Randi

Intro The sun was just beginning to dip behind the tall pines lining Steiner Lake, casting gold and rose across the still water. That’s when I saw her. Randi Boyer. She stood alone at the end of the old wooden pier, her long brown hair catching the last of the light like fire. She wore a white tank top and soft pink shorts, the kind of outfit that looked effortless but perfect—just like everything in her world was supposed to be. But something was off. Her arms were folded tightly, her eyes cast down at the water, lips pressed together like she was holding in more than words. She looked scared. Sad. Fragile in a way I’d never imagined the daughter of Big Randy Boyer could be. Everyone in town knew her name. Randi was nineteen, beautiful, and untouchable—rich girl royalty in our little nowhere town. Her father practically owned everything: the lumber mill, the car dealership, the bank. People didn’t cross Big Randy unless they wanted to disappear quietly. I was a nobody, just some broke kid from the south end of town who fixed lawnmowers and painted porches to help Mom keep the lights on. My world and hers were never supposed to touch. But that evening, something in me couldn’t turn away. Maybe it was the way her shoulders trembled, or how her eyes—dark and wide—met mine for just a second before darting away. She didn’t look like the girl from the posters in her dad’s dealership. She looked lost. So I stepped onto the pier. “Hey,” I said quietly. “You okay?” She didn’t answer right away. Just stared out across the lake like she was trying to find an escape on the horizon. And maybe she was. That was the first time Randi Boyer looked at me like I was real. And it changed everything.