Page 70 of Fun and Games

My vision went fuzzy, my mind wandering back to the pair of rings. Silver rings. One was smaller, thin and delicate, meant for a woman's hand. The other was thicker, wide and sturdy. Made for a man's finger. A pair of silver rings.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

A deafening alarm blared.

I jumped two feet in the air, heart racing, and whirled around to look for signs of danger.

The fridge made the noise again. It was a simple beep, reminding me I still had the door wide open. It had sounded like a fire alarm to my distracted ears.

I closed the fridge door. I went to the cabinets. I forced myself to actually pay attention. There was a box of cookies sitting on the shelf. I couldn't remember buying them. How long had they been there?

I stood on my tiptoes, just barely able to reach the top shelf. I flailed at the box, using my fingertips to inch it closer. It tumbled from the cabinet before I could catch it. The flap flew open as it landed. Cookies went skittering every which way.

I looked down at the mess.

Crumbs and cookie dust everywhere.

I slumped to the floor and leaned against the fridge. I clutched my knees to my chest and rested my head on my arms. Tears clung to my lash line, not yet falling, but on the verge.

I took in a shuddering breath.

I let it out slowly.

My stomach rumbled again.

A pile of cookies had landed on the floor next to me. I poked at one.

Five second rule, right?

A slight chuckle almost left my lips at the absurdity.

Then a small laugh managed to make its way out. Then another laugh. Soon I was laughing hysterically with thready gasping sounds and high-pitched whoops.

Then the laughter changed, turning into hitching breaths, then choked sobs. The tears fell from my eyes.

I grabbed a handful of cookies and tossed them violently. They smacked into the fridge and broke into pieces.

As my sobs died down into hiccups, I stared at the broken cookies.

I stared.

My vision went fuzzy.

Two silver rings.

BUZZ

I jumped again. This time it was my phone. A text notification. Not the first one I'd received over the last few days.

Was it Mason?

A hollow sort of guilt filled my chest.

Was it David's mom?

Something red hot sliced through my heart.

With shaky hands, I pushed myself off the kitchen floor. I left the massacre of cookies to be dealt with later. I picked up my phone from the counter.