Page 8

Dallas

“We’re going next door to meet Sydney,” Evie declares, bracing herself in Colson’s doorway.

I peer around her shoulder at Colson as he stares at us from his desk chair. Swiveling back and forth, he glances between us and then screws up his mouth.

“That’s OK,” he stifles a laugh, “I already met her.”

“What do you mean?” Evie clips through slitted eyes. “What did you do?”

“Nothing!” Colson laughs. “I have class with her. It’s just—” he pauses, considering his words, “Aiden made the introductions pretty memorable.”

“God,” Evie groans in exasperation, “never mind.”

She drops her arms from the door frame and turns around with a roll of her eyes. I hesitate at Colson’s door, shooting him a curious look, to which he shakes his head with another laugh and goes back to his phone. He’s probably texting the three of them right now, talking about whatever cryptic explanation he just gave Evie as to why he’s not going next door with us to meet Sydney. Realizing I’m not going to get anything else from him, I follow Evie downstairs and out the back door.

Sydney Van Doren moved into the mansion on the other side of the woods right before school started. At least that’s what Colson said. If he hadn’t mentioned her, I don’t think I ever would’ve noticed. Then again, you’d never know her house was even there if not for the mailbox set inside a brick pillar next to ours. The entrance of their driveway quickly disappears into a dense tunnel of trees that runs parallel to our property.

Van Doren…she sounds like she belongs in that house.

“What if she’s not happy to see us?” I ask Evie, alluding to whatever antics Aiden and the rest of them might’ve pulled.

“I guarantee she’ll be happy to see us if her first impressions were anything like Col said.”

I glance over at her long, vibrant red hair bouncing against her back. Then I take a moment to feel mine do the same. My hair is long and thick like hers, but she blew it out for me and gave it some curl just a few minutes ago, which makes it feel like a glamorous cloud around my shoulders.

Evie and I head toward the back of the yard, where the trees aren’t as thick, and make our way through a path worn through the woods that connects the two properties. It’s been here for as long as I can remember, but I’ve only ever walked it a couple of times. This time, I’m glad I’m with Evie because it’s getting dark and she knows the way.

Finally, we emerge onto a vast lawn, immaculately trimmed that reveals the grey stone mansion looking out onto Hellbranch Creek. It looks like a haunted Victorian out of an old horror movie that belongs in the Hollywood Hills. And I’m terrified. I don’t know why, but for some reason I expect a pack of guard dogs to come rushing across the grass, ready to tear us limb from limb. But Evie just moseys up the hill, without a care in the world. Probably because she’s been here more times than me and survived to tell the tale.

Now I’m just being dramatic, but it only matches the ambiance of this place. Our house is nice, but I don’t know where this one came from—like it sprouted out of the ground one day or some mysterious millionaire built it as a hideout in the middle of the cornfields.

“Hi!” Evie jogs up the stone steps onto the veranda, waving at a girl sitting in an Adirondack chair next to the pool.

The girl jerks her head up from the book in her lap, her silvery blue eyes popping against her fair skin and long, icy blonde hair. I’m shocked to see that she looks like she belongs in an ad campaign for Chanel instead of in Dire Ridge, and she looks just as surprised to see us.

“Hello,” she replies in a pleasant voice laced with mild suspicion.

“I’m Evie,” Evie nods over her shoulder at me, “and this is Dallas. We’re Colson’s sisters, we live next door.” Then she corrects herself. “Well, Dallas lives there all the time, I just come on weekends. I mostly live with my mom in Canaan.”

Next door, I laugh to myself, you mean across the estate?

“Oh!”

The girl arches her brow and methodically places a bookmark between her pages before closing her book and uncrossing her legs. She stands with all the poise of a pageant queen and strides toward Evie with her hand outstretched.

“I’m Sydney Van Doren,” she shakes Evie’s hand, then reaches for mine, “I moved here from Elysia Lake right before school started.”

“Col told me,” Evie nods, “he said you have class together?”

“Colson,” Sydney echoes, squeezing her book to her chest, “yeah, he seems nice.”

But even with her lyrical voice and warm smile, I can tell she doesn’t quite believe her own diplomatic wording. Evie can tell, too, evident by the way she purses her lips together and casts Sydney a knowing look.

“If Col did something, just tell me and I’ll beat his ass.”

A laugh bursts out of Sydney and she covers her mouth with her book, averting her eyes. “No, no, it’s not that.”

Evie accepts Sydney’s response for the time being, until something catches her attention over Sydney’s shoulder. Evie’s smile fades ever so slightly as she peers into the shadows cast over the house in the twilight. I follow her gaze and when I see it, my blood runs cold.

Sydney does the same, looking over her shoulder at the house. Her demeanor changes on a dime as soon as she notices a figure standing on the terrace…just watching. Like a gargoyle.

Evie returns her attention to Sydney and lowers her voice with a slight smile. “If you need an escape every once in a while, I can help you with that.”

My eyes dart back and forth between Sydney and the demonic shadow lingering in the background. It’s completely still, like a statue, making my skin crawl and goosebumps break out on my arm. And then I immediately feel terrible for Sydney that she lives in this house, even though it’s probably the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen.

Sometimes, the most beautiful places can harbor the most terrible secrets.

“Actually,” Sydney replies in a hushed tone, a smile creeping across her face, “that sounds absolutely amazing.”

●●●

I can’t believe Alex called that girl out at lunch and made her look like a total idiot. Scratch that—I can believe Alex did that, it’s not out of character for any of them. What I can’t believe is that he cared enough to do it just because I bawled my eyes out to him in the stairwell yesterday.

So embarrassing.

Everyone is talking about Alex going off on that girl and straight up running her out of the cafeteria and the reasons vary based on how close each person was to their table.

She said something about Alex, she said something about Colson, she said something about Evie, she lied about knowing Evie, she was dating one of Alex’s friends and got caught with someone else…

It doesn’t matter, though, I don’t correct any of them. I know why he was chastising her, and I get immense satisfaction from it because I would never have the nerve to confront someone like that myself. The miniature high lasts until final period in Web Design when Shelby, Austin, and I are working on our end-of-the-year project. Each group is assigned a page from the school’s website to redesign and go live by finals week.

“ What the ever-loving fuck? ” Shelby whispers as she leans over her keyboard.

Austin glances at me and I stifle a smile as she continues cursing at her screen. She’s my best friend, but also absolutely terrible when it comes to technology. She fell into the same trap as many other students, thinking that web design would be easy just because they can use social media. By midterms, Austin and I both accepted the fact that we bear sole responsibility for Shelby passing this class.

“What’s wrong?” I ask out of the corner of my mouth.

Shelby rakes her fingers through her dark chocolate hair and lets out a frustrated growl. “My link doesn’t work, and I followed the freaking directions to a T!”

“Are you getting a 404? Did you change any of the pages?” I toss out some suggestions, hoping something sticks.

Austin doesn’t even bother, just continues scrolling on his phone, waiting for the bell to ring.

He taps the side of my leg. “Is this the headset you have?” he asks, tossing his sandy blonde hair out of his eyes.

I lean over to look at his screen. “Yeah, why? Are you getting some? And if you’re thinking about it then yes, you should.”

“Thought so,” he grins and retracts his arm, “I can have them by tomorrow, so tell me when you’re on and I can try them out.”

“Definitely. Oh, hey, ” I stop short and whip around to face Shelby, suddenly remembering one thing that still elicits excitement somewhere deep down, “are we still going to see Zero Reckoning? ”

We’ve been planning to see Zero Reckoning ever since it was announced—me, Shelby, Maddie, Carter, Austin, and Austin’s cousin I’ve never met, who’s a senior at St. Iggy. Maddie, Austin, and I beat the video game and Shelby and Carter want to see it because the actor who plays the main character is, and I quote, “the hottest ever.” It’s also playing at the indie theatre, which means it will be filled with hundreds of other freaks like us who are obsessed and get dressed up and nerd out the entire night. Part of me can’t believe I didn’t remember until now, during a time that I’ve been actively trying to distract myself with normal things.

Shelby stares back at me blankly, and after a few seconds of silence, I start to wonder if she totally forgot as well.

“Oh,” she finally says, but then hesitates for a moment, “we already saw it…on Sunday.”

“What?” I blink, not comprehending. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She shifts in her seat uncomfortably. “We just thought that, with everything going on, you were too busy or wouldn’t be up for it,” and then adds quickly, “we didn’t want to bother you.”

My heart sinks, but the feeling is quickly replaced with anger that builds by the second. Is she for real right now? She’s my best friend; what the hell else do we do but talk all the time and check on each other and try to make each other feel better when one of our family members is murdered?

“ Busy? ” I scoff. Then my tone turns acidic. “As in busy sitting in my room crying by myself while my friends go without me to the movie I’ve been waiting to see for months?”

Just then, the bell rings and everyone starts shutting down computers and the room fills with the buzz of people grabbing backpacks, standing up, and scooting chairs.

“We can go see it again!” There’s a flash of hope in Shelby’s eyes that quickly dissipates when I glare at her half-assed attempt at damage control.

“ Hello— ” I exclaim, “we bought the same silver and purple makeup pallet and black Revlon lipstick! What am I supposed to do, dress like a cyborg for the last three weeks of school?”

I can’t believe this utter bullshit. My sister is dead, my brother’s having homicidal “night terrors”, my parents are overcome with grief, and now my friends have revealed themselves to be either premium assholes or awkward turtles. I can’t decide which is worse. But it doesn’t matter, because I have to get out of here before I start crying—again. And this time I can’t cry into Shelby’s t-shirt because she might get up and leave because showing up for her best friend might accidentally bother me!

I grab my bag from the floor and stand up. “And your link’s broken because you spelled schedule wrong!” I snap before shoving the chair back under the table with a crash and storming out of the room.

As I trudge down the stairs, it dawns on me that my friends don’t know what to do. They don’t know what to do with me because I’m not me anymore. They don’t know what to do when I’m not laughing and smiling at them. Because my resting face used to be a smile, and now it’s gone.

I don’t know how to be me anymore.

I hope Colson’s at his car. I hope he’s already sitting there behind the wheel, ready to peel out as soon as I climb in. I hope he plays some death metal on the way home. But as soon as I step out into the sunlight, I feel a hand on my arm.

“Hey, Dallas,” I recognize Austin’s voice behind me, “wait up.”

“Did you go, too?” I ask him, but not really wanting to know the answer.

“No,” he replies, matching my pace, “I got called into work last minute.”

Good, I’m not the only one they snubbed that night. I guess I at least still have Austin. I don’t have to be mad at all my friends at the same time. But I’m still furious. How could they just leave me out? How could they go and not even ask?

“Listen, that was really shitty of them to go without you.” He keeps walking with me even though I don’t look at him. “It sucked that I couldn’t go, either, so let’s go see it this weekend.”

I slow down, but still don’t look at him. “Yeah,” I finally say, “maybe.”

He’s trying to apologize for all of them, which isn’t surprising, but he’s not good at it. Austin’s always been the one who tries to smooth over contentious situations out of necessity, because he’d rather be having a good time. There’s a reason we became fast friends in middle school when we got put on the same volleyball team in gym class. Austin…Dallas… he never let it go.

“What about your cousin?” I come to a sudden halt, turning to him. “Wasn’t he supposed to go, too?”

“Yeah,” Austin replies with a slight smile, “he did. I think that’s why Shelby decided to go anyway.”

“Wow.” I can’t decide whether to be relieved that she had ulterior motives and wasn’t just being a bitch, or still angry because she left me out anyway just so she could hook up with some guy.

“Forget it, Dallas,” he says, more firm this time, “we’ll go see it. Whenever you want.”

I nod, appreciative of his concern, but also ready to stop thinking about this for the time being. Accepting my response, he raises his arms and I take a step into his hug that smells like mint gum and whatever that shampoo is that all guys use.

“Text me when you’re online tomorrow,” he calls with a smile as he backtracks and eventually turns to head back to the building.

Unfortunately, when I make my way to the far corner of the lot, I don’t see anyone at Colson’s Civic yet. I make myself comfortable on the edge of his hood until the four of them appear in the distance. Colson, Mason, Alex, and Aiden swagger toward me, flanked by three girls. They come to a halt at his bumper, forming a semi-circle as Colson sits down next to me. Bryce, the girl with dark curly brown hair, leans back against his chest, showing him something on her phone. A girl with short dark hair smokes a cigarette while she talks to Mason, another girl with dark blonde hair standing close at her side.

No sooner does Colson acknowledge me than there’s a deafening buzz and then a shadow passes over the parking lot. Shrieks and laughter erupt as a small white plane dips down over the school and then shoots back up. I flinch, ducking slightly as reflex takes hold.

I know next to nothing about airplanes, but I know this one’s a Cessna that’s headed south toward Hellbranch. Everyone here is used to seeing them, intentionally diving on the school for reasons unknown. Probably just to fuck with us.

The girls around the car let out a few curses, except for the one with dark blonde hair and teal eyes that look just as radioactive as Colson’s. She just stands there, motionless, gazing at the plane as it launches back into the sky and disappears in the distance. She doesn’t smile, laugh, or even roll her eyes, just watches with what I swear is a miniscule smile at the corners of her mouth.

“That one of your planes, Mason?” Bryce teases.

“Wrong type,” Mason smirks, “no room for my wet bar.”

Does Mason even know how to fly a plane? His family owns a private jet company somewhere around here. All I know is that whenever Colson goes on spring break or summer vacations with the Wilders, it’s in one of their planes. Mom and Scott will say it’s safer and they’re glad they don’t have to deal with commercial air travel, but all I get is Colson coming home acting like a braggy asshole for a week.

“Definitely one of the Rhodens, based on the small dick energy,” the girl with the short dark hair says as she flicks her ash onto the asphalt. “It was probably them who wrecked the gym, too.”

“How do you know?” Bryce asks.

“They own that big cattle farm out there, too,” she replies, “and one of them kind of looked like Brantley Rhoden.”

“They all had helmets on, Logan,” Bryce points out.

The dark-haired girl, Logan, gives an irritated huff. “It’s a vibe, Bryce.”

“Speaking of which,” Alex pipes up, turning to Aiden, “do you still see Brantley and Wesley?” he asks as I finally look away from the blonde girl and her fluorescent eyes.

Aiden just shrugs. “Not lately.”

Colson shoots him a devious glance. “Not since your dad bribed you to stay away from them?”

“An offer I couldn’t refuse,” Aiden drawls, a smile threatening the corners of his mouth as he leans into the middle of the circle where Logan holds her cigarette to his lips, letting him take a drag off of it.

I recognize the names they just mentioned. The planes that regularly swoop down on the high school belong to the Rhodens. And the Rhoden family is a deep well of rumors. They’re notorious for recruiting high school kids from Hellbranch, Canaan, and Dire Ridge, offering to pay them more than anyone else will pay a high schooler. For what, I don’t know, but all the parents around here warn their kids to stay away from them.

I guess they got to Aiden at some point. Then again, his father’s probably in on whatever criminal activity they allegedly engage in. But in addition to all the trucks that go in and out of their property, they have a landing strip where small planes constantly land and take off. Their flight path—wherever the hell they go—goes over our house, but never that low.

“Dallas.” Colson’s voice grabs my attention. When I turn to him, he’s motioning for me to come closer. Then he bows his head and lowers his voice. “You alright?” He glances to his right, to Alex standing next to him laughing with Aiden.

I blink, but maintain my oblivious expression. He’s asking me if I’m upset about what happened at lunch today—about what Alex said to Jamie in front of everyone.

“Yeah, why?” I don’t let on that I even saw it because right now I’m so fucking over everyone asking and implying and assuming that I’m too upset to function.

Except Alex. When I saw him in the cafeteria yesterday, I actually was too upset to function. And in true irony, he was the only one who showed up out of nowhere to put me back together again. But between what happened with Shelby only minutes ago and now Colson feeling me out, I’m tired of people treating me like a time bomb. And maybe I am, but people don’t have to act like it.

“Don’t worry about Ole Dally,” Aiden interrupts, looking down at me through hooded eyes, “she might be tiny, but she’s tough as nails.”

His gaze makes my skin crawl, with black eyes and his lip rings under each canine that make him look like a viper. I give an exaggerated roll of my eyes and brush him off, which seems to satisfy Colson enough to turn back to Bryce and her friends. I push off the hood and head for the passenger door, tugging it open to toss my bag onto the floorboards. Then I collapse into the seat, shut the door, and wait for Colson to finish so we can leave.

I lift my hand, curling my fingers into a fist to examine my acrylic nails. Rose pink and black, just like Evie’s. They’ve grown out and I need to get them filled, mostly because I don’t want them to change. Maybe I’ll have them painted the same colors for the rest of my life.

Suddenly, the back door opens and someone ducks into the car, taking a seat behind me.

“I didn’t tell him what you told me,” I hear Alex’s voice over my shoulder, speaking through the headrest, “he just thinks you heard about what I said to Jamie.”

I’m glad he can’t see the smile spreading across my face. Despite Colson’s opinions, I’m not a mean person, but I did gain immense satisfaction from watching Alex yell at that girl in front of everyone and turn her into a stammering mess. Sometimes, a small part of me wishes I could be like that.

I wish I could stand up to someone like that when it counted.

“I know,” I say out of the corner of my mouth, “and it was really funny.”

“I can yell at her some more if you want.” I can’t see his face, but I can tell by his tone that he’s smiling, too.

I should reply with something witty, but instead, I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. “Do you want to play Destiny sometime, or Dark Souls ?”

Alex is silent for an inordinate amount of time, which makes me think that I’ve just embarrassed myself beyond comprehension. I didn’t plan on saying this, but it’s what I do when I’m upset; I descend into a fantasy world until it’s safe to come back out. I usually play with Austin and Maddie, but suddenly I remember that Maddie went and saw Zero Reckoning , too—without me—and now playing with them doesn’t sound as appealing as it did a few minutes ago.

But maybe Alex can’t relate to any of that. So, now I’m toggling between hope and total mortification as I wait for him to respond. I start wondering if he’s even still there until he finally breaks the silence.

“Give me your phone.”

I surreptitiously take my phone out of my pocket and unlock it before setting it on the console. It disappears and then reappears a few moments later, presumably with Alex’s phone number saved in it. The entire exchange is surprisingly exhilarating, taking place literally behind Colson’s back. Whatever, I don’t know what I want—people to be more attentive or just fucking leave me alone—but it lies somewhere in between, which I can’t begin to explain.

A few minutes later, the group begins to disperse. Alex shuffles around in Colson’s backseat for a few more seconds and then climbs back out, shutting the door behind him. Colson rises from the hood, reaching behind Bryce and squeezing her ass cheek. She jumps a little and keeps her eyes locked on his until he gets to the driver’s side door.

Is she his girlfriend now? And gross.

Aiden and Alex head toward Aiden’s black Lexus and Alex continues further down a few spaces until he stops at a cream-colored Lexus SUV, much older than Aiden’s, with a black grill guard and roof rack. The tires are knobbier than most cars and the back window is covered in stickers from places like Cuyahoga and the Smokies and Niagara Falls.

“OK, now do you want to skip out and go to the creek tomorrow?” Colson asks as he starts the Civic.

Before Bryce and her friends can move from the front of the car, he revs the engine as loud as he can, making them jump in surprise and scurry out of the way. No, I still don’t want to go hang out with his friends all day, but I also don’t have any desire to come back to school tomorrow. I start to wish it was the weekend, but as soon as I do, dread begins to seep into the pit of my stomach. Then I hear my mom’s voice.

One day at a time…let’s just get through Saturday, yeah?

Saturday.

Maybe I can make it to the weekend and then get through Saturday. But all I have is a maybe, and even that is asking a lot.