Page 21 of The Surprise
I have a cell phone.
I usually have food to eat.
It’s not like I have theworstlife.
But something being livable isn’t the same as it being good, and it feels like everywhere I look, people havegoodlives. It makes mine feel pretty shabby.
As I finish the can, a warmth spreads through me, which is kind of nice, given how chilly it’s gotten. Also, something that felt like a tight knot in my chest feels. . .better.
Looser.
I’m not happy, but I’m less sad. So I drink the second can.
And the third.
I’m halfway through the fourth one when I realize that I’m drunk. Like, well and truly drunk.
It should horrify me.
I mean, I hate when my mom gets drunk. I hate that my dad doesn’t even care that she’s drunk. I hate that she has to leave for months at a time and we have to pretend she’s not gone, or that she’s on a girls’ trip, or that she’s visiting my grandparents.
All because of this.
Well, not really this. Usually my mom wants pills. That’s her drug of choice. But when she can’t get them, she’ll take alcohol. And for the first time ever, I might know why.
I’ve just popped the top on my fifth can when I realize that I need to take a pee. Like, really bad. I stand up, stumble over the log that seems like it moved, and crouch behind it.
I’m pretty sure I got some pee on my pants, but it’s not like anyone is going to notice. I’m in the middle ofnowhere, and it’s the middle of the night.
Wait. Is it? I think it is.
I check my phone.
It’s nine-thirty-six. So, close enough.
I’m washing my hands in the Birch Creek, which is probably really clean because it’s ridiculously cold, and that means it’s snow fed, right? That’s when I’m startled by a frog. I lurch sideways, shouting, and run onto the road.
Which is how an SUV almost crashes into me, the brakes squealing, the tires skidding. It stops just in time, the door bursting open, a man jumping out.
A really beautiful, really large, really shiny man.
“What the heck—” Ethan Brooks is even more gorgeous than I remembered. He’s well-muscled, and his wind-tousled blonde hair’s blowing across his forehead. He freezes when he recognizes me, his mouth gaping open, his eyes wide. “Beth?”
6
Ethan
My dad was sick for a long time before he died. I mean, I’ve met people whose dad or mom was sick foryears,so I suppose it’s relative, but the time we spent in the hospital dragged. It felt like a really long time.
Until he was gone.
And then it didn’t feel like we’d had nearly long enough.
I had always liked superhero movies, but after that, I kind of hated them. I mean, when I was a kid, I liked them because I loved the idea of having magical powers. If I could fly, or run fast, or lift heavy things, think of the good I could do. Think of how many people would be amazed by me.
Everyone wants to be special, and I was no different.
But as I got older, I liked other things about them. I loved the line in the original Tobey MaguireSpiderman, where his uncle says, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
