Rhi snorted out a laugh. "Please, you want me to believe that boy looks at you as just a friend. Are you blind, or just stupid?"
I finished gathering up my stuff and put on my grey chucks.
"Gee thanks, no it's just, we barely know each other Rhi, what do you expect? Us to run off and elope or something. It's new, give it a rest."
Rhiannon rolled her eyes and opened the door to leave my bedroom. We walked down stairs and went straight out the front door. I was going to have to figure out how I was going to get to school now. Other than Rhi, I could probably rely on Dean to give me a ride.
I could feel the muscles in my stomach spasm in fear. What would be waiting for me when I got to school? Was Lexie going to immediately begin torturing me, or was she going to wait, until the timing felt just perfect. I could feel my heart start beating rapidly.
"Oh God Rhi, what do you think she's going to do?" I asked.
Rhiannon laughed and shook her head.
"You mean what else is she going to do right? Did you already forget that she messed up your car. Seriously Pace you're too damn nice, I don't know what we have in common."
I snickered. She was right about that when it came to commonalities we had few, and at certain times many. I was the good one, with the good grades, and the usually good manners. She was the rebel, I was just her trusty sidekick.
My throat constricted tighter with every foot we got closer to our school. I could feel the heat start creeping up my neck again. I shook my head and pulled the shirt away from my throat trying to make my breathing easier. Of course, nothing worked, I was just being paranoid, letting my mind construct crazy scenarios of what waited for me.
I mean, there was nothing that said for sure Lexie was going to try to get back at me. Just her previous actions. There were so many my chances of escaping unscathed were worse than winning the lottery. Too bad my 18th birthday was still a few weeks away, if I bought a ticket I'd probably win millions.
When we pulled into the parking lot, I couldn't breathe. It seemed like everyone in school was standing out there waiting for us. I received a few cheers as I exited the car. Guess they hadn't all gone home and forgot about it. They trailed behind me and Rhi as we entered the school. Dean was waiting for me by the North Buildings entrance. He hugged me when I reached him and whispered in my ear.
"Hey, are you feeling any better today?"
I sighed and breathed in his familiar musky scent.
"Yes and no, has she been here already?" I tried to control the flipping feeling in my stomach.
"Nope, no one has seen or heard from her since yesterday. It's a little creepy, it’s almost like she's fallen off the face of the Earth."
I let out a nervous breath. Maybe today wasn't going to be so bad after all. I looked around me and noticed all of the eyes watching me and Dean closely. Everyone was still so interested in us it was surprising. I could feel them following us into the hallway. All of the attention was getting a little creepy. Did they know something I didn't?
School went surprisingly normal. Except for the fact that Lexie was missing and everyone seemed to watch me in some weird stalker-ish fascination. I hated it. I'd lived a normal invisible teenage experience in High School for three years, and I was more than happy with it.
Now people I'd never met before were nodding to me in the hallway or saying hi to me in class. Overnight everyone knew my name, and all I wanted was for everything to go back to the way it was before. It was as if by opening my mouth this huge spotlight flicked on, and all I wanted was to be left alone.
I spent most of my time with Dean. Rhiannon tried, unsuccessfully I might add, to get me to attend another Bad Girls meeting. Word was the other members were banding together and requesting my presence. It bugged the hell out of her, so she bugged the hell out of me. Dean and I spent Saturday at my house.
We watched movies on the flat screen and played guitar hero with my dad. It probably sounds like a completely tragic day but we had fun. My parents were in no way conventional they cussed, fought, and laughed their asses off. Every friend I'd ever had has always loved them. My mom made us junk food, and cheered us on.
I'd always enjoyed being an only child. I never had to fight for attention or share any of my stuff. And because I was a slight introvert, I never really got lonely.
On Sunday we spent part of the day with Dean's mom. She took us to the beach and out to lunch. We ran with his dog Fred through the sea foam and sand. Fred was a grungy haired mutt they'd adopted back in San Diego. He was friendly and sweet natured, and one heck of a runner. Dean's mom was pretty easy going.
She wasn't as outspoken as my parents but she was still fun to be around, well for a vice principal. The one drawback was trying to watch my mouth the whole day. It would just be weird to cuss in front of one of the High Schools staff members.
Things with me and Dean were going well. I was supposed to be getting ready for our date. I got up and walked over to my closet. We were going to go see a movie, then get some food. I didn't want to look trashy, but I didn't want to look like just his friend either. I grabbed my cell and called Rhiannon.
"What?" Her voice was laced with annoyance, great, she was still pissed off I didn't want to hang out with the Bad Girls. She could give a girl a break I'd had a bad week.
"Nice to hear your voice too Rhiannon."
"Yea, yea, yea, I love you too, hugs and kisses, get to the God damn point."
I smiled into my phone. "Ahh, see that didn't kill you now did it?"
"Again, the point?" She said.
"Ok," I stuck my tongue out at the phone and continued.
"I have a date, well I guess it's a date, with Dean, and I need to know what to wear. See I don't want to stay in the friends zone I'd like to you know be sexy without being trashy. What do I wear?"
The phone was silent for a few seconds and I cleared my throat. "Rhi?"
"Yep, I'll be there in ten." And the phone went dead.
It took her less than ten minutes to get to my house. She only lived a few blocks away, and knowing her she drove over people's lawns to get here even quicker.
"Ok so, you're afraid Dean is going to put you in the friend category instead of the girl I wanna hump slot. So we need to wow him."
"Rhi, I don't want him to hump me." I said.
"Uhh yea you do. I can see it right there in those purple lying your damn ass off eyes. You want him to hump you. Say it Pacey own it. It’s perfectly legal, well almost anyways, and we are teenagers. We are supposed to be having unprotected, irresponsible, crazy monkey sex."
I groaned in frustration, that may be what she wanted, but I didn't at least not yet. I nodded along to get her to jump off of her soapbox.
"Ok so what do I wear to get out of the possible friend category?"
Rhiannon walked over to my closet and looked inside. After an hour, I was finally done getting ready. Rhiannon was smiling like a lune.
"Wow I feel like a proud momma sending her daughter off to finally lose her virginity."
I choked. "Who said anything about that. Seriously Rhi that is NOT happening. No way."
She rolled her eyes and studied my reflection in the mirror. I was wearing my tightest pair of black skinny jeans, black strappy low-heeled sandals, and a slinky deep red top. It looked good against my pale skin and complimented my red curling hair. I looked pretty good, and not trashy, I wasn't showing any cleavage or an excess of skin.
I threw on my black leather jacket and let Rhiannon finish doing my makeup. She put a small amount of charcoal eye shadow on my eyes and a little blush and lip-gloss. It was more than I was used too, but the effect wasn't bad. I put on my usual bracelets and rings, and my skull and cross bones necklace. The necklace had been a gift Rhiannon had bought all the Bad Girls over the years, of course mine and hers were the first.
I started to get nervous when I walked down stairs to wait with my parents. My dad inspected my outfit with a frown, while my mom grinned from ear to
ear.
"Wow Pacey, it’s like looking in a time machine. Lovely." Mom’s voice was proud. My dad shook his head but didn't say anything.
"Come on Dad." I said.
He grinned and kissed me softly on the cheek. "You're beautiful, just like your mother."
Mom laughed. Rhiannon waved a quiet goodbye and motioned for me to call her later. My hands started shaking when the doorbell rang. I'd only known Dean for five days now, and something about him struck me. As the door opened, my tummy fluttered with butterflies. Deans smiling face went slack with shock.
"Wow, you look...wow." He stared at me for a really long time without speaking.
His eyes roamed over my face then down the front of my body and then stopped dead at my freshly painted black toenails. My dad cleared his throat behind me.
I giggled like an idiot, it was pretty funny, and if I wasn't feeling as confident as I was, I might have taken Dean's reaction another way. It wasn't like I looked bad when I wasn't dressed this way. I just didn't want to put in this much effort every single morning. Dean glanced over my shoulder towards my father and frowned. Lord knew the dirty looks my dad was throwing at him. My mom spoke next trying to ease the strange tension.
"So Dean," she poked her head around the other side of me, "where are you two headed tonight?"
Dean cleared his throat. "Um, we, we're going to go to dinner and then maybe see a movie. It all depends on how much time we have."
“Well have fun.” She said and walked back into the kitchen.
"You ready?" Dean asked.
I started to move forward when my dad reached for my arm.
"Be back by 9:30, it's a school night, you got that Dean?"
"Yes sir Mr. O’Brien. I'll take good care of her."
My dad smiled at me softly. I could see the worry written all over his face.
"I'll be fine dad okay."
He let go of my arm and closed the door between us. Even when I'd been dating Weston, my dad hadn't been this over-protective. Guess since I was older, he was worried more about things I'd pretty much done already. Dean pulled me down from the step and smirked.
"You look really good." He motioned with his finger for me to turn around.
I turned halfheartedly, it was like being put under a microscope. Dean’s fingers slipped around mine and pulled me towards his truck. When we were safely out of sight, he pulled me in close. I held my breath and looked up into his face. His eyes were a bright intense blue. He brushed the side of my face with his hand, tilted my face up towards him, and touched his lips to mine.
It was like fire erupted between us. Hot white heat traveled from the touch of his lips and radiated down the rest of my body. Both of his hands slid around my back and pulled me closer. Every part of the front of my body touched the front of his. I sighed in pleasure. He ran a hand up my back and into my hair.
Nothing about his kiss gave me the impression that he thought of me as just a friend. I grinned into his lips and parted mine in invitation. He drew back unexpectedly. Why had he broken the kiss? He rested his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. I could still taste him on my lips, still feel the tingling sensation of his touch running down my spine.
"Sorry, I just don't want this to go too fast too soon. Is that okay."
I moved my head away from his. His breathing was still unsteady, and I pushed him away playfully. He opened the passenger door and helped me inside.
"I hope you like Mexican food."
I didn't trust myself to speak. I was afraid my voice would either not be there at all, or come out in some ridiculously high octave. He pointed to the seat next to him and I slid over. He buckled my seat belt and handed me his Ipod. Score one for chicks everywhere, I was in control of the music!
"My mom told me about this place in Pismo that makes homemade tortillas. It’s right on the beach and if we make it there in time we'll be able to watch the sunset."
I scrolled through his song list trying to get my brain to start working again. Weston's kisses had never been one tenth as hot as Dean's were. I hadn't heard from him in a while either, I'd have to send him an email and see how his first semester at Cal Poly was going.
"Pacey?"
I looked over towards him. What had he said? He reached for my face angling his head to the side he made sure our mouths fit together perfectly. The kiss was short and sweet, I groaned in protest.
"Ok, so, did you hear anything I just said or not?" He said.
I opened my eyes and stared at him blankly.
"Not then, okay it's cool. Be careful though, any more ego stroking like that and my head won't be able to fit in the truck." His eyes were twinkling.
We couldn’t have that, no way was I going to let him think he was that good.
"Oh come on! I'm not that brain-dead" I laughed.
The drive to Pismo wasn't long, an hour at most. He had pretty good taste in music too. No hip-hop, or rap thank God. I could only abide rap if it was set to rock music and not about some dudes ho and his 40. I liked rage against, something that had a rap sound but didn’t have stupid lyrics.
"We're here." Dean nudged me softly with his elbow.
"Ok."
He got out of the truck and motioned for me to get out his way as well. He gripped my sides and pulled me to the ground. I liked the way he made me feel. Small, feminine, and protected, sometimes, having a guy take care of me was nice. That didn't mean I wanted to bow down and kiss his feet or allow him to beat me if I back-talked. It just meant I liked it when he made me feel important.
The waitress gave us a seat in the upstairs balcony. She stared at him blatantly, it was pretty freaking rude. I rolled my eyes when she beamed after he said thank you.
The food was good but half way through dinner, I got a strange text message. My phone was vibrating when I flipped open the screen. It was a picture of me and Dean kissing. His black truck in the background. I hadn't seen anybody hanging around when we were out there. So how could somebody have a picture? The number said unknown caller. I tried to respond but it wouldn't go through without their number. Weird.
"Hey look at this." I held my cell up for Dean to see. He almost choked when he saw the picture.
"Where'd that come from?"
I shook my head and looked at it again. There was a message at the bottom when I scrolled down.
I am going to kill you for touching him.
I gasped and Dean pulled the phone from my limp fingers.
"What the---who sent this?" He asked.
I shook my head in response and rubbed at the chill creeping up my arms. "Do you think it was Lexie?" I said.
"Do you?" He said.
"Maybe, probably, but why would she still care. It's not like she'll win you by being a psycho. It just doesn't make sense."
He nodded in agreement and I forwarded the pic to Rhiannon.
Hey Rhi, just got a crazy text, check it out, let me know.
I hit send and picked at the food still left on my plate.
"You want to go home now?" Dean asked.
I sighed but shook my head no. No way was I going to let some crazy girl ruin my date with Dean.
"We could go watch the sunset on the beach...." I said.
Dean smiled and motioned for our waitress. "We're going to leave, can I get the check?"
She frowned and walked away without speaking. Dean paid the bill and we left. He went back to his truck and got a blanket. We walked together hand in hand onto the sandy beach. It was unnervingly quiet; there were no other people or couples walking through the sand. He spread out the blanket on the ground and pulled me down to sit beside him.
"Are you upset?" He whispered the question next to my ear. I could feel his warm breath tickle my neck.
"A little, I don't get it. Why would Lexie go after me this way...it doesn't seem like her."
"Yea I can understand that. She's more of a public torturer right?"
I agreed silently and sighed. My phone vibrated ag
ain and I pulled it out of my back pocket. I braced one hand on Dean’s leg and he grinned.
"A little more to the right please." He said.
"Please? Yea so not happening sparky." I muttered. He chuckled and pointed to my phone.
"Oh, yea. Let's see."
P you finally kiss lover boy and this is how I find out. It’s weird, not like Lexie at all. Call me later I want deets LOTS of deets. Oh yea tell butch I said nice job!
I closed the screen and felt my face turn red, Rhi always did know how to embarrass me. Butch aka Dean had a smug little grin plastered to his face. Boys.
The sunset was beautiful, the sky turned shades of purple, pink, and orange. When I looked over at Dean, he was staring at me instead of the sun. I nudged him in the ribs and he smirked.
"I know it's going to sound cheesy but you're way prettier than that stupid sun."
I rolled my eyes and shook my head, the boy was cheesy, but it didn't make him any less cute. We sat and watched the dark waves for what felt like hours. When my phone vibrated, again my pulse started to race. I was probably over-reacting it could just be Rhi. But as I stared down at the three caps locked words, I knew the truth.
TONIGHT YOU DIE
Chapter Five
Fever Pains
The phone fell out of my hand and onto the blanket. The text wasn't alone either. Below the words was a picture of me and Dean sitting on the sand. Dean reached for the phone and swore under his breath.
"We're leaving...NOW." He said.
I jumped up and walked closely beside him. Dean walked so quickly it was hard for me to keep up in my little heals. They kept slipping into the sand. I could feel the small grains lodging themselves between my toes and behind my heel. It was really uncomfortable. When we reached the sidewalk, I tried to get Dean to stop but he sped forward.
He didn't realize he'd left me behind for a few moments. It was enough time for my stalker to make their attack. As I stood to reach, down and take off my shoes and empty them of the offending sand. Something large jumped out of the shadows. I fell to the sidewalk on my side and pain radiated up my hip and into my stomach. And they were on me, ripping into the flesh at my neck.
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