The Line That Binds Series Box Set

by J. M. Miller

  “Sounds like a good plan.” He moved over to the couch and dug into a box. After a minute, he yanked out our traditional Halloween masks. Like with all other holidays, we quit decorating inside the house. There were plenty of decorations outside to compensate. But we always wore the masks to give out candy. He tossed the hockey mask to me.

  “No way,” I protested after I gulped down some soda. “I was Jason last year. It’s my turn with Michael Myers.”

  He tugged at the rubbery Michael Myers mask, contemplating. “Okay,” he agreed. “The hockey mask is much more forgiving with my mustache anyway.”

  We switched masks and I went back into my room for a pair of coveralls. When I got back he handed me the plastic kitchen knife. “Thanks.” I set it down on the table and picked up the last Pop-Tart.

  He placed his rubber machete by the door and situated the dirty hockey mask on the top of his head. “So, Simone told me that LJ won’t be working outside with us anymore.”

  “She got her Co-op approval today.”

  “Simone sounded okay with it all. At least, she didn’t complain so I take that as a good sign,” Pop said with a small chuckle. He reached back into the candy bowl and popped a few candy corns into his mouth.

  “I hope so. LJ really wants to learn and I think she’ll do good things with this place if she gets a fair chance,” I replied, moving toward the door. “I’m thinking of signing up for it, too.”

  “Working in the office with Simone?” he asked with wide eyes.

  I roared out a laugh. “Yeah, right. I’m not a masochist. I meant Co-op.”

  He laughed silently, his stomach showing his humor with a hearty shake. As soon as it stopped, he readjusted his pants on his hips and sighed. “And you’re doing this for you and not for her, right?”

  “C’mon, Pop. You know how much this place means to me. There’s nothing else I’m interested in. I promise I’ll explore other roads if anything changes.”

  “Just bring me whatever you need signed.”

  The doorbell rang followed by tons of tiny-handed knocks. Pop’s eyes lit up before he pulled down his mask and opened the door. “Trick or treat!” four kids screamed at him.

  “Happy Halloween,” he replied in his scariest voice then held out the bowl to them. They all went in for the kill at once, unfazed by the hockey mask or the machete.

  When the masked marauders took off down the walkway, like they’d robbed a candy bank, I stepped outside. “I’ll be back later. Remember, you don’t get one for every one you hand out.”

  “Okay, smartass,” he said, dropping a piece of candy back into the bowl. “You better go before I tell Randall not to bring your car tomorrow.”

  I started walking backward and pulled on my mask. “He said it was ready for tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, now get lost,” he said as another group of kids walked toward the house.

  I traveled the lawn, avoiding most of the people walking the pavement. Cars were pulled along the side of the main drive and there were a few over in the parking lot. People knew the event house never handed out candy, but they came to look at the decorations anyway.

  I reached LJ’s front step at the same time as a mini Spiderman and princess.

  “You’re a little old to be doing this,” Mini Princess squeaked and rushed in front of me.

  “I’m just here to scare my girl,” I said with a laugh then hid beside the door.

  She looked at me as if she’d worn her tiara for years and beat down commoners for fun, but didn’t squeak another word when she pressed the doorbell.

  “Trick or treat,” they both said when someone answered.

  LJ’s voice floated outside. “Happy Halloween, you guys. I love your costumes.”

  They pushed their bags close to the entry and her arm emerged to drop some candy. “Thanks,” they both replied. Mini Princess backed up and looked at me stone-faced before calling out, “Your boyfriend’s here to scare you.”

  LJ’s peeked out of the door and I threw my hands up. “Thanks a lot, you little tyrant. I hope you lose a shoe.”

  They both ran away laughing and LJ smiled. Her hair was pulled back into pony tail and she was wearing my green T-shirt with a pair of jeans. “You thought you’d scare me, huh?”

  “Don’t believe the princess. She’s pissed because she wanted to dance with me and I told her I was busy.”

  “Why didn’t you remind me that you were dressing up tonight?” she asked with a giggle then looked to see if there were any more kids around before motioning me inside.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were dressing down?” I ran my fingers along the bottom edge of the shirt, thinking of her without jeans. She smirked mischievously, but didn’t respond as she closed the door. “Pop and I’ve had these same masks for years. It’s nothing special.”

  “Well, it’s creepy. You probably would’ve scared me,” she admitted, setting the candy bucket on the entry table.

  “It is one of the only Halloween masks worth wearing. The only bad thing about it is that the mouth doesn’t open.”

  She stepped closer to me and said, “Let me help with that.” Her fingers lifted the bottom of the mask as she pressed her body to mine. Then she rose onto her tiptoes.

  I leaned down so she could plant her fine lips on me. Moments later, a cough interrupted us. We broke apart awkwardly, realizing her dad was watching from the kitchen entry.

  “I thought you had more sense than to get mixed up with psychopaths,” Carson said with the tiniest of smiles. I got his joke, and its undertone, though it seemed LJ missed the joke part.

  “Dad,” LJ said. She sounded honestly offended. Does she not know whose face I have on? I started to laugh as I yanked off the mask and she looked at me, confused.

  Carson laughed, too, and stepped closer to us. “I knew she wouldn’t get that reference.” He tucked his hands into his pockets.

  LJ was clearly puzzled. She put her hands on her hips and looked at the mask in my hands.

  “Michael Myers,” I said and she frowned.

  “I told her a Freddy Krueger joke the other day and I got nothing,” Carson said. “It hurt what little faith I had left in the younger generation considerably. I’m glad you know something about horror classics, though.”

  “Nothing beats a good slasher movie,” I jested, happy that he was more relaxed with me tonight. “So what was the Krueger joke? Does it have something to do with yo’ momma?” I asked, remembering that I’d passed that same joke around the property a while back.

  “That would be the one. A friend shared it the other night because sh—they said it was the only joke they could remember.”

  LJ’s hand flinched beside me. She noticed his correction, too, but didn’t comment. The person was definitely more than a friend if he was trying to cover up something that innocent.

  The doorbell rang. Carson moved back to the kitchen and I threw my mask on to help LJ hand out candy. When she opened the door, I’d planned to creep behind her and act like I was about to kill her to scare the kids.

  “Trick or treat,” a boy’s voice came from around the door.

  “Happy Halloween,” LJ said. “Here ya go.”

  “Hey, LJ.” A familiar guy’s voice also came from behind the door.

  “Hey…” LJ paused as if she’d forgotten his name.

  As soon as I registered who it was, I immediately abandoned my act and opened the door wider to be seen. “What’s up, Ryan?”

  LJ dropped some candy into Ryan’s little brother’s bag. Jacoby was dressed as Iron Man. Ryan wasn’t wearing a costume. Then again, he didn’t need one since he looked like a dick anyway.

  Ryan smirked and shook his head. His laid a hand on one of Jacoby’s shoulders. “Not much, Benj. Just thought we’d come check out the decorations,” he said. His eyes shifted to LJ and he added, “They’re a lot better this year.”

  I clenched one fist automatically and tugged the mask off with my other hand. I wasn’t planning
on beating him down in front of his brother, but it would happen if he kept it up.

  “You make a great Iron Man,” LJ said to Jacoby, ignoring the obvious tension.

  “Thanks,” he replied, standing taller and removing his mask. “You’d make an awesome Pepper Potts.” He winked at her boldly.

  “I’m flattered.” LJ giggled with a smile that the kid would probably think about later in his room, and Ryan laughed. Dammit! It was bad enough that Ryan was hitting on her, but now his ten-year-old brother was, too? Unbelievable. I couldn’t get mad at him, though. If I were ten again, I would try the same thing.

  I put on a smile and shook my head, not wanting to be the dick in this scenario when I really wanted to slam the door in their faces.

  “Tomorrow’s the Halloween party, right?” Ryan asked, looking at me and raising his brow smugly.

  I was tempted to lie, but I knew it wouldn’t work. “Yeah. No cover, but for you we’ll make an exception.”

  “I’ll be sure to bring some cash,” he said with another smirk, confirming his intentions. “Thanks for the candy, LJ. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

  I clenched my teeth as they turned to leave. LJ shut the door then covered my shaky fist with her hands. “Hey,” she whispered. “He wants you to get mad, so just let it go.” Her hands moved up my chest, unzipping the top of my coveralls to get closer to me.

  With a lengthy sigh, I shrugged out of the arms then tied them loosely around my waist. This left only a thin, T-shirt barrier between her fingers and my skin. “Okay. I have to admit that I was close to slicing Iron Man with my plastic kitchen knife.”

  She giggled and smiled just for me. “Baby, you have nothing to worry about.”

  “I’ll never stop worrying about you,” I admitted, dipping my face down and slowly brushing my lips over hers.

  The doorbell broke us apart again. We stayed in the front foyer for an hour until the flow of hooligans died. After a while, I mentioned Pop’s office idea. With Carson home, we knew he wouldn’t let us “clean” the attic this late, so the office was a logical substitute.

  We had about an hour to pick through some ledgers and photo albums before Carson came to kick me out.

  “And you didn’t find anything new in Dahlia’s journal?” I asked because we hadn’t talked about it since we were in the attic.

  “Ripped pages after that threatening entry. Nothing else,” she replied with a sigh.

  I took her fingers and laced them with mine when we got to the front door. “We won’t look for anything tomorrow. We’ll just enjoy the party. It should be pretty entertaining,” I said, knowing I was in for a full night of anger management if Ryan showed.

  “I can’t wait to see you in an old suit,” she said with a crooked grin.

  I opened the door and turned around outside. “And I can’t wait to see you in a corset. There’s something so sexy about those things.” I leaned close to her ear and whispered, “What’s he working tomorrow?”

  Her eyes darted around the empty foyer and she whispered back, “Late shift.”

  “We might not wear the clothes for long.”

  “All right. I’m off to spend the evening with a bunch of rowdy animals,” Dad called up into the attic.

  “Can you grab this?” I asked, passing down the bag holding the dress Izzy picked. He took it first then grabbed the hoop cages. “Thanks,” I said, stepping down the ladder with my own dress.

  “It’s nice that Izzy’s coming over,” he said with the bag tucked under one arm and the cages threaded over the other.

  “Yeah, she’s great. She’s not the dressy type so hopefully it’s fun for her.” I pushed open my bedroom door with my back and tossed my dress onto the bed.

  Dad set the rest beside mine and placed his hands on his scrub-covered hips. “The party sounds like it’ll be fun. I’m going to try and stop by when I get a dinner break tonight.”

  “Really?” I asked, knowing the reason was probably to keep an eye on Ben and me. I’d hoped after they’d bonded over a common love for old school horror films that Dad would ease up a little. But I guess he wasn’t going to get over whatever his informant had told him that easily. I moved to the bathroom to set out the hair products Izzy and I would need for tonight.

  “Yeah, I’m curious,” his voice traveled through the open bathroom door. “I also agreed to let Gavin invite his girlfriend, Taylor. Her father is driving her. This is later than they are usually allowed to hang out on the weekend and I’d like to make sure they don’t get into trouble. Can I trust you to check on them and make sure her drop off and pick up go okay?”

  Ah. That was how he’d be certain Ben and I weren’t doing anything. He wanted me to babysit. Great. “Sure. I’m not going anywhere,” I replied, bunching my brows and grimacing to the mirror before I heard his footsteps move toward the bathroom.

  He poked his head around the doorframe before stepping halfway in. “Good to know,” he said, though he already knew I wouldn’t have left the property. He just didn’t want me leaving the party. “Taylor is supposed to get here before the party starts at seven and I believe her dad plan to pick her up at nine thirty.”

  “Okay,” I mumbled.

  He tapped his hand on the doorframe and stood straighter. “Just please be careful tonight.”

  Tearing my eyes from the bobby pins and elastics on the vanity, I finally looked at him. His eyes were heavy, bearing the same weight of every single parent. He was worried. And it was creasing his skin and graying his hair faster than his old job had. “There’s nothing to worry about, Dad,” I assured him. It was a partial truth. His worries were all about my love life when in reality that was the one place I felt safe. My own head was another story. With headaches and high pitches paining me and voices of others wishing to better their life, it often felt like I was losing a battle somewhere deep inside.

  He smirked and tapped the doorframe once more. “Okay, well, have fun with Izzy and make sure Gavin doesn’t bail on his girl to play games.”

  I smiled before he walked out then stared back at the tangled mess of hair products I hadn’t touched since the move. I’d embraced a simpler life with simple hair. But this new life wasn’t as simple as it was supposed to be. It was starting to resemble the tangled mess sitting in front of me instead.

  When I looked up into the mirror’s reflection again, I noticed a slight discoloration inside the bathtub. I hadn’t cleaned it since last week and apparently it needed a good wipe down. The hair elastics could wait. I went to the storage closet beside my room and grabbed cleaner and a sponge. After finding a good water temperature, I plugged the tub and scrubbed the marks over and over.

  A knock at the door startled me, causing me to jump up from my bent position.

  “Hey,” Izzy said. Her wide eyes looked at the sponge in my hand. “Gavin let me in.”

  “Oh,” I replied still a little dazed. “Sorry, I didn’t hear the bell.”

  “No biggie. You look… busy. Everything okay?” she asked with a slight head tilt.

  “Yeah, everything’s fine.” I glanced back at the tub. There were no suds at the bottom, only a small puddle of clean water. “I figured I’d kill some time before you got here.” I lifted the stopper and tossed the sponge under the vanity.

  “I picked up a couple of clips like we talked about at lunch. They could pass for antique.” She placed a plastic bag beside the ball of elastics. “I bought more hair ties, too,” she said with a laugh.

  “Thanks so much.” I glanced at my phone and realized it was already six. “I should’ve started my hair instead of cleaning. I’m not sure what I was thinking.” I usually slipped into a zone while I cleaned. It was like autopilot, taking over and allowing my mind to wander. I’d never zoned out this way before, though. I couldn’t remember focusing on anything. My thoughts were blank.

  She opened the bag and ripped off the wrappers and tags. “I’m sorry that I need your help with all of this. I wouldn’t even know w
here to start with a nineteenth-century hairstyle.”

  “I had no clue either. I had to look it up the other day,” I admitted, shaking off my other thoughts. “Can you grab the chair by the dresser?” I washed my wrinkled hands in the sink to make sure all chemicals were gone even though I could tell the tub water had been clear for a while.

  “Your room’s nice.” She set the chair down and I motioned for her to sit. “I’d die to have a bathroom in my room.”

  “That’s definitely the reason I picked this room,” I replied, combing through her long, chestnut hair, parting the sections for braids.

  “I’m excited that you’ll be in my Chem class when you start Co-op Monday. It should make tolerating the mayor of snoozeville, Mr. Hobt, a little easier. I have to warn you that Ryan and Adam are in the same class, too.”

  “Well, I was excited. Now, not so much.”

  “They don’t bother me. I’m thinking you won’t be as lucky, though. On the bright side, at least it’s not Emily.”

  “True,” I agreed. I wouldn’t be able to tolerate that. And I highly doubted the class would still be dubbed snoozeville if Emily and I were in the same room. “You and Spaz are a great couple.” I decided to change the subject, glancing at her reflection in front of me.

  “It took a little while to train him,” she said and we both laughed. “I was going to pass him up when we first met. But he kept bugging me, like an annoying cricket that wouldn’t shut up. What did me in was when, in true Spaz form, he walked right into his own bike while we were talking. He knocked it over and smacked his head so hard I thought he’d have a concussion. At first, I was flattered. I had no idea his klutzy behavior was actually attributed to him breathing, not because he thought I was cute.”

  “I’m sure it was a little of both.”

  “Maybe,” she said with a smile. “So how are things with Ben?”

  I bit my lip and finished with the last braid. It was unbelievable how just the sound of his name could trigger reactions throughout my entire body. My heart quickened, my skin flushed, and I could almost smell his minty grass scent.