Page 14 of The Casualty of Us (Philosophies of the Heart Duet #1)

Chapter Seven

I pull the last black tight up over my knee before smoothing down my costume and looking into the mirror, taking in the dark eyeshadow flaring out from around my eyes with a couple of silver crescent moons and the sparkly gloss on my lips.

All of it is perfectly paired to go with the witch costume that Marley ordered with a screech the second I told her we were invited to the Ruins—her vampire costume chosen just as meticulously to go with our Gothic theme as well.

My eyes drift down to where the shiny faux leather corset I’m wearing is cinched around the outside of my holey black dress.

Pulling the otherwise loose fabric in until it rest at mid-thigh to show off a sliver of skin before the stockings start below it.

I reach up to mess my hair up some more before stepping into my wedged combat boots and zipping them up, careful to avoid snagging my draping sleeves on the way back up.

My phone buzzes on the counter then, and I look down to see Graham’s name lighting up the screen with a message that has me going to grab it when a knock sounds on my bathroom door.

“Yeah, yeah,” I call out, lifting the phone to read the message. “Don’t start yelling at me, I’m already ready.” The door opens, but I finish reading the instructions before looking up with a grin that falls on my next breath. “Not Marley.”

“Nope.” Hayes leans against the doorframe with a small lift of his lips, messy black locks falling a little over his forehead and the skeletal costume makeup there. “Just the grim reaper.”

I flick my eyes down to the Doubtful Souls concert tee he’s wearing with some ripped up jeans before lifting them to his again. “Appropriate.”

“I thought so.” His dimples cut deep for a split second. “That your boyfriend?”

My brows fall in confusion, and he nods at my phone, clueing me into what he’s talking about, and I cross my arms while turning fully to him. “Jealous, Dimples?”

He takes a step closer to me, forcing me to tip my head back, and his gaze moves between mine a couple of times before giving me a low rasp. “Very.”

And something about the intensity of his gaze has me whispering, “Fuck.” I look down, quickly clearing my throat. “He’s not—uh—we’re not.” Sucking in a quick breath, I lift my eyes back up to finish more strongly. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

He pauses, gaze searching mine like he’s checking for the truth there before giving me a slow nod. “Then…” His eyes narrow on mine. “I don’t understand.”

I cock my head. “What do you mean?”

“This, you.” His brows shoot down, hand moving between us with a quick move. “At first I thought maybe I’d pushed too hard, and then it hit me that maybe Holden was more your type when you started hanging out with him.”

“Holden and I are just friends,” I cut in.

“Right, yeah, I got that,” he bites out quickly. “And then I thought I was fucked because you liked Graham and I’d somehow missed that, but now…” He trails off, swallowing visibly. “Do you like me?”

“I…” My lips part around the sound, and I blink up at him before finishing softly. “It’s complicated.”

He tips his head to the side. “Because of your brother?”

“Yes—no—I,” I sputter lamely. “Because we’re friends, and everyone’s friends, and yes, Ollie would probably throw a fit for a lot of reasons and start yelling about Kyler, but—”

“Who the fuck is Kyler?”

“Not important.” I brush him off, taking a second to stare at his increasingly confused face and sighing truthfully. “We don’t even know if we do like each other.”

“But there’s a possibility,” he jumps in, lips curling for a split second like he’s fighting a grin. “A definite possibility that you like me, isn’t there?”

“I don’t know—yes—maybe.” The words leave me so quickly they’re practically on top of each other and have me falling back on. “We don’t even know each other that well.”

He lifts his hand in the next instant, bringing it to rest on my waist, and the action silences me.

“I think there’s something here.” His thumb moves across the top of my corset, making my breath hitch, and his dimples come out to play fully. “And maybe if you stopped avoiding me—”

“I’m not avoiding you.” I scowl. “We literally eat off the same plate every morning.”

“Showing up to the one class we share alone with five equally boring topics ready for us to debate each week definitely counts as avoiding.” He raises his other hand up to my face and runs his thumb down one of my brows, smoothing out the scowl there.

“Now stop avoiding me and find out whether you like me or not.”

Fuck.

Not that it hadn’t been my plan for the night, but…fuck.

There’s a difference between something I can drunkenly write off as attempting to be a normal girl and something based in a conversation.

“It’s compli—”

“I dare you.” He lifts a brow. “Or are you scared, Freckles?”

“I…” I stare up at him with my mind whirling, and the pretty grin and mischievous eyes he’s leveling at me are not helping one bit. “I told you to stop that.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“And what happens in this grand plan of yours?” I narrow my eyes, lifting my chin and trying to regain the upper hand. “If we do like each other? What happens then?”

“I—” His eyes widen, voice cutting out and making me tense under his hand before seeming to swallow the surprise down. “I guess we would see what happ—”

But he’s already giving me exactly what I need.

“Right.” I roll my eyes, keeping it light despite the twinge somewhere in my chest. “That’s what I thought.”

A forceful pound comes from out in my room. “You stole her key from me, you fucker!”

Ollie’s voice breaks the bubble, and I immediately snort, shaking my head with the excuse to look past him. “You didn’t.”

“I was desperate.” He shrugs, dropping his hand and stepping back. “I meant what I said, though.” He leans back up against the doorframe. “So what’s it going to be, Ophelia Sage? Because I locked your door, but I don’t think that will work for long either.”

And it’s his presence I already miss pushing into mine that has me whispering, “I’ll think about it.”

Already knowing that I can’t turn down a dare.

Especially this dare.

His dimples twitch. “Does this mean I get to do your tie in the mornings again?”

“Shut up,” I scoff softly, pushing past him and calling out over my shoulder, “Don’t push your luck. I said I’ll think about it.”

Hayes’s quiet laughter fills the air behind me as I make my way to the door and quickly unlock it before throwing it open to find Ollie standing there.

An unhappy scowl screws up his face, and he’s dressed in a full Batman costume, with Holden and Marley looking on from the living room with interest. Ollie holds out a hand without saying a word, and Hayes comes up behind me before dropping my extra dorm key into it.

I watch Ollie’s suspicious gaze move between us a few times before rolling my eyes at him. “Hayes needed help with his grim reaper makeup. Chill out.”

“Then why was the door locked?”

“I was inspecting the quality of her ties for next week.”

I reach back and smack Hayes’s stomach out of instinct, glaring up at him with a hiss. “Not helpful.” Turning back to the others and walking past Ollie’s freakily still form while ordering everyone. “Time to go, people. Graham texted me the directions.”

A grunt comes from behind me along with some scuffling, but I choose to ignore it, focusing on Marley and Holden instead as they stand from the couch.

“Very cute.” I grin at Marley in her Lycra pants and red tank top with a little bit of blood smeared in the corner of her mouth before turning to Holden. The plain orange pumpkin shirt he’s wearing makes me cover up the giggle trying to escape with a quick, “Clever.”

“What?” His brows drop. “It’s a costume.”

“Let’s hope they think so,” I sigh, glancing back to see Ollie and Hayes staring at each other like they’re the ones having a silent conversation now. “All right, everyone out, let’s get walking.”

“Walking?” Marley pipes up as we all make our way to the door and start to trickle out. “Through the woods, I’m guessing?”

“Yep.” I walk down the hall toward the stairway with the boys trailing behind us while passing along the info. “Apparently, they mark the path for everyone with white flags on the trees or something. Graham said if we couldn’t find our way, we obviously weren’t worthy of being there.”

“Ridiculous.” Ollie huffs.

“He did say that he’d make a special exception and come get me if we get lost, though,” I toss back cheerily. “But only me.”

A choked sound comes from behind me before Hayes breathes out tightly, “Let’s not get lost.”

The forest breaks up around us as we come to the edge of the treeline and the last white flag hanging there.

I look from it to the old church standing in a small clearing with its stained glass windows lit up dimly and its foundations crumbling around the edges.

People trail in and out of the wood doors that stand open at its front with music thrumming through the air and making its way to us.

“I think we made it.”

I glance at Marley beside me, excitement lighting up her face. “Yeah, I’d say so.”

“Okay, some rules for the night,” Ollie starts seriously. “Both of you need to stay with me at—O, that is not following the rules!”

A giggle bubbles past my lips, and I continue toward the front doors of the church with Marley laughing at my side.

The guys catch up by the time we make it to the stairs, and a few upperclassmen eye us curiously, but I just grin back.

Meeting their gazes purposefully to make sure they know I’m completely unconcerned about being here.