Page 22 of My Turn
“I know.”
We’d missed half of it, but there were still quite a few floats. The one closest to us was full of zombies acting like they were eating some humans. One of them jumped down and pretended to go for someone in the crowd, which drew a few screams and laughs.
Above us, there were some giant balloons of popular Halloween icons. There was a bat, a Chucky doll, Pennywise, a pumpkin, spiders, and skulls. The way they loomed in the sky helped set the mood.
After the zombie display passed, I grabbed Alana’s hand and pulled her closer. There was a gap in the crowd, which allowed us to make it right up to the gate. A woman selling black rosescame up to us and I bought one, then passed it to Alana. She grinned as she gently stroked one of the silky petals.
“Oh, that’s our cheer team,” she announced, pointing at an oncoming float. The girls were dressed as broken dolls and performed a dance that made it seem like their arms hung limply.
“Weren’t you a cheerleader?”
She snorted a laugh. “For one season. I was always two steps behind everyone else. The coach very politely suggested I choose another extracurricular activity.”
“I can’t see you as a cheerleader anyway.”
“It was only because Jake was on the football team. Both of you, actually.”
“You did just fine watching from the stands.”
I looked over at her, taking in the tight set to her lips. After a moment, she cleared the expression.
“Vicky Hart always flirted with Jake. One time, she made a joke that a football player should be with a cheerleader. She was talking to her friends, but she looked directly at me when she said it. I thought he would like it if I was on the team.”
It was an effort not to scowl. “Vicky flirted with everyone,” I said dismissively.
“Did you ever fuck her?”
At that, I laughed. “No. I left that to others.”
“I know you slept around in high school. If you weren’t into cheerleaders, who was your type?”
I eyed her for a moment, letting my gaze travel down her body until she shifted to her other foot. “Swimmers were always fun. They can hold their breath for a while.”
She burst into laughter, drawing a few stares. “Maybe I should’ve experimented more when I was younger.”
“You’re still young.”
“Yeah, but it feels different now. I was fourteen when Jake and I got together. He’s the only one I’ve… Fuck, that’s sad.”
“Does it matter? Sex is sex, regardless of how many people you’ve tried it with. It’s not like you were being a prude or are inexperienced.”
“I guess you have a point. Does that mean I get to enter my hoe phase later in life?”
Again, I felt a surge of possessiveness. “Maybe you should wait and see what happens. Don’t rush.”
She made a noncommittal sound. I stole a glance at her while she watched the parade. If anyone so much as touched her, they’d get worse than what I did to Mike. Speaking of that fucker, I had to figure out what they were supposed to be doing at seven tomorrow. Then, I had to convince her to back out. Otherwise, this angry thing inside of me was going to rise to the surface and demand blood.
*****
Alana’s light shut off a few minutes ago, which I knew meant that she was lying in bed with her phone. I navigated to my app that was connected to it and saw that she was reading. Horror. How fitting.
The good thing about having her phone earlier was that it gave me a chance to program a new number into it. I’d gone back and forth on what to set the name as. Eventually, I decided on Erebus, the personification of darkness in mythology. She was a history teacher and her favorite subject was ancient civilizations, particularly religion and culture. She would recognize the name and it would unnerve her.
Erebus:Good book?
The message showed as read immediately. I wished I could see her face. The fear on it must’ve been beautiful. Finally, after ten minutes, my phone buzzed.
Alana:Who is this?