Taming My Bullies novel · Chapter 7 of 24

Chapter 7: The Boathouse

The boathouse sat at the end of the long dock on the school side of Lake Tamarack.

I had picked Maple because of that lake.

The brochure showed the water at dusk, and I had stared at it for a whole night and thought, I know that shore.

Nine years ago my mother had rented a cabin on the far bank for one summer, the only vacation we ever took.

I never told anyone at school that.

I walked out on the dock at dusk with my hands in my blazer pockets, and the planks groaned under me.

A light was on inside.

I didn't knock.

Rhys Montgomery stood at a worktable with his sleeves rolled to the elbow, sanding the edge of an oar.

He looked up, and his face did nothing at all.

"You're trespassing," he said.

"You deleted the post."

"I didn't."

"The administrator log says the chair's account."

"My father has a lot of accounts," Rhys said. "None of them are mine."

"Funny," I said. "That's what Lane said, and he looked straight at you."

He set the sandpaper down and wiped his hands on a rag, slowly.

Up close he was even taller than he looked on the steps, and the room was small.

"What do you want, Kincaid?"

"You threw my mother's marriage license in a fountain."

"I remember."

"I'd like you to say you're sorry."

"I'm sure you would."

"Then say it."

"No."

He said it so lightly, with such an easy shrug, that I laughed in disbelief.

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