by West, Sinden
I watched as Melody’s hand rubbed at his arm soothingly, and his drunken eyes gazed down at her. Melody was petite, like a little doll and that’s what made men want to take care of her. Men were so stupid sometimes; they couldn’t see the venom lurking beneath our depths, hidden only by our beauty. And then they cry foul when they feel betrayed even though it was their own stupidity that made them sitting ducks for the ruthless.
Melody stepped closer to Finn, her hand curling onto his forearm as a smile curved on her lips. Finn watched her, mesmerized by whatever promises he saw within her. Or maybe it was by whatever she was whispering to him, casting her spell like a wicked witch. I imagined his cock standing to attention as she spoke like she was a snake charmer, making him rise up and harden on command. I made my way over to them. They didn’t notice me at first, not until I spoke.
“Jesus, Finn. One day someone’s going to cut that dick of yours off.”
Their eyes darted to me, Melody’s wide and alarmed, and Finn’s narrowed at me like I’d done something wrong.
“Why you gotta be such a bitch all the time, Paige?”
I didn’t know how to answer that. The classic line because I can be teetered on my tongue but I swallowed it down, not wanting to be more of a bitch than I already appeared to be. So instead, I started a fight.
“Having an asshole boyfriend like you does it to me, Finn.”
He frowned angrily. “Seriously? You’re the one who always thinks the worst of people. You’re really fucked up sometimes, you know that?” I didn’t like how he was looking at me, I wanted the Finn back that played nice to get me into bed. “Melody and I were doing nothing wrong, stop acting like a crazy bitch.”
People were watching us now, I wanted to apologize but I couldn’t, not in front of everyone. So instead I glared at him, matching his anger, horrible words poised to spit from my mouth. But Merida took my arm gently, her touch instantly calming.
“Hey, guys. This has been a really horrible day. Everyone’s upset, okay?” Merida turned to me. “I think we should go home, Paige.”
I nodded to her and she started to lead me to her car, I twisted my head to take one more look at Finn. Anger was still coming off of him in waves, and I wanted to make it better. But I couldn’t.
Chapter Three
Love must have turned my mother’s brain to mush. She took Todd’s clear signs of being uncomfortable around me to be my fault; which I guess they were, in a way.
“Be nicer to him,” she’d hiss in my ear and smack my arm when she thought he wasn’t looking.
“I am!” I’d reply in a pissed off tone. If only she knew just how nice I had been to him. Todd only spoke to me if I spoke to him first and even then he couldn’t meet my eyes. He sat at our table having breakfast while my mother flirted and smiled. Even though she wasn’t really a morning person, she never dropped the act around men. She never let them know that she had PMS or cramps, or that her cat had died.
“Men don’t want to know that kind of thing. They want perfection otherwise it’s too hard to keep them under your spell. It’s best that they keep us on pedestals. Always play the game, honey.” Other mothers gave their daughters advice like always use a condom and hand wash your bras. But not mine, she’d created a career out of men. All that effort she put into studying them, manipulation and scamming, if she’d put that effort into something else, she could have had a real career. Now she was stuck as an assistant to some fat cretin at a used car dealership. Although, there was no doubt in my mind that she would twist everything to work in her favor. She was honest about her feelings for Todd though. She really loved him, even though he had little money or charm. I still felt bad about seducing him.
I wasn’t like my mother though. I was honest. I had never played the seductive games with Finn, and I had no intention of changing my ways. It had been a week since the funeral, and we were making up via text slowly. He had sworn to me a thousand times that he hadn’t had sex with Melody; I wasn’t sure that I believed him though.
I heard his horn beep outside my house. “That’s my ride.” I pushed my chair away from the table. My mother smiled, happy that I was leaving for the day and leaving them in peace.
Todd risked a quick look at me. “Have a good day.” This was progress.
Finn grinned at me as I climbed in his truck. “I can’t believe you’re really coming hiking with me.”
“You’re not going to push me over the edge are you?”
He smiled at me, but then it clicked with him at the same time that it clicked with me about what I’d said. Our faces both dropped, and we sat in silence for a minute.
“I guess it’s too soon for going over the edge of cliffs jokes,” he said quietly.
I looked away so he couldn’t see the tears shining in my eyes.
“Hey,” he said softly, wiping a tear away on my cheek. “Don’t cry.”
I blinked furiously. “Let’s get going.”
He drove up the winding path up the mountain. It always gave me the shits going up this road; just one wrong move and your car could easily plummet over the edge. I gripped my seat belt for extra protection, while Finn just laughed at me. There were a few other cars parked at the beginning of the trail. Finn pulled his truck to a stop and grabbed a backpack. “C’mon, it’s beautiful up here. You girls love this kind of scenery shit.”
I grabbed my own bag and followed him. We walked in silence for most of the way, and when we reached the top, I saw that he was right; the view was breath-taking. I felt so small in comparison to the expansive mountains and ocean surrounding me.
“You like?” Finn came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his head on my shoulder.
“I like.” I turned away from the view and kissed him gently. When we pulled away, he gave me a small smile.
“Are we all good now?” The look on his face was confident. He knew the answer.
I kissed him again in reply.
We sat and ate our lunch overlooking the vista.
“You want to come over to my house tonight? My Mom’s going out.”
I shook my head. “I said I’d go to this séance thing at Merida’s house.”
“Creepy.”
I shrugged. “It’s stupid. But Merida’s cousin is supposed to be psychic and I…I just want to know what happened to them.”
He didn’t make any stupid Finn-like comments. Instead he grabbed my hand and squeezed it in comfort. “I hope you find out.” We stayed like that for ages. Not talking, just holding hands.
It was Merida’s idea to have a séance. I’d seen enough bad horror movies to know that this was not a good idea. But curiosity and a thirst to know overcame me. On her kitchen table, a makeshift Ouija board had been assembled from scrabble pieces and an upturned glass. Candles were placed around the room for effect, and that effect was creepiness. I half expected Merida’s cousin, Amanda, to be dressed in gold earrings and gypsy velvet. I found myself slightly disappointed that she was just wearing a sweater and jeans and looking like any ordinary girl. I was more disappointed by the other girls in attendance because Melody was one of them.
She didn’t meet my eyes, which made me suspect that Finn was lying to me. She also had a glass of cheap wine in her hand that she was guzzling like she was nervous. The other girl, Corinne, kept topping up her glass, already drunk herself. Corinne worked with me at the diner, and we got on okay. However, she was firmly Team Melody all the way and not to be trusted.
Amanda was a few years older than us, and I found her instantly annoying. She was trying to act like she was all mysterious and superior to us, but I knew that the reality was that she was just another struggling single mother who’d got knocked up by some loser. And now she was looking for meaning in life and yearned to be special. But she was a fool; there was nothing more than this.
“Let’s get this thing started,” Merida announced, rubbing her hands together in a nervous gesture. I felt slight anticipation as well at wh
at we were about to attempt, even though I wasn’t really a believer. We all took a seat at the wooden table as Amanda turned off the lights so we were lit only by flickering candles. Corinne giggled nervously and somehow managed to spill her wine.
“Fuck!” Melody pushed her chair back, knocking it over in an attempt to avoid the wine travelling toward her lap.
“Sorry,” Corinne said, giggling.
Merida threw a cloth at Melody and a cloth at Corinne.
“Come on you guys! Take this seriously. Otherwise it won’t work.” Amanda tapped her foot under the table.
“Okay, okay. Sorry,” said Corinne, who didn’t sound sorry at all as she mopped at the table. “Right, I’m ready.” She threw the cloth onto the kitchen bench and sat back down. Melody still looked pissed off, but she sat back down again as well.
The lights were flicked off once more. We all rested a finger on the glass as Amanda began to speak.
“Spirits, we implore you. We need to speak with Mara and Torrance, who recently passed from this world.”
Silence. And then she tried again.
“Mara and Torrance, are you there?”
I shivered involuntarily.
“Please speak to us. Are you there?”
And the glass moved. Short, shaky movements made it swing to the “YES” spelled out in scrabble pieces. I heard a sharp intake of breath that mirrored how I felt, but I kept it in, not sure that this was legit.
“Are you Mara or Torrance?” Amanda’s voice was calm.
And once again the glass moved. “NO”. I shivered, and I felt Merida’s nervousness as she clutched my hand tighter. The glass started to move again.
“W” Amanda said. “ARNING. Warning? For who?”
The glass moved again. “P” “A” “I” Paige? Do you mean Paige?”
The glass swung to “Yes” and then it spelled out “COMING FOR YOU”.
Merida and I dropped our hands at the same time, both jumping to our feet. She darted to the light switch and soon the room was flooded with light but it didn’t make me feel any better.
“You ruined it!” Amanda was pissed.
“Ruined? What the fuck was that?” I spat at her, my fear turning into anger instead.
“Don’t get mad at me,” she sniffed. “I can’t help what comes through.”
“Really? You’re telling me that was real?” I said to her in disbelief.
“Of course it’s real,” she snapped back. “I don’t lie about this kind of stuff.”
“Calm down, Paige. You’ll give yourself an aneurysm,” Melody sneered. I turned to face her.
“It was you, wasn’t it? You’re doing this to freak me out?”
“Yeah right, like I could move the glass by myself.” She stared straight back at me with narrowed eyes.
“Then Corinne helped you,” I shot back.
“Hey! Don’t go accusing me of stuff. I wouldn’t do that. It’s mean.” Corinne looked affronted. “Honestly, I wouldn’t.”
My eyes switched back to Melody. “This is your way of getting back at me about Finn, isn’t it? You can’t have him so you–“
“I’ve already had him.”
Melody’s words stopped me short, and she got to her feet looking smug. “I’ve already been screwing him behind your back, so there.” She gave a short laugh. “You’re not the only pretty girl at school, Paige, and–“
My punch knocked her down. Her mouth opened in surprise as she clutched her eye. “You fucking psycho bitch!”
I was breathing hard and flicked my eyes around the rest of the group. They all stared at me warily, mouths open.
“I have to go,” I choked out, before spinning on my heel and making my way blindly to the door. I heard my name called behind me by Merida, but I waved her away. Once outside, I ran home with the adrenalin rushing through me so hard that I barely remembered how I got there.
When I got inside, I found my mother waiting inside for me, her face white and lips thin. I shouldn’t have been surprised when she slapped me hard.
Chapter Four
My head bounced against the wall, and I tasted blood. I nearly smiled at the irony of the situation. That hand that slapped me was bundled into a fist and kept close to her body like she was restraining herself from doing it again. The other held a cigarette; she only smoked when she was really pissed off.
“You stupid little slut. Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?” Her tone was ice cold, and I shivered.
“You know?” My voice was small as I cowered against the wall. But then I remembered myself and raised my body to stand up straight and stare at her without fear.
“Of course I knew. You think someone like Todd could keep a secret that big from me.” She shook her head at me. “You are so ungrateful,” she said through clenched teeth. “Why did you do it?”
I couldn’t answer her because I didn’t really know. To one up her perhaps? Because I could? Because years of pent up anger finally exploded in me?
I shrugged, and she gave a small, humorless laugh before slapping me hard again. I resisted the urge to hold my face to ease the stinging. I did wipe my lip, blood coming away on my hand. The blood made me angry.
“What’s the big deal? I’ve slept with your boyfriends before.” My voice sounded casual, but my heart was beating violently inside my chest.
“You fucking idiot. I’ve worked so hard to keep us surviving for all these years, and this is how you repay me?” Her teeth were bared, and I steeled myself.
“I worked too, Mom. The things you made me do–“
The third slap felt like a truck slamming into my cheek. I balled my hands into fists and hugged them to my body to stop from hitting her back. “You’re scared,” I sneered. “You’re getting old, and you’re scared that no one else will want you soon. That’s why you think you’re in love with him, you hag.”
I expected to be hit again, but she didn’t. Not physically at least.
“You’re on your own. You’re eighteen now, that’s old enough. You can stay the night, but I want you out first thing in the morning.” Her words cut me. I watched her with wide eyes as she started to walk back down to her bedroom.
“Are you serious? You’re kicking me out? What about Todd? Are you getting rid of him as well?” I asked her retreating figure.
She said nothing as she disappeared into her bedroom where, no doubt, he was waiting. I leaned against the wall, staring at that closed door. She’d always choose men over me.
In my room, I shoved clothes into my sports bag haphazardly as my anger spurred me on. I didn’t have anything sentimental, I‘d never really gone in for that kind of thing, so clothes and school books were it. I had work in the morning, so I’d go there and figure everything out. Finally, I went to bed with my cheek throbbing and misery keeping me awake. I barely slept, and in the morning I showered and left, just like she wanted. I didn’t know if she’d relent and let me back in the house, but I guessed she would eventually and until then I would just stay out of her way to let her calm down.
Merida’s eyes widened when I turned up to work with a puffy lip and bruised cheek. “What happened?” She followed me as I stashed my bag in the back office and grabbed an apron.
I shrugged. “I don’t want to talk about it.” I busied myself tying my apron. Her eyes still showed concern but she changed the subject.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay after the séance? That was pretty freaky. I was scared all night.”
I’d forgotten about the séance; my fear overshadowed by the events afterward.
“It was just Melody being a bitch.”
“Listen, Paige,” Corinne had joined us, putting her apron on. “Melody says she didn’t do it, and I believe her, okay?” She went to move past us, but stopped and turned. “I’m really sorry about Finn. I want you to know that.”
I nodded, oddly touched. Then our boss yelled at us to get to work because the breakfast rush had arrived, and we all went to our different
sections. The morning was busy, and I didn’t get a chance to sit down until it was nearly lunchtime. I went to the bathroom and looked at my reflection. My face didn’t seem to look as bad as it had looked first thing in the morning. I splashed some cold water on my face and went back to work. Corinne intercepted me.
“Omigod, there is a total hottie sitting in your section,” she said excitedly. “Who needs Finn?” I gave her a small smile and moved out to serve my customer. He was sitting alone at a booth studying the menu. His eyes flicked up to me as I neared. Corinne was right; he was smoking hot. He must have been late twenties with shaggy black hair that swept over his forehead and was longish at the back. His eyes were dark as well, and framed by inky black lashes that I would kill for. His skin was very tan; his blood must have been a mixture of something exotic. And his face was angular; sharp bone structure with high cheekbones. Seriously, this guy was so pretty that he should’ve been a girl.
He didn’t smile at me, just watched me approach. There was something about him that made me think of a wolf, or some other kind of predatory animal. I didn’t like the way he was looking at me, so much so that I nearly turned back to the counter and told Corinne she could take his table. But I didn’t, I just approached with my notepad and pencil in hand.
“What can I get you?” I stared at my notepad; pen poised.
“What’s your name?” His voice was smooth. My eyes darted up to meet his wolf-like ones.
“Paige.” It wasn’t unusual to be asked my name, sometimes customers like to get friendly which was okay because it usually meant that they tipped better. But I didn’t want this guy to be a regular; he was unsettling me with how he was looking at me. It wasn’t desire because I knew what that was. This guy seemed almost hostile.
“Paige,” he repeated. “I’ll have a coffee.”
“Is that all?”
“For now, Paige.” I turned quickly and headed back to get his order. I felt like I could finally breathe again when I went to work behind the coffee machine.