Page 38 of Blood

“Hey, Kaleb.”

“Hi, sweetpea, is she with you?” I ask, trying to match Shelby’s light tone.

“Who?”

It seems avoidance is contagious.

I drop all pretense of niceness. “Give Samantha the phone.”

“You’re on speaker,” Shelby murmurs.

“I’ve been calling and texting you.”

The other end of the line stays silent for a second before Sam mumbles, “I don’t have my phone.”

“We’ve talked about this, Samantha.”

“You’re not my fucking dad,” she snaps.

My jaw actually drops at her words. “I noticed. The other night made that particularly clear,” I shoot back.

Both girls gasp. Did she tell her best friend what happened?

Now is not the time,I remind myself. So I change the subject. “What’s this I hear about a belated Halloween party?”

“None of your business,” Sam answers.

“Shelby?” I ask, hoping to get more from her.

“I told you that I don’t like Halloween. I invited a few friends over, but then the burglaries started happening. Everyone canceled their trick-or-treating plans, so I called off the party.”

“So it’s canceled? Then why am I hearing about it from Edward’s dad?”

The news of a house party at Shelby’s nearly sent me over the edge earlier today. Where Shelby is, Samantha isn’t far behind.

“Well, it was canceled, but then everyone heard what happened, and they wanted a party to relax. Some of the parents and kids are trick-or-treating today instead, so I thought, why not? It’s nothing huge, just a few friends, food, and films. More of a movie night,” Shelby rushes to add, but it doesn’t make me feel any better.

“No alcohol, and make sure you lock up after everyone leaves. I’m sure you’ll have fun, but Samantha won’t be there.”

The girls respond at the same time.

“Yes, I will!”

“Why not?”

Ignoring Sam’s rebuttal, I choose to answer Shelby’s question instead.

“She’s grounded.”

“No, I’m not!”

“Awww, what for?”

Again, I focus on Shelby’s question.

“For not having her phone and being unavailable. Clearly having a word about it wasn’t enough,” I lie. “I don’t want you going to a party without me” probably wouldn’t fly too well.

“You can’t ground me. I’m not a fucking child, Kaleb.”