They walked back to Shay’s place, said their goodbyes to Ben and watched him walk down the sidewalk.
“Shay, would it be okay if I stayed for a while? I think we need some girl time.”
“Sure, no problem, just don’t forget to text your mom.”
As they went to Shay’s room Alix texted her mom and let her know where she was and that she’d be home by six o’clock. If they wanted to get together after school, they always had to go to Shay’s because she had to be home to watch her sister until her parents got home. Shay put her bag away and flopped down on her bed. Alix settled into the bright purple bean bag chair next to the bed.
“So, what’s up? You don’t ask for girl time very often, it’s usually me freaking out about something.”
“You know as well as me that some strange things have happened over the last couple of days, well I think there’s something going on around here. I don’t think it’s a series of coincidences. I’ve made a list of everything I’ve noticed. Here, read it.”
“Of course, you made a list of everything,” Shay said, laughing as she took the notebook from Alix.
Strange Occurrences
- New people move into a creepy house
- The old rusty gate is suddenly new, trees on the property all neat and tidy never saw anyone there to do it
- Ben seemed to appear out of nowhere
- The huge house looks new even though no one has lived there for years
- Inside of house was perfect, looked like they had lived there for a long time, not moved in that day
- His touch made my arm tingle
- The strange door that wouldn’t open
- Cookies were homemade and still warm even though there wasn’t enough time to do that in
- Something in the treetops that I couldn’t see, but it made no noise
- Gate seemed to close by itself
- Parents giving strange looks when I mention Ben
- Parents hushed conversation about me
- How did Ben really pick my name in biology?
- Why does he throw me off my game?
- What did her dad mean by; be careful?
- Really real dream about cabin and hand tattoo
Alix could practically see the wheels turning as Shay read her list. Shay finished reading and put down the notebook. “Wow, that’s quite a list. I didn’t realize the list of strangeness was so long.”
“I have one more thing to add to the list, give me the book for a minute.”
- My hand tingled when Ben and I shook hands
“It’s really strange Shay. I’ve shaken lots of hands and had tons of people accidentally touch me, but I’ve never felt anything like it. It’s not like a shock, but more like pins and needles when your leg falls asleep, it’s a very odd sensation. What do you think it means?”
“I have no idea, Alix. This whole list is weird, and it’s super unusual because nothing ever happens around here. I’ll definitely be watching everything with a closer eye. You’d better let me know if you see or hear anything else.”
“I will for sure,” Alix paused, “I have something else to tell you. Look at these.” Alix got out Ben’s drawings from Biology and handed them to Shay. “Aren’t they great? I was so tired before Biology started that I told Ben he had to make sure I didn’t fall asleep during class, so he kept passing me these small drawings to keep me awake. If you put them all together they form a bigger picture, cool huh.”
Shay looked at the drawings, shook her head and looked up at Alix. “See, I told you, he likes you. There is no way he would take all this time to draw these for you just to keep you awake. He. Likes. You.”
“I don’t know Shay, I think he was just being nice.”
“Alix, guys our age typically aren’t nice just to be nice. Yes, he’s a nice guy, but he’s trying to show you he likes you. I see that look on your face. You’re thinking ‘why would anyone like me?’ but stop it. You are gorgeous! That long brown hair, pretty blue eyes, perfectly pouty lips, fabulous skin, and great personality, what’s not to like? You need to see yourself more clearly Alix. You do realize that all of the girls in our class are jealous of you right? And not because you’re friends with the hot new guy, but because you’re beautiful, you always have been.”
“You’re biased Shay, you have to say that because you’re my best friend, it’s your job.”
“Hang on, I’ll prove it,” she said, getting out her phone and sending a text to someone. “There, now just wait and see.”
They didn’t have to wait long for a reply.
“Ha, I knew it!” Shay practically yelled as she texted back.
“What did you do Shay?”
“I was performing my best friend duties. Here, I’ll even show you.” She handed Alix her phone.
Alix took it and looked at the screen. She had texted Ben.
Shay: Do you think Alix is pretty?
Ben: Yes, she is very pretty. Why?
Shay: She’s having trouble seeing it. Thx!
Ben: Anytime ☺
“Oh my god, I can’t believe you did that!” Alix scolded Shay as her face flushed beet red. “I’m so embarrassed.” Alix tried to hide her face in her hands.
Shay immediately went into best friend mode and kneeled down in front of her. “Alix, look at me, please.” Alix slowly looked up at Shay. “I didn’t do this to embarrass you and I’m sorry if I did. I only wanted to help you see yourself like the rest of us do. And the reason I texted Ben was because he hasn’t lived here his whole life, it’s an outside opinion. And I trusted him to tell me the truth. He seems like a stand-up guy. Please don’t be mad at me.” Then she looked at Alix with her best puppy dog eyes and pouty lips.
Alix couldn’t help but give into Shay when she gave her that look, and Shay knew it.
“You don’t play fair,” Alix said to her with a slight smile on her face.
“Never said I did. Am I forgiven?”
“Yeah. Just don’t do that again, okay?”
“Deal.”
A couple of hours later after looking at Shay’s magazines and chatting about nothing, Alix got up and grabbed her bag. “I’d better get home,” she said. “Thanks for not eating all the cookies. You know my dad likes them almost as much as you do. Talk to you tomorrow.” Alix waved at Shay’s sister as she headed out the door.
Chapter 6
As Alix left Shay’s house she headed in the direction of Ben’s place. She hadn’t walked passed the property since they had moved in and she wanted to see if it still creeped her out. She stopped a few yards down from the gate and closed her eyes. She waited for the familiar feeling to come over her, but it didn’t. That in itself was weird since she always had the same feeling for as long as she could remember.
She was about to head home when something caught her eye. Alix looked at the trees but couldn’t see it. Not this again, she thought. She turned her head and thought she saw it again. This time she saw a branch move so she knew it wasn’t her imagination. Ever curious, Alix walked slowly towards the gate. Since it was open she took a few steps down the driveway. Whatever she’d seen was in the trees, so she walked between two of the huge trees that lined the driveway and into the overgrown forest.
For about a minute Alix made her way through the thick growth, all the while keeping her eyes open. She stopped and took in her surroundings. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but she could help feeling like she was being watched. Since she was getting sufficiently creeped out and technically trespassing she decided it was best to go home. She was almost back to the driveway when she felt something on her shoulder. She looked but there was nothing there. Then she felt the same thing on her other shoulder and again there was nothing there. The next thing she knew something was pulling on her hair and touching her face. She screamed and ran out of the trees.
She was scared and not watching where she was going and ended running into someone who grabbed on to her. That had her screaming again.
“Ben?” she said when she realized it was him.
“Yes Alix, it’s me. What happened? You look terrified.”
“Um …” she started to tell him, but she didn’t really know him and didn’t want to sound crazy.
“It’s okay, you can tell me.”
She thought about it for a moment and decided to tell him. To her surprise when she finished telling him he wasn’t looking at her like she was crazy.
“I’m sorry that happened Alix. I wish I knew what to tell you but since we just moved here I haven’t done any exploring. I could go check it out if you like.” he told her.
“It’s okay. I’m fine now.” she said as she realized she was still in his arms. Her face went bright red. “Uh … I think you can let me go now.”
“Are you sure?” he said teasing her.
“Yeah, pretty sure.”
“Do you need me to walk you home?” he asked seriously.
“No, I think I’ll be fine and it’s only a few minutes. Well, I should get going. And thank you for, uh, saving me I guess.”
“Anytime Alix, anytime.”
She didn’t know what to say to that, so she left the driveway and started walking home. She had a lot to process from the last few minutes, but she wasn’t ready to talk to her parents just yet, so she took some calming breaths before going into her house. She hoped she looked normal on the outside because she felt anything but normal on the inside.
When she walked into the house something smelled fantastic. She put her jacket away and went straight to the kitchen and saw per parents getting dinner ready.
“It smells great in here,” Alix said to them. “What’s for dinner?”
“It was so nice out that your dad decided to grill steaks and since I wasn’t able to be here yesterday as I promised, I made your favorite twice baked potatoes. And you’re right on time to eat. Help me put everything on the table.”
Alix must have looked okay since her mom was treating her like everything was normal. She grabbed some dishes and took them to the table. They all sat down and dished up their food. The longer she was at home the better she felt.
“This looks sooooo good,” Alix said, before taking a few bites, “But it tastes even better than it looks. Great dinner.”
As they ate her mom asked her all the questions she hadn’t had a chance to ask her yesterday. This time nobody gave her any funny looks when she mentioned Ben. By the time she was finished eating she was stuffed.
“My turn to clean up,” Alix said, taking her plate to the sink.
“I’ll help you Alix, that way we can get it done faster and get to family movie night. Ted, why don’t you go get the living room ready for movie time.”
Alix started clearing the table while her mom loaded the dishwasher.
“So, I met the new people who moved into that place by Shay’s house,” her mom said out of the blue.
Alix stopped what she was doing and turned to look at her mom. “And …?”
“You were right, they’re very nice people. I talked to Natalie for over an hour. Turns out we have a lot in common.”
“See, I told you,” Alix said.
By the time they were done cleaning up in the kitchen her dad had picked out four movies to choose from. If her mom wasn’t working, then Friday night was always family movie night. It had been a tradition ever since Alix could remember. They took turns picking the movies and it was her dad’s turn tonight. Settling in for the movie she turned her phone off, a strongly enforced rule of movie night and her dad put in Transformers and they settled in to watch it hoping she would forget about what happened earlier.
When the first movie was done they took a break and made popcorn, Alix’s all-time favorite snack. They each grabbed a bowl and went back to the living room and her dad put in the romantic comedy. Alix liked most kinds of movies but if she had to choose a favorite it would probably be romantic comedies, they always had a happy ending and she was a sucker for a happy ending. The movie ended leaving her with a silly, happy feeling and a smile on her face. She was still tired from lack of sleep the night before, so she said goodnight to her parents and went to her bedroom. She was so tired that she was lost in a dreamless sleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
****
She woke up the next morning feeling like a new person glad that she hadn’t had any crazy dreams. As she went to the kitchen and started the coffee she thought about what happened yesterday. She was kind of glad she was by herself this morning. She really didn’t know how she was able to act normal when she got home be she’d managed it. She had to admit that she was scared. What could have possibly been in the forest with her? As she listened to the coffee she wondered what Shay was up to today. Oh no, Shay! She was so tired last night she forgot to check her phone before she went to bed. She ran back to her room to get her phone. Sure enough, there were five texts from Shay from last night and one from this morning.
Shay: 6:30 pm Hey. What’s happening?
Shay: 7:01 pm Are you there?
Shay: 7:17 pm Must be movie night. Text me when it’s over.
Shay: 10:13 pm Where are you?
Shay: 10:39 pm Guess you fell asleep. Text me in the morning.
Shay: 9:35 am Are you alive?
Alix looked at the clock, it was after 10 am. Wow, she didn’t realize she had slept so long. She texted Shay back right away.
Alix: Hey, fell asleep last night and just woke up.
Shay replied almost immediately.
Shay: It’s about time. I was about to come over and check on you.
Alix: Sorry. I was so tired last night as soon as I hit the bed I was out.
Shay: You’re forgiven, this time ☺
Alix: Thx. What are you up to today?
Shay: Babysitting for the Millers later. You?
Alix: Nothing. Mom and dad are both working. What time do you have to babysit?
Shay: 4:00
Alix: Want to come over and hang out? I need to talk to you.
Shay: Is everything ok?
Alix: Mostly
Shay: Ok, I’ll be over in a while, but you have to feed me.
Alix: Ok ☺
Alix figured she’d better shower before Shay came over. She was ready twenty-minutes later and went back to the kitchen and made her coffee. She grabbed an apple and her coffee and went to the living room to read until Shay got there.
It was about 11:30 am when Shay walked in the door. “Hey, I’m here.”
“Living room,” Alix answered back.
They had been friends for so long that they were as comfortable in each other’s houses as they were their own. Shay came into the living room and plopped down on the couch next to Alix.
“Still reading that vampire book?”
“Yeah, I’m almost done. I’ll hopefully finish it tonight. It’s really good, the best one in the series so far.”
“That’s good. Now feed me, I’m starving. And tell me what’s going on.” Shay said dragging Alix to the kitchen.
Alix started making grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.
“What did you want to tell me?” Shay asked.
Alix told her what happened after she left her house yesterday.
“I can’t leave you alone for five minutes without you going and scaring yourself to death. What am I going to do with you Alix.” Shay said smiling. “Are you okay though?”
“I guess. I mean I was really scared but then Ben was there and …” Alix paused. “I was so scared yesterday I didn’t stop to think why Ben was there in the first place. I mean it’s not like he left the property when I did so what was he doing there?”
“Waiting to rescue you.” Shay said grinning.
“I highly doubt that.” Alix told her. “He must have been going for a walk or something.”
“Maybe,” Shay said, “but I think he was there for you. So … what was it like to be held i
n those strong gorgeous arms?”
“It was okay.” Alix replied knowing Shay wasn’t going to believe her. Alix could feel that she was blushing again.
“Yeah, yeah, lie to someone else Alix, you know I can see it written on you face.”
“Fine.” Alix huffed. “It was nice. I was so scared, and he made me not feel scared. Okay?”
“Okay, I’ll take that for now.” Shay was still grinning at her.
“So, mom went over to visit Ben’s parents yesterday.” Alix said shifting the topic away from Ben. “She said she really liked them. She almost looked relieved, like she was expecting something else.”
“Hmm. Hey, wait, how did she get in? I’ve noticed that the gate has been kept closed since we left there the other day.”
“I didn’t think to ask actually.” Alix said. “I’ll try and remember to ask her later.”
“Okay,” was all Shay had to say. Alix could tell Shay was thinking and left her to her thoughts as she put the finishing touches on lunch.
Alix brought the food to the table and the girls dished up their soup and grilled cheese.
“Mmm, good as always,” Shay said to Alix as she started eating. “Your food always tastes better than mine.”
“I don’t do anything special. I think sometimes that food just tastes better when someone else makes it.”
They finished eating, cleaned up, and went to Alix’s room. They hung out for about an hour before Shay started bugging Alix to bake her something. She held out for about a half hour before she finally gave in. She always had a hard time saying no to her friend.
“So, what do you want?” Alix asked her on the way to the kitchen.
“How about The Alix Cookie? Haven’t had those in a while.”
“Good suggestion. You can help me.”
Alix turned on the oven and started gathering everything she needed. Mixer, bowl, measuring cups, measuring spoons, and cookie sheets. Then she got all the ingredients together. She knew the recipe by heart, it was her own creation after all. She started measuring ingredients and had Shay operate the mixer. In no time at all the cookies were mixed and ready to put on the sheets. The girls scooped and rolled the cookies into balls and put them in the oven. They played hangman while they waited for the cookies to bake, something they had done for years when they baked together. The timer went off on the first batch, Alix took them out, put them to cool and they got the next batch ready for the oven. Four batches later all the cookies were done. They tidied the kitchen while the cookies cooled. Alix never let Shay have any until all the cookies were done. They each got a glass of milk and took some cookies into the living room. They found something to watch on TV and enjoyed the cookies.
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