Lightning Bay (A Friend Like You): Prologue
Author's Note: This prologue was cut because I felt it wasn't needed to tell the story. Ultimately, I felt I could reference enough of this event in the first chapter I did publish. Subsequently, it has not been edited and there may be gaps in the narrative where I would have gone back and filled more in had I decided to publish it.
Lightning Bay is set in the same universe as Rockstar Bay Academy (Lightning Bay became Rockstar Bay), and the events take place around twenty years prior to the events of Rockstar Bay Academy.
Year: 1999
“Kia, sweetheart, are you here?”
I stop with the lipstick halfway around my mouth as the sound of my father’s voice filters up the stairs and into the bathroom.
Jo looks at me at the same time I look at her. “What’s your dad doing here?”
“I don’t know,” I say, trying to squash down the panic I feel.
Mum won’t be happy if she finds out he’s come over. He kept a key after he moved out, but she really doesn’t want him here.
“Kia!”
Jo and I stare at each other for another second before I turn back to the mirror and finish applying my lipstick. “I better go and see what he wants.”
“Hurry. The guys will be here any minute.”
“I know, I know.”
As if my heart wasn’t already racing, the mention of the guys arriving to pick us up for our senior prom sends my heart speeding into overdrive. I want everything to be perfect, including the way I look. My pink and coral taffeta dress looked amazing on in the store, and I feel good in it, but I need to put the last of my makeup on, and spend a couple more minutes on my appearance before our dates arrive. Plus, Jo and I are supposed to rehearse the conversation I’m desperate to have with Cam.
Glancing once more and Jo, and then wistfully at my makeup bag and the mirror, I go looking for my dad. He’s just stepped onto the landing at the top of the stairs as I walk out of the bathroom.
“What are you doing here, Dad?”
I don’t want to be affected by the hurt I see in his eyes, not after everything he’s put our family through this year, but Dad and I were very close before everything happened.
“Kia, I need your help.”
I study the man I’ve always looked up to and forgiven more times than I know I should have, and remind myself I need to stay strong. For Mum’s sake. I know not every marriage lasts forever, but he broke her. First the drink driving, then losing his business, and then the affair.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
He moved into a little apartment in town after Mum kicked him out. He’s meant to be sorting himself out and finding a job, but he doesn’t look like he has anything together right now. I’ve always considered Dad to be youthful, and until now, he hasn’t aged the way other parents have. His face has been clear from all lines except laughter ones, his blue eyes – the same colour as mine – are always bright and clear, and he’s kept all his hair. He’s forty-two, but he really doesn’t look it. At least, he hasn’t looked it until today. Right now, he looks closer to fifty. His eyes are dull, his face has wrinkles I haven’t seen before, and he’s starting to grey.
I saw him a week ago, and he looked better than this.
“You haven’t been answering your phone.”
“Because I’m getting ready for prom. Or have you forgotten?”
I know he’s not going to be here to take photos of me and warn Cam to behave himself. I let go of that dream. But it hurts that he’s forgotten this is the most important night of the year for me.
Dad looks me over and smiles, a smile I associate with the Dad of old, the Dad who taught me how to use a paintbrush, tucked me into bed and told me stories every night, and made me feel like a princess.
“I haven’t forgotten. And you look beautiful. Your date better keep his hands to himself. It’s actually why I’m here.”
I brush off the thought he doesn’t even know it’s Cam – my best friend for more than five years – taking me and smile. “You’re here to see me off to prom?”
Because Mum can’t, I should say. She’s working overtime every day to keep a roof over our heads.
His smile is strained now. “I was actually hoping you’d let me borrow your car since you’ll be out for the evening.”
Just like that, all my hopes he might be here, because he knows how important this night is and he’s sorry and wants to make up for it feel as if they’re being crushed under the heel of his boot.
“You can’t drive anywhere for another nine months,” I remind him.
He steps closer to me. “I know, and I know the spot I’m putting you in. Your mum won’t be happy I’m here, or that I’m asking, but I need to go somewhere. It’s an emergency.”
“What kind of emergency? What’s wrong?”
“I can’t tell you. Trust me, it’s for your own good. I need to leave for a day or two, and then I’ll be back. You won’t need your car while I’m gone.”
I don’t have my licence yet, but I bought a car with the wage I’ve been earning working for a photographer in town. And Mum and Dad chipped in half before everything went south. Now I take my driving lessons, but I also go driving in it and learn in it. I won’t get my license until my eighteenth birthday, in late February. Right in time for university. That doesn’t mean I want to loan my car to my dad, though, even for the evening.
Even if it is an emergency.
“Please Kia. I’m worried he’s going to kill me. I’m scared.”
The fear in his eyes is real, as is the desperation in his voice, and even though I don’t want to feel it, I’m terrified for him.
“Who’s going to kill you, Dad?”
“Trust me, it’s best you don’t know.”
“Kia,” Jo yells from the bathroom. “Evan messaged me. He’s on the way.”
I have to make a decision; I can’t put it off. Do I give him the keys or not? Cam will be here soon, and I don’t want him to see Dad. He’s pissed off with the man who raised me for everything he’s put me through this year, and he thinks I let him off the hook too easily for everything that’s happened – that I’ve always let him off the hook too easily for all the minor disappointments I’ve suffered since I was little.
And maybe I do, because I walk into my bedroom and grab the keys to my little yellow Holden off my dresser.
“I’ll take good care of her, I promise,” Dad says moving forward.
As he speaks, I think I catch a whiff of scotch.
“Have you been drinking?”
“I’m sober. I haven’t had a drop today. I promise.”
I don’t know what to believe. It’s bad enough if he drives without his license and gets caught. But if he’s had something to drink…
“We need to finish getting ready,” Jo says, coming out of the bathroom to find me. “Hi, Mr Berry.”
“Jo, you look lovely,” Dad says.
“Thank you. Kia, you have to finish getting ready.”
I look at my Dad one more time and then at my car keys before reluctantly handing them to him.
“Drive safely, and don’t get caught.”
“I promise I’ll be careful.” He leans in and gives me a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Bye, Dad.”
As my father makes his way down the stairs, Jo and I rush back to the bathroom to finish getting ready.
I do my best to push down the thoughts swirling in my like as cyclone thanks to Dad’s visit. I don’t want to dwell on the fact I thought I smelt whiskey on his breath. He promised me he was sober. No matter how flawed my dad is, he doesn’t lie to me. If he’s in danger, I did the right thing. Of course, the question remains, why is he in danger? What happened? Should I call Mum? No, she won’t want to hear about it. It will probably make everything worse between them. He said I don’t need to know. He said everything will be okay.
With frantic dashes and splashes of colour to my cheeks, eyes, etc, I finish making myself look beautiful with Jo’s help. Once we’re both happy with the way we look, we stand back and admire each other. She looks gorgeous in a jade dress which matches her eyes; her shoulder length auburn hair looking very stylish with the wave she had put in at the hairdresser.
I study my long light brown hair in the mirror.
“Do you think I should have left my hair down?” I ask impulsively. “Cam likes my hair down.”
Jo shakes her head. “It looks terrific with all those curls in it. Besides, do you really want to take out all those pins now?”
“Ah, no.”
“Didn’t think so.” She reaches for her purse and takes out her phone. “Photo time.”
The limo pulls into our driveway less than a minute later, and when the knock on the door sounds, Jo squeals.
“This is it,” she says. “Are you ready?”
It’s a loaded question. Tonight isn’t just our senior prom, it’s also the night I tell my best friend I’m in love with him.
My stomach lurches at the thought. My heart speeds up again. Heat sweeps through me, making me feel flushed. I need to get myself under control before I start sweating or give away to Cam how nervous I am. He can read me like a book.
I might not have gone over the conversation I need to have with him with Jo, but I’m out of time. I’m going to have to wing it. And in truth, I’ve rehearsed what I want to say to Cam for years now.
“I’m ready.”
Cam’s arms are around my waist and my arms are around his neck as we dance to first slow song of the evening. I breathe in the scent of his familiar cologne, play with the collar of his shirt a little as I rest my head against his chest, feeling the strength there and fantasizing about touching all the muscles underneath his shirt. As the best athlete and fastest runner in school, as a lifeguard, he’s built. I’ve seen him without his shirt off multiple occasions, like when we go swimming at the beach, or when we’re running track together. So, I know what he looks like. But if I see him without his shirt tonight, it will be different.
I’ve dreamed about this moment for years; coming to the senior prom with my best friend is a dream come true for me. I promised myself I wouldn’t be one of those girls who fell in love with her best friend and never told him how she felt. But this is the first time he’s been single since I fell in love with him at fifteen.
And if my confession results in tonight being more than just a prom date, then that would be another dream come true. I want more than friendship with him. I’ve wanted to be with Cameron for such a long time, the thought of him and me together consumes me. I’ve painted it – I’ve drawn it. I’m ashamed to admit I have all these pictures of Cam under my bed. Some he knows about, other he has no idea about. I’ve imagined us together a billion times in my head. I’m ready for this moment, and as I look up into Cam’s eyes – blue, flecked with black – I feel like he might be ready, too.
“What is it?” he asks.
“I’m just remembering how we met.”
“You mean Robert spilling all your books on the ground and me making him pick them up?”
Everyone likes Cam and respects him. He’s the most popular guy at school, and with good reason. It’s just not because he’s gorgeous, sexy and the best looking guy there, it’s because he’s a great guy, a nice guy, the guy who helps everyone and takes care of everyone. I’m not the most popular girl at school, but I am accepted because of my place on the athletics squad and my friendship with Cam.
I look at him. “Yeah. You were my saviour, Cam.”
He squeezes my hand. “I’ll always save you, Kia.”
It’s the moment, I know it is. The time has come…
“Want to get out of here?” he asks softly, huskily as the song we’ve been dancing to stops. “We’ll come back in time to take the limo home with the others. I just…I want to hang out with just my best friend for a while.”
I want to tell him right here and right now how I feel about him, but he’s just provided me with the perfect opportunity to confess in a more private setting.
“Yes, let’s go.”
He smiles. “I was thinking we should go to the cove.”
Perfect. It’s our place – and the place I realised I was in love with him. “Let me just say goodbye to Jo and Evan.”
“I’ll come with you.”
As I go to step away, he takes my hand. Brooklyn Bishop glares at us and I’m so glad Cam turned down her request to dance tonight. Dressed to the nines in her little designer dress, she looks every bit the most popular girl in school. For a moment, I was worried Cam wouldn’t say no. My nemesis has been trying to date Cam forever. Since she’s the person everyone talks about as being the hottest girl in school, I’m certain the only reason Cam hasn’t dated her is because she’s such a bitch to me.
Whatever the reason, I’m grateful he’s never taken her up on every offer she’s issued him. And tonight, he hasn’t left my side once. He could have danced with any of the girls here, but he’s chosen me, and I’m taking that as another sign that this is the right time to tell him how I feel.
Jo and Evan aren’t dancing together, despite the fact they came together. Every time I’ve looked at them, they hadn’t been anywhere near each other. Like Cam and I, they’re best friends and have been since kindergarten. Unlike Cam and I, however, they don’t seem to be interested in dating. Well, Jo doesn’t seem interested. I’m sure Evan likes her as much more than a friend, even if he doesn’t let on. The two of them make up a great foursome with Cam and I. Two sets of best friends, and we’re all on the athletics team at school.
“I see Evan over there,” I point out to Cam.
We walk up to Evan and say goodbye, and when Cam and Evan start talking about the athletics meet on from last weekend, I squeeze Cam’s hand and then let it go.
“I’m going to go find Jo.”
He nods. “I’ll come get you in a minute.”
Jo is dancing with one of the guys from her maths class as I walk up to her.
“We’re leaving for a while,” I tell her, tapping her on the shoulder. “But we’ll be back in time to take the limo home with you guys.”
“Hang on a sec,” she says to her dance partner and then moves away, leaning close to me so I can hear what she says.
Jo flicks her gaze to where Evan and Cam are standing together before looking back at me. “Where are you going?”
“To the Cove.”
Jo grins. “Is tonight the night?”
“God, I hope so. I’ll have to see how he reacts to my confession.”
“I swear he feels it too. Every time I’ve looked at the two of you, you guys seem to exist in your own little world. After watching you walk around in unrequited love all this time, I’m so over best friends who don’t tell each other everything.”
“I know. You’ve been the person I talk to about him for years. Thanks for always listening.”
“I’m just happy it’s finally paid off. Now, go and have fun. Be safe,” she giggles as Cam walks up to us.
Cam kisses Jo on the cheek and then he makes my blood rush and my heart sing by taking my hand in his as we walk out of little Callahan Bay club the dance was at.
It’s a clear August night, but that means it’s freezing. I pull the wrap over my shoulders around me a little tighter and am rewarded with Cam taking off his jacket. I smile up at him as he helps me put it on. And then I pull it tighter around me, breathing him in again.
He chuckles lightly and pulls me towards him, using his jacket to hold me there.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?”
“Once or twice.”
“Is that all? Then let me tell you again, you look beautiful tonight.”
“Just tonight?”
I’m attempting to tease him, but his expression is serious as he says, “You’re always beautiful. You know that.”
His gaze falls to my lips and my heart hammers in my chest, trying to break out. Is he going to kiss me? Please let him kiss me. Please let him feel the same way I do.
“You sure you want to go to the Cove? It’ll be cooler there with the sea breeze blowing in off the water?” he asks, looking me in the eye again.
It could be Antarctica, but I would still go with him. I would still crave him. “I want to go with you,” I say, my voice coming out husky and affected.
His gaze is suddenly darker and more intense than I’ve seen it. And when his eyes drop to my lips again, and he brings his hand up touch my face, I know he’s going to kiss me.
I’m about to close my eyes when I hear his phone go off in his pocket. He looks at me with a frown on his face and I nod, indicating he should take it. “It could be an emergency.”
Still frowning, he takes it out and looks at it.
“It’s Addie.”
If it was anyone other than his sister, he’d probably ignore it, but he’s close to his sister. And even though his sister has seemed to despise me since I moved to this town, and I’m not her biggest fan either, I respect the fact he’s close to her. Cam’s loyalty is just one of many things I love about him.
“Hey, what’s up?” he asks.
“What?”
I can hear her screaming through the phone he’s holding up to his ear. She sounds hysterical, and I watch and move closer to him as all the blood drains from his face. My heart lurches and adrenaline races through me as I realise something bad must have happened. No, not bad, life-changing in the worst kind of way.
“Slow down. Calm down,” he instructs his sister, even though I can hear the panic in his voice and suspect it’s taking everything in him not to give into his own fear.
That’s Cam, always calm in a crisis. He comes through for everybody. He holds his family together. He holds everyone, including me together. Yet I suspect he’s closer to the edge than he’d like anyone to know right now. I’ll do anything I can to do my part and keep him together the way he would if our positions were reversed.
“I’m coming. We both are.”
He hangs up. “We need to get to the hospital right now.”
“What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
“Mum and Mollie have been in a car accident. Your father, too.”
I don’t have time to blink or compute what he’s said before he’s taking my hand and we’re both sprinting – me in heels, both of us using our track experience – to get to the hospital over the other side of town within minutes. He holds my hand the entire way, but I can’t feel happy about it. All I feel is fear as what he said finally registers. Will Cam’s mother and sister be okay? Will Dad? I gave my father the keys to my car when he shouldn’t have been driving. And maybe he had something to drink. Even if he told me he hadn’t. Did I do this? Is this – whatever happened – my fault?
I’m worried I’m going to be sick as we walk through the hospital doors. The moment she sees us, Adelaide rushes into Cam’s arms sobbing.
“They’re dead, Cam. They’re dead.”
“They’re not dead, Addie,” Cam says, stroking his sister’s hair. “They can’t be.”
“The doctor said they are. They didn’t make it. Dad’s in there saying goodbye, I told him I’d wait for you. We need to go in there. I don’t know how to, though, Cam. I can’t say goodbye, to them. I can’t.”
I stand there paralysed, wanting to offer comfort to them, my whole feeling numb yet aching at the same time. I can’t think of a thing to say. What will make this better? What words could possibly offer them comfort? I watch helplessly as they cling to each other, Addie’s cries not slowing down. I don’t want to leave them, but I need to know if Dad is here and if he’s hurt.
I seek out the reception desk and am about to walk over there when my father walks out of the hospital, his arm in a sling, his face bruised and cut. He looks at me, his face so full of apology, I know. I know before he’s finished walking towards us that he’s responsible for this tragedy – that I’m responsible for what’s happened.
He limps over to us just as Addie and Cam finally let go of each other.
“You!” Addie yells at my father. “You did this. You were driving. You shouldn’t have been driving.”
Even knowing in my heart he’s at fault – that I am – I wish and pray for him to deny it, to say Addie is confused and that he has no idea what she’s talking about. Instead, he looks so broken and devastated, so guilty, that I just stand there. I don’t even realise I’m crying until I’m wiping the tears off my cheeks.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispers brokenly to them before turning to me. “I’m so sorry, Kia. I know you’ll never forgive me for this, but you have to believe that I’m sorry.”
He reaches out to touch me and I take a step back. Immediately, Cam is at my back, supporting me. Even in his own grief and pain, he’s still there for me. He’s always been there for me.
But he doesn’t know yet. He doesn’t know I gave Dad my keys. He doesn’t know that the death of his mother and baby sister is all my fault. Dad hasn’t just killed two people, he’s taken the guy I love from me, too. Because when Cam finds out what I did, he’ll never forgive me or forget this. Family is the one thing he prizes above everything else. We’ve always shared that value of family being important. Hell, our families have even vacationed together. Cam has been everything to me, and my dad has taken that from me.
“Were you drinking?” I ask, my anger and tears mixing together in a voice which I don’t recognize. “Did you lie to me?”
He looks at a loss for words and I know that he did lie to me. He’d had something to drink before I gave him the keys. Damn it, why didn’t I trust myself? If I hadn’t been in such a rush getting ready…If I hadn’t been so absorbed in my night with Cam would I might never have given him the keys. I caused this tragedy.
“Kia!”
I look towards the sliding doors of the hospital to see my mother and my two brothers run in. I allow them to hug me and to hold me, even though I don’t deserve their comfort.
“Todd, tell me you didn’t do this,” Mum begs my father, pulling away from me.
Mr Anderson, Cam’s father walks into the foyer just in time to hear her question. “It was him, Justine. The two of them were sleeping together again, and running away together.”
Mum’s hand goes to her mouth. Maybe she’s trying to stifle the sob, but she doesn’t quite manage. Then her eyes find mine as I registered what was just said. The affair my dad had been having? It was with Cam’s mum.
Cam’s gaze finds mine as both of us realise just what we’ve never understood before. The anguish he feels is clear as he stands with his family and I stand with mine. Our parents were sleeping together. He looks so torn, like he wants to be with me, to comfort me, and yet he can’t.
“I don’t understand, Jerry,” Mum says. “I have his car. He shouldn’t have been driving.”
“He had my car,” I say.
The hustle and bustle of the busy Lighting Bay Hospital doesn't stop, but it feels like it does as Cam's family and mine turn to me, their silence demanding that I tell them what happened.
"He asked for the keys, swore he hadn't been drinking, and told me he was in trouble."
"I threatened him," Jerry Anderson says, glaring at my father. "And he ran like the damn coward he's always been." Mr. Anderson walks towards my father. "You son of a bitch, you took my wife and my daughter from me."
Cam stands between them, witnessing how close his father is to throwing a punch, but his gaze is fixed on mine. He no longer feels torn; all I see in his eyes is anger and rage – and it's all directed at me. "You gave him your car keys?"
The frigidity of his voice contradicts the hatred brimming in his eyes.
I nod and take a step forward, knowing even as I do that this is the end for us. I don't notice Adelaide until her hand slams across my face. "You killed my Mum and sister!"
I don't even raise my hands to defend myself as she starts hitting me because I deserve her anger. I don't see who pulls her off me; I only feel my mom's arms around me, holding me.
Looking for Cam, I catch one last glance from him. Just thirty minutes ago, I thought he was going to kiss me. Now he looks as if he wants to kill me. His eyes are so full of hatred, it takes my breath away.
"I need to see Mum and Mollie," he says to his father and sister. "I'm done wasting time here. Take me to them, Dad."
As he walks toward his deceased mother and sister, his father and sister beside him, I am struck by the weight of my actions. Not only have I lost the love of my life, but my choices have inadvertently stolen the lives of two of his family members.