Edge of Darkness Box Set

by Margaret McHeyzer

  Sophie’s face breaks out into a huge smile. “I’m positive she wouldn’t want anyone seeing that.” She bumps into my shoulder, still smiling.

  She leans against the railing outside of the mall, near where the cab stand is. “You know, you’re pretty cool, Dakota.”

  “You’re only figuring that out now?” I say sarcastically.

  She shrugs a shoulder, her long blonde hair slightly swaying as a small gust of wind picks it up. “Yeah, you’ll do.”

  Both her mom and our Mom pull up behind each other. “Thanks for today. I had a lot of fun.” She walks backward to her car.

  I wave to her mom then go and tap on Sam’s back to tell her Mom’s here. She’s still got her phone to ear and quietly says goodbye to Taylor telling him she’ll call him later on.

  Sophie’s mom beeps her horn as she leaves, and we jump in our car. “How was the mall?”

  “Good fun,” Sam replies before I get a chance to say anything. “Lindsey got caught shoplifting.”

  “What!” Mom shouts slamming the brakes on. Luckily, both Sam and I have our seatbelts on because the abrupt way Mom stops makes us both lurch forward. “What were you doing hanging out with her? And what do you mean ‘shoplifting’?”

  “We weren’t hanging out with her. Actually we had no idea she was going to be there. But, I saw a cute top in Charlotte Russe, and while we were there Lindsey, Mariah, and Jordan came out of the store next to us. The security guard followed them out and stopped Lindsey from leaving. Anyway, Mom, she tried to run and he grabbed her and dragged her back to the store. And guess what else? Jordan left her there. She left her there! Can you believe it? She walked away. What type of friend would do that? But anyway, she got dragged back into the store. The guy said he was going to let her off with a warning but because she ran he had to to call the cops.” Sam’s only taken one breath the entire time, telling the story in an animated way.

  Mom’s listening intently, and when Sam finishes talking she quickly glances over at me. “Is she serious?”

  “I even got it on my phone. Do you want to watch it when we get home?”

  “You recorded it?” Mom sounds cross, and frankly disappointed.

  “I did,” Sam happily responds. “She’s been really horrible to Sophie and when this happened, I thought it was a good opportunity to record it. If she wants to be a bitch, I can always threaten her with it.”

  Mom’s mouth gapes open as she looks at Sam in the rear-view mirror. “You can’t be serious?”

  “I am.”

  “Sam, that’s not right. You’re going to delete it off your phone.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  Mom’s hands tighten around the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white. Taking in her appearance, she looks so mad. “You will be deleting it from your phone, young lady,” she almost growls at Sam. Her jaw is tight, and her shoulders are high.

  “No, I’m not,” Sam stubbornly replies. “You don’t get what a nasty piece of work she is, Mom. I’m keeping this as backup, you can even call it insurance. But I’m not deleting it.”

  “This isn’t open for negotiations Samantha Kristen Bennett. You will delete it.”

  Oh shit, Mom is using Sam’s full name. This isn’t a good sign. “No, Mom, I won’t. She’s horrible and if this is the only way I can assure she stops being a bitch to everyone, then so be it. It’s called karma with a capital K. I promise you though, I won’t post it and if I think about posting it, I’ll talk to you first.”

  There’s silence in the car for a few moments while Mom calms down from her anger. “If you post it, then you’re no better than her.”

  “I told you, I won’t post it.”

  “You can ruin her life if you post it for no other reason than simply posting it.” I smirk and chuckle to myself. “What?” Mom asks while she pulls into our driveway.

  We get out of the car and start walking up to the house. “I’ll be surprised if she hasn’t already ruined it for herself. The things I’m finding out.” I shake my head while we head into the kitchen. I grab three water bottles, handing one each to Sam and Mom.

  “Don’t go looking for trouble, Dakota. Your friendship is over, respect it and leave it at that.”

  “Hey.” I hold my hands up in resignation. “Believe me, I’m not looking for anything to do with her, Jordan, Mariah, Levi . . . any of them. They aren’t who I thought they were.” With my water bottle in my hands, I freeze in midair. No, they’re not nice at all and what’s even worse, I used to be one of them.

  Filled with shame, I tilt my head down and look at my shoes. I was horrible.

  Chapter 30

  Just over two weeks have gone by since the whole ‘Lindsey is a felon,’ incident. Sam and Sophie have been keeping an eye on social media in case any footage is posted.

  Funnily enough, Lindsey and Jordan have remained really quiet on social media. Nothing has been posted, which is incredible considering there were quite a few people milling around when Lindsey pushed Sophie.

  It’s probably only a matter of time.

  I’m in my room, listening to the radio when I hear a knock at my door. “Come in.”

  Sam opens the door and slides in before closing the door behind her. “Thought you might want your phone back,” she says with a smile.

  Sitting up in bed, I cross my legs and take my phone when she holds it out. “Why?” I ask suspiciously. “Has something happened?”

  “No.” She happily jumps on my bed. She’s got a huge smile spreading across her face, her eyes following me as I slide to unlock the screen.

  The first thing I see is a text message. The name at the top of the box tells me it’s from Reece. It reads:

  Hoping we can get together and watch a movie soon. What do you think? Double date? .

  The time stamp is a few minutes ago. “Huh,” I blow out a breath while re-reading the message.

  “So?” Sam asks while leaning into me. “Can we go?” I’d told her all about the conversation Reece and I had by the pool the night of the cook-out. “Can we?” She bounces on the bed enthusiastically.

  The thought of going on a date with Reece scares me to death. “I don’t know,” I whisper while looking down at my phone. My hands begin to shake while my pulse frantically races through my veins. “Um.”

  “What’s wrong, Dakota?” Sam moves closer to me, gently laying her hand on my thigh.

  Tears sting my eyes as every harbored feeling pushes to the surface. “I’m so scared,” I manage to whisper through a strangled breath.

  “Hey.” She wraps her arms around me. “Why are you so worried?”

  Trying to contain myself, I manage to curb the tears and look into Sam’s concerned eyes. “What if he tries to . . . do something with me?”

  “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want. And besides, he doesn’t come across like the type of guy who would force you.”

  I nod my head, because logically I think I know that of Reece, but then my mind goes back to prom. Waking up out in the field with my dress hitched with no memory of anything occurring. Shuddering with just the memory, I nod my head again. “I won’t be able to survive if that happens again.”

  “You can’t live your life frightened of what might happen.”

  “I know.” Sam sighs a long breath as she lets me go and sits back on my bed. “I’m getting better, really I am. I’m not as terrified as I was and I know I’m smiling more.”

  “I think it’s time to tell Mom and Dad.”

  “No!” I shout, almost lunging at her. “We can’t say a word. It’s been way too long, and besides.” I shrug as I tilt my head and focus on my phone. “I have no proof. I don’t want them to know.”

  “I promised you I wouldn’t say anything, and I won’t. But maybe you need help to figure out how to deal with these emotions you’re having.”

  Looking at Sam, her face is encouraging and loving. However the depths of her eyes show pity and sorrow. “We all have a war to figh
t and conquer. This is mine.”

  “But you don’t need to fight it alone.”

  “I’m not fighting it alone. I have you.”

  Sam’s shoulders slump, and her face falls. “You’ll always have me, no matter what.”

  The air in the room thickens as I kick myself for bringing Sam down from her high. “Hey, let’s go on that double date,” I say attempting to lift the mood again. Sam smiles at me, but the happiness is a façade only. She’s still concerned for me.

  “Yeah?” she asks.

  “Yeah. Do you want to call Taylor, see when he’s free?”

  “I’m all over it.” She jumps off my bed and runs out of my room. Within seconds she’s back with her phone.

  I send Reece a message saying:

  Hey. Movies sound G8. When?

  Immediately I get a text back:

  WUD 2NITE?

  “He says he can come any night this week, but not during the days,” Sam says while her head is down, still texting Taylor.

  “Reece asked what I’m doing tonight.”

  Sam looks up at me with a smile. The glimmer in her eyes makes me happy, I like seeing her excited to hang out with me. “Mom,” she calls and runs out of my room. She’s gone to ask Mom, so I send a text back to Reece:

  NM, Sam asking mom abt movies.

  Sam returns with an even bigger smile. “Mom will drop us off and pick us up. I’ll just call Taylor.” She hurries out of my room and I hear her talking in a hushed voice to Taylor.

  I send a text to Reece:

  Mom dropping us off. What time?

  There’s no reply from Reece and I frown while looking at my phone. Sam comes back into my room, and sits on my bed. “We’ll just meet there and see what’s playing. You okay with that?” I nod my head. “And then maybe we can go get pizza?” she asks hopeful I’ll say yes. I nod again. “And then maybe Taylor can come over.”

  “Did you ask Mom?”

  She scrunches her mouth and shakes her head. “Not yet. See, if Reece comes over too, then it won’t be so bad for me to ask if Taylor can come.”

  Sneaky. “I’ll ask Mom and Reece.”

  “Yay!”

  My phone rings in my hand and I look down to see Reece’s name flashing on the screen. “Hello?” I answer perplexed as to why he’s not texting me.

  “So much easier for me to call rather than text.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  Sam enthusiastically grabs onto my thigh and squeezes while watching me talking with Reece. ‘Come on’ she mouths to me.

  “We’re good for tonight. Sam’s already checked with Taylor and he’s okay with it. Mom said she can drop us off and pick us up, but Sam asked if you’d be into grabbing a pizza or something after the movie for dinner. And if you want to hang out here afterwards?”

  “Grab a pizza and take it back to your place?”

  “Well, I suppose we can do that.”

  “Do what?” Sam whispers. I flick her with my hand to be quiet so I can hear what Reece is saying.

  “I got my license last week, I can bring us all back to your place.”

  “Um,” I stumble. “I gotta check with Mom, but it should be okay.”

  “What time do you want to meet? And what movie are we watching?”

  “I’m not sure about the movie. I don’t even know what’s out. How ‘bout we meet there at around six, and we can decide when we all get there?”

  I look to Sam who’s already texting Taylor the time to meet us there. She looks up and gives me a thumbs-up.

  “Yeah, six works for me. See you then.”

  We hang up and I look to Sam who’s got a goofy grin stretching across her beautiful face. “What? You look worried.”

  “Reece got his license last week, and offered to bring us back home. He suggested grabbing a pizza and come back here.”

  “Hell, yeah. But you better ask Mom if it’s okay for him to drive us.”

  I tee it up with Mom, and she says if we text her when we get the pizza and come straight home, then she’s okay with Reece driving us and for Taylor and Reece to hang with us for a few hours.

  Sam flutters around the house in an excited and happy state all day. By five o’clock she’s ready to go and trying to get me to hurry up. Rolling my eyes at her enthusiasm, I get ready too.

  Chapter 31

  Mom drops us off at the movies with about ten minutes to spare, but Taylor’s already there, pacing outside while he waits for Sam.

  The minute he sees our car, his face lights up and he comes over to open Sam’s door. “Hi!” she squeals and throws herself into his arms for a hug.

  “Hi, Mrs. B,” Taylor says once Sam’s untangles herself from him.

  “Hello, Taylor. I’ll see you back home soon.”

  Taylor waves, Mom beeps and leaves. Reece isn’t here yet, so we wait until we see Reece’s brother’s car pull into a spot.

  Reece gets out, locks the car and starts walking toward us. Dressed in an AC/DC t-shirt and jeans, I can’t help but look at the way the jeans hug his body. My cheeks flush as I continue staring at him walking toward us. I shouldn’t be looking at him, and I definitely shouldn’t be feeling anything at all toward him, but I can’t help the way my body is reacting to him.

  The small flutter in my stomach gets a little wilder when he spots me and smiles hugely. He runs his hand through his hair and when he makes his way over to us, he leans down, gives me a sweet kiss on the cheek. He holds his hand out for Taylor to shake, and leans in to give Sam a kiss on the cheek.

  “Only old people shake hands,” Taylor teases Reece.

  Reece throws his head back and laughs in a carefree way. “Well I’m not going to give you a kiss. Besides we’re gentlemen, Taylor. Don’t you forget it.” He looks at me and winks.

  Crap, more fluttering.

  “Touché,” Taylor responds. “Alright, let’s see what movie is playing.” Taylor slings his arm around Sam’s shoulders and brings her in close to him. They go ahead of us, up the stairs and into the cinema.

  Reece hangs back, and waits for me to go first. “You look very pretty, Dakota.”

  I look down to what I’m wearing, and try to hold in my smile. “Thank you.” Reece sticks his hands in his pockets once we’re in the lobby and takes a step away from me. Suddenly I feel self-conscious and discreetly sniff the space around me to make sure I haven’t forgotten to use deodorant.

  Taylor and Reece want to see the new horror movie, Sam wants to see the new Disney movie, and I want to watch a new comedy.

  “Majority rules,” Taylor proudly announces.

  “I hate horror. I’ll end up watching the movie from behind my hand, which means I won’t watch the movie,” I plead my case.

  “I hate horror too. I won’t watch a horror movie. You two can go sit in there together and watch it, and Dakota and I will go watch something else.”

  Taylor’s nose wrinkles, and Reece takes a big step away from Taylor. “Sorry, dude. I’m not homophobic or anything, but no way do I want to watch a movie with you. You’re not the reason I’m here,” Reece tells Taylor, but not before turning and winking at me.

  Double crap, another flutter.

  “Right, so no horror.” Taylor lets out a frustrated breath. “That leaves either Sam’s Disney movie, or Dakota’s comedy.”

  “Comedy,” Reece immediately replies.

  “Yeah, sorry, Sam, but I’d rather see a comedy than a Disney flick.” Taylor shudders and shakes his head.

  “Fine.” Sam pretends to be peeved, although the smile breaking out on her face belies her words.

  We stand in line to get our tickets, and true to his claim of being a gentleman, the moment it was our turn to buy the tickets, Reece pays for both mine and his.

  “Here you go.” I pull some money out of my pocket and hand it to Reece. Looking down, he smiles and shakes his head. “Reece, you didn’t have to pay for my ticket.” I try to shove the money at him, but he steps back.

  “I didn�
�t ask you out so you could pay for yourself. Do you want popcorn or a drink?” He turns and heads to the candy bar, lining up behind Taylor and Sam.

  “Let me buy the popcorn.”

  “Do you want popcorn?”

  “Well, yeah. It’s sacrilege to come to the movies and not get popcorn.”

  “And a soda?”

  “A bottle of water for me.”

  We get to the front of the line, and once Reece gives our order, I take my money out of my pocket and try to pay. Reece gently smacks my hand away and hands his own money to the the guy serving us. “You can’t keep doing that,” I say, frustrated with him.

  “Yeah I can.” He chuckles. Handing me my water, he carries the jumbo popcorn and his soda and leads the way into the movie.

  “Where are you guys sitting?” I ask Sam and Taylor who’ve been waiting for us at the candy bar.

  “In front of you guys.”

  “Let’s go in, it’s about to start,” Taylor says.

  Reece and I go in and find our seats. The lights are still on and people are shuffling in, finding their allocated seats. We sit in the second to last row, with Sam and Taylor directly in front of us.

  “I hear this movie is really good,” Reece says while he sits and places his soda in the cup holder next to him.

  “Yeah, me too. I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Look,” he whispers as he leans over to me, jutting his chin toward Sam and Taylor.

  They’re both sitting low in their seats and Taylor has his arm around Sam. Both their heads are together, and they’re giggling and whispering to each other.

  “Aw.” It makes my heart swell, seeing them like this. They’re so cute together.

  The lights dim and darkness engulfs us before the huge screen comes to life. The movie starts, and I sit back in my seat, relaxed and completely oblivious to everything around me.

  I’m getting lost in the movie, laughing at all the funny lines and the over the top, ridiculously hilarious storyline.

  I reach into the popcorn and vow to myself to not have anymore, because I’ve been eating so much of it. Dusting the copious salt from my hands, I rest them on my thighs and keep watching the movie.