Buried

02: A new start

Bile rose in her throat as she glared at the passing green and white sign. She tugged the cord linked to her headphones, removing them completely from her ears, and scowled. "This place looks like a postcard," she said.

"Is this where we're gonna live?"

Bailey rolled her eyes. "You're a real genius Mattie, you know that? We're that uncivilized that we're going to live in the forest! i***t!"

"Bailey, can't you at least be civil to your brother? I need you to be with me on this. I need you to be more supportive, please?" Gale's voice cracked at the end, sounding like she hadn't sipped water in years.

Her mother's sobs in the night had broken her heart, but outside of that, Gale had been colder than ice during the day. Her emotions kept firmly intact given the situation. Her mom had loved her dad, Bailey knew that.

It's not always about you, Bails.

Her father's words echoed in her head. It was something he would say to her when she was being unreasonable. It was a firm statement, not a mean one, and he would always talk to Bailey about how she was feeling, what was going on through her head when she was being a jerk. He and Amanda were the ones that would make Bailey look at things differently.

Bailey gritted her teeth against the feeling of loss filling the pit of her stomach. He'd made his choice, she would make hers, and right now her mother needed her. She needed Bailey's help do deal with the situation and she felt guilty for making it about herself after her mother's plea.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I'll be more supportive," Bailey said. "I'm proud of you. It's not an easy decision to uproot three lives and start fresh when you've been wronged."

Gale's lips parted. "What?"

"I mean, most women stay, don't they? Pretty weak, if you ask me... it takes strength to leave."

"Oh Bails, not everything is so black and white."

Bailey scoffed. "What do you mean?"

"It's not weak to stay."

"So it's weak to leave?"

Gale shook her head. "I didn't say that. Either choice exhibits strength. To stay is to be true to marriage, through the good times and bad, to leave is to showcase limitations. I won't be treated that way and to me, that was enough to split from your father."

"Split? Is divorce in the future?" Matt whispered from the back seat. "A split is temporary and, well, does that mean Dad is going to stay with us?"

"No!" Bailey spoke at the same time Gale did.

"I don't know, Mattie," Gale said. "I don't know."

Matt grunted in the back. "Adults, it's all so complicated."

"Agreed little brother, agreed. I still think he should've left, not us."

Gale's shoulders expanded in a heavy sigh and a tear left a wet trail down her reddening cheeks. She reached over and ran her spread-out fingers down the front of Bailey's face, her middle finger pausing to playfully tap Bailey's nose. "I couldn't be in that same town with him and her," she whispered, her voice catching before she cleared her throat and wiped at her tears.

Bailey gave a small gasp, realizing that maybe if he had left, he would have just left the house, not the state. The fact that Gale crossed multiple states with her two children spoke of the depth of her hurt at his betrayal. "Oh," Bailey said, but it came out as more of another gasp than an actual word.

Recalculating.

Bailey turned and blinked in surprise as the digital road map interrupted their moment. It was speaking again.

"You missed a turn."

Gale groaned. "I hate that GPS," she cried out with exasperation and then let out a tiny laugh, lightening the mood. She did a U-turn, the tires squealing against the pavement at the fast turn. Bailey gripped the armrest, eyes widening as Gale whipped the car down the hidden, winding road she'd missed.

"Whiplash!" Matt hollered, gripping onto the headrest of Bailey's seat.

Recalculating.

Bailey scowled. "If it keeps doing that I'm putting my headphones back on."

"Oh, sure, make us have to deal with it." Gale teased and leaned over towards Bailey to elbow her arm.

With exaggeration, Bailey dodged her elbow. "You bought it, not me."

"I feel like I've entered The Twilight Zone." Matt interrupted with an eerie ghost-like moan. Bailey turned to see his eyes glued to the window as the shadows of trees crossed his face. "Where are all the people?"

"Do you even know what The Twilight Zone is?" Bailey asked in a snarky tone. "Besides why would there be people on a road like this? How many trees does this state have, anyhow?"

The road they turned down was a long winding road, thickly lined with red, green, orange and yellow-leaved trees. Stretching so high it was like the branches were fingers reaching into the multicolored sky. The setting sun and black pavement added to the picturesque scene.

Bailey shifted her gaze out the window. "Oh my God, there's a house! Look!"

"Not ours, we still have miles to go before we can sleep," Gale said.

"Oh please no more literary quotes. I might vomit!" Bailey said pausing briefly before continuing. "How far are these houses spread out?"

"The realtor said about a mile to two miles between each house is normal for this area."

"I see. Yes, this is the place they come for picture-perfect postcards... and to be offed by serial killers."

Gale gave an exasperated gasp. "Don't be ridiculous, Bailey!"

"The people here are probably all rich and superficial... a textbook cliché, Ma." Bailey whimpered as she spoke the words, hoping it wasn't true.

Gale shrugged and lifted the corner of her mouth into a half-smile. "We're sort of rich and it looks like a storybook, don'tcha think?"

"Sort of rich? What did you do, withdraw money from Dad's bank account?"

"Yes."

Bailey's eyes widened. "Oh, but how?"

"Joint bank account."

"Right, well, if people start going missing and we start dying, I'm blaming you, Mom," Bailey said.

Gale clucked her tongue and shook her head with disapproval. "Honestly, I never should've let you watch those horror movies with your sister."

Bailey pursed her lips before responding. "Funny, wasn't it Amanda that got scared? Wasn't she the one that came to sleep with me? I'm perfectly level-headed about these things."

"Fine, miss smarty pants."

Bailey grinned. "I'm pretty sure no one cool says that anymore."

"She's right, Mom," Matt said, deciding to add his two cents.

Gale gave Matt a pointed stare in the review mirror and tried to change the subject, "Oh, come on, guys! A beautiful town, a new beginning, what more could we ask for?"

"A Starbucks," Bailey added promptly, giving her mother a mischievous look.

"A dōjō," Matt supplied.

Bailey had been a confirmed addict at thirteen thanks to Amanda and after the 'horrible incident' at school that had marred her name for life. When she'd turned fifteen it had been her first and only job too.

"You'll live without Starbucks, besides that place isn't the coffee of all coffee you know. You need to spread your taste out a little more. And Mattie, I've already taken care of classes for you. Unfortunately, it's a town over. Half an hour drive every Tuesday and Thursday."

"I don't care, so long as I get to practice," he said.

"Of course, you don't care. You're not paying for gas," Gale said.

"Dad's rich now, minus what you took out, we'll get him to pay."

Gale winked in the rearview mirror. "Sounds like a plan."

Bailey raised an eyebrow as she shifted in her seat, her leg bending underneath her, as she perched herself higher. "Well, even if Mattie can continue karate, I'd just like to say that if there isn't a Starbucks, we're leaving."

"Lucky you, there's a Starbucks two blocks away from Haven Prep, your new school."

"Joy."

Gale gave Bailey a bemused look, her eyes showing signs of the twinkle she'd lost only two weeks ago. "Look in the glove compartment underneath the car manual."

Bailey leaned forward, the seat belt tightening against her throat. She popped it open and lifted the manual, immediately seeing a print out with the familiar green symbol of the half-woman, half mermaid man-killer that was the Starbucks logo and a map showing that the coffee shop was indeed only two blocks from Haven Prep, or at least that's what it said in the box.

"They're looking for help too. If you talk to Van they may let you transfer to this one." Van was her old manager from the Starbucks she worked at up until the impromptu move.

Bailey looked down at the wrinkled piece of paper skeptically. "I didn't even put in a two-week notice."

Gale shrugged, flipping the turning signal on per the GPS. "I'll be surprised if the whole town doesn't know what happened by now." She spoke soft, as the bite of her comment dug deep. "He'll understand."

"I guess."

"It'll also be another opportunity for you to meet new people. You need friends, Bails. You were alone way too much back home. It's the only Starbucks in town and I was told by the realtor that it's a favorite hangout for Haven Prep students."

Bailey's stomach turned. She'd never been much for people. They'd never been much for her or her strange ability to guess impossible things correctly. It was like a sixth sense that made people afraid of her and with good reason. After what happened with her father the fear proverbially punched her in the face. It was one thing to hate that she sometimes just knew things, but to be afraid of it was a different nightmare.

"Bails, I know that look! Don't worry! You're gorgeous, smart, and funny, unintentionally, but it counts," Gale said, with a wink.

Bailey pouted her lips. "Hey!"

"They'll be crazy not to love you," Gale said

You have to say that, Bailey thought to herself.

"I didn't say that because I had to either."

Bailey scoffed, "Mindreader."

Gale shrugged. "I'm your mother, did you expect anything less? Sweetheart, you shouldn't worry."

"I'm not worried," Bailey said.