Fall With Me

is just a coincidence.
    But what if it’s not?
    I glance behind me a few times, to see if Griffin’s following me. He isn’t; he’s moved further down the beach in the opposite direction. I walk back to my cabin and go inside, shut the door, both the screen door and the wooden one.
    I go back and forth between believing that it’s just an insane coincidence and that it’s the sign Uncle Nate was talking about.
    Suddenly, I recall something else Uncle Nate said that day at brunch.
    I can’t just sit back and not take action. It’s not in my blood.
    A cold feeling settles over me, even though I’m still in my sweatshirt with the hood pulled up and the cabin is actually rather warm.
    Maybe Griffin really has been telling the truth all along.
     

Chapter 13: Griffin
     
    The problem with people like Allison is they’re used to getting what they want. I should know.
    So when she finds me Saturday morning and asks if I want to take a drive up to San Francisco with her, it’s clear she’s not so much asking as expecting.
    “Shouldn’t we stay here?” I don’t actually feel like driving up to San Francisco.
    “We could. But Mom and Dad are taking the campers down to Watsonville for the day.”
    “Watsonville?”
    “Their friends own a raspberry farm. They’re going to get a tour and work a little.”
    “Maybe we should go, too.”
    “Don’t worry about it; Mom and Dad plus Jill and Karen can handle it. I already cleared it with them.”
    “With Jill?”
    “She’s not your boss. With Mom and Dad. They think it’s a good idea.”
    I relent, mostly because after our beach walk the other night, I don’t think Jill ever wants to see me again, though I’m not exactly sure what happened.
    That’s what I think about as we drive up to the city. I’m usually not one to replay events over in my head and try to figure out where I went wrong, but the entire scene has been running in my mind like a movie on repeat.
    I’d thought we were actually on the path to making amends, with her opening up about her parents. Well, sort of opening up. It felt like if we were getting some place. Like maybe she was starting to not see me like the gigantic asshole she so clearly thinks I am.
    But then she just took off like that. What had I been talking about? My dad? Is my dad such a toxic person that even mentioning him in conversation causes people to retract? I mean, what the fuck?
    “We should go shopping for a little while and then there’s this great bar I want to take you to,” Allison says.
    “What? Bar? It’s ten o’clock in the morning. And you’re sixteen.”
    She gives me a coy look. “I have a fake I.D. And I wouldn’t expect someone like you to care what hour of the day it is when it comes to indulging.”
    She is so smug and so self-assured that for a second, I want to reach over and slap her, but then I realize it’s just because she reminds me exactly of myself.
    “I don’t have my I.D.,” I tell her.
    She smirks. “Don’t worry; I know the doorman. He’ll let you in.”
    “Whatever you want, sweetheart.”
    “You want to be here, don’t you?”
    “Sure I do.”
    “Or would you rather be heading down to some fruit farm with Jill?”
    “I never said that.” Though in a way, yes, I would.
    “Not that I want to talk shit or anything, but Jill is one of those people who’s better with animals than people. I mean, that’s why my parents keep her on here, because she’s so good with the horses.”
    “She seems pretty good with the campers.”
    “She’s okay. But she’s a prude, too.”
    “What does that have to do with anything?”
    “She just doesn’t know how to have fun. Why does she give you such a hard time? Why can’t she just be cool about things, you know? Life is too short; it’s silly to be that uptight.”
    “She is dealing with some pretty heavy shit right now, though.”
    Allison looks at me, eyebrow raised. “Has she been talking to you about that?”
    “A little.”
    “That’s surprising.”
    “Do you know anything about it?”
    “All I know is her parents were in a car accident and her dad died and her mom’s in a wheelchair for life. They drove their car off a bridge, onto Treasure Island. A huge clusterfuck.”
    “Sounds intense. Bad way to go.”
    “Don’t worry about Jill. Let’s talk about something else. This is boring.” She reaches over and puts her hand on mine. I start to pull it back, but she tightens her grip. I look at her, but