Shocking Pink (9 page)

A
ndie sat at the breakfast table, going over what she had decided in the darkest hours of the night, rehearsing what she would say to her mother. She had to tell her what she and her friends had seen the night before. She had to, no matter what she had promised them.

Andie folded her hands in her lap, trying to appear calm even though her heart thundered nearly out of control. She had hardly slept. She had tossed and turned, unable to expunge the image of the blindfolded woman from her head. Or of the man, sitting like a king, the lord of the woman before him.

Daniel then Pete slammed through the kitchen door, one chasing the other with a squirt gun, both of them squealing with laughter.

Andie jumped, nearly startled out of her skin. “Hey!” she called after them, irritated. “You’re not supposed to shoot that thing in the house. And be quiet. Mom’s still sleeping.”

“No, she’s not.” Her mother shuffled into the kitchen, a hand to her head. “Up and at ’em.” She crossed to the coffeepot, took a mug from the cabinet above and filled it with some of yesterday’s cold brew, then set it in the microwave to warm it.

Andie swallowed against the lump that formed in her throat. When her dad had lived here, there had always been fresh coffee. She remembered walking into the kitchen in the morning and its aroma filling her head, welcoming and somehow reassuring.

The microwave dinged and her mom brought the now-steaming and bitter-smelling cup of coffee to the table. Sighing, she sat down.

Andie glanced at her from the corner of her eyes, nervous. She cleared her throat. “Mom? Can I talk to you? It’s kind of important.”

Her mother didn’t look up. “Sure, honey.”

Andie opened her mouth then shut it. Was she doing the right thing? She had made a promise to her friends. She had promised not to go to her mother. She had agreed they would investigate more before any of them blew the whistle on the mystery couple and their activities.

They had agreed.

She chewed on the tip of her thumb, indecisive. But that had been last night. None of them had been thinking clearly. Now she was. And what was going on in that house was wrong.

Andie peeked at her mother again. She seemed to have forgotten her daughter was even there. She stared off into space, her expression so sad it broke Andie’s heart.

“Mom?” she said softly. When her mother didn’t acknowledge her in any way, she tried again, this time louder.

Her mother started. “I’m sorry, honey. What is it?”

“Are you all right?”

Marge Bennett smiled, though to Andie it looked forced. “Fine. It’s just…just that I’m tired. I’m not sleeping much, and…”

Her voice trailed off, and her eyes filled with tears. She drew in a choked breath. “It’s just hard, you know? I thought we, your father and I…I thought forever meant forever. I thought we were…that we were happy. I was. Completely.”

Her mother fell silent for a moment, her gaze turned to the window and the bright day beyond. “I still love him.”

Andie stared at her mother, hurting so bad each breath tore at her chest. Even so, anger at her father coiled inside her, anger and resentment.

How could he have done this to them? How could he have done it to her mom?

As if sensing her daughter’s despair, Marge turned back to her. She covered her hand. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Don’t apologize, Mom. It’s
his
fault. He’s the one who—”

“No,” her mother said, cutting her off, “I shouldn’t have said anything to you. Not now or the night he…told us he was leaving. I handled that all wrong. And everything since, too.” She sighed. “I was so hurt, I wanted to hurt him back, just a little. I used you kids, his love for you, to do it.”

“Mom, don’t—”

“No, honey, what I did was wrong and not very mature. Your father loves you and your brothers very much.”

“Then why did he leave us?”

For a moment, she said nothing, then lifted her shoulders in a defeated looking shrug. “I guess he’s not perfect.”

“I’ll never forgive him, Mom.”

“Yes, you will.” She touched her cheek. “You will.”

When Andie opened her mouth to protest, her mother shook her head again. “I know how tough this has been for you, too. And your brothers.” She bent and rested her forehead against Andie’s for a moment. “Thank you, sweetheart. For all the help you’ve been these past weeks. And for being such a good girl for me.”

She squeezed Andie’s fingers, then released them. “Now, you needed to talk to me about something. What is it?”

Andie shrank back in her chair. How could she tell her mother that her “good girl” had been breaking into empty houses and peeking in windows and watching kinky sex? She imagined her mother’s face, her surprise and disappointment, her sigh of defeat. That’s all her mom needed, more to worry about, more disappointment.

No, she couldn’t do that to her. She wouldn’t.

Andie forced a smile. “I just wanted to tell you about the party Sarah Conners is having and ask your opinion about what I should wear. But it can wait.”

“Are you sure? We could go to your closet and—”

“I’m sure.” Andie stood, bent and kissed her cheek. “This is something I have to take care of myself.”

M
r. and Mrs. X, as Andie and her friends had begun to call the mystery couple, didn’t show again. After a week, the girls concluded that the couple met only late at night, so they gave up all their day watches and returned to their normal summer routine.

As they went to the mall and the movies or to parties at friends’ houses, Andie could almost believe that it was a normal summer. That everything was as it had always been between her and her best friends.

But nothing was, or had been, normal since the night they had peered at Mr. and Mrs. X through the window. And everything certainly was
not
as it had always been between the three friends.

Andie glanced from Raven to Julie, then returned her gaze to the tree house floor. The three of them sat at their post, lost in their own thoughts, not speaking. Raven was distracted about anything but their mission. On that she seemed almost frighteningly intent. Julie, on the other hand, was giddy and silly, even more so than usual. In the past days she’d had periods when she couldn’t stop laughing, and there were many times she didn’t seem able to look her friends in the eyes.

Between their two moods, Raven and Julie had been at each other’s throats even more than usual.

Andie herself was nervous and on edge, and spent a good bit of her time with Julie and Raven thinking about Mrs. X and praying that the couple never came back. She had become almost obsessed with them, thinking about them night and day, worrying.

And she spent each day dreading the night. Dreading sneaking out of the house and going to the tree house to wait and watch. She didn’t want to see the couple again. She wanted them to disappear from her life, from all their lives.

If they didn’t, something bad was going to happen.

Andie shivered and rubbed her arms, chilled though the night was warm. She glanced at her friends: Julie who was staring dreamily into space, Raven who had the binoculars trained on the house next door, waiting quietly, like a cat for its prey.

Andie shifted, her butt sore from sitting so long on the hard platform. “Are you guys okay?”

Raven lowered the binoculars. “I’m fine. Why?”

“You’re quiet tonight, that’s all.”

Julie giggled, and Raven scowled at her. Julie immediately shut up.

“Maybe we should go?” Andie offered.

“Go?” Raven repeated. “What do you mean? We haven’t been here that long.”

“Long enough,” Andie said. “They’re not coming.”

“How do you know?”

“Just a hunch.”

“Well, I think they are.”

“Fine.” Andie frowned at her friend, annoyed. “We’ll wait a little longer.”

“Andie,” Julie whispered, leaning toward her. “I met the coolest guy at the pool today, when I took my brothers swimming.” She lowered her voice a bit more, then giggled again. “I had that icky grandma suit on, the one my dad makes me wear, so I didn’t even take off my cover-up. We sat and talked the whole time my brothers swam.”

Andie glanced at Raven, then back at Julie. “What was his name?”

“Bryce. He was so cute.”

“You didn’t make out with him, did you?” Raven asked, not moving her gaze from the house.

Julie bristled. “Right there, in front of my brothers and everybody else? No, I didn’t make out with him.”

“Never can tell with you.”

Julie’s head snapped up, her expression hurt. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Raven lowered the binoculars and looked at her. “Sometimes I wonder. I mean, sometimes it seems like all you care about are boys and making out.”

“Leave her alone, Raven,” Andie said, furious. “It beats what you care about.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“This,” she answered. “Ever since that first night, this is all you can think about. You’re obsessed.”

“I am not! I only want to figure out what’s going on. Who these people are and what they’re doing in this house. You just have a weak stomach.”

“I do not have a weak stomach!” Andie couldn’t believe she and Raven were arguing like this. “I have a feeling something really bad is going to happen to us.”

Julie’s eyes widened. “Like what?”

Raven began clucking her tongue at her. At them both. “Chickenshits…chickenshits.”

“Stop it!” Andie shouted, scrambling to her feet and glaring down at Raven. “You’re really starting to piss me off!”

Julie whimpered. “Guys, don’t fight. We’re supposed to be friends.”

Ignoring Julie, Raven launched to her feet and faced Andie. “And I’m getting pretty sick of your pansy-ass whining.”

“Whining!”

“That’s right. We decided that Mr. X was a freak. We decided to pursue this a little longer. We made a deal.”

“Well, we were wrong. We weren’t thinking clearly.”

“Speak for yourself. I was thinking plenty clear.” Raven fisted her fingers. “Just ’cause your parents are splitting up, you think everybody should do what you want. Well, you’re not the only one whose home life is shit, okay? Welcome to the club.”

Andie flinched and took a step backward. “I can’t believe you said that to me. How could you? You know how much—”

Andie bit back the words, her eyes flooding with tears. She started past Raven, intent on grabbing her binoculars and heading home. At the same moment, Julie jumped to her feet. Andie knocked into the other girl, unbalancing her.

As if in slow motion, Andie watched as Julie swung her arms trying to rebalance herself. A cry on her lips, Andie grabbed for her friend; she wasn’t fast enough. Julie went over the side of the platform.

She landed on her side with a sickening thud. She lay there, eyes open but completely still.

“Julie!” Andie cried, her heart in her throat. It didn’t look as if she was breathing. “Are you okay?”

She didn’t reply, and Andie and Raven rushed down the ladder to their friend. They knelt beside her. “Are you all right?” Andie asked again, voice shaking. “Please…please…tell me you’re okay.”

“I…I think I am,” Julie said, beginning to shake. “But I’m afraid to move.”

“Then don’t,” Andie said. “Give yourself a minute to catch your breath.” She met Raven’s eyes. She saw her own concern mirrored in her friend’s gaze.

“I can’t be hurt,” Julie whispered. “If I am, my dad’s going to find out what we’ve been doing. He’ll kill me.” She started to cry then, softly, heartbreaking mewls of despair.

“He won’t find out.” Raven squeezed her hand. “I won’t let him. I promise.”

“Okay,” Andie said. “Let’s see if anything’s broken.”

Carefully, they tested Julie’s arms and legs; they had her move her head, fingers and toes, then helped her sit up. She was fine, they realized. Just shaken.

They all were, Andie decided. Even Raven.

Andie swallowed hard. “I’m really…really sorry, Julie. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“I know. It was an accident.” Julie drew in a hiccoughing breath. “No more fighting. You’re supposed to be best friends. Best friends don’t hurt each other like that.”

“Julie’s right, Rave.” Andie looked at her friend, a lump forming in her throat. “Now do you see what’s happening to us? Ever since this started, we’ve changed. We’re at each other’s throats all the time. Either that, or not speaking at all. This thing’s tearing us apart.”

Raven stared at her for long moments, then looked away. “I just wanted to figure this guy out.”

“I know,” Andie said softly, touching her arm. “But it’s hurting us. And I don’t want to lose you two.”

“Please, Rave,” Julie said, her voice quivering. “I want to go back to the way we were before.”

Raven moved her gaze from one to the other, then nodded. “Okay, guys. Starting now, none of this ever happened.”

B
ut Raven wasn’t about to forget about Mr. and Mrs. X. No matter what Andie said. Andie was wrong. She and Julie didn’t understand. They didn’t see how important what had happened to them was. They had been given an opportunity, an open door.

To the secrets. The way.

But she saw. She understood.

And that was okay. She was the strong one; she always had been. Andie was a do-gooder with a weak stomach. She worried about everybody, but didn’t have the backbone to take a stand. Julie, on the other hand, was a boy-crazy space cadet and would follow whoever was stronger.

In this case, Julie would follow her.

Raven had decided that she and Julie would continue their late-night stakeout of number twelve Mockingbird Lane. They would watch; Raven would learn. And someday she would need those lessons to protect the three of them, to keep her family together.

Raven didn’t know when or against whom they would need to be protected; she only knew, deep in her gut, that they would.

It would mean lying to Andie. She hated to do it, but it was for Andie’s own good. That made it okay, she reasoned. A necessary evil.

Raven called Julie. And as Raven had known she would, Julie hesitated briefly, then fell right in line with Raven’s plan, promising to keep their activities a secret from Andie.

They agreed to meet that night.