WHILE I PACKED my things for a night in the wild, I tried not to panic at the thought of seeing Anthony Mitchell again after what had happened today. He’d promised to leave me alone, so it could still turn out to be fun.
Yeah right.
I heaved a frustrated sigh. It would all be easier if only I hadn’t picked friends from his circle. But dumping Susan, Lisa, and Simone because of him? And even Nick Frederickson? I didn’t think so. The guy had grown on me, just like the rest of them.
I stopped in the middle of rerolling the sleeping bag. If Tony insisted on being such a jerk, I’d simply ignore him. He wouldn’t get a chance to spoil this weekend for me. Six other friends were coming, so all should be fine. With that decision made, I felt far better and could finally take a deep breath and relax as I finished packing.
Around four, Susan picked me up in a monster that looked strikingly like Mater from Cars. Only the two front teeth were missing. “Sorry about this,” she said and grimaced. “My mom’s car is in the workshop. This is my granddad’s. I swear he’s just as much a relic as this thing is.”
I shrugged, tossed my camping stuff onto the bed of the truck, and climbed into the passenger seat, throwing my hoodie at my feet. “No worries. It’s better than strapping all that stuff onto a bike.” Afraid the rusty truck would fall apart beneath my ass, I closed the door with caution.
Music from an ancient time sounded from the two speakers in the dashboard. “You like the sixties?” I asked.
“The music’s okay. Well, not really. But Grandpa said I can’t touch the radio. It’s always tuned to this station. You want me to turn it off?”
“Nah. Leave it.” It was good for my mood somehow.
With the windows rolled down and the warm wind ruffling our hair, we sang along to “Lollipop”, which Susan declared the Sam Summers theme song. After several miles, she took a turn off the highway and continued down a dirt road. This went on for another mile and led to a gravel parking lot by a romantic brook. Parking between a shiny black Jeep and Hunter’s dark grey Audi, she cut the engine. “We have to hike from here. It’s not far.”
Together we climbed out and grabbed the tent, some mats to lie on, and our sleeping bags. It wasn’t a long walk, but with all the things we were carrying, I broke into a sweat before we reached the small clearing where everyone was already busy building their tents and setting up a safe firepit.
I tried not to look out for Tony, but my eyes seemed to have a will of their own as they scanned the place for him. Always know where your enemy is, my brain tried to tell me. I found him kneeling in the dirt with his back to us. His white muscle shirt exposed bulging biceps as he worked on putting up the bars of his tent.
“Hi, everyone!” Susan shouted.
At that moment, Tony turned to glance at us over his shoulder. I was too slow to look away, and he caught me staring. Even though I tried hard for a blank expression, panic and hate were probably written all over my face. Why the hell couldn’t I ignore this guy?
Tony said nothing. Not to me or Susan. But his sheepish gaze locked on mine for several seconds which kind of started to freak me out. In the end, he pressed his lips together a little harder than they already were and returned to his work. Yeah, I hope you feel awkward, you ass!
Nick was helping Tony. He smiled when he saw us. Lisa gave a quick wave, then held a metal bar that Ryan was trying to anchor to the ground. Simone shouted, “Hey, guys, what took you so long?”
“We couldn’t risk Mater running out of breath, so we had to drive really slowly,” I explained.
Simone made a face. “You came in your grandfather’s car?”
“Had no choice.” Susan shrugged. “It was either that or walk.”
We started to set up our tent next to Nick and Tony’s. I would have picked a different place, but it seemed this little piece of earth had been saved exclusively for us. We laid out the canvas and sorted though the many thin bars. Unfortunately, this thing came without directions. We were totally lost.
Cross-legged, I sat on the dirt, studied the elements for a while, and muttered, “Nothing seems to fit anywhere.”
“I think we have to stick them together, like into each other,” Susan said, holding two bars like chopsticks.
She was right. If you turned them right, the bars slid easily into each other’s ends. But after five minutes of slotting them together, we had no idea what to do next.
“Great,” I said, eyeing the one long bar we’d constructed. “What do we do now? Bend it into a circle and use it to hang a shower curtain?”
“Either that or we sleep outside.” Susan bent the endless line of sticks, making a disappointed face. When she let it go, it snapped back into straight form, lying across our space.
A slim tree branch appeared suddenly in my peripheral vision and pointed to the middle of our bar. “You have to break it up here.” Tony’s voice came from above me.
What the heck was that? A peace offering? He could shove that right up his ass. I wasn’t going to follow any orders from him.
But Susan did. Damn if what he’d said didn’t make sense.
“Now you lay them out like a cross and shove them through the loops in the fabric,” he explained in a patient voice. What’s more, he sounded friendly. Something that was totally new to me—and that I wouldn’t tolerate after how he had hurt me.
“Thanks,” I grunted. “But I’m sure we can manage alone.” Somehow. With lots and lots of time.
“All right.” His voice was colder than before. With his hands raised in surrender, he walked away.
And I could breathe again.
Susan and I each held a bar in our hands now, looking at each other. Obviously, she was as clueless as me about what to do next. I hated that I had sent our only help away, but I’d be damned if I worked together with Tony to put up a tent.
“We could make a hammock with these,” Susan offered with a grimace and poked her bar into my ribs, which made me laugh. “Or we can just sneak into Lisa’s tent while they’re sleeping.”
Tony cleared his throat behind me. “Simone, would you tell the girls to cross the poles then run the ends into the holes at the corners of the canvas and tie the middle of the tent to the cross?”
A frown creased my forehead. Just before I would have scowled over my shoulder at him I stopped myself. He wasn’t worth even a glare.
Simone came over. “Um, girls?” she said in an amused voice, clearly suppressing a laugh. “I think you should run the ends of those into the holes at each corner of the canvas and then tie the middle of the tent to the cross.”
“We heard him,” I muttered and gave Simone an irritated look.
She shrugged then chuckled as she sat on a cooler, watching us proceed.
Sliding the bars into the holes troubled us a little as we had to lift the middle of the cross at the same time and the fabric strained quite a bit. It was like trying to shove a slippery fish into a loop as small as the nail of my pinky. I cussed under my breath.
Somebody hunkered down by my side and a whiff of masculine shower gel crept up my nose. I turned, looking straight into Tony’s eyes. The only reasonable thing would be to tell him to piss off, but the next thing I knew his hands were on mine. In a heartbeat I went stiff, even holding my breath. His hands felt way too warm against my chilled ones.
“Let go,” he said in a voice that was both soft and irritated.
I didn’t want to. All I wanted to do was shove this idiot out of my way and finish this stupid tent on my own. But with my brain shocked out of functioning, I slid my hands from under his so he could grab the bar instead. I dropped to my butt, scooting a few feet away, and watched him easily thread the bar’s end into the designated hole.
Ignoring my bafflement, Tony and Nick worked together to finish setting up our one-night hotel. After a couple of minutes, I eventually managed to rise from the ground and dust off conifer needles and dirt clinging to my butt.
When the boys were done, Tony stopped in front of me, angled his head with tight lips, and arched his brows. It probably translated to something like: That’s how you build a tent, stupid. It was clear that he didn’t expect me to say anything. Probably didn’t even want me to. Finally, he walked past me and over to the fire.
“Thank you, Tony!” Susan shouted after him.
He lifted his hand over his shoulder but didn’t look back. “De nada.”
Yeah, right. It totally was de nada. Nobody asked for his help, so thanking him was the last thing I was going to do today. Dammit! Chewing on my lip, I started to help Susan lay out our sleeping bags.
Darkness was setting in by the time we pulled the zipper of the tent closed to join the others around the campfire. Four logs, placed in a square around the fire, served as benches. Ryan straddled one and Lisa sat between his legs, with her back snuggled against his chest. Simone fondled Alex’s hair as he laid his head in her lap on another tree trunk. Susan sat down next to Simone. That log was full, and since I didn’t want to sit with Lisa and Ryan when they started to make out, I dropped my ass next to Nick on the ground and used the log behind us as a backrest like he did.
A moment later, Tony came out of his tent and sat on the ground in front of the remaining tree trunk. He ripped a package of cheese crackers open, shoving fistfuls into his mouth. He didn’t look at me, and I wouldn’t look at him either. Instead, I concentrated on the crackling flames.
Nick opened a can of Pepsi which he then passed to me. “Want some?”
The afternoon heat and the struggles with building our quarters had made me thirsty. I took the can with a grateful smile and gulped down half the soda then handed it back to Nick. He sipped from the can and placed it between our hips on the ground.
It didn’t take long for Simone to retrieve all the good stuff from the cooler down by the stream. We speared hot dogs on sticks and threw potatoes into the embers at the side of the fire. Between the sizzling sausages we roasted marshmallows on our sticks.
After we had eaten, a cherry lollipop was a must for dessert. Since I’d come back to Grover Beach, I always carried one with me in my pocket, so I pulled it out and put it in my mouth. A breeze whizzed around the fire, and goosebumps rose on my skin. No one seemed to be bothered by the wind, other than me, sitting there rubbing the chill from my arms. I had yet to get used to the climate in California.
“Are you cold?” Nick asked me.
“Nah, it’s okay.” I only wished the wind would turn and blow the heat of the fire straight at me. Better to smell like a fried weenie than be shivering when everybody else was warm and comfortable.
Nick scrunched up his face, which looked funny. “I’d offer you a jacket, but I didn’t bring one.”
“Don’t worry. I brought my own.” Just not the entire way. Bummer. “It’s back in Susan’s car. I’ll get it later.” Or maybe not. A walk through the dark woods alone was so not an appealing idea.
“Hey, want to play truth or dare?” Susan suggested after she’d thrown her stick into the fire and announced that she’d eaten enough to last a week.
“No…” A collective moan came from the guys.
But Lisa and Simone were enthusiastic enough to sway their boyfriends. Even Nick shrugged and gave in eventually. I didn’t like this game, because in most cases you had to either verbally or physically embarrass yourself, but I didn’t want to be a spoilsport, so I agreed. And Tony…well, he had no chance since he was outnumbered.
“I’ll go first,” Susan exclaimed. “Ryan, truth or dare?”
“Truth,” he said after a second.
“Why didn’t you hit on Lisa before last summer, when you were in love with her for much longer?”
Lisa tilted her head and smirked over her shoulder at him. “Yeah, Hunter. Why?”
Ryan cut a quick glance to his side, and when I traced it, I found Tony staring into the dancing flames.
“Because she’d been in love with a good friend for eternity,” Ryan said then and stroked Lisa’s hands on top of her stomach. “It seemed nothing could have dragged her eyes away from pretty boy Mitchell.”
We all laughed. Even Tony let a smirk slip.
“Nothing but you,” Lisa whispered back to Ryan.
“Truth or dare, baby?” he asked her next.
“I feel brave tonight. Dare.”
“I dare you to switch places with me and do what Simone’s doing to Alex.” He grinned broadly as he rested his head on her lap a moment later.
Brushing her fingers through Ryan’s hair, Lisa dared Nick next to jump over the fire. Which he did. And with a ballerina impression, too. It was hilarious to watch, but when he asked me “Truth or dare?” next, I nearly choked on my lollipop.
Afraid he’d make me do something as stupid as fire jumping—I would definitely land in the fire and become toast—I decided for truth.
Nick put a finger to his mouth, looking like he wanted to come up with something really shitty and cruel. But then he smiled, so I knew he was only winding me up. “Okay, what’s the meanest thing someone’s ever said to you?” he wanted to know.
Damn, I had expected something like When was your first kiss? or Where do you hide the key to your diary? His question took me unawares and reflexively my glance skated over to Tony. He turned to me, his face expressionless as ever.
After some hesitation, I lowered my gaze to the fire. “Recently, someone called me a hobbit. Probably because of my hair and…because I’m tiny.”
Lisa sucked in a shocked breath, but my eyes found their way back to Tony. His brows furrowed as he pressed his lips together, like he always did when he felt—what? Sorry?
“Wow, that is horrible,” Nick pointed out the obvious. “Who said it?”
“Doesn’t matter,” I muttered. It was bad enough that Lisa knew.
“Why? I like The Lord of the Rings.” Simone only said that because she had no idea of my personal drama going on. She snickered, leaning closer to Susan. “I think Frodo is cute.”
Alex pinched her butt. “Come with me into that tent, baby, and I’ll give you Frodo.”
I dared Susan to pinch Simone again for siding with Frodo when it was an insult about my height, but I smiled so she knew I hadn’t taken her comment personally. Simone stuck her tongue out at me, then shrieked when she was pinched once more.
It was Susan’s turn now, and she picked Tony. “Truth or dare?”
“I don’t want to pinch Simone’s butt, too, ’cause if I did, Alex would rearrange my face.” He smirked at Alex, who grinned back. “Truth.”
“Truth it is.” Susan flashed a crazy look at me through her spectacles which freaked me out, especially as her lips stretched into a broad grin.
Oh boy.
“Let’s pretend you have to answer a questionnaire about Sam. Multiple-choice test. First question: Is Sam pretty or ugly?” Heck, I didn’t like how she pronounced the two words. “Would you check the ugly box?”
A breath caught in my throat as the drawing of the witch resurfaced in my mind. I swallowed hard, unable to take my eyes off that witch across from me. That was so…mean. How could she claim to be my friend and at the same time embarrass me like this? Everyone knew what Tony thought of me.
“I would of course—”
“You know the rules of this game, don’t you?” Susan cut his answer short. “If you pick truth and then lie, you’ll get the pox and lose all your teeth before you turn twenty-one.”
“What?” he and I shot at her at the same time, but then I also started to laugh.
“Who came up with that bullshit?” Tony demanded. He wasn’t laughing.
“It’s common knowledge.” Susan sounded dead serious. “Have you never played this game before?” Then she secretly winked at me.
This girl was impossible. But now my heart was beating in my throat as I waited for Tony’s answer to fall on my head like a house going down.
When Tony hesitated, everyone turned to him with a curious face. He looked at me briefly, then back at Susan and crossed his arms over his chest. “All right, I wouldn’t check the ugly box.”
Stop!
Rewind and say that again.
Threatened with the pox, he had just announced that I was not ugly? My mouth dropped open. Where had the witch gone? And the hobbit, for that matter.
His head still in Lisa’s lap, Ryan smirked at Tony. “There are times when you still surprise me, Mitchell.”
“Fuck you, Hunter.” Tony cast him a sneer, shoved a handful of crackers in his mouth, and rested his head back on the log behind him. “I don’t get what all the fuss is about. She looks okay…so what?”
“So nothing,” Susan replied and sent me a conspiratorial smile. “It’s your turn, Tony.”
I fought to keep my expression calm and under control as we played some more, but the truth was, he’d surprised the hell out of me. I had more than expected him to dismiss the scabies shit and just tell everyone that he thought I looked like a halfling. He was that kind of guy.
With my thoughts still cruising around his last comment, I absently rubbed a chill from my arms.
Simone leaned forward and asked in a low voice, “Are you cold? You should get your hoodie from Susan’s car.”
I was cold. Really cold by now. But my point hadn’t changed at all. “I don’t want to wander through the dark alone,” I whispered back to her. “I’m afraid I’ll never find my way back here.”
Alex, whose turn it was to question somebody, heard me and apparently thought it a good idea to make me feel better. He chose Tony, and when he picked dare, Alex said, “I dare you to walk back to the cars with Sam, so she can get her sweatshirt.” He flashed a wide grin. “And while you’re at it, bring my Gatorade. It’s in the middle console of my car.”
All muscles in my face gave out. I must have heard wrong. Or so I desperately hoped, as I slowly turned my head to find Tony’s bemused gaze on me. Why was everyone suddenly connecting Tony’s truths and dares with me?
Tony could have totally ignored the dare—told them he was out of the game and just sat happily by the warm fire. I would have done that. But for the third time since we’d come here, he threw me a curveball.
“Fine.” That’s what he said.
He got to his feet and disappeared for a moment into his tent, then came out again with a black sweatshirt on and a flashlight in his hand.
Once he had Alex’s keys, he headed for the path that Susan and I had hiked to get here. After a few steps he stopped and sent me a stern look over his shoulder. “Are you coming?”
Eyes wide open, I gulped. I cut a pleading glance at Lisa, but it was Ryan who responded with a subtle nod in Tony’s direction. His encouraging smile made me climb to my feet. Slowly. I stepped over Nick’s outstretched legs and warily walked toward Tony.
“Sam! Keys!”
The jingling bunch was already flying toward me from Susan’s direction when I pivoted, but Tony caught them in front of my face. “C’mon, Summers,” he said, and for once, he didn’t sound grumpy.
We hiked in silence. He was walking so fast, I nearly had to break into a run to keep up with the small beam of his flashlight. When we arrived at the cars, Tony went for the black Jeep and I tried to work the key into the lock of Susan’s ancient vehicle. With no flashlight, I had to feel my way, but once I opened the door, a small light came on overhead and lit the interior. From the floor of the car, I grabbed my hoodie and stuffed my arms into the sleeves as I heard Tony shut and lock Alex’s car. I carefully closed Mater’s door and locked it.
“I’m ready,” I said, turning around. But Tony was gone. Alex’s car was dark and deserted. What the hell— “Anthony?” My whisper barely made it past a throat gone dry with fear.
The small light inside Susan’s rusty car went out. Pitch-black darkness swallowed everything. A cold shiver ran through me as I froze on the spot.