“Mhmm. I take it things aren’t going well with you and Crew?”
“No, actually. Things are great.”
Her posture slumps, a look of confusion on her face. “How is that working out then?”
“It’s just a casual thing among us three. No need to think too much into it.” What I’m feeling is anything but casual. Riley doesn’t need to know that, though. The last thing I need is judgment.
“Oh, okay. I was about to bow at your feet thinking you were bagging two guys at once.”
My cheeks flush, and I say, “Never said I wasn’t.” I bite my lip and Riley’s mouth drops open.
“Holy shit. You dirty little slut. I love it.”
“Come on,” I throw an arm around her shoulders, “let’s darken up this place with ghouls and goblins, while you tell me how your one-man relationship is going.”
“Ugh. Boring,” she singsongs, and it has me stopping.
“Really? I thought you were madly in love.”
“Oh no. I am. It’s the one-man thing that’s boring. Why can’t I have two? Or even three?”
“Consider yourself lucky. It’s confusing as hell. I just…don’t wanna let either of them go.” I puff my cheeks out, then exhale the pent-up air. “Is that selfish of me?”
Riley straightens the hat on a standing witch, then moves to another. “Nope. You gotta do what feels right. You know I'm not a fan of those guys, but I can tell they have your best interests at heart—now that the games are done, that is.”
“Yeah. Crew and Jagger have been great these past couple weeks.”
“And Neo.” Her words are a statement, rather than a question, and it has me turning my head.
“Neo?”
“Yeah. He might be the biggest dickhead I’ve ever met, but I notice the little things he does.”
“Oh yeah?” I chuckle. “Like what? Because I don’t see it.”
“You will.” With that, she walks over to Hannah and takes some spiderwebbing from her, then weaves it through the witches gathered around a cauldron.
I’m watching them decorate, knowing I should offer my help, when I spot Melody. Her hair is now shoulder length, and evenly cut. Even after chopping off a good four inches with rusty scissors, she managed to fix it up and look as beautiful as ever.
She catches my look and quickly turns away. It’s ironic, really. A girl like her with soaring confidence suddenly living in fear and trepidation.
Using this time while Riley is busy, I greet Melody, who has recently been ungrounded from her room. “Anything fromhimyet?” My words come out a whisper, but she hears me.
“Nothing. I told the guys I’d let them know if I heard anything and I will.”
“You better, or it’s your ass that’ll be sitting in that cauldron.”
“Don’t threaten me, Scarlett.”
“Oh,” I snicker, “it’s not a threat,Melody.” I enunciate her name. “It’s a promise.” I swing back around and go help Riley.
I tossed out a couple plastic spiders on a web, shimmied up a lamppost to replace a bulb in the mini lights—it was literally only a foot off the ground—and watched Riley and some of her cheer squad act a fool to the Michael Myers theme song. Turns out, tonight has been pretty fun. And we didn’t even have to run from any monsters. Except Elias, who came running through The Square wearing a werewolf mask. Riley freaked, then a second later, they were making out like teenagers—which they are.Sometimes I forget, we all are.
Doesn’t feel like it, though. I haven’t felt like a careless teen in a while. Dealing with stalkers and adult issues has sort of sucked the innocent life out of me. I stand back, watching everyone laugh and chat without a care in the world, and I wonder if this is all still a game to them. Why wouldn’t it be? The BCA Stalker isn’t after them; he’s after me.
“Looks like your ride is here,” Hannah says, and I follow her gaze to the snowmobile coming down the trail. The rider is wearing a helmet, so it relieves any suspicion that Neo came to get me.
As he comes closer, he pulls his helmet off, and I can clearly see that it’s Crew.