"Tyler, you jerk!" her friend Ashley cried. Ashley had already abandoned her float and fully submerged herself back into the water.
Tyler shot up from under the surface, not hearing her criticism. He whipped his head around, trying to get his soggy hair out of his eyes. He pressed a hand to his forehead and wrung the water toward the back of his head, blinking a few times. He looked around. "Sorry Jess, I didn't mean to get you wet. I was only trying to get Ashley." He grinned.
Ashley hurled a pool noodle at him like a javelin, but he tilted his head to the side and dodged it. She tried splashing water at him as her next plan of retaliation, but this just made Tyler laugh as he turned his head away and shielded himself from the barrage.
Jess looked down at her body and frowned. Her skin and black bikini had been perfectly dried, happily soaking up the sun's rays; now it would take a while to dry off again.
Tyler was slowly backing up from Ashley's attacks, coming nearer to Jess. Screw it, she thought, and when he was close enough, she hurled herself off of her pool float and grabbed him in a headlock. She jumped up and pushed herself off his shoulders, holding him down and submerging his head underwater as Ashley cheered and clapped.
Buddy perked up from his nap on the grass and came running onto the pool deck, galloping and barking. His golden fur shined in the hot summer's sun, and he perched himself on the edge of the pool, watching the commotion and giving a displeasing series of barks.
The three teenagers wrestled in the water for a while before burning through their energy and tiring out. At the end of it, they pulled themselves up and sat on the edge of the pool with their legs dangling in the water as they let themselves dry off.
It was a perfect summer day, really the first day of the rest of Jess's life, but she didn't like to think about it like that; the thought of them all graduating high school and having to go off to college was frightening enough, but the idea that they might all end up going their separate ways in the end was what really upset her.
"So have you figured out what you're taking yet?" Ashley asked Tyler.
"No," he admitted. "Unless porn star's a major."
"That might be all you have left if you don't pick one," Ashley said.
"Yeah, yeah... you sound like my mom."
Jess looked over at the balloons and streamers her parents had decorated the backyard with, complete with a banner saying "Happy Graduation!" It was the simple things like that that made her happy, and yet at the same time another reminder that she wouldn't always have her parents around to give her those happy little moments; she was going to be an adult now and she would have daunting responsibilities heaped upon her that she wasn't sure she was ready for.
"So what do you guys want to watch tonight?" Jess asked, changing the subject.
Tyler's face lit up. "I brought over the perfect movie! You guys are gonna love it."
"It's not some werewolf movie, is it?" Jess asked with a suspicious look.
Tyler faltered. "Uh... no..."
"What's it called?"
"Um..." He sheepishly put a hand up to his mouth and mumbled "Howling V: The Rebirth."
"I'm not watching another stupid werewolf movie with you!" Ashley cried.
"It's not stupid!" Tyler retorted.
The sudden agitation roused Buddy from his rest again and he trotted around them and barked.
Jess reeled him in. "C'mere, boy." She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him in for a hug, wrapping her arms around the large body of the Golden Retriever. The dog looked up at her with its big brown eyes and she gave him a kiss on his nose. Then Buddy trotted off onto the grass and began chasing bugs and barking in the distance. Jess looked up at her friends. "Well, whatever we end up doing tonight, I just want to thank you both for coming again."
Ashley's face softened. "Of course, Jess. I would never miss your birthday."
"So are we giving you your presents now or later tonight?" Tyler asked.
"We can do it later," Jess said, brushing a lock of auburn hair out of her eyes. "I already opened presents with my parents this morning since they're leaving in a couple of hours and they won't be here for my actual birthday."
"That sucks," Tyler said glumly.
Jess shrugged it off. "It's no big deal. It's their twentieth anniversary, so this is important to them. They found a great deal on a cottage for the weekend, and they had to take it. We still celebrated my birthday this morning and now our graduation too..."
Tyler looked around at the decorations, shrugging. "Well I think you'll like my gift, anyway."
Jess felt herself get excited at the mention of more presents. "Ooo, what did you get me?"
"You're looking at it!" Tyler said with a smile. He pushed himself up on his arms as much as he could, flexing his abs and leaning back slightly, letting the sun shine on his naked and still slightly wet torso. He had a pretty skinny frame, but years of wrestling on the high school varsity team gave him a little bit of muscle. He grinned up at the sky, his moppy brown hair shielding his eyes from the sun, but when he looked back at Jess, she wasn't admiring his body like he thought she would, instead focusing on petting Buddy who was happily sitting by her side and wagging his tail.
"You're going to have to do better than that," Jess teased him.
"Hey!" Tyler said, hurt.
An uneasy look came over Ashley's face, and when Jess spotted it, Ashley turned her head away, pretending to be busy staring at something else. When their gazes finally locked, Jess gave her a look as if to say "What is it?"
Ashley shook her head. "I, uh... I was just going to mention that I got some news on housing when we go to college."
"You didn't get on the same floor as me?" Jess asked. "Well, I guess it's not that big of a deal."
"No," Ashley said, "I actually didn't even get in the same building..."
Jess tried to hide the shock on her face. "What do you mean?"
"Well, my parents were kind of upset that I didn't get my grades up, so they made me get housing right near the chemistry building so I would focus on schoolwork rather than spending too much time with you. Their words, not mine."
Jess started to feel a tinge of sadness creeping up on the edges of her face. "So where are you going to be staying?"
"It's sort of on the other side of campus from you," Ashley said. "I know it sucks and it's not fair, but my parents wouldn't listen. They love you, Jess, but I think if they had their way, I wouldn't have any friends at all. They got me a place in a small building, and they said if they're spending this much money on me, they want me to study." When she saw the strain on Jess's face, she was quick to add "But we'll still see each other! I mean, we're all going to the same university. I'll see you and Tyler all the time!"
"Yeah, of course," Jess said, mindlessly rubbing her dog. A few moments of awkward silence passed, then Jess started to get up. "I'm just going to the washroom, I'll be right back." She tried to walk casually back into the house, but she felt the concerned looks of her friends digging into her back. She made her way through the cool rec room and headed down the hall for the bathroom. She closed the door and found herself shivering suddenly, so she pulled a hand towel off the rack and dried off her body, leaving it draped over her shoulders. And all it took was one look at herself in the mirror for the tears to start rolling.
There was a knock on the door.
Jess wiped the tears out of her eyes. "What?"
The doorknob turned softly and Jess stepped out of the way as Ashley squeezed through and shut the door behind her. Jess was suddenly embarrassed, but Ashley didn't say a word before stepping forward and hugging her.
Jess appreciated it, and she already knew Ashley knew exactly what she was thinking.
"It really won't be so bad," Ashley said, trying to reassure her. "You know how my parents are. And I mean, they did have to pull some strings to get me into New Hampshire. If it weren't for them, I probably wouldn't even be going to school. And I know the entire reason you're goin
g there too is because of me, so don't think I'll forget that."
Jess nodded on her shoulder. "I know that. And it's not your fault; you didn't do anything wrong. I think it's just been a lot of things all building up to this. I don't know, I guess I'm just afraid of the future."
"You and me both, sister." Ashley squeezed her harder.
They let go of their embrace and Ashley gave her a sympathetic smile.
"I know you've always had some issues with this kind of thing since you were a kid," Ashley said. She paused, reconsidering her words. "Not to say that you have issues, but you know what I mean."
"Yeah," Jess said, "I don't know why it still bothers me, but sometimes with everything going on I just feel like I'm going to end up all alone, and it just reminds me of that night all over again."
Ashley put her hands on Jess's shoulders. "Hey, this isn't that night with your uncle. Not by a long shot. No one's going to leave you alone, Jess, especially not me or Tyler. You and I have been friends for eight years now, and we're still going to be friends for the rest of our lives. Right?" She held out a curved pinky finger.
Jess looked at it then smiled. "Right," she said, hooking her own pinky onto Ashley's.
"Tyler really likes you, you know," Ashley added.
"Ash!"
"Hey, don't shoot the messenger! I'm just saying that I can tell he's got his eye on you. Well... I mean, I guess anyone with a pair of eyes can tell he's got his eye on you."
"I know," Jess said sheepishly.
"Well... I know you get a little shy around boys, and I know Tyler's a complete and utter dolt, but he's kind of a cute dolt. Maybe you should give him a chance."
"We'll see," Jess said, staring off in the distance and thinking about him.
Ashley set her makeup bag down on the counter and adjusted her floral bikini in the mirror, pulling her dark brown hair behind her shoulders. She checked her perfectly manicured and painted nails, then she dug into her bag and plucked out her mascara. She started redoing her eyelashes before fishing in her bag again to get some foundation.
"Hey!" Jess cried. "I thought you came in here to console me!"
Ashley turned her head to her and looked as if she'd just been accused of a great and terrible crime. "What? A girl can't multitask?"
Grim Report
"Goodbye, Honey!" Carol said. She stretched her arms out and Jess leaned in and hugged her.
"Goodbye, Mom," Jess said. She turned and hugged her father, Stan. "Bye, Dad. Have a good weekend."
"You kids enjoy your weekend, too," Stan said, "and have fun on your birthday on Monday."
Tyler and Ashley stood behind Jess and waved them off as Carol and Stan picked up their bags and left out the front door for their anniversary getaway at the cottage. As soon as the door closed, an exciting rush of freedom came over the three of them. They had the whole weekend to themselves, including Monday, before Jess's parents returned on Tuesday afternoon, and that meant a long slumber party for the three of them at Jess's house.
They looked over all of their goodies for the weekend, including food, drinks, snacks, and movies and games to keep them busy. Ashley had made a whole tray full of finger foods as well, including spanakopita, which Tyler was equally amused with pronouncing it and eating it, butter from the pastry messily smearing over his chin.
As the day settled into the evening, the three of them sat around in the rec room as Jess opened her presents. Ashley gave hers first, a small box wrapped perfectly in sparkling paper. Jess turned the box over in her hands, carefully trying to find the seams and gently pull the tape apart without ripping the paper and giving Ashley a heart attack.
When the wrapping paper was off, she opened the box and pulled out some bubble wrap, finding five black picture frames sitting inside. She pulled them out one by one and the sting of tears immediately met her eyes.
"Oh my God, Ash," she said. "I love them!"
"I picked out my five favorite pictures of us for your dorm room," Ashley said with a smile.
Jess crawled across the carpet and gave her best friend a big hug. She opened Tyler's present next, a tiny box. It had a little red bow on it and she untied it and pulled off the small square lid. Inside was a friendship bracelet with his and Jess's names etched into it.
A warm feeling swam through her chest seeing their two names next to each other, and what Ashley said to her in the bathroom flashed through her mind for the briefest moment. "Tyler, thank you! I love it." She took it out of the box and fastened it around her wrist. She held it up in the air and inspected it, letting the light from the ceiling shine off of the silver. She crawled across to him and gave him a hug, and he had a hard time wiping the grin off his face.
"Just something to remember me by," he mumbled.
Ashley grinned looking at the two of them.
Jess admired her presents and the three of them reminisced about old memories and talked about college and where they thought each of their trajectories would take them in the future, though Ashley was careful not to say anything that would upset Jess. But Jess was okay; just being around her friends like this with all the love they were showing her made her feel a lot better, and Ashley's pep talk in the bathroom lifted her spirits.
They settled in for the evening, each of them bringing a cozy set of pajamas to wear as Buddy occasionally trotted around the room and received free pets from the teenagers before returning to lie down in his bed. He occasionally lifted his head and surveyed their conversation with his big brown eyes before resting his head down on the edge of his bed, at peace.
Chip bags were torn and soda cans were snapped open, and they played a few board games to kick off their slumber party. It wasn't the typical picture of three recent high school students partying to celebrate their graduation, but they had their own quiet way of doing things, and they liked it just fine. Tyler was a recent addition to Jess's and Ashley's friendship, having met them through a school play they'd all worked on, but he fast became a good friend.
Ashley leaned away from the table with a frown as Tyler greedily bent forward and counted his giant stack of Monopoly money. "You're such a bully," she complained.
"If you didn't want to pay me, you shouldn't have trespassed on my property so much," he said.
Jess yawned. "I think it's time for a movie."
"Please," Ashley agreed. "Even if it is Tyler's stupid movie..."
"You guys are gonna love it," he assured them. He got up and crossed the room, rifling through his backpack and pulling out a bootleg DVD of the movie. He slid it into the DVD player then turned to his backpack again and reached in for something else. "And I've got something that we can do while we watch," he said with a smile, pulling out a bottle of rum and holding it up for the girls to inspect. "What do you think?"
Jess faltered. "I... I've never drank before."
Tyler's eyes lit up in surprise. "Never?"
Jess shook her head. She'd always lived a fairly sheltered life due to what happened when she was a child, and she was always apprehensive about new things.
"Hey, go easy on her," Ashley warned.
Tyler gave her an annoyed look before turning his attention back to Jess. "Do you want to try some? I'll mix it with some Coke for you, real light. Don't worry, I'll take care of you. I'll make sure you don't drink very much."
She eyed the bottle, then looked at Tyler's expectant face. There was something in his eyes that she trusted, something comforting and warm. "Okay," she said. "But just a little."
Tyler ran off to the kitchen and got a few glasses for them, then he poured them each rum and Cokes, giving Jess a smaller portion of alcohol than him or Ashley. He handed the glass to Jess, a warm feeling shooting up his arm as their fingers brushed. "Give it a try."
Jess slowly brought the glass up to her lips and took a sip. The flavor seemed so mild to her that she couldn't taste any rum at all. She took another sip, bigger this time, and now the distinct bite of rum hit her taste buds and she made a sour f
ace.
"No good?" Tyler asked, his face falling a little.
She took another sip and swallowed. "No, I'm just not used to the taste. It's actually not too bad."
They all settled on the couch for the movie with Jess in the middle. Tyler grabbed the remote and switched the channel to the right input. He grabbed another remote to dim the lights in the room, then they watched the cheesy title crawl of the movie written in blood drip down the screen as the film got started. Tyler shifted around, getting more comfortable on the couch and inching a little closer to Jess.
There was a scene at the start depicting a mass death in an old castle before the movie shifted over to modern day. They only got half an hour in before Ashley started complaining.
"This movie's so boring," she said. "There's not even any werewolves. It's like some stupid murder mystery or something."
"Now you're complaining that there's no werewolves?!" Tyler asked incredulously. "There's just no pleasing you."
"Turn it off! This sucks," Ashley said.
Tyler looked to Jess for backup, but she only gave him a tepid smile.
"All right," he said, admitting defeat. "We can watch something else."
"Thank God," Ashley said.
"Why don't you pick something, Jess?" Tyler suggested. "I guess it is your birthday and all."
Jess agreed and got up, looking over at a stack of DVDs sitting on a shelf. As she searched for a suitable movie to watch, Ashley took the remote and started flipping channels while they waited. Cooking shows, sports, fishing shows, and movies probably not too much better than what they had just been watching flashed on the screen. Ashley finally settled on the news.
"...your evening news for Friday, June 30th. Police stop a robbery in progress, a sixty-year resident of Montpelier finds a priceless antique in what she thought was a junk pile, and Vermont has just raised state income taxes on residents. More on these stories later, but first we take a look at the upcoming lunar eclipse this weekend. Here's Thomas with more about it. Thanks Cindy. Yes folks, the big lunar eclipse is coming up this weekend on Sunday night. But it's not just any lunar eclipse, it's a total lunar eclipse..."
The Haunting of Bloodmoon House Page 2