Page 14 of Soul So Dark

“I’ll put them in the ground. One by one…”

I want to know what happened, but I don’t have the nerve to ask Sydney. I also want to talk to her about Evie. They were friends, I think.

“You’re friends with Evie, right?” I blurt out, unable to bring myself to refer to her in the past tense.

Sydney hesitates, gazing pensively across the driveway before answering. “Yes.”

“I—” swallowing hard, I try to keep my emotions in check so I can try to have a normal conversation, “I just want to talk about her with someone—someone who’s not my family.”

Sydney nods and steps past me, turning to lean against the back door of Colson’s Civic. She glances over her shoulder, at the thick line of trees that separates our property, before settling against the glass.

“She was one of the first friends I made after I moved here,” she says with a slight smile, “I think Colson had something to do with it.”

Probably. He seems to have something to do with everything.

“I remember when I first met you. Evie busted into my room and told me we were going next door to meetthe new girl.” I chuckle at the memory. “It was October and I had no idea you even lived there.”

Sydney lets out a laugh. “Yeah, I guess I wanted to forget that part, too. I heard Evie yelling at Colson once, telling him he should invite me out with them more. He didn’t tell her there was no point, he just promised her he would.” Sydney pauses in reflection. “Colson and Evie are good people, even if not everyone around them is.”

“Is that why—” I hesitate, but I’ve already opened my mouth and committed, “does that have anything to do with why you cut your hair.”

Sydney has an amazing poker face, but when I say the last part, her face twitches for a split second, so fast that I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been staring right at her, waiting for an answer.

“Yes.” She’s also not a liar.

“I heard about what Aiden did. Not from Colson, but other people.”

Sydney looks down and presses her mouth together, considering her next words. “Yeah, that was…fun.” Then she shifts her gaze back to me. “You’ve known Aiden for a long time, right?”

“Defineknow.” I roll my eyes. “He’s not my bestie or anything.”

She nods, chewing the inside of her cheek. By now, she should know that very few people actuallyknowAiden beyond what he allows people to see. If she wants to know about Aiden, she needs to ask Colson about him and not me. But, for some reason, I feel the need to give her something.

“Aiden’s a creep,” I finally say, “but I think he does it on purpose.”

“What do you mean?” she asks, but then cuts herself off. “Never mind, I know what you mean, but what makesyousay that?”

“Like, when he comes over, he’ll come up behind me, grab the sides of my face, and kiss me on the cheek. And if my bedroom door is closed, he’ll jiggle the doorknob as he walks by. I guess it could be worse, I’m kind of used to it now.”

It used to really freak me out, enough that I got pretty good at knowing when Aiden was in the house and actively avoided him. But I know Sydney can’t do that. I’m Colson’s sister, and there are certain protections that come with that title.

The look in Sydney’s eyes says she knows she isn’t afforded the same kind of courtesy. She’s the prey, constantly looking over her shoulder with a target on her back—from all directions. I don’t know how it ended up that way, she’s one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. But, somehow, she managed to cross the wrong people’s paths and the exact wrong time.

“It’s weird, though,” I add, “Aiden hasn’t done any of that stuff in a while. It just kind of stopped.”

“Really? Since when?”

“Since you moved here.”

Sydney’s jaw tightens and she looks down at the asphalt. When she lifts her head again, her eyes dart to a tall figure approaching us.

“Hey, Sydney,” Colson’s voice hitches in surprise as he saunters over to us, his key fob dangling from his fingers.

“Hey, Col,” Sydney sighs with relief, “what are you doing?”

“Meeting Aiden, Mase, and Alex,” Colson replies, giving her a once-over before tugging open his car door, “what are you doing?”

“She brought good food.” I flash my eyes at Colson, secretly relieved he’s leaving and won’t devour everything in these bags before anyone else has a chance.