Should I wear leggings and boots or the V-neck sweater with skinny jeans? Or the sweater with suede shorts?
I dragged out one of my new outfits and threw it on the bed. Then I pulled out another one. I glanced over at the new notebooks lying on my dresser and shook my head. Back in college. Community college. Welcome to the glamorous life of working undercover.
Grudgingly, I took a shower and got dressed. Mrs. Parker was sitting at the breakfast table with Peter. His mom, Marlene, absently drank her coffee while scrolling through her Facebook feed.
“You’re up. I was just going to send Peter.” She beamed at me as she set some toast down on the table. “He’ll show you where to catch the bus this morning.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Parker,” I said, sliding into the seat next to Peter’s. “Is your school near the college?”
“No,” Peter said, drinking his glass of juice. “You go to the big, big school, way down the street from mine.”
“Are you nervous, honey?” Marlene asked, looking up from her phone.
“A little. Maybe a lot.” At least that was the truth. It was time to find out how good my cover really was. I had fooled everyone so far. This was the real test.
Peter looked at his cheap plastic Avengers watch. “Time to go. ’Bye, Mom. ’Bye, Mrs. Parker. Come on, Shea.” Grabbing my hand, he dragged me toward the door. I waved good-bye to the ladies smiling at us from the table.
We had to catch the bus at the top of the street. Peter would go on the yellow school bus, and I had to wait for the shuttle that came down Main Street. According to Mrs. Parker, the county had received some kind of rural higher education grant a few years back that funded the shuttle. It picked up students for the community college as well as for Alfred State College, which was about twenty miles away. It ran from seven to four, Monday through Friday, all day long, shuffling college students in an endless loop.
It was warm for March, and especially muddy. My new shoe boots were already spattered with it, but the sun was shining down on us as we walked up the street. Two other people were waiting at the stop when we got there. One was the little girl named Emily Rose from down the street, the other a girl of about eighteen. Her long brown hair was straightened to perfection, almost to her waist. She was wearing skinny jeans ripped at the knees and a heavy sweat shirt, confirming I was overdressed. She looked at me curiously, earbuds plugged into her head, hiking her backpack higher up her shoulder.
“Kayla, Emily,” Peter announced with authority, “This is Shea. She lives with us now at the boardinghouse.”
“Hi, I’m Kayla Johnson.” Popping her earbuds out, she stepped forward holding out her hand, while Emily just shyly waved.
“Hi,” I said nervously, giving Kayla a limp shake. “I met Emily Rose already. She’s about the only person I do know in this town. I just moved here and I feel so stupid.”
“It’s all right,” Kayla laughed. “Are you waiting for the Harris shuttle?”
“Yeah, are you?”
“Yes. Everything’s right here. Their bus stop, our bus stop. I used to drive myself, but I wrecked my car.” She gave me an easy smile. “Anyway, you’ll like going to Harris; it’s really simple. We’re all pretty much on the two-year plan. Two years community college, two years at a university.”
“Is that what everyone around here does?” That’s what I had done.
She nodded. “Except for a few who don’t have to worry about student loans. Our guidance counselor at the high school was big on trying to keep the student loans down. She said she was still paying hers off and she was like, thirty. I think Harris is giving her a cut for all the students she sends them.”
I laughed. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m on the two-year plan, too. And I never met your guidance counselor.”
Kayla cocked her head to the side. “Where are you from? Portsville?”
Portsville was a slightly bigger town about thirty miles north. “Buffalo.”
“Oh no,” she said. “You’ll probably die of boredom, then.”
I looked around. “I hope not. It doesn’t seem so bad here.”
“I’ll show you around campus if you want. I know you probably don’t know anyone, right?”
Bingo. Connection made. I played shy. “I don’t want to bug you or anything.”
“Shut up. Don’t worry about it. I’m a lot of fun.” Kayla had an outgoing personality and bright eyes. I liked this girl already.
The big yellow cheese bus came rolling along just then. The kids all looked at me like I was some visitor from another planet. Peter got on and waved good-bye to me from his seat up front. Kayla and I stood waiting for another ten minutes, making small talk. What bands did I like? What YouTubers did I follow? Was I on Instagram? Snapchat?
The shuttle, which was thankfully not yellow, rumbled to a stop next to us, and we climbed on. There were a few people already on the bus, all looking tired, books and backpacks piled on the seats next to them, earbuds in, heads down. The ride to the campus was short from our stop. Still, I cursed Bill for not letting me have my own car.
As soon as we pulled into the bus loop, Kayla pointed out a group of people standing by the double-door entrance. “Those are some of my friends. Come on, I’ll introduce you. I used to drive the girls, but crash, you know?”
Kayla marched us straight back to where they were standing, clustered up, blocking one of the doors, and addressed them all as if she were the mayor.
“Everybody, this is Shea. She just moved here from Buffalo.” She pointed around the circle. “This is Rob, Tyler, Maddie, and Jenna.”
They all said their hellos to me in turn. “Hey, Shea,” Tyler said, while he eyed me up and down.
“Welcome to Kelly’s Falls,” the girl named Maddie said, glancing over at Tyler, who took the hint and looked away from my chest. She had messy blonde hair with one subtle pink highlight that framed her heart-shaped face. “You just moved here from Buffalo?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I got here this weekend.”
Jenna looked at me as if I were nuts. “Why would you do that?”
“My parents died in a car accident, and the chief of police is my uncle, so I came to stay with him,” I told them, with just a touch of self-pity to soften them up and make them feel a little bad for me, because I was an evil person who lied for a living.
“I’m so sorry.” Jenna put her hand on my arm, and everyone went quiet for an awkward moment.
“How do you like Kelly’s Falls so far?” Tyler asked, trying to restart the conversation.
“It’s really nice here. I think I’m going to like it.”
“The police chief is your uncle, huh?” Rob asked. I could see him looking me up and down, just like Tyler. At home I worked out at the police gym every other night when it was mostly empty, keeping my waist small and my butt from getting two nightsticks wide. I had forgotten what wearing a fitted V-neck sweater could do to accent your upper half. I pulled my jacket closed and tried to smile.
“Yeah, but I’m staying over at the boardinghouse. He doesn’t think it would look right, him being a bachelor and all. I guess you could say Mrs. Parker is looking after me.”