Silence - eARC (15 page)

Whoever would have thought Mom would be useful in any way,
she thought cynically, and began the ride back down the Hill to the house she would never think of as “home.”

Chapter Eleven

The next few days went by in relative peace. No more monsters, no more abducted townies…also no more word from Dylan. Or Sean. That she hadn’t heard from Sean worried her a little. Her insecurities all jumped up and took their turn spinning around in her mind, about how she wasn’t worth his time, that there was no way he really cared about her, of course he wasn’t going to call back, and so on. She knew why Dylan was interested in her, why he talked to her; he was here on a case, to take down bad Fae like Finn, and she was the best source of information he had, even though she had just moved into town. Sean was still a mystery, one that caused her no small amount of heartache. Staci was afraid that each time she saw him would be the last one, and every day that she didn’t hear from him just seemed to confirm that.

She tried to just enjoy the company of her now not-so-new friends, and it
was
fun…she managed to get distracted by the two games she was in, the anime game, and a post-apocalypse game Jake decided to GM (“to give Seth a rest,” he said). But whenever she was alone, all her insecurities just got between her and everything else. She even had to stop and restart movies, because she’d lose track of the plot and have to go back.

Finally, Friday afternoon, right after she got back from grocery shopping on her bike—a task made even more depressing by the fact that she figured she was going to be down here in town all weekend—the phone rang.

One thing that had been preying on her mind—besides Sean—was her mom’s drinking, and more importantly, whether or not her boss had noticed it. It wouldn’t have been the first time Mom had gotten fired for being a lush. So when the phone rang, just before Mom’s shift at the Rusty Bucket and while Mom was actually in the shower getting ready, the first thing that went through her mind was,
It’s Mom’s boss. He’s going to tell her not to come in, and to pick up her last check.

What they’d do then for rent…she had no idea. This was the first time, ever, she’d had to worry about that. There had always been Dad to fall back on. If they got kicked out…if Mom couldn’t find another job…would they be homeless? Was there a homeless shelter here? Could she move in with Wanda or Riley?

So she picked up the phone—there was no caller ID in Silence, of course—and answered it with a sense of dread. “Hello?”

“Hi, Staci. It’s Sean. How are you doing?”

Her heart leapt and started racing. And she throttled down quickly on her automatic reaction, which was to cry,
Where have you been? Why haven’t you called me?
Because guys hated that. Guys hated girls that were too “needy.” So she ran through a dozen possible responses and finally came up with one she thought acceptable. “Bored,” she said truthfully. “And cold. Does it
ever
get warm down here?”

She heard him laugh into the receiver. “For about three weeks, then it’s back to the charming gloom and fog of Silence. I was calling to see if you were free tomorrow night? And if you were, if you wanted to come up for a party. You could bring your friends along, too.”

She blinked, half in shock, half in amazement. “Of course! But…I mean, I
know
they’ll all want to come, but why are you asking them up? I didn’t think you…” What to say?
Not, “I didn’t think you even noticed them,” or “They’re not exactly in your circle…”
“…were interested in the same things. They’re all gamer geeks, and not really your kind of game…” Then truth prompted her to add, “…though Seth and Jake and Wanda have
talked
about playing video games and I guess they’re good at them.”

“They’re also smart. And they have to have good taste to have you as a friend. If you like them, I think it’d be interesting to get to know them as well. Does that sound okay?” He paused for a moment. “If you don’t want them to come along, that’s fine; it can just be you. Which would you prefer?”

They’d never forgive me…
“I’d
love
to have them along!” she said immediately. “Seth will go out of his mind!”

“Great! Well, I’ll send a car to your place at eight tomorrow night. That should give you plenty of time to tell them. I’ll see you tomorrow, Staci; I’m looking forward to meeting all of your friends.”

“Thank you Sean!” she said. “Thank you
so
much!”

“Think nothing of it, Staci. See you tomorrow.” With that he broke the connection.

She dialed Seth immediately. She was pretty sure everyone was home, but Seth would want to be the first to know.

Now if they can just keep their feet out of their mouths, and
get along
with everyone else…maybe everyone is going to get a good summer.

* * *

Staci was happy to see that Jake and Seth had made an effort at dressing. Obviously none of them were going to be able to match Sean’s family, but at least the guys weren’t slopping around in old work pants and plaid shirts. She’d taken no chances with Wanda and Riley. She’d dragged both of them up to her room and put out some of her New York outfits on the bed. The boys wisely chose to stay downstairs, debating the finer points of the
Lord of the Rings
. “Look, what you guys wear to Tim’s is fine for Tim’s, but if you don’t want to look like dorks at this party, you need to step up a notch.”

Riley was more than happy with Staci’s selection, but Wanda was having none of it.

She huffed and looked offended. “He invited us to be who we are, not to be a carbon copy of the Trust Fund Brigade. I’ve been done with uniforms for a while.”

But this time Staci wasn’t going to give in. “All you know is the townies. You’ve never met
any
of the Blackthornes. How do you know you won’t like them? For all you know, you’d be like sisters or something. But if you look like a dork, you’ll never get a chance to find out.” She did some rearranging of the stuff on the bed, and dove into her closet for the plaid skirt from her New York school uniform, and some of the requisite black-on-black-on-black stuff of
every
New Yorker’s wardrobe. Including something she thought might clinch the deal; a black silk
haori
jacket from the used kimono store.

“If the Silver Spoon Squad wouldn’t even give me a chance because of how I
normally
dress, then what does that say about them? I don’t see a reason why I ought to change.” Wanda crossed her arms in front of her chest, eyebrow raised and waiting.

But Staci had been figuring that would be Wanda’s attitude, so she had planned her reply in advance. “So, you would think it’s perfectly cool to go to France, refuse to learn a word of French, and insist everyone speak English? You’d refuse to eat at a French bistro, and insist on eating at McDonalds?”

“Well, no, but that’s different—”

“No,” Staci said firmly. “It’s not. Look, Wanda, when that guy said, the
rich are different,
he just wasn’t trying to be clever. They
are.
Sean makes a real effort to get people up to his place and try and be the ambassador, get it? And they can’t help dressing like the Trust Fund, this is how people dress in their ‘country.’ But if you show up looking like you don’t give a shit, and acting like you don’t give a shit, what does that say about
you?
It says you’re a—a bigot. Somebody that just turned up so you can turn up your nose at
them.”

“Fine, fine! I’ll put on one of these outfits if it’ll get you off my back. But I do this under protest!” She stuck her tongue out, and then started eyeing the silk
haori
coat.

“You wanna go Goth-loli with that, or cyber-geisha?” Staci asked, coaxingly. “Or that would work as a Lara-Croftish kinda thing with the skinny black pants.”

“Can you picture
me
as Goth-loli?” Wanda scoffed. “But…have you got…”

“Try this—” Staci said with authority, and before too long, Wanda was looking…well…
hip.
In fact, she wouldn’t have been out of place in the circles where Staci was used to bumping into the kids from private and prep schools. The skinny black rayon pants, the
haori
, over a black bamboo T-shirt with a Japanese
mon
on the front…and instead of an
obi
, a shiny bike chain with a matching bracelet that Staci had found in a thrift store.

“Damn, girl, you clean up
good,”
Riley said in awe, as Wanda looked at herself critically in Staci’s mirror. Riley had another of Staci’s vintage finds, an actual Betsy Johnson from the late Sixties. This time Staci had gone Eighties—not disco Eighties, but Alexander McQueen Eighties, a black vintage tuxedo/harem jumpsuit. Her one real gift had always been a nose for the thrift shops that got the good stuff in…and didn’t know how to price it. She’d been able to hold her own with the girls who had thousands of dollars to spend on clothes. In fact, that little beaded number that Brenda had stolen was one of her finds.

“This isn’t
that
bad, I’ll admit. I didn’t know you had such an eye for this kind of stuff, Staci.”

Since she knew that was the best she was going to get from Wanda, she just grinned. “You think because my father’s a lawyer I had a ton of money?” she asked. “The only reason I’m buying out of catalogs right now is because the thrift shops here
suck rocks.
If I could sew…” She sighed. “But we didn’t have room for a sewing machine.”

“I can teach you to sew.” Riley and Staci both looked at Wanda. “What? This town doesn’t exactly have a lot to cater to Goths. Taught myself, picked up a few tricks here and there. I’ve got an old Singer Model 320 that I can show you on, if you want.”

“With accessories?” Staci asked, breathlessly.

“A boatload. My great aunt was a professional seamstress. Everything from the zipper attachment to the ruffler.” Wanda looked inordinately pleased with herself and she should be. You couldn’t buy one of those vintage Singers for
anything
in New York. Staci had coveted one forever. You could even sew
leather
on them!

“If you would…I know
so
many makeover tricks…” Staci began, when Riley laughed.

“Later, you two. Let’s get down to the curb before the guys think we fell down a rabbit hole.”

* * *

The “car” was the limo, and the driver on the other side of the darkened thick glass was utterly indifferent to anything they were doing in the back, so the gang got to explore the interior and the amenities to their hearts’ content.

“This is
insane
, Staci! You didn’t tell us that it’d be a limo. This is some real-deal Hollywood stuff.” Seth marveled at the different adjustments for the seats, from heat, to air conditioning, to lighting, and especially the massage option.

“We don’t even need to go to a party; we could have one in the back of this thing. It’s completely hooked up for gaming.” Jake had helped himself to some of the refreshments already, and was now engrossed by the flatscreen monitor and the game systems that were installed.

“I guess when the airport is over a hundred miles away you need something to keep you busy,” Staci laughed.

“No doubt.” Wanda did her best to seem unimpressed, but Staci could tell that she was still wowed by the luxury. And somehow, that made Staci happy; she was getting a chance to
share
this with her friends. She wanted them to be happy for her, but she also wanted them to enjoy the same things that she had, these past couple of weeks.

When they arrived, the house was just like Staci remembered it; beautiful, extravagant, the only bright spot in dull, drab Silence. Servants escorted her and the rest of the gang to the house and out to the back patio, where the party was already in full swing. Seth had already spotted the buffet tables, and it was clear that that was going to be his first stop. Riley was gawking at all of the clothes that the Blackthorne girls were wearing, envy plainly written on her face—but the Blackthorne girls were looking back at Riley with approval. Jake, meanwhile, was eyeing the impressive home entertainment system that had been set up, with a projector and an extensive library of video games. Wanda, again being herself, tried her level best to appear disinterested in everything around her.

The crowd parted magically, and Sean appeared, heading straight for them. “Staci!” he called, with a big smile, and reached out to hug her and peck her on the cheek. “Now, you don’t have to introduce me to your friends. You’ve told me so much about them, I feel I know them already.” He reached out and shook Seth’s and Jake’s hands. “You would be Seth, and Jake. I want you to get yourselves some food and drink, and there are two controllers waiting just for you over there at the game station.”

Actually, she couldn’t remember talking to Sean about her friends in any great detail, but she must have at some point for him to know what he knew.

Then he took Riley’s hands in both his. “And the lovely Riley! The gamer girl! There is a controller waiting for you, too, and I cannot
wait
to watch you kick my cousins’ asses. I’ve been telling them for a year now that girls who game are always better than men. Calmer under pressure, and better reflexes.”

Riley flushed, but looked pleased, though tongue tied. Sean let go of her hands and let her follow the boys to the buffet.

“And you are Wanda.” Sean made no move to take
her
hands, which was probably just as well. “My cousin Morrigan has been plaguing me for a month to get you up here. She wants to talk your ear off about…well, I’m just a guy, I have no idea what she’s going on about, but I know you will.” He waved in the direction of the pool. “Mori!” he called. “Wanda’s here!”

A raven-haired girl dressed in a black, Victorian-style gown complete with a tiny bustle separated herself from a little group poolside and hurried over. “Oh…migod,” she said happily. “I have
so
been wanting to meet you! I thought I was the only Goth
in this whole city!”

Wanda held up a hand. “Before we can talk…Siouxsie and the Banshees?”

“Yes. Their fourth album especially—”

“Celtic Frost?”

“
‘A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh’
is my anthem.”

“Okay. Final question. Voltaire?”

Mori absolutely sparkled.
“Sooo
funny! And I looove
‘Goodnight Demon Slayer,’
it’s adorable!”