe them.”

  “Wow! Mrs. Murray was saying something like that in History class. To live in a town where the founding fathers were black is pretty cool.”

  “You’re not paying attention, there were no founding fathers, just founding mothers.”

  “Even better.”

  “Right. Some say that Springbrook in general is a town like no other.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, things happen here; things that can’t be explained.”

  “Things like what, Mia?”

  “Scary things.”

  Tareeq sighed and folded his arms. He wasn’t going to get annoyed, but she was beating around the bush with him.

  “Promise you won’t laugh or be a douche?”

  “We just made a promise, girl.”

  “Okay, creatures live here in Springbrook.”

  “What kind? You all have a special animal or something?”

  “Don’t be dense!”

  “How can I not be if you’r
e taking forever just to tell me something?”

  “We have creatures here, creatures that belong in fairytales and horror movies. Some say that a goddess lives under this very lake.”

  “That sounds…creepy.”

  “Believe me.”

  Tareeq paused for a second and thought about what she had just revealed to him. He couldn’t possibly believe that strange monstrosities lurked in the town.

  “Some aren’t even creatures, some are witches who can do powerful things.”

  “You mean they live among us?”

  “Sure do; they’re just like you and me.”

  “Now, you’re starting to scare me.”

  “I don’t mean to, but this is what it is. Watch yourself in this town.”

  The words that Mia said to him made him feel a bit more uneasy. He didn’t want to believe that this quiet little town was more dangerous that Brooklyn. He squinted and looked at the calm waters.

  “That’s a lot to take in, but I’ll have to see it.”

  “Oh, you’ll see it.” She whispered. Tareeq looked at his phone and checked the time. He almost panicked when he saw how late it was getting. He stood up and helped Mia up too.

  “It’s getting late.” He said. “My dad will kill me if I’m not back yet.”

  “No biggie.” She replied. “Just think about what I said.”

  “I will, Mia. I’ll see you later.”

  “Tomorrow, at Elli’s?”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “You better! You have to make up for that crappy apology by buying me pizza.” Mia winked. Tareeq grinned and turned, heading home, leaving Mia standing by the lake’s shore. Once he was out of her sight, Mia started to undress. She walked slowly into the cold water of Springbrook Lake; each step she took, every inch of her body disappeared underwater. Finally with only her head above the water’s surface, she dove into the waters, and never came back up.

  When Tareeq came back home, his father was already sitting in the living room, watching the nightly local news. Tareeq kicked off his boots and hung his jacket up on the coat rack.

  He started to head upstairs, but before his foot could touch the first step, something that the news reporter said ran a cold chill down his spine. Tareeq went over to where his father was sitting and turned up the volume.

  “You’re interested—’’

  “Ssh, dad!” Tareeq interrupted listening to the television.

  “In tonight’s breaking local news, Josh Hamlin who is seventeen years old has gone missing.” The reporter said. “His parents have reported that he hasn’t come home from his part-time job and his cell phone is off. If anyone has information on Josh Hamlin’s whereabouts, please call the news station or the police.”

  Josh’s picture flashed onto the screen and Tareeq’s heart almost dropped.

  “I-I was just with Josh earlier.” He mumbled to his dad.

  “Really? Did he say that he was doing anything after work?”

  “No, after we left Elli’s he just said that he would be working tonight. You think the police will ask us anything since we saw him last?”

  “If they do, just tell them what you told me, son.” Derek softly said. Tareeq nodded his head. He said goodnight to his father and went upstairs to his room. He turned on the bedroom light and plopped down on the bed. He looked at his phone and saw a text message from King asking him if he seen the news. Tareeq replied back with his answer, feeling his anxiety build. He wasn’t expecting to hear something like this before. He thought of what Mia said to down at the lake. Her eerie words were now starting to make him doubt his own rationale.

  Chapter 8.

  Mia applied her lip gloss to her lips and fluffed up her blue and black afro puffs that were neatly combed in her hair. She was excited to see Tareeq today, in fact, it was all that she thought about last night. Tammy sat on her best friend’s bed, flipping through a book that was from Mia’s book shelf. She sucked her teeth each time that Mia squirted another dose of perfume on her wrists.

  “Don’t be jealous.” Mia teased. Tammy rolled her eyes again.

  “I’m not, but I thought he wanted to get with me first!” Tammy blurted.

  “No, he didn’t and besides, don’t you have a thing for King?” Mia quipped.

  “I do, but I thought I was going to be the one this time.”

  Tammy tossed her book onto the bed and sat up with her arms folded. Mia turned around from her vanity mirror and grinned.

  “Not this time. You still haven’t told King how you felt yet.” Mia replied softly.

  “What if he doesn’t like me back?”

  “Oh, he does. Trust me when I say so.”

  “So, you think Tareeq likes you?”

  “I don’t know; it’s hard to tell with this one. He has a good way of hiding how he feels. I’d rather for him to be like that, honestly.”

  “Why?”

  “It makes for a good catch.” Mia winked. Tammy winked back and both girls started to laugh.

  “Have you heard about Josh? I saw on the news last night that he’s missing.” Tammy informed.

  “Oh yeah! Mom mentioned something like that to me.”

  “You think they’ll find him?” Tammy asked.

  “Nah.” Mia giggled. “It’s time for me to go. You staying here?”

  “For a little then I got to get to work.”

  “Okay, just let my parents know.”

  “Will do.”

  Mia walked out of her bedroom and then out of her house. She spotted the bus downtown and ran for it. Once she got on the bus, she inserted her boarding pass and took a seat nearest a window.

  It would be a short ride to Elli’s so the eagerness she felt started to mount. Throughout all of the dates that she’s been on, she never had to force a guy to go out with her like Tareeq did. In other words, she was never the pursuer, always the prey. She giggled at the new prospect; something about Tareeq wanted her to know more about him.

  She wasn’t in a rush to be exclusive with him either. She wanted to take her time with her new friend and see where he wanted to go, although she had a feeling already that he was interested in her.

  The bus driver stopped on Main street downtown. Mia got off through the back doors. With a pep in her step and a song in her mouth, she walked towards Elli’s and entered in. She scanned the restaurant and found Tareeq sitting alone near at a table nearest the coffee machines. She went over to him, ignoring all of the stares that followed her. She was used to it; almost everyone in school hated her and her friends.

  “Hey, Brooklyn boy.” Mia greeted with a large grin on her face. Tareeq smiled back; he got up and gave her a hug.

  “How’s it going?” He greeted back. They both took a seat at the table. Mia listened to the music that played and one of her favorite artists, Solange, was playing a soft neo-soul melody.

  “It’s going good. How are you?”

  “I can’t complain.” Tareeq replied. “Have you heard about Josh?”

  “Yeah! It’s such a shame to think that he would go missing like that. But then again, that’s how it is around Springbrook.” Mia gave Tareeq a dark glare. He almost shuddered from the look that she gave him. Wanting to change the subject, he decided that it was time for them to order.

  “What do you want to eat?” He asked, flatly. Mia rolled her eyes at him. She was started to grow tired of him being so nonchalant. She could feel her anger building up inside and like a wave, she was ready to crash into Tareeq.

  “What’s your problem?” Mia grimaced.

  “Huh?” Tareeq asked, genuinely shocked.

  “You changed the subject so quickly.” She replied.

  “Oh, sorry. To be honest, the look you gave me made me think you didn’t want to talk about it.”

  “You’re so dense—’’

  “Welcome to Elli’s, can I take your order?” Cassie said. She interrupted their spat and Tareeq couldn’t be more relieved to see her.

  “Hey, Cassie
, um I’ll take a meatball sub with extra cheese with a Pepsi.” He ordered, handing her his menu. Cassie wrote down his order on her notepad and then turned to Mia. Cassie frowned a bit, but stood there anyway awaiting Mia’s order.

  “And you?” Cassie asked flatly. Mia sucked her teeth and glanced at her menu. Tareeq could hear thunder brewing outside and he thought that it couldn’t have gone better with the thick tension between the two girls.

  “I’ll just have two slices of cheese pizzas.” Mia replied in the same flat tone that Cassie gave her.

  “Nothing to drink?”

  “Water.”

  “Coming right up.” Cassie said. She turned to Tareeq and gave him a faint smile.

  “Thanks, Cassie.”

  “Don’t mention it, but you can do better.” She whispered. He almost winced at the words that came out of Cassie’s mouth. Now was the time for him to ask Mia the burning question that he always wanted to ask.

  “What was that about?” Tareeq quizzed. He had a puzzled look on his face. Mia sighed and started fidgeting with the paper napkins in her hand. He was sure that she was getting annoyed.

  “She’s just one of many who hate us.” She disclosed, looking in Cassie’s direction.

  “Cassie is mad nice though; she gets along with everyone.”

  “Not with us. Like I said, she is one of many that hate us at school.”

  “Why does everyone hate you?”

  “They just do. Ever since I first started my freshman year, rumors have been going around about each one of us, way before we became a clique.”

  “Don’t beat around the bush with me again, Mia. Give me all the details.”

  “Alright.” She sighed. “Well, they say that I’m too flirty and friendly. They think that I’m strange. Ever since Bruce disappeared, they’ve been starting rumors that I killed him.”

  “That’s just crazy.” He said. “How in the world that came up with an accusation as stupid as that? And who’s Bruce?”

  “My point exactly. But they think that me and my friends are losers because we’re friendly. It’s so stupid! Bruce was my ex-boyfriend, by the way.” She said. “Everyone is a snob at Wittington and ever since the incident back in ninety-four, they’re weary of new kids.”