Free The Rules for Disappearing by Unknown

Mom’s leaned against the counter, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. She looks terrible.
    “Are you okay?”
    She stands up straighter. “Yes. Of course.” She smooths her hair down and rubs her hands across her face quickly. “What do you
    have planned for today?”
    I shrug. “Don’t know. Why?”
    She shrugs back. Dad comes in and he and Mom don’t make eye
    contact with each other. I watch them do this silent dance around the kitchen without actually acknowledging each other.
    Mom skulks away and Dad motions for me to sit with him at the
    table. I plop down next to him and we stare at each other for a few awkward moments.
    “Do you want to talk about it?” he asks then sips his coffee.
    S—
    “If it is why we got in this mess than yes.”
    N—
    He sets his mug down and brown liquid sloshes over the side. “I 62
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    heard you last night. You’re having nightmares again. It may help to talk about them.”
    I jump up from the table. “No, I’m fine.” I can barely stand to write the dreams down in the journal, so there’s no way I’m talking about them with Dad.
    “Come on, Teeny. Let’s go.” I pull her off the couch and out of the house. No way are we hanging around here all day.
    With no real destination in mind, we walk at an easy pace. The weather is mild, definitely not as cold as earlier in the week and it’s really nice to be outside. I’m so relieved that the being-followed feeling is missing this morning. A big group of people are hanging out by the river but it doesn’t look like any sort of organized activity, just everyone taking advantage of the weather to get outdoors.
    There’s a group of kids running around, chasing the ducks that are brave enough to come on land, while their parents scold them from blankets on the ground. Some middle school–aged kids are
    playing soccer off to one side, and an older crowd is tossing around a Frisbee.
    We walk along the cobblestone street and then down the nar-
    row road to the water. There are lots of people milling around, and it’s got kind of a street fair feel to it. I buy us both a hot chocolate and a meat pie from a street vendor and we plop down on a grassy area to people watch. The meat pies are what this little town is known for although this is the first time we’ve tried them. Steam rises from the flaky pastry when I unwrap the paper around mine.
    It’s delicious and, of course, the seasoning is on fire. There is never a lack of spices in the food people cook here even in the cafeteria at
    —S
    school. You have two options—hot and really hot.
    —N
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    The group playing Frisbee seem to be doing it football style.
    It’s pretty rough, with lots of tackling and shoving. Ethan’s in the bunch and quickly moving our way.
    So much for avoiding him.
    He goes up for a high catch and falls to the ground hard, but
    the Frisbee is still in his hand. A few guys run to him, yelling and cheering—high fives all around.
    I can tell the moment he spots us. He breaks away from the
    group and jogs to where we’re sitting.
    He falls to the ground next to Teeny who scoots as close to me as she can without actually getting in my lap. He’s sweating and his hair is sticking to his head. He’s got little pieces of grass stuck to his face. He looks adorable.
    “Who’s this?” He nods toward Teeny.
    “My sister, Mary,” I answer.
    “So, what’s up?” He throws the Frisbee back to his friends and waves them off.
    I shrug. “Not much. Just checking out what’s going on.”
    “Cool. The weather’s great today. Y’all want to hang out with
    us? We’re headin’ to Gus’s in a little while. Best jambalaya in town.”
    That slow southern drawl is intoxicating. I could sit and listen to him all day.
    “What’s jambalaya?” Teeny asks.
    I don’t know what it is