Page 8 of When The Noise Stops

I watched it idling. A man was behind the wheel. And then the passenger door opened, and Lila unfolded herself from the seat.

She was wearing a yellow sundress. It clung to every curve as she stood, and I watched her lean back into the open door, say something to the driver. He laughed—I could hear it through the open window—and she waved goodbye, grinning, before she shut the door and turned toward the duplex.

The SUV pulled away.

She was holding a cardboard box, the kind bakeries used for transport. She was beaming.

Then she saw me.

Her smile shifted. Not in a bad way. More focused. Like tunnel vision.

She walked right up to me, hips swinging, sandals slapping the concrete. Tiny and Hawk went quiet, watching her approach like they weren't sure what was about to happen.

She stopped in front of me. Looked at the cigarette in my hand. Then up at my face.

"You know that's poison, right?"

I blinked.

"What?"

She pointed at the cigarette.

"My uncle died from lung cancer. It took three years to kill him. By the end, he couldn't even breathe on his own. Just lay there wheezing like a fish out of water." She reached out, plucked the cigarette from my fingers, and dropped it on the ground. Stamped it out with her sandal.

"You shouldn't put poison in your body."

I stared at her. Then at the crushed cigarette. Then back at her.

Did she just— "Did you just take my cigarette?"

"I sure did." She grinned, hands on her hips.

"You're welcome."

Tiny let out a wheeze behind me. Hawk was silent, but it wasn't shocked. He was waiting to see what I did.

I should've been pissed.

But she was looking at me with those big brown eyes, and there was something soft in them. It made my chest feel tight.

"Here," she said, opening the box she was holding.

"Taste this instead."

Inside were cake pops. Dozens of them, arranged in neat little rows, each one glazed in a different color. She pulled one out—pink, with sprinkles—and held it up to my lips.

I didn't move.

"Come on," she urged.

"Just try it. I promise it's better than poison."

"Lila—"

"Taste it, Grizz. Please."

Every part of my being wanted to say no, but I opened my mouth. She popped the cake pop in. The chocolate melted on my tongue. It was good. Really good.