Page 24 of Positively Pricked

Chapter 7

From my open front doorway, I stared down at the small decorated cake that my sister held out in front of her. On the cake, in small scripted letters, was a single word, written in festive pink icing.

I read the word out loud. "Congratulations?" I looked up. "To who?"

Charlotte gave an exaggerated eye-roll. "To you. Who else?" She was standing on my front doorstep looking ten times more awake than I was. "Now, c'mon," she said. "Let me in, so we can celebrate."

I rubbed at my aching eyes. It wasn't yet noon, and I'd gotten only a few hours of sleep. I loved my sister. And I loved cake. I should've been delighted.

Damn it.Iwasdelighted. Charlotte still lived with my parents and was attending nursing school an hour south. I hadn't seen her in weeks.

Still, I would've been evenmoredelighted if only she'd surprised me a few hours later. After my odd encounter with Zane Bennington, I'd slept like crap and was feeling the effects.

Still, I tried to smile as I stepped aside and held the door open wider to let her in. "What are we celebrating?"

She didn't move, and her gaze dipped to my clothes, as if noticing them for the first time. "I didn't wake you, did I?"

I was wearing a long T-shirt and my comfiest sweatpants. The outfit was, sadly, my jammies. Reluctantly, I admitted, "Actually, you did."

"Oh." She lowered the cake. "Sorry. But I just figured…" She paused. "I mean, itisnoon."

It wasn'tquitenoon, but I wasn't going to quibble. I motioned for her to come inside. "Yeah, I know. So it's a good thing you showed up, huh?"

She hesitated. "Are you sure?"

My eyes felt like sandpaper, but I tried not to show it. I reallywasglad to see her. "Definitely. I mean, I can't sleepallday, right?"

Finally, she laughed. "Well, not alone, anyway."

I tried to join in the laughter, but the comment still made me think. Zach and I had broken up how long ago? Five months? Or was it six? Either way, I'd been sleeping alone for so long that I'd started wearing sweatpants to bed. They weren't sexy, but theydidkeep me warm when the nights grew cold.

And last night had been particularly chilly.

Finally, Charlotte stepped into the house. "So what happened?" she asked. "Did you oversleep?"

"I guess. Maybe."

She gave me a perplexed look. "Youdidget my message, right?"

"There was a message?"

Charlotte sighed. And then, as if shaking off a minor irritation, she smiled. "Never mind." She began heading toward the kitchen, and I trudged behind her, trying my best to shrug off my grogginess.

When we reached the kitchen, Charlotte placed the cake in the middle of the table and said, "You wanna grab some plates?"

Obviously, there was something she wasn't telling me, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what. "Let me guess," I said. "You called the landline, and got Paisley. Am I right?"

Paisley was my roommate, or at least, she was supposed to be. But lately, she'd been making herself scarce, and I knew why. The rent was due five days ago. Coincidentally, it had been exactly five days since I'd seen her last.

Nodding in answer to my question, Charlotte pulled out a chair and sat. As I put on a pot of coffee, she went on to tell me that she'd called my place yesterday. I hadn't been home, but she'd caught Paisley, who'd grudgingly promised to pass along Charlotte's message that she'd be stopping by.

Charlotte concluded by saying, "You know, youreallyneed to get a cell phone."

"Ihavea cell phone."

She perked up. "So you found it?"

"No." I forced a smile. "But I will."