This Town Keeps It's Secrets

It was the first day of winter and roses were blossoming amidst heavy rains, from the week long cloudburst we had been suffering from. Bridgewood tower stood tall against the wet blanket of grass blades, and I must confess it was cold inside the Belfry.

Charlie, Avery and I stood amidst the wind ridden enclosure of the tower, smoking our silly little cigarettes and complaining about our inevitable return to school. It was the last day of the holidays and the more I thought on it, our last one. I don’t think any of us knew how we should be feeling with such a large change looming above us, and I for one was torn; on one hand, the fact I would never have to return to Mrs Maldigri’s math class filled me with a sense of glee, and on the other, I would have no more memories to make at a place that had been my second home for so long now. I hadn’t decided on a university yet either and to think that studying even further could be an option, made me feel ill. I was sure that the others felt the same way, we always had the same opinions on things, we had grown up together after all.

The brief moment of silence that we had found ourselves in, was finally interrupted with a girly voice cutting through it like butter. “Are you going to the party tomorrow?” Avery asked, her shrill, yet warming voice reverberating through the wind. I turned just as Charlie did, both of us taken by surprise with a sound other than silence. “Obviously.” Charlie said, taking authority to speak for the both of us, “The question is, how can we bring booze in and not get caught.” He chuckled a little as he spoke.

“What about you Arlo? Are you gonna tag along?” Avery asked, turning to face me. Shrugging off Charlie’s remark rather quickly.

“As long as I’m not just a third wheel this time,” I started, “and on the condition you guys aren’t just hooking up in the corner, then maybe I’ll consider it.” They laughed together, almost in unison. I could only guess you started to become the same person when you became a couple. “You’ll find someone eventually,” Avery said, “you bought us together so I think it’s only right we find you someone to.” She smirked a little as she spoke, rubbing salt into some almost healed wounds.

“Fine,” I said, “I’ll come.” To be perfectly honest, I was already considering going, although they would never believe it. I needed them to think it was a burden for me, because if deep down if they could find me someone I’d be grateful, the new double queen bed was getting rather lonely. Charlie slapped my shoulder and threw his cigarette off the edge of the tower. “Hell yeah,” he said. I watched the cigarette take to the air, swinging in a pendulum motion, getting caught in the winds that we were only slightly cut off from. I watched it fall, as Avery scolded him for littering.

Avery and Charlie had met through me, so I took a little credit for their relationship. Despite however much it hurt, I was happy for Charlie, he had been my friend ever since I could remember and I had grown okay with them dating. After all, she had rejected me, so it seemed only fair that he could make a move too…

It had been a year since they had started dating, we had all been friends when we first started school, but just like every other pretty girl, she drifted from us, going to hang with the cooler kids in our grade. Charlie and I had faded into the background of her life, and it was only after the whole Bradley Ranger saga that she had come back to us, (A long story, I might get into it at some point.)

After all she did, we didn’t care to have her back at first. She would say we did, but that would be another one of her grand lies. Avery had done a lot to win us back, she was the only one of us that had turned eighteen, and the only one of us with enough money to get alcohol when we needed it. Looking back on it, we must have cost her a fortune, because we drank nearly every weekend.

We did have jobs, before you go all feminazi on us. Charlie and I worked awfully hard for the couple of hundred dollars we made a week, and we chipped in when we could. Avery didn’t work though, never had and we doubted she ever would, she had a card that her dad put what we thought was a thousand dollars onto every week. We didn’t know if she had ever saved any, but I assumed she had… Unless she had spent it all on Charlie, which was a possibility, as his fashion sense had got a lot more expensive over the last month. He wore leather pants last week and let me tell you, some things are not meant to be seen, at least not through clothing anyway. It was definitely a photo I was saving for his eighteenth, then we could all laugh at his expense rather than mine for once.

Avery ashed her cigarette in a small wooden bowl we had bought up with us a while ago. We had bought it up in autumn to fill with seeds for whatever birds wanted it, and we thought of it as a nice gesture at first, but like a lot of containers left outside, it slowly became an ashtray.

“See Char Char, all you had to do was that.” Avery said, moving closer to him.

“Aww Char Char, that’s sweet.” I said, trying ever so hard not to throw up.

“See I would have done that,” Charlie said, "but the world is my ashtray."

Avery punched him, and rightfully so I thought. Although it was more of a playful hit, and it was on his shoulder, I could see he was scared. There had always been a fine line that divided them, and if either of them crossed it there was hell to pay. Sometimes Avery’s outbursts could be triggered by the softest of words, and that was okay, I mean she was a teenage girl after all. (I guess she would hit me for saying that.)

I suppose by this point you’re wondering why we were standing on top of the bell tower anyway, and there were a couple of reasons for that. Number one being that it was our meeting spot. This was where we made our plans, it was our chateau of mischief as Penelope used to say. Used to say, being a perfect transition to our second reason. Penelope had been our friend, at least she had been a friend for the brief while that we had known her, now we came here to drink and talk about what we thought happened to her, or just drink a lot and hang out like we used to. I won’t lie to you and I don’t think that I ever would, but sometimes I saw Penelope when we had been drinking for a while and it was almost time to go home, always standing out in in the field, always in a white dress and her long blonde hair was always out. Penelope wasn’t dead, at least we didn’t know for certain as to what she was, it was just that no one had seen her for two months. We all knew something was wrong though, that much was true. One day she had been a happy schoolgirl, drinking and partying and doing all of the things that she had been told not to, the next day she was gone. The police wouldn’t say she was dead though. We had all come to our own conclusions though, deep down I did not think someone so loud could disappear without a trace, there had to be something, then again, maybe she was gone… I started to think about her some more.

“We’re all out of vodka.” Avery said, placing the empty bottle on the floor next to some others.

“Does that mean it’s home time?” Charlie asked.

“I’m not sure, I kinda want to stay a little bit longer.” I said

“Why?” Avery asked.

“School starts tomorrow.” I responded. “I’m not gonna be coming here every second day anymore, I just want to stay a little longer.”

“Oh, so you’re not gonna come and hang here anymore? Just like that.” Charlie exclaimed… “We aren’t gonna forget to drink, especially when it’s my birthday next month.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t gonna come here, I just can’t be here all the time anymore.”

“Sure you can.” Avery said. “Just don’t drink too much, and we’ll make sure you don’t do anything we’d do.”

I only had two choices from this point, from this very moment I could decide whether or not I would become the person I wanted to be. Studying hard in school and focusing on myself… Or, I could have a good time this year. I guess my choice might have been more simple, if I had known what the rest of the year would bring, and believe me I’ll get to that eventually. For now though, it was all simple. I wanted to keep my friends, I wanted to be popular and I wanted to be somebody, I didn't want things to change. If it took going out every night then so be it. School was only the beginning, and it was nearing it’s end, it wouldn’t matter when I looked back on it…

Charlie stepped over some broken bricks and knelt down to open a hatch.

“Where are you going?” Avery asked.

“I’m heading home. Did you wanna lift?” He asked.

“I think I’ll wait a bit too.” She responded.

Charlie shook his head and made his way down the ladder underneath the hatch, it closed behind him as he pulled it shut, he didn’t say goodbye.

“You guys doing alright?” I asked.

“It’s been better. It’s also been worse.” She said. “What about you, how's the single life?”

“Ouch.” I said. “Same, same though.”

Avery walked over to the far side of the belfry and stood at its edge, leaning softly against a piece of broken railing. It was the side we never went to, no one was ever going to fix it, and it always got too windy late at night. It was without a doubt the prettier side, and she looked pretty as the moonlight crept over her and shone through the missing pieces of the roof.

“Tell me why you don’t think she’s dead?” Avery asked, still staring out at the oblivion before her.

“I don’t know.” I said. “You ever just get a feeling.”

“I know the one.” She said, turning slowly on her toes. “Sometimes you just gotta accept things for what they are though.”

I lit up another cigarette and stared at my feet, letting a puff of smoke out through my nose. "Do you want one?" I asked.

"Sure," she said, turning around and holding out her hand.

I threw a cigarette over to her, followed by the lighter. She muttered a thankyou, and lit her own cigarette.

“We'll finish these, then can you walk me home?” She asked.

“Sure,” I said. “I don’t want to be late tomorrow either.”

Avery walked back over to me and looked over the edge of the wall, “That’s where you saw her right?” She pointed towards a thick piece of foliage.

“In the trees over there.” I said. Pointing out into the field, just short of where the Forrest started and just before everything went dark.

I hadn’t thought much about when I had seen Penelope against the trees. We had been smoking, obviously not cigarettes and I had been drinking for a while by the point. A trick of the light, or a deep seeded emotional issue, that I wasn’t sure of. I took a long drag of my cigarette, and threw it off the edge. I didn't want to think about Penelope anymore.

“I’m ready when you are,” I said, blowing the smoke at her.

“I’m always ready.” She ashed out her cigarette in the ashtray, and scolded me for not using it enough. Then she started to climb down the ladder beneath the hatch, I followed after her, doing my best to keep up. Avery was a fast walker, her legs were small but she managed to walk at a pace even I struggled to keep up with. I wasn’t too much taller than her, maybe two or three inches, but I was not as fit.

Avery played almost every sport, well, she used to. She didn’t tell us why she stopped playing, and that was okay, she always kept quiet about things. Avery had been my neighbour for about four years now, our dads had been best friends growing up, and when we had sold our house we managed to find a vacancy on their street. We used to have BBQ’s at least once a week together, now I didn't see her parents as much, I didn't think it was my place to ask Avery about it either.

Avery and I walked home from the bell-tower every time we went, although it usually wasn’t this dark. We got back to our houses laughing and talking about memories from the better days. She seemed happy.

“Thanks for walking me home Arlo.” She said, turning into her driveway as she spoke.

“I mean… I've gotta go this way too.” I said.

She laughed. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She peeled off into her driveway, and I watched her walk inside, the hallway light was still on so I knew she was fine.

I made my way to my house, which in comparison to hers, wasn't much. Avery’s house was much bigger than mine, where I only just had three stories, she had seven, and although we lived on the same street our parents had completely different incomes. Not that Avery’s parents cared, they were nice, and they were humble. Avery’s father was a big time lawyer and her mother was a doctor or something like that. My parents were high up at some government department and we were well off, I couldn’t complain, but I found myself wondering what life could have been like with all that money. I drifted off in thought as the first shadow emerged from my driveway.

Who the hell was at my house, I knew it wasn't my parents, they would be fast asleep by now. I ducked behind the hedge as soon as I saw the figure. Whoever it was, wasn’t tall, in fact it was rather small for a person. The figure had long hair from what I could make out. I heard talking as I hid, I couldn’t tell if it was some psycho talking to themselves or if there was another person I couldn't see. I knew for certain that there was a girl. I held my breath and waited for the voices to subside. I waited longer, I waited until I knew for sure they were gone. It was a brief encounter, but what can I say, I don’t take chances, I didn’t want to die this young. I stood up and peeked over the hedge, I could just see through the darkness, and there were no more voices… Whoever it was, was gone. I walked down my driveway and got to the front door, a bright white envelope sat wedged into the hinge, I picked it up and took one final glance back up the driveway. There was still nothing. I closed the door behind me and looked closer at the envelope, there was writing scribbled in bright red ink… From PJ.

I opened the envelope, hastily ripping through it, to get to the letter. I almost dropped it, when I first saw what it said.

The road of death, is a long and miserable one. Perhaps you'll walk forever, trying to find me.

P.J

Penelope… Penelope Jewel wasn’t dead.

I stared at the paper in shock, thinking of what it could mean. It seemed like some sick joke, but I didn't know anyone else with those initials. I wanted to call Avery, I wanted to tell her, but I knew she might be sleeping, and it could definitely wait till tomorrow.

I’d sleep as well, Avery would know what to do in the morning. She always knew what to do. I scrunched the letter into my jacket pocket and started getting ready for bed.

Tomorrow was going to be interesting.