Stranger

By Brooke Cochrane

Hartley White has her life figured out. Her days are spent with either her two best friends or with her nose in a book. Everything changes when the boy across the street is assigned to be Hartley’s partner in English class. Jason Carter keeps to himself because of the rumors circulating about his family. Gossip spreads fast in a small town, whether it’s true or not. One thing that is true, however, is his strong infatuation with Hartley.

After having an intimate dream about Jason, Hartley finds herself more curious about this neighborhood stranger. Their relationship develops rapidly, testing the limits of themselves and the people around them. When unexpected tragedy strikes, their love faces another challenge. In a situation rife with secrets, Hartley struggles to make sense of the truth while Jason fights his own battles. Ten days is all it took for Jason and Hartley to fall for one another, but how well do they really know each other?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Jun 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665725439

Brooke Cochrane

BROOKE COCHRANE is from Southington, Connecticut. She grew up reading and writing and went on to study Communications and Writing at Eastern Connecticut State University. She has been published in her university’s literary magazine twice. When she isn’t writing, she’s drinking tons of boba tea and watching Marvel movies with her cat, Oliver.

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Copyright © 2022 Brooke Cochrane.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

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by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the

author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Archway Publishing

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844-669-3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or

links contained in this book may have changed since publication and

may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those

of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,

and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6657-2542-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-2543-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022911314

Archway Publishing rev. date: 06/20/2022

To all

of my friends and family

who encouraged me to keep writing.

Thank you for believing in me when I didn’t.

CONTENTS

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

Epilogue

Author’s Note

Acknowledgments

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1

I can’t forget the color of his eyes. They pierce into mine as he lies above me; so blue, and alive, just like mine. His pink lips part, breathing onto my hot skin. I squeeze my eyes shut and open them just to make sure this is real. Make sure he’s real. He whispers my name, and I wrap my arms around him. He can never be too close to me. His skin against mine enrages me in euphoria. To think this stranger is making me feel this way.

Jason, I—

Hartley! I shoot up from my bed at my mother’s voice, my heart pounding.

Yeah?

Are you awake?

Yeah! I look down at my arms and pajama-covered body. Wasn’t I just naked? I shake the thoughts of my strange dream out of my head. I throw the covers off and head down the hallway to the shower. I slowly rinse off my body in a soothing manner and massage my scalp. Why did I have such an odd dream? And of Jason Carter of all people? Random. I turn off the water off and step out into the cold. After shuffling down to my room, I shut and lock the door and get changed into a pair of jeans, a gray T-shirt, and my North Face. I leave my blonde hair down to dry, throw on a pair of sneakers, grab my backpack, and head into the main living area.

Every day is the same. Wake up, go to school, go home, do my homework, go to sleep, and then the next day, do it all again. There’s not much to say about this town except that it’s pretty much invisible to the rest of the world. If this place weren’t so dull, I’d probably enjoy doing something useful. Maybe I’d get a job, if there was an interesting place to work. The most appealing place is probably the bowling alley. However, the balls are old and dusty, and it’s probably safer to walk barefoot in a sewer than to wear the vulgar bowling shoes. Whenever I go, which is rare, I like to bring my own shoes. By the lack of business, I imagine they’ll close down soon.

Being a junior in high school isn’t any more interesting than the futile bowling alley. I’ve gone to school with the same people since kindergarten—unless they move away, which tends to happen a lot. Abingdon, Virginia, isn’t exactly a tourist attraction. People don’t really stay around in this town, and no one ever comes here. Well, except for the Carters. Yes, Jason Carter, the boy I had a dream about. Why? I have no idea. It’s a big deal when people move here, and it became an even bigger deal when they did. The Carters don’t exactly have the best reputation. Rumors about them swarmed through the town the second they got here. They’re local legends of sorts. Apparently, they were involved in some sort of illegal exchange back when they lived in Denver, but I never took the time to look it up.

Paul Carter and his two kids, Jason and Alex, moved here about three years ago. Jason is my age; I have a few classes with him. But I wouldn’t dare speak to him. Even if I tried to talk to him, he wouldn’t talk to me. He doesn’t talk to anyone, for that matter. He just keeps his hood over his head and stares at the ground when he walks. But his eyes are so beautiful and mesmerizing—hence my dream. As for Alex, I’ve never seen him before, not even leaving the house or around town. None of them have social media, so I can’t even look them up there. No one ever sees Paul Carter around either, despite him never being home.

Did I mention he lives across the street from me? Sometimes I catch myself staring at their house, wondering why this family is so closed off from the world. If what happened back in Denver was real, we’d know about it, and they for sure wouldn’t be here. Some people say they moved here to get away from that drama, but who knows? This could all be a made-up story. Jason Carter could be a completely different person than described. People shouldn’t judge him on his past, regardless of whether it’s true or not. However, I can’t control what other people do.

It shouldn’t even concern me; I’ve never come face-to-face with him because he always has his stupid hood on his head. God, that hood is so annoying. I wish he would just take it off and show the world that he isn’t afraid. My guess is he probably is. I’m not sure what he’d be scared of, considering half this town won’t go near him. It doesn’t matter. It’s not my problem to worry about because I’ll probably never speak a word to him in my life.

Hartley! You’re going to be late for school! I hear my mom yell, but her voice gets quieter as she sees me turn the corner.

I’m right here.

I don’t live in that big of a house. It’s a two-floor home, but the bottom floor is the basement, if that makes sense. A ranch style, I guess. I can walk out of my room, walk down the hallway, and be in my living room. I don’t mind it. I don’t really want to have a big house.

Morning, Mom.

Morning. I have to get in the shower, so I’ll see you later tonight. She gives me a warm smile and walks into her room.

I move into the dining room near the front door. Fey! You almost ready? I yell.

My younger sister walks out of her room and into the dining room. Yeah, I’m ready. She puts her backpack onto her shoulders while we walk out into the driveway, my keys in my hand.

Before we get into the car, I see the front door of the house across the street open. Jason walks out, his hood over his head. Wow, what a shock. He doesn’t even look up as he gets into his car and speeds off to school. I mentally scoff and open my car door. I don’t know why I’m so concerned about him suddenly. I quickly think back to my dream but shake my head at the thought.

Hartley, let’s go. My sister squirms impatiently in the back seat. I roll my eyes. Freshman.

All right, all right. I hop into the driver’s seat and start the car.

I pull out of the driveway and go down the street to my friend’s house. Liv has been my best friend since I can remember. She’s been there for me through everything, even my first breakup. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a breakup though, considering we were in seventh grade. Back then, it was a big deal. I pull into her driveway, and she slides into my car.

Hey, she says, buckling her seat belt.

Hey, Liv, I reply while backing out onto the street.

Car rides in the morning are always uneventful. We just listen to music on the radio quietly as we drive. The school is only a few minutes away, so it’s not too bad of a ride. I think we’re always too tired in the morning to have actual conversations. I hear Fey typing away on her phone, and Liv has her head resting against the window, ready to fall asleep.

Hey, Hartley? Fey says from the back seat.

Yeah?

Who’s Jason Carter?

He’s our neighbor. Why do you ask?

The weird one with the hood? That stupid hood.

Liv laughs. He’s a freak.

Don’t say that about him. You don’t even know him, I snap. I don’t know why I’m defending him. I just don’t like it when people assume things about people they don’t even know. Why? I continue.

Just some tweets about him.

What do they say?

Why do you care? He’s a criminal, Liv says.

Those are just rumors.

We don’t know that. He could be planning to bomb our school at this very moment.

Fey shakes her head. You’re ridiculous.

You can’t say stuff like that. That’s not something to joke about.

Liv chuckles and shrugs her shoulders in annoyance. Geez, sorry. Besides, these rumors couldn’t have just come out of anywhere. They were started for a reason.

So you’re just going to assume they’re true? That doesn’t make any sense.

She rolls her eyes and mutters a quiet Whatever as I pull into an empty parking spot. We get out, and Fey walks ahead of Liv and me. Walking into the all-too-familiar school, I unsurprisingly recognize everyone in the hallway. I see a few other neighbors who I don’t really talk to, but I grew up with them.

Have fun in English, Liv jokes.

Oh yeah, so much fun.

Tell Cara I said hey.

You got it.

I walk in and sit down at my desk across from Jason’s. I also forgot to mention that he’s in my English class. My friend Cara walks in and sits next to me. She is my other best friend, same as Liv. We three are inseparable because we’ve been friends for so long.

Do you think we’ll hear anything about the term project today? she asks with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

I hope so. I just want to get it over with. And I hope we get paired together.

Yeah, hopefully.

Oh, Liv says hi.

The teacher, Mr. Roth, walks in and silences us. As if he could hear Cara and me talking, he starts writing Term Project on the whiteboard. Okay, class, as you know, we have this big project coming up, and today you will be given your partner and topic. I have randomly chosen your partner, so—

Before he could finish, the fire alarm sounds throughout the school. He quiets everyone down before grabbing the clipboard with our names on it. He calls us one by one to stand in line in alphabetical order. I’m last since my last name is White. We walk out of the classroom and into the crowded hallway. I spot Jason standing in the front of the line. I blush at the memory of my dream last night. I’m still confused as to why I dreamt about him. Especially a dream like that. We eventually get outside and stay lined up so Mr. Roth can take attendance. After, we just mingle about. Cara walks over to me, and while we start talking more about the project we were supposed to be assigned today, from the corner of my eye, I see someone walking. I look over and see the back of Jason’s hood. He walks into the woods without looking back. No one even notices he’s gone except for me. For some reason, I want to follow him and make sure he’s okay.

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We make our way back inside about twenty minutes later. Mr. Roth explains that he doesn’t have time to assign the projects today, so we will just do it tomorrow. We have to do silent reading to pass the time instead. Sounds good to me. I pull The Catcher in the Rye out of my backpack and flip to the page where I left off. I peer up; Jason still isn’t back. Where could he have gone?

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2

"D id you get your project assignments?" Liv asks as she lies on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I am sitting at my desk, going over my notes from the day.

No, the fire drill interrupted it.

Oh, God bless that fire drill. She sits up. It saved me from my chemistry exam.

Did you study?

No way.

I turn and face her. Just review your notes a couple of times to refresh your memory.

Like that’s going to happen. She hops off my bed and goes over to my window, peeking out of it. Whoa, look! Carter is outside.

She talks about him as if he’s a mythological creature. I sigh and stalk over to the window to look outside. Jason has bags in his hand, while a man much older than him walks inside behind him.

Is that his dad?

I think so.

I watch as they go inside but come back out shortly after. They must have gone grocery shopping. Paul hands Jason another bag, and they go inside. This time, they don’t come back out.

God, they’re so weird. Liv sits at my desk.

For going grocery shopping?

It was probably a body that they chopped up.

Ew. What is wrong with you? I sneer.

I’m joking. She laughs.

A small part of me knows that she’s not joking. She thinks the worst of the Carters. Everyone does.

My bedroom door opens, and my mom sticks her head in. Hey, girls, dinner is ready. Liv, obviously you’re welcome to stay.

Sure. I just have to text my parents.

We walk out into the living room as Liv types away on her phone. I sit down at the table, and Fey joins me. After my parents get settled, we start eating.

Hartley, did you get your project assignments today? my mom asks between bites.

Oh, no, we had a fire drill.

You should ask your teacher to work with Cara.

I can’t ask him. It wouldn’t be fair to everyone else.

Mom, I got an eighty-seven on my math test! Fey exclaims. I block her out and turn to Liv to make small talk. This is usually how dinner goes in my house. I love my family, I do, but sometimes I feel like I don’t have a voice. My parents ask about school, which I don’t give long answers about. Fey, on the other hand, loves talking about school. Mostly because she always does well. It’s why I like it when Liv comes to dinner. Then I have someone to talk to—and not just about school.

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Where did Jason go during the fire drill? Why do I care so much? Is it because of the dream I had? Why is this keeping me up so late? I glance at the clock: 2:24 a.m. I groan, lying back against the pillow and rolling over to face the window. I sit up and peer through the blinds, looking at the Carters’ house. The only light that’s on is in a room on the top floor. Jason suddenly moves to the window, and I gasp. It must be his bedroom. I lean my head closer to the window, trying to get a better look. I can’t help but stare. His shirt is nonexistent, and his hair is ruffled up. He may be a rumored criminal and all, but he is hot. He slips a shirt on before walking over to the windowsill, looking over at me.

Oh crap, I whisper and back away from the blinds. Did he see me looking? I slowly peel the blinds open again and see him with a notebook in his hand. His hand is moving in quick movements as he focuses on whatever he’s doing. His eyes flicker up at mine, and he does a double take. I slowly wave at him, not sure if he can see through the darkness of my room. He narrows his eyes at me and closes the blinds. My face falls, and I shut my curtain. I didn’t mean to make him mad. Maybe he didn’t see me. I’m probably just overreacting. I gaze up at the ceiling and cross my arms over my chest. I don’t have to be nice to him. I can be a jerk to him just like everyone else. But I can’t. I don’t have a reason to. I roll over and close my eyes, trying to sleep. I just can’t help but think about the blue-eyed boy across the street.

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I sit down at my desk next to Cara and send her a quick smile. I glance over at Jason’s desk and surprisingly see him sitting there. I thought he’d ditch again. Mr. Roth walks in and goes straight for the whiteboard. He writes down Term Project Assignments and underlines it.

He turns around and faces us. Okay, as you all know, you were supposed to be assigned your partner and topic for the term project yesterday, but we had a bit of a detour. So today, you will be given your topic and partner. Now, don’t ask me to work with someone specific because I’ve already paired you up. Don’t complain if you get someone you don’t want. Everyone groans. He always does this. He never lets us pick out partners, so some of us have to work with a stranger. Technically, we aren’t strangers because we all know one another, but that doesn’t mean we are all friends.

He looks down at his clipboard. Jared, you’re paired up with Cara.

Cara groans and puts her head down on her desk. I chuckle lightly to myself, and she tilts her head up, glaring at me. Jared is not the best person to work with. He barely even comes to school, and when he does, he’s high on whatever drug he can afford that week. This entire town is pretty much on drugs, but not me. Cigarettes are disgusting, along with marijuana and any other kind of drug. I guess I just don’t see the fun in using them like some other people do.

Tyler, you’re paired with Matt.

I hear them high-five behind me. Of course they get paired up. I’m almost positive one of them pays Mr. Roth so they always get to work together.

Jamie, you’re paired with Kyle.

I roll my eyes. He would put them together. They’ve been dating since the fifth grade. Everyone thought it would be one of those ridiculous childhood crushes where they pretended they were dating. But it’s been six years, and they’re still together. I don’t know whether to find it cute or weird.

Jason, you’re paired with Hartley.

My eyes widen, and everyone looks at me. I sink down in my chair and glance around the room until my eyes land on Jason. He doesn’t glance up at all, as if he didn’t hear the teacher. He just keeps his head buried in his arms, facing down into the desk. Is he sleeping or something? Or does he just not care? I’m still a bit shocked, obviously. Everyone in this class is giving me looks of sympathy for having to work with him, but I don’t care. It was kind of obvious that everyone was waiting to see who would get paired with him. I just never thought it would be me. Whatever he did before, true or not, doesn’t matter. The teacher finishes pairing everyone, but I’ve stopped listening. I’m too focused on the fact that I’m working with Jason. He continues to be facedown on his desk, not paying attention, which doesn’t surprise me.

Instead of picking randomly, I put all the topics in a hat, and one person from your group is going to pick. He starts walking around with the hat. As you know, we’ve read a few award-winning books and seen a few iconic movies. Each topic in here has something to do with something we have either seen or read.

I get up and sit down in an empty seat next to Jason. Again, he doesn’t even flinch. Mr. Roth goes on to talk about all the books and movies we had to read and watch this year and how they’re vital to our future. He also says how our junior year is the most important, and since it’s January, we need to pick up the pace.

I look over at Cara to see her eyes wide with curiosity. My guess is she wants to know what Jason’s reaction is to us being paired together. When he works with people for projects, he normally does the work just to avoid talking to them. Or so I’ve heard. I clear my throat so he knows I’m next to him, but he still doesn’t move.

I’ll pick and just do the work, Jason mumbles. Go figure.

How about I pick, and we do the project together, I say back.

It doesn’t work like that.

Actually, it does work like that. We’re doing this project together.

Hell no.

It’s called a group project, Jason.

He lifts his head up and looks at me, sneering. I’m not doing a project with anyone, especially you.

I scrunch my nose. What is that supposed to mean? I say, a bit offended. Who does he think he is?

He pauses before saying, Nothing.

Well, if it means nothing, then I guess we can do this project together. Right?

Fine, he snaps as the hat comes toward us.

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3

I stick my hand in the hat and feel around at the little pieces of paper before finally picking one. I take it out and carefully open it up. It’s been wrinkled up into a little ball, not even allowing me to guess at what it says. I unroll it and read the topic to myself. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. What does this even mean?

Read it out loud, my teacher instructs.

"The hidden meanings in the relationship of Jack and Rose from the 1997 movie Titanic."

Jason looks at the paper wide-eyed. Relieved, almost. Does he like Titanic or something? I think about handing it to him but then decide against it. I fold up the paper and put it in my backpack. The teacher walks away from Jason and me and goes over to another set of partners.

I lean over and ask Jason, So when do you want to start the project?

I told you, I work alone.

You just said we were going to work on it together, I say, a bit frustrated.

That was before I knew what we had to write about.

Why does that even matter?

He pauses. It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to work with anyone.

Stop being so annoying, I say before I can stop myself.

Stop making me be annoying.

I groan and sit back in my seat. He’s so difficult to talk to; no wonder no one wants to speak to him. We will work together on this project. He just has to suck it up. He can’t just not talk to anyone for the rest of his life.

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The January weather stings my skin. The naked trees sway in the wind as I walk across the street to the Carters’ house. I adjust the backpack on my shoulders before knocking on Jason’s door. Quickly, I shove my hands back into my jacket pockets. I’ve never actually seen the inside of his home. I assume no one else has. It’s a brown house that looks to be about two stories above the ground. The shutters are chipped white from rain and neglect. I try to look into the windows, but it’s too dark inside to see anything. The only thing I can make out is the staircase in the back of the room, with a couch in front of it. Suddenly, a figure starts walking toward the door, and I move my face away from the window. The door swings open.

You can’t be here.

Well, we have to work on this project.

Not at my house. He looks around the street frantically, as if he’s waiting for something to happen.

Well, then come to mine. I live—

I know where you live. He sighs. Fine. I’ll be there in five minutes. But if you piss me off, I’m leaving. And with that, he slams the door in my face.

Well, that was rude, but what more should I expect coming from him? I clear my throat and walk off his porch steps just as a car pulls into his driveway. I keep my head down as I continue to walk back to my house, hoping whoever it is won’t talk to me.

Can I help you? a deep voice asks. Oh, joy. Literally the one thing I tried to avoid happens.

I turn around and come face-to-face with an older-looking man. His shoulders are slumped forward, and his mouth hangs slightly agape. His fists are clenched as he stares at me. I feel an uncomfortable chill run down my spine. I swallow hard and try not to stutter as I speak.

I’m sorry. I was just looking for Jason.

What do you want from him?

Um— I begin, but I’m cut off by Jason.

Dad, go inside, he says from the front door.

Who’s this? his dad asks him.

No one. Just go inside.

His dad pauses before shutting his car door and walking inside the house. Jason looks over at me and gives me a harsh glare. He storms up to me and grabs my arm forcefully.

Ouch! Watch your grip! I yell before pushing him away from me.

Don’t come to my house again, he says with a stern voice.

Fine. I huff and walk toward my house, Jason following me. I stop walking and face him. Don’t ever touch me like that again.

Sorry, he says and puts his hands up in surrender.

I turn back around, and we walk to my house. Oh God, I can’t believe I just yelled at Jason Carter like that. I hear him snicker behind me, but I choose to ignore it. I shake the nerves off my body and hold my head high. I don’t care who he is; no one ever touches me like that. He grabbed me with such force. Who the hell does he think he is? I get that he doesn’t want to do the project together, but that was unnecessary. I walk up the porch and open my front door.

You shouldn’t leave your front door unlocked. Someone could break in, Jason says.

Who? You?

You’re hilarious. His voice is monotone.

I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that, I say.

Whatever.

I step inside, and Jason follows me in. Fey looks up at us from the couch. Her eyes widen.

Um, Hartley?

We’re working on a project together, I say, knowing what she was going to ask.

Okay …

I grab Jason’s arm and drag him into my room. After he closes the door, we start to settle in. Being alone in a room with Jason Carter doesn’t bother me as much as it should—let alone being in my bedroom with the door shut. I guess there wouldn’t be much of a difference if it were open. I shake my negative thoughts from my head and shrug my backpack off my shoulders. Okay, what do you want to start with? I sit down on my bed.

Me going home and doing this project by myself, he mumbles as he unzips his backpack.

God, you’re infuriating. I’m starting to get annoyed with him. It’s amazing how fast he can anger me.

I’ve been called worse.

Does that bother you? I take my notebook out of my backpack.

Does what bother me?

When people talk about you behind your back?

Not really. None of it is true anyway.

Not true.

It would bother me if I were you.

Whatever. Let’s start this damn paper. We should probably begin with our three main ideas.

Okay. What do you think they are?

He starts to tell me, but I get a text from Liv:

L: I heard you got stuck with Jason for a project. Sorry.

H: He’s not that bad.

L: He’s a criminal, Hartley.

H: No he isn’t, he’s just the butt of every joke.

L: Whatever. Let me know how it goes?

H: Fine.

Are you even listening to me? Jason says.

What? Yeah, I’m listening. I place my phone on my bed.

Then put your fucking phone down so we can work on this project that you so badly wanted to do together.

I flinch at his choice of words. What was your first idea?

We could talk about the theory of Jack and Rose using each other to trade their respective wealth classes. Jack is trying to get rich, and Rose is trying to escape her privileged but restrictive lifestyle.

Yeah, that’s a possibility. And we can talk about how when Rose figured out Jack was an artist, she wanted to steal his art and sell it.

That was my second idea, if you were listening.

I ignore his insolent comment. Lastly, we could talk about how their entire love story was based on a lie and that Jack was a criminal who knew that Rose had the diamond. Meanwhile, Rose was innocent.

Good. He nods in agreement. Now we just need evidence so we can get this thing over with.

I open my notebook and start to take notes on how I think we should start this paper. I stop moving my pen