Popping one in my mouth, I smirk. “You’ll learn.” When she doesn’t move fast enough toward the cakes, I take the last of those, too.
She seems to get the idea and beats me to the ice cream dishes and hoards the last.
“Aren’t you a little young to be at Crest?” I ask.
Fire lights up across her freckled face. “I’m thirteen. How old are you?”
“Fifteen… So basically, you’re just a baby.”
Her chest rises rapidly as her brain malfunctions with fury. But while she’s thinking of a comeback, I’ve already stolen the desserts off her tray without her seeing.
“I am not a baby!”
“Sure you’re not, baby girl.” I tap her nose with my rubber safety spoon and proceed to my table, stuffing my dessert haul into my mouth.
“Another summer gone.”
“And it’s always the same…”
“I’ve always been different.”
“I’ve always been mean.”
“Me, too.”
“Asshole-In-Charge… That’s exactly who you are. Own it.”
“Own being mean.”
“Okay…I will.”
Brown sugar and pinecones.
Soft cotton on my chest and tangled gold in my fingers.
“Aiden…” Her breath makes my lashes flutter. It’s so steamy it’s hard to breathe. Close. I’ve never been this close to someone. And something in me knows, I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to get back to this moment.
“Yeah? You okay?”
“Yes.”
“I got you, baby girl.”
And then,light.
“Sir? It’s okay! He’s breathing.”
Tears seep down my cheeks, and I don’t know if it’s because I survived…or because Iremembered.
five
The blue diamondpoint on my left eye makeup doesn’t match my right. No matter what I do, I can’t get it to look the same. Normally, I just wear sharp eyeliner and a pink lip stain. Iwasexcited I’d get to play around with a different look tonight. Not so much now.
My hand shakes with what I’m calling fatigue. But it’s actually the irritating voice by the sink next to me.
Instead of sticking to the lines of my lips, I go over them with a tremulous swath of red. It’ll pair with the deranged clown dress I’ve donned for the Hallow’s Eve party.
But really, is it a costume?