"Hey Kayla, while you're at it, could you make a grilled cheese for table four?"
"Sure," I replied, still staring at the hamburger patty sizzling on the grill. When I finally looked up, my mom had already gone to the front counter to greet more customers. I sighed as I assembled the hamburger and started buttering two slices of bread. I had come to the diner early that night because I didn't want to be alone at my house. I told my mom I had already finished all my homework, which was a big lie. I hadn't done my homework for weeks. So I had washed all the dishes that were waiting for me, and when I finished those, I had decided to make myself a hamburger. Frank, the fry cook, was on break, so I guess my mom had decided to utilize me at the grill while he was gone.
I was about to flip the grilled cheese when I heard someone say my name.
"Kayla?"
I looked up and saw the school's student body president, James Huckston, and his girlfriend on their way out of the diner.
"Hey," I replied softly.
"Do you… work here?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.
I frowned. I had tried so hard the past few years to avoid someone seeing me at my mom's diner. Now it was happening, and I didn't have the energy to come up with an excuse.
"Yeah," I said with a shrug, "I do sometimes. My mom owns this place."
James took a look around and nodded appreciatively. "Cool. I never knew that." He turned toward the door. "See ya tomorrow. And tell your mom she's got the best grilled cheese in town!" He called back before the door closed behind him.
I glanced down at the sandwich I was making, which was completely burned on one side. I promptly threw it in the trash and started on another one.
I blew out a breath. Someone had found out about me working at the diner, and it really hadn't been a big deal. I mean, it was James Huckston, who was pretty laid back anyway, but it wasn't nearly as mortifying as I always imagined it would be. Maybe Frog had been right, maybe I had been worrying all this time for nothing. I winced. There he was again in my subconscious. It seemed like I couldn't get him out of my mind. I knew I needed to move on, but I couldn't shake the desire to find out what had happened to him. I needed some sort of closure. Suddenly, I had an idea. It was a little crazy, but if it would help me get myself back together, it would be worth it.
*****
I sat in my truck, staring out at Frog's house. I had spent the entire day trying to talk myself out of going there, and yet, right after school, I had made my way over to his neighborhood. I was just hoping for some answers, but I didn't realize I would be so nervous. It wasn't like I was scared that I'd find dead bodies inside, but what if I knocked on the door and Frog answered and said something like, "Dang, Kayla, could you leave me alone already?" I chuckled at the thought. Frog had always been so nice, I really couldn't imagine him acting like that. I was also mildly alarmed that I would rather find Frog dead than find him annoyed with me.
Finally, I slowly got out of my truck and walked up to the house. I took a deep breath and made myself ring the doorbell. The next few seconds were agony, and I considered running back to my truck multiple times. But after about a minute of nobody responding, I started to get curious. I walked around to the side of the house and peered in the window. Everything looked immaculate from what I could tell. All the floors and surfaces were clean and the furniture was perfectly placed. It was almost unnatural. It definitely didn't look like it had been lived in recently. The only thing that seemed a little odd was a large camera mounted on the ceiling in the kitchen.
"Can I help you?"
I gasped and jumped away from the window, nearly running into a woman whose hair was pulled back so tight it made her face looked stretched.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't hear you coming!" I said quickly, stumbling over my words.
The woman glared at me. "Can I help you?" She repeated.
I glanced down and noticed that she was carrying a For Sale sign under her arm. "Oh! Are you a realtor?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I am for now, even though it's so beneath me."
I frowned, a bit confused by her odd response. "Okay, well, do you know what happened to the family that used to live here?"
She narrowed her eyes, almost as if she were trying to see through me. After several moments of her scrutinizing me, she lifted her chin. "I do. But I'm not at liberty to divulge that information to strangers."
My heart soared. "Could you at least tell me-"
"Young lady," she cut in, "if you are not interested in purchasing the house, I will need to ask you to leave, as you are trespassing on private property."
"But I'm not a stranger, I was a friend of-"
"Do I need to call the police?"
All the hope I had just felt of finding something out melted away. I knew this lady wasn't going to tell me anything.
"No, ma'am, that won't be necessary," I said glumly. I trudged back to my truck and watched the woman place the For Sale sign in the yard before I drove away. At least I had discovered that Frog had moved away, but I still wasn't satisfied. Why did they leave and where did they go? Why didn't they tell anyone? Why was that woman acting so strange? Something wasn't right, and I desperately wanted to know what it was.