'Tis the Season for Love: A Charity Box Set

by Maggie Dallen

  I can’t believe Maya did that to me! She started this nightmare with her stupid truth question! I have to get out of here. I want my plump pillow, my thick duvet. I’m going to hide under it and try to pretend this stupid night never happened!

  Chapter 6

  A Fight in the Cold

  NATE

  The basketball game’s a good one, and the guys around me are really getting into it.

  But I can’t.

  It’s stupid.

  I freaking love basketball, but I can’t stop thinking about that circle and the stupid bottle spinning in the middle of it.

  Who’s it landing on?

  What are they doing? Saying?

  Has anyone kissed Shay yet?

  When I hear the shout, “I’m leaving!” I recognize Shanae’s voice and move without thinking.

  Slipping back into the kitchen, I race down the stairs in time to see Shay storming for the entrance.

  “Shay!”

  Her dark hair flies behind her as she ignores me.

  Maya leaps to her feet, pointing down at Krissy with an angry scowl. “I can’t believe you, Baroness! How could you do that to her?”

  “What? It’s funny!” Krissy snickers. “And why do you guys keep calling me Baroness?”

  “Because you’re the Baroness of Bitchville! Not only did you steal Shay’s boyfriend like some bloodhound on a hunt, but then you dared her to go and do something totally insane. And threatened her with… whatever picture you’re talking about.”

  Alex groans and dips his head.

  What picture is Maya talking about? The look on Alex’s face tells me it’s not a good one.

  I want to punch him again.

  “You don’t know?” Krissy’s laugh is high and irritating.

  Alex nudges her with his elbow. “I told you no one did,” he snaps. “You swore you wouldn’t tell anybody.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Would you all stop being so dramatic? She’ll go take some selfies and it’ll be all good.”

  “Where?” I step into the fray, worry for Shay giving me a voice. “What’s she taking pictures of?”

  Alex’s eyes dart to mine before dropping back to the shaggy rug. He starts fidgeting with the white fluff, until no one answers my question and he mutters, “The Barrett house.”

  My eyebrows pop high, anger scorching me. “You dared her to trespass on private property?”

  Krissy rolls her eyes again. “Everybody does it.”

  “And gets hurt!” I growl, and storm off to find Shay.

  She can’t do this. Last year, Harvey broke his ankle and swears he saw a ghost. I believe the guy, and I don’t want Shay getting into trouble over an idiotic dare. It’s ridiculous.

  Maya chases after me, rushing past when I stop to put my shoes on.

  “Shay!” she calls out the front door. “Stop!”

  “No!” Her voice is halfway down the driveway.

  I thump my foot, the back of my shoe bending as I wrestle it on in a hurry.

  “Please! I’m sorry!” Maya calls.

  “How could you do that to me?”

  “I was trying to make a point!” Maya’s voice is sounding kind of desperate and I suddenly wish I’d played the damn game just so I could have been there to help Shay out.

  “I didn’t need you to! I didn’t need to know that!”

  “But you don’t need to do this dare.”

  “Yes, I do!”

  “No, she doesn’t,” I mutter, pushing past Maya and running out into the cold.

  I didn’t grab my jacket and the icy air wraps around me immediately. I ignore the chill and start running, catching Shay just before she gets in her car.

  “Go away!”

  “Shay, come on. What happened in there?”

  “Oh, only my best friend betraying me to prove that my ex-boyfriend is a total dick! He cheated on me!” She spins, the lights from the house dimly highlighting the hurt and anger. “Did you know that?”

  “Uh.” I rub the back of my neck and look down at her unlaced boots. “I’d wondered, but I didn’t know for sure.”

  “Great! So I was the only one who thought Alex had even just a smidge of decency left in him!” She slumps back against her car, her jacket rustling as she crosses her arms. “It’s so embarrassing.”

  “You don’t need to be embarrassed. Alex and Krissy are the jerks here. Not you.”

  “No, I’m just the clueless wonder!” She flicks her arms up and spins back to open her door.

  I quickly reach forward and hold it shut. She’s right in front of me now. I’m close enough to reach out and pull her against me, wrap my arms around her waist and nestle her in tight.

  Thank God she’s got her back to me. What if she saw my face and read everything I was thinking?

  A whiff of her perfume catches me and it’s taking all my willpower not to act on this.

  “You don’t have to do the dare,” I whisper. The white puffs out of my mouth hit her beanie and dissipate.

  She goes stiff in front of me, her tiny hand gripping the handle of the car door.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Why? It’s stupid. You know what happened to Harvey last year. Don’t do it, Shay.”

  “I have to,” she grits out.

  “Because you don’t want Krissy getting the upper hand? Who cares what she thinks of you? You’re way better than her.”

  “It’s not about that,” she snaps, glancing over her shoulder to glare at me.

  She’s close enough to kiss. I could lean down and press my lips against hers.

  I could—

  “I’m doing it. And nothing you say is going to stop me. That picture will not see the light of day.”

  “What picture?”

  Shay blanches, her eyes bulging before she looks to the ground and mumbles, “It’s nothing.”

  “It must be something if it’s making you act like this.” When she doesn’t respond, I keep going, hoping to persuade her. “She can’t threaten you this way. Just let everyone see the pic—”

  “No!” she practically screams. Using her elbow, she shoves me away and I let her.

  The look on her face right now. I can almost feel the hurt and panic radiating off her.

  “Shay.”

  Wrenching her door open, she slams into her car and starts the engine.

  I step back when she guns it and does a dangerously fast U-turn.

  “Be careful,” I whisper, wincing as she tears away from Maya’s house.

  Crossing my arms against the cold, I trudge back to the front door. Maya’s now bundled up and standing on the top step.

  She watched the whole thing and looks about ready to cry. “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

  Resting my hand on her shoulder, I give it a light squeeze. “She’ll forgive ya.”

  “I know. I just hope she doesn’t make me wait too long.” Maya blinks and sniffs. “She’s gonna do that dare, isn’t she?”

  “Yep.” I shove my hands in my pockets. “If there’s one thing we both know about Shay, she’s not about to back out on a dare, no matter how stupid it might be.”

  “I’m worried about her.”

  “Don’t be.” I try for a smile. “There’s no way I’m letting her do it alone.”

  Chapter 7

  It’s Dare Time

  SHAY

  Pentatonix is singing “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” As much as I love them, I’m hating the sound right now. The words are grating me, reminding me of Spencer and how he won’t be home.

  I slept so badly last night.

  I couldn’t switch off. I was so riled over the whole Alex cheating on me thing, and then Maya kept texting me until after midnight. I was tempted to shut off my phone, but in the end, I texted her back telling her she was forgiven.

  “Sort of,” I murmur under my breath as I struggle to wrap two ornaments that are oddly shaped and freaking impossible. I even did them in tissue paper first and this still isn’t working
!

  “Did you say something?” Mr. Neils leans forward, his wrinkled hand resting on the counter.

  “No.” I smile and shake my head, my throat swelling as the dare rounds over me again.

  I have to do it today.

  Not only will it eat me alive if I don’t get it over with, but Krissy somehow got my number (probably off Alex the Betrayer) and has been hassling me all morning.

  Kristina: It has to be done today or that picture is going up first thing tomorrow. Won’t that be a nice Christmas present for you?

  I sent her back the rudest gifs and emojis I could find, but I’m sure that just fueled the fire because her texts only got more gleeful and irritating.

  After a whole lot of begging, Mom has finally agreed to let me finish work a couple of hours early. I lied and told her I had to get some last-minute shopping done with Maya, then I took it a step further saying how working all the time makes me feel like I’m missing out. She caved almost immediately. It was probably a little below the belt to play on her guilt and the fact she’s using me for cheap labor, but it got me what I needed.

  I know my bestie well enough that she’ll cover for me without me having to warn her. She’s so riddled with guilt right now; she’ll do anything to get in my good graces. Not that I’m going to take advantage or anything, it’s just nice to know that she’ll lie for me when I need her to.

  Once this dare is finished, I might go around and see her. Smooth things over. If I’m fast enough, I can catch her before I have to be home for Christmas Eve eggnog—a family tradition that’s been practiced since my grandmother was a little girl.

  I wonder what it’ll be like this year. A bitter taste fills my mouth, knowing that Spencer won’t have made the eggnog and his rich voice won’t be joining us as we sing a couple of carols by the tree.

  Ugh!

  Why is Mom insisting that we keep it going this year? It won’t be the same without him. Dad’s playing along, because he doesn’t want to hurt her any more than he already has. I wish my father would just freaking get over himself. He’s as stubborn as Spencer. I haven’t spoken to him about it, but I wonder sometimes if he regrets his judgment and the fact he told Spencer if he drops out of school to follow his heart, he’ll be a poor loser for the rest of his life.

  It hurt Spencer more than he was willing to admit, and so came the slamming door and the see you never.

  Walking into school the next day without my brother sucked big time. Gossip sparked and whipped through the town like wildfire. I didn’t know how to handle it at first, but in the end I just went for a simplified truth—Spencer fell in love with an internet buddy and moved to Seattle so they could be together.

  I left out details about the thunderous arguments and my parents’ shock over finding out that said internet buddy is actually a man who is five years older than my brother. None of us knew Spencer was gay… let alone in love. He just kind of sprung it on us.

  “I’ve fallen in love with Charlie.”

  Mom blinked and leaned forward in her seat, “Who’s she?”

  Spencer started squirming in his chair after that, then went into full-blown defensive mode.

  “I’m gay, okay? And I’m moving in with Charlie.”

  “You’re what?” Dad erupted like a volcano.

  It just went from bad to worse after that.

  I feel like such an idiot for never noticing Spencer was gay. Did he always know he was? Had he gone through life trying to hide it?

  That makes me really sad. The thought of my brother feeling like he couldn’t be himself breaks my heart.

  It must have taken so much courage to finally come out. I just wish he’d done it differently. Like maybe given my parents a chance to warm up to the idea bit by bit, rather than announcing his love for a man we’d never met and then telling us he wanted to move to Seattle so they could be together.

  It rocked my parents pretty hard. After nearly a month of screaming matches—Dad trying to persuade Spencer to rethink his “life choices”—my brother gave up on us all and dropped out of his senior high school year, claiming that he wished he’d never been born into our family. It was a brutal blow that I’m not sure Dad will ever recover from.

  I’m not sure I will either. Spencer was so wrapped up fighting with Dad and being defensive that he didn’t even give me the chance to show him I felt differently. He just lumped me in with Mom and Dad. It pissed me off, made me withdraw, and now I’ve lost him for good.

  Just stop thinking about it!

  I can’t get sucked into the family drama vortex if I’m going to survive the Barrett Ranch. All I know is that I have to do this dare. My life will be over if that humiliating picture surfaces.

  A shiver races down my spine, my fingers trembling as I slide the poorly wrapped gifts across the counter.

  The old man smiles at me. “Thank you, dear.”

  I help him load up his shopping bag then watch him shuffle away.

  “Deck the Halls” is now bursting through the store with a grating Christmas cheer. I frown at the speaker on the wall behind me and get busy cleaning up the scraps from my wrapping job.

  Alex swore he deleted that photo. He should never have taken it in the first place, but he thought it was hilarious and I was too mortified to fight him on it at the time. But the next day he promised. It was our secret and he’d never tell anyone. Anyone!

  “Asshole,” I mutter, slamming my fist into the trash can to squish the rubbish down.

  It’s his fault I have to go through with this stupid dare.

  I shake out my fist and bustle around behind the counter, ignoring the ding of the shop door opening. Hopefully Mom’s available to deal with this next customer, because I’m having a mini freak-out over where I’m going once I get off work.

  I’ve never actually been to the Barrett Ranch. I’ve seen it from a distance. Nell lives next door to it. Although, next door out in the country is like the next few miles over. You can’t even see the house from Nell’s place. I mean, if you ride out to the very back pasture, and stand on the top of the fence post, you can see the edge of the house in the distance.

  It sits up on the hill, exposed to the elements and slowly deteriorating.

  It’s always been a strange place. Ray Barrett became this kind of hermit when his wife passed away, but then all of a sudden these boys showed up. I remember overhearing Mom and Dad discussing it—trying to figure out who these children were and what Ray was doing with them.

  His grandsons. Nell told me about it once.

  She wouldn’t say how they ended up with Ray, just that he was looking after them.

  “Why don’t they go to school?”

  “Home-schooled,” she muttered, and then quickly changed the subject.

  I thought it was weird, but I was eight at the time and didn’t even think to press her for more info. She stayed kind of tight-lipped when it came to the Barrett boys.

  She basically never talks about them now. No one really knows what happened in that house five years ago, but the rumors are rife. I’ve heard everything from a plague that wiped the family out to murder.

  A shiver runs through me again. I rub my arms and check the time, annoyed that my heart rate is spiking over this.

  It’s just a house!

  An empty, possibly haunted, house.

  I swallow and stand tall, wiping my sweaty palms down my heinous elf outfit.

  “You can head off now if you like, sweets.” Mom waves goodbye to the customer who just left.

  “What?” My head shoots up.

  “Just go. Your dad said he’ll come help out for the last hour and I can cover this place until he arrives. You go have fun with Maya.”

  My mouth is too dry to speak, and it’s not until she starts giving me an odd frown that I manage to pull off a smile.

  “Great,” I rasp, then clear my throat. “Excellent. Good. Maya will be stoked.”

  I’m acting like a total moron and seriously need to
pull it together.

  “I know it’s tough,” Mom whispers. “It’s just not the same without him. He was always your shopping buddy.” She starts to blink, and I can feel the tingle of tears in my nose.

  This always happens when we talk about Spencer.

  I can’t have her breaking down in the middle of the store, so I force a cheerful grin and hug her.

  “I’ll be fine. I love you, Mom.”

  She hugs me back like she’ll die if she doesn’t and then kisses my cheek.

  “Have fun. Be safe. You know the drill. And be home in time for eggnog.” She laughs and swipes a finger under her eyes.

  “Will do. See ya later.” I turn away and rush for the back of the store.

  Trying to change with shaking hands is really hard, but I manage to pull Christmas puke off me and layer up for what I imagine will be a very chilly exploration of the Barrett house. I carefully packed my bag this morning, making sure I had a flashlight and the pepper spray Dad insisted I take to San Francisco when I went there with the Rhinehoffs last year. I’m not sure if ghosts are affected by pepper spray, but—

  “There’s no such thing as ghosts!” I whisper-bark, gripping my bag strap and heading out the back door.

  It’s colder today than it was yesterday, and I shudder against the wind that slaps my cheeks on the way to the car.

  As soon as I’m in, I buckle up and blast the heater, starting my long trek out to the Barrett Ranch.

  I nearly text Maya to warn her about covering for me, but I change my mind.

  She wants to come with me on this big adventure. She said it in one of her gazillion texts last night, but I refused every time. This is stressful enough without having to look after someone else as well. Maya scares way easier than I do.

  The haunted house three Halloweens ago nearly paralyzed her. I practically had to carry her through the second half of it. She jumped on my back and screamed in my ear the entire way. It was freaking painful and I told her she was never to enter one again.

  She’d probably pass out at the Barrett Ranch. Not that there are ghosts there, but still…the creep factor is pretty freaking high.