by Isabel Fox
Normally not bothered by the dark, I suddenly felt very jumpy. I felt around for a light switch but couldn’t find one. I wished I hadn’t left my cell phone in my bag. I could have used the light. Placing my hand lightly on the wall to guide myself, I slowly made my way towards the window. The hallway seemed impossibly long, and I briefly wondered why Amber’s parents had felt the need to buy a house that was the length of a football field.
A sudden movement inside a room to my right made me pause. I looked carefully, uncertain if I had imagined the movement or not. I willed my eyes to adjust, but I still couldn’t see much. I remembered that Amber’s parents had their master suite on the first floor of the house, so it seemed unlikely that either of them were up here. Could it be Uncle Patrick? Had he ventured over into the main house to stand in a darkened room upstairs for some reason?
Standing very still, I waited to see if anything would happen. Again, a quick flash of movement caught my attention. I took a step closer, and was just about the step inside when suddenly a hand pressed on my shoulder.
With a yelp, I jumped backwards and collided with Amber, sending us both to the floor in a heap.
“Jesus, Cassie,” Amber said, sounding surprised. She struggled to her feet, hauling me up with her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just...nothing. I thought I saw something, and then you startled me. That’s all,” I admitted, feeling embarrassed. Amber reached just inside the door and quickly flicked on a nearby light switch I had missed. The room, which turned out to be an office, was empty.
“I really did see something,” I insisted, feeling stupid. Amber glanced around.
“Was it that?” she asked, nodding towards the window. The air coming out of the vent below the window made the lightweight curtains move back and forth. Amber turned the light out again, and I saw that when the curtain blew open a small flash of light from the brightly lit driveway cut across the room before disappearing again as the curtain fell shut.
“Oh,” I said lamely, my cheeks turning red with embarrassment. “I...feel pretty stupid,” I admitted.
“It’s okay. Just...go to bed. Like, now. Before your brain goes completely haywire, or something,” Amber said, taking me by the elbow and pulling me the rest of the way down the hall. She opened the door to the guest room and practically pushed me inside.
“Sleep!” she commanded before shutting the door.
Grumbling to myself, I opened my bag that was sitting on top of the bed. Everyone had been telling me to get some sleep lately, but I honestly wasn’t sure how it was supposed to help. It wasn’t like I was imagining, due to a sleep deprived state, that there was some whacko who was obsessed with me. That part was real. Getting a medically suggested eight hours of shut eye was not likely to make the problem disappear.
I was tired, though, so I begrudgingly removed my pajamas, toothpaste, and toothbrush from my bag and went into the en suite bathroom to change. I returned to the massive guest bed a few minutes later and pulled back the fluffy duvet. I had just made a mental note to ask for a set of sheets as soft and silky as these for Christmas before I fell soundly asleep.
20
“No, leave that one here. I’m going to give it to mom for Christmas,” Amber said the next day as we sat on the floor of her bedroom sorting through the bags from what had turned into something of a shopping spree.
After catching a movie and grabbing a quick bite for lunch, Amber had drug me around what had to have been one of the largest malls I’d ever seen. First the art supply shop, which I had expected, then to various department stores, which I hadn’t. Amber, as it turned out, had been given a surprisingly generous wad of cash by her father and told to “have fun.”
Now sporting several new additions to her wardrobe, Christmas gifts for various friends and relatives, and even a new pair of shoes for me as a “Halloween present,” Amber was methodically sorting through her purchases.
“You actually got these? I thought you put them back,” I asked, holding up a pair of neon yellow pumps.
Amber scrunched up her nose. “Yeah, I don’t really know why. I’m sure I’ll find a theme party or something to wear them to, though. Pass them here,” she said. I did, and she shoved them inside her suitcase.
I reached into another bag and pulled out a short, black mini dress. The material was silky and felt heavenly to touch.
“Wow,” I breathed. “What did you get this for? It’s beautiful.”
“Oh, that’s for you,” Amber replied without looking up from the price tag she was attempting to remove from a quilted makeup bag she’d gotten for Brooklyn.
“Me?” I asked, shocked. I immediately grabbed for the price tag and felt my stomach drop when I saw how much it cost. I also noted that the dress was definitely my size, not Amber’s.
“Yeah. For your date with James,” Amber said, now trying to rip the tag off with her teeth.
“Stop that, you’ll break a tooth,” I scolded, reaching over and taking the bag away from her. I popped the tag off and passed it back. “And I can’t accept this. It’s way too expensive,” I added.
“Of course you can. James said he’s taking you to Fugu, which is super swanky. You just have to wear it. It’ll look great on you,” Amber replied.
“No! No way. I’m not wearing this to dinner,” I insisted, shaking my head so hard my pony tail smacked me in the face.
“Uh, why not? Like I said, it’ll look great on you. I already bought it. And now,” Amber suddenly leaned over, grabbed the dress, and yanked the tag off in one swift movement, “we can’t take it back. So you might as well wear it.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Fine. But I’ll look ridiculous, like I’m taking this way more seriously than I should.”
“What do you mean, more seriously than you should?” Amber sounded bewildered, but before I could reply she continued, “Oh my god. You really, really don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?” I asked, sounding equally bewildered.
“James. Likes. You,” Amber said slowly, enunciating each word as if I was incapable of understanding English. “He likes you a lot. Not just as his sister’s friend. As an actual potential girlfriend. Do you get it now? Jesus, Cass. I love you dearly, but you can be so dense sometimes!”
I gulped. Amber seemed to think this should all be pretty obvious to me, and perhaps it should have been. James and I had been talking more than we ever had over the last few days, and had spent quite of bit of time together, what with him crashing at our house. I’d felt the excited butterflies of a crush when I was around him, and I definitely was aware that we’d been flirting a bit.
In a small but not insignificant part of my mind, though, I’d been unable to shake the idea that James must just feel sorry for me, what with having a newly acquired stalker and all, and was just being nice.
As if reading my mind, Amber reached over and put a hand on my knee. “Cassie,” she said, “when James wants to be nice to a girl, he does not ask them out to dinner at one of the single most expensive restaurants in town. He walks their dog for them, or gives them a ride home. Smiles politely at their terrible jokes, maybe. Trust me, he is not doing this just to be nice.”
“Okay, point taken. But...are you okay with that?” I asked, immediately concerned that going on an actual date, and not just a pity date, with my best friend’s brother might be too much.
“Hell yes! I already told you that. I don’t care who you date, or who James dates. At least I know I like you, unlike that weird girl from the country club he dated in high school,” Amber rolled her eyes. When she saw my curious expression, she added, “She was into chess. Like, only chess. Had no other hobbies. Spent an entire dinner talking about strategies for chess and her favorite chess players. Seriously, seriously boring.”
I shuddered in mock horror. “How awful for you. I know nothing about chess, but I do promise not to discuss checkers at great length.”
Amber laughed. “Thank god for that. Now, go hang t
hat dress up in your room and then help me figure out which one of these scarves to give my grandma for Christmas.”
21
Friday evening finally rolled around, the night of my dinner with James. I had allowed Amber to paint my nails and do my makeup, while I managed to twist my long, dark hair up into a chic knot at the nape of my neck. Combined with the pair of heeled boots I had brought with me and a leather jacket of Amber’s, I had to admit I looked pretty good.
“Freeze! I have to show Jenna and Brooklyn,” Amber commanded, holding up her phone.
“Amber! Stop! I already feel like a high schooler going to her first big dance or something,” I protested with an embarrassed laugh. In spite of my words, Amber snapped several pictures and then began texting furiously.
I rolled my eyes and then turned my gaze to my reflection in the full length mirror next to the closet. The dress was hands down one of the shortest I had ever worn, and I found myself wondering idly if I would be able to pick up something from the floor without flashing the world. The dress was fitted but not too tight, with a slight scoop neck that showed a moderate but not scandalous amount of cleavage.
Amber had done something with my makeup that gave me some semblance of high cheekbones. She’d also blended colors I would have never used on my eyelids to create a smokey palette. The whole effect was quite impressive. I felt like I was looking at my much prettier older sister rather than my own reflection.
“You look great, Cass,” Amber said, flashing me a thumbs up in the mirror. “Now go have fun!”
“What are you going to do tonight?” I asked, feeling slightly bad about abandoning Amber.
“I don’t know. I might go check out a gallery downtown with this girl in one of my art history classes who’s here for break too. Or I might just stay in and watch Grey’s Anatomy reruns. It all depends,” she laughed. “Don’t worry about me, though. I’ll be fine. You have fun!”
“Okay then. See you later,” I said with a wave. I made my way down the stairs and found myself standing in the foyer alone. James had been out that afternoon with a friend of his but had said he would be back around seven to pick me up. I was just a few minutes early, so I wandered around the foyer looking at the various family photos in an effort to quiet the butterflies in my stomach.
It was while I was admiring a photo of baby Amber, toddler James, and their mother on a beach that I heard a whistle from behind me.
“Wow,” James said as I whirled around. “You look great, Cassie.”
“You too,” I said, trying not to blush too much. It was true, though. James was dressed in well fitted black pants paired with a dark blue button down with the sleeves rolled back to expose his nicely muscled forearms.
“Thanks. Come on, let’s go. I’m starved,” he said, holding the front door open and gesturing for me to go ahead. He also held open the car door for me, and soon we were speeding down the highway.
James chatted about his afternoon with his friend and I tried to stay focused on the conversation. It was hard, though, as my mind kept flitting between how nice he looked, whether my hair was staying in place, if my makeup had smudged when I reached up to rub my eye, and whether everything I said sounded completely stupid and weird.
Suddenly, James just reached across the center console to take my hand, which was nervously fiddling with my necklace. He wrapped his hand around it and held on, firmly but gently.
I smiled and blushed, looking down at my lap. Gradually, though, I felt myself relaxing and talking more normally. By the time we arrived at Fugu we were laughing and joking and I was feeling much more myself.
“Wow,” I marveled as we stepped inside the restaurant. Everything was white, from the walls to the marble floors. White table cloths covered the tables and all of the decor on the walls was predominately white. The only color came from what appeared to be actual fugu fish lanterns that were strung around the walls.
“Pretty wild, huh?” James said, nodding at the lanterns. “When we came here when I was a kid I was terrified of those things.”
“Your parents took kids to an upscale sushi place?” I raised an eyebrow, surprised.
“Well, they only did it the one time,” James admitted as we followed a hostess to a small table on the edge of the dining room. “Amber threw rice and knocked over glasses of sake, and I cried over the fish the whole time. We didn’t come back as a family until I was in high school, I think.”
I laughed out loud as I slid into the chair James pulled out for me. Then he took his seat opposite me and shot me a dazzling smile.
“So,” he said, opening the menu in front of him. “Pretty much everything here is really great. You can’t go wrong with anything, honestly.”
“Good to know,” I replied, scanning my own menu. Sushi was one of my favorites and I was pretty excited at the prospect of some sashimi.
We both ordered, and then James began recounting some of the other outrageous things Amber had apparently done in restaurants as a child. In turn, I told him about how my grandmother had frequently allowed me to eat nothing but fried mozzarella sticks by the basketful when we had gone out to eat because I’d been such a picky child.
Then our food arrived. It was as good as I had been promised. I inhaled enough sushi to feed a small army, and James shared some of his mouth watering crab with me.
“Okay, I officially cannot eat another bite,” I said some time later. I reclined in my chair and dropped my folded up napkin on the table.
“You have to, though!” James said. “We still have dessert!”
“Well, if I eat any more I’m going to have to be wheeled out of here. Are you prepared for that responsibility?” I asked.
“I fully accept,” James nodded solemnly.
“Okay, then. What’s for dessert?”
An hour later James and I were strolling around the Japanese garden outside the restaurant. We had both agreed that the dessert had been a great idea in theory but in practice made us want to consider death as a reasonable alternative.
“I blame you for this, you know,” I said jokingly as we walked past a small pond where several koi fish darted to and fro.
“Hey, you agreed to dessert,” James protested. “And you were the one who said we should try one of everything!”
“Clearly I was out of my mind,” I admitted, “But you shouldn’t have listened to me.”
“Got it. Next time I won’t listen to anything you say. At all.” James teased. I couldn’t help it, my heart beat a little faster at the prospect of “next time.”
“I’ve had a really nice time tonight,” I told James. We had come across a small bench that sat beside the pond, and James motioned for us to sit. He reached over and took my hand.
“Me, too,” he said. “I’m really glad we did this. I was kind of thinking we should even make it a habit.”
I laughed as I watched a particularly large koi fish make his way around the edge of the pond. “So is this your way of asking me to be your girlfriend, or something?”
“Actually, yes. What do you say?”
I quickly looked away from to koi pond and into James’s eyes. They were bright and sincere. I gulped nervously, afraid I couldn’t find my voice. Taking my silence for misgivings, James continued, “Cassie, I’ve liked you since the day I met you. You’re so sweet and kind. Well, you’d have to be, to put up with my sister. You work hard. You’re smart and fun to talk to. I think we have a lot of fun together, and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you better here recently.”
“I have too!” I nodded enthusiastically. “I’ve had so much fun with you tonight. And you’ve been so great this past week, with...with everything that’s been going on. I just...are you sure you want a girlfriend who has someone in her life prone to collecting her old hair, making unannounced visits to her house, and sending her texts in the wee hours of the morning?”
“I mean, I don’t want that for you. I would rather you not have to deal with it at all. But you do,
and I want to be with you through it. I want to keep you safe.”
Overcome with an impulsive passion I hadn’t realized I had in me, instead of responding I leaned in and kissed James. It was a quick kiss, and when I leaned back I saw he looked surprised.
“Sorry. I...that was…” I stuttered.
“Your way of saying yes?” James asked, a smile stretching across his face.
“Yes,” I grinned before leaning over to kiss him again. This one lasted much longer.
22
“I’m dating your brother,” I said as I flung open the door to Amber’s room. James and I had returned home and he had bid me goodnight (with another long, slow, knee melting kiss) before heading off to his basement bedroom.
I, naturally, had immediately taken my giddy self to Amber’s room. She seemed to be uncharacteristically already in bed.
“Well, duh. Of course you are,” she answered, rolling over to peer at me in the dim light. I started to reach for the lamp on her bedside table but she reached out her hand and stopped me. “Don’t,” she said.
I drew my hand back. “Okay. But, no, I don’t just mean we went out. I mean, we in an “official relationship.” God, I always hated when people said that. But that’s what it is, I guess.”
I was aware I probably sounded like a preteen meeting her celebrity idol, so ridiculous and giddy. I couldn’t help it, though. I was the happiest I had been in recent memory.
“That’s awesome, Cass!” Amber said, wiggling underneath her comforter. “I’m really happy you guys decided to go for it. Look, I’m super excited for you, but I’m kind of tired right now. Maybe you can tell me about it in the morning?”
Amber sounded funny, though I couldn’t put my finger on what seemed off.
“Okay, sure,” I said slowly. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night.”
“Good night,” came a voice from Amber’s bed. Except it was a man’s voice, not Amber’s. Realization flooded through me, along with a hefty dose of embarrassment.