Chapter Eight
The following day, Ginny announced that she felt smothered and needed to get out of the house. The only thing Gwen could think to do was suggest hanging out with Tiffany and grabbing a bite to eat. Ginny didn’t seem too enthused at the thought, but she called Tiffany and set up a time and place to meet. Ginny grabbed her keys back from Gabe, and despite Sandra’s pleas to stay inside where it was safe—and she could keep an eye on Ginny—the two of them were out the door around ten.
Even though she knew that something was deeply troubling her, Gwen was still happy to be out of the house and spending time with her cousin again. Ginny cranked the radio while they drove, and Gwen knew it was because she didn’t want to talk. Even though Gwen wanted to ask her questions, she knew that Ginny needed more time to heal before she could talk about her ordeal, if she ever could. There was a good chance that Gwen and Gabe would be kept in the dark for the rest of their lives, unless they did more digging and uncovered things for themselves.
Gwen glanced over at Ginny, noting that she was wearing a thick t-shirt instead of her normal tank-top or sundress. She had seen Ginny getting dressed earlier that morning and knew it was most likely in an attempt to hide the bite mark on her shoulder. It had been swollen and pink, but it didn’t look as bad as Gwen had thought it would. The way the doctors talked about it, she had expected a chunk of her skin to be missing. She hadn’t seen the one that was on her ankle because of the bandage, but she assumed it wasn’t any worse. Hopefully they wouldn’t scar too badly, because it was obvious that looking at them distressed Ginny and might hamper her ability to move on.
Gwen turned the music down a little, and Ginny’s grip tightened on the wheel. “So, where are we meeting Tiffany?” she asked lightly, glancing out the window. She wasn’t going to press Ginny for answers before she was ready, and the best way she knew to help her move forward was to act like nothing was wrong and everything could go back to normal. “I doubt there’s much to do in Brighton.”
“There’s not,” Ginny said, her voice surprisingly light. “We’re heading over to Rockford to go shopping. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not!” Gwen said, smiling. “I like shopping as much as the next person. As long as we can still grab a bite to eat afterwards.”
Ginny laughed, and Gwen felt a weight lift off her chest. It wasn’t the same boisterous laugh she was used to hearing from Ginny, but anything was better than nothing, and she’d take it for now. “You and your food. We’ll find something after, don’t worry. Tiffany loves food just as much as you do. I doubt she’ll let you starve.”
They laughed, and the atmosphere in the car lifted a little. Ginny didn’t reach over to turn the music back up, and Gwen took that as a good sign. As long as she didn’t slip up and ask something she shouldn’t, there was hope for Ginny’s recovery sooner than she thought. She wanted her cousin to be happy and back to the way she was before, and she’d be more than willing to put aside her curiosity for as long as it took to make that happen.
Ginny turned the radio down a little more, and Gwen eagerly waited to see where the conversation would go. “So, does Gabe have a girlfriend yet or not?” The ice was broken and they were both laughing helplessly in the front seat. When Gwen shook her head, Ginny smiled. “Do you think he’s gay?” she asked quietly. “I don’t ever remember him talking about girls or showing an interest in them. I mean, he’s never had a girlfriend, right?”
“Not that I know of,” Gwen admitted. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he kept it a secret though if he did. Dad’s not exactly the easiest to talk to about things, and he probably figured we’d tease him.”
“Which we would,” Ginny pointed out, giggling. That light feeling was still lingering as they pulled into the mall and saw that Tiffany was already there. “Huh, normally she’s late to everything. I guess shopping is the exception.” They were still giggling as they walked up to meet her, and Tiffany smiled radiantly.
“What are you guys laughing about?” she asked, holding the door open for them.
“Oh, nothing,” Ginny said, smirking at Gwen. She looked at both of them, her eyes bright. “Where do you guys wanna start? Shoes or books?”
“Books,” Tiffany said. “I’ve got a million pairs of shoes.”
“And probably a million books,” Ginny retorted. They all laughed, incurring some curious stares from other shoppers. It didn’t bother them, though. They were feeling happy and light-hearted as they entered the book store, and Gwen was a little ashamed to find herself so surprised that Tiffany was still the huge book nerd she’d been when they were younger. It had never occurred to her that she could have developed an interest in fashion and beauty while still keeping her passion for reading.
I won’t jump to conclusions like that again.
Gwen scanned the shelves, her eyes searching for both familiar and new authors to read. She drifted towards the fantasy section like she usually did, and she found the shelves that were lined with her favorite author. She had all of her books set in the same world, and her favorites starred a red-haired lady knight with purple eyes. She had paperback copies of all of them at home, and she’d read all of them so many times that the spines were broken, the pages bent, and the covers fading. As she looked for anything new that was similar, she got that familiar longing to read them once again.
Twenty minutes later, she bumped into Tiffany again. She had two thick hard-covered books in her arms, and she had that light in her eyes that Gwen herself got when in any bookstore. She smiled and gestured with her chin at the shelf behind Gwen. “I figured I’d find you in the fantasy section,” she said with a grin. “You never did read much else. Spread your wings, Girl. Try something new. You might find you like it.”
“And what do you think I should try?” Gwen asked, genuinely curious. She had never had much of a taste for things other than fantasy, but she was willing to give it a try if Tiffany thought she should.
“Science fiction is where it’s at,” Tiffany said. “The possibilities for that genre are endless. You’ll almost never read the same story twice. Fantasy can get a bit predictable with all the elves, dwarves, wizards, and dragons. But with science fiction, you can read about a thousand different kinds of robots, alien races, worlds, or realistic futures. If you want, I can show you a good place to start. In fact, I’ve got a few books you could borrow to get started and see if it’s something you’d be more interested in.”
“Sure,” Gwen said quickly. “I’d love to see what you have. But for now, I think I’ll stick with buying fantasy. One of my favorites just published something new, and I think I can only afford one right now.”
“Don’t you have a card?” Tiffany asked, eyeing the single book in Gwen’s hand.
“No,” she said. “Only cash, and not much of it. Gabe has a card for use in emergencies, but buying books doesn’t qualify according to my mom,” she said, making Tiffany laugh.
“Somebody got in trouble for using it in the past, didn’t they?” she asked, her eyes shining.
Gwen was still laughing as they met up with Ginny at the front counter. She was writing down something on a slip of paper and handing it over to the cashier. The woman taped it to a very large package, and Gwen’s curiosity was peaked. It was impossible to tell what it was since it had been wrapped in plain brown paper and tied with twine, but it was large and probably very heavy. Gwen wanted to ask what was inside, but Ginny just smiled when she saw them coming and shook her head. Gwen knew she’d never get it out of her and would just have to wait and see what the heavy mystery package was.
I wonder who it’s for. Probably her mom, to make up for not spending time with her since coming home.
“You guys all set?” she asked cheerfully. She eyed their hauls and frowned. “That’s all you guys are getting?”
“Well look at you, Miss Moneybags,” Gwen said with a smile. “I only have like thirty bucks on me right now. I’m trying to be responsible-ish and not sp
end it all on books.”
“Yeah,” Tiffany agreed, smiling as well. “You a big spender today? How much did that package cost?”
Ginny cringed, making them laugh again. “You don’t wanna know.” Brightening, she motioned to the front counter. “Don’t worry about it, guys. I’ve got yours. Go find what you want and I’ll get it.”
“Ginny—” Tiffany protested, shocked.
“Don’t worry about it,” Ginny said, waving her off. Her eyes softened as she looked at them, and Gwen’s heart twisted in her chest, knowing she was about to get serious. “I wanna thank you guys for not giving up on me. A lot of people would have. We all have a shared love of books, so it seems fitting I do this. Please, guys. Go back and grab whatever you want, and I’ll get it.”
Gwen couldn’t take her eyes off of Ginny, though she noticed Tiffany’s equally unnerved expression out of the corner of her eyes. Ginny had always been as generous as the next person, but to offer to pay for anything they wanted in the store? Even being a huge book lover, Gwen knew that she and Tiffany could never take advantage of an offer like that. Shuffling her feet guiltily, she handed her one book over to Ginny, who was smiling again. She didn’t want to make Ginny feel bad for offering, but she wasn’t going to take advantage of her offer.
She peeked at Tiffany and saw that she was at war with herself, obviously debating whether or not to hand over the two books in her arms. After glancing around at the line building up behind them, she relented and silently handed over the books. Ginny took them with a smile and handed them over to the cashier, who had watched their entire exchange with poorly hidden interest. She scanned them and bagged them, taking Ginny’s card. She had to call over a manager to have the transaction approved since her card had just been used, calling it a security measure to ensure her card hadn’t been dropped and picked up by the next person in line.
Ginny took the bag of books, and Tiffany and Gwen both followed her to the exit. Once they were back in the mall courtyard, Gwen stopped her. “Ginny, thank you for being so generous. But you really didn’t have to do that.”
“Yeah,” Tiffany said. “We know how grateful you are that we’re still by your side. You didn’t have to buy anything for us to make it up to us. That’s not how friendship is.”
“I know that,” Ginny said, rolling her eyes, trying to dismiss their words. “But I wanted to do something nice for you guys. Is that so awful? It’s not like you guys broke the bank or anything. I’m not rolling in the dough, but it was three books, not a new car! Relax a little.” She turned away and looked around the courtyard, searching for their next destination. “Let’s head over there,” she said, nodding to the far side of the courtyard. “I wanna look at some new shoes. I lost my favorite wedges in the woods.”
Ginny froze, and for a brief second Gwen wondered if she was having some kind of flashback to her time spent in the woods. Her eyes had gone wide and she had that deer in the headlights look, but she shook it off just as fast as it had come, marching towards the store. The bag with their new books swung back and forth, and they hurried to keep up with her. Gwen wondered what was going on in Ginny’s mind right now, if she was somehow at war with herself. She was going from cold to hot, where she would be sullen and despondent one second, to being cheerful and bright the next.
Her speech from last night came back to Gwen as she followed Ginny and Tiffany into the nearest shoe store. She had been so sad and tortured sounding, like she didn’t have any hope left in the world. Yet just earlier, she had been a completely different person, laughing and joking and acting like she was before going missing. Even though that was the Ginny she’d known for years, Gwen knew she couldn’t possibly be the same person she’d been before her brief disappearance. This overly happy and generous person had to be a fake, right? If so, who was the real Ginny now?