Page 7 of Unexpected

With this new dynamic also came more personal questions. I could count on one hand the number of personal questions he’d asked me before the past few weeks. Now, that’s all he wanted to know. It was distressing, and I didn’t understand the sudden change.

So, I tried to keep my eyes ahead and trudge past his house. But my self-control wavered, and my eyes lifted—of their own accord, of course—to the faint light emanating from his dining room. He was hunched over the table, intently staring at something. He was shirtless, and the tattoos I had only seen on his arms had, as I suspected, continued over his chest, down his back and almost to his neck.

“Hazellllll!”

I whipped my head toward the small yet high-pitched voice and saw Emmy sprinting toward me in a flashy princess costume.

“Emmy!” I laughed as she collided with my legs and almost knocked me off balance.

“You’re late!” she whined. She pulled back and eyed my outfit. “You’re pretty, but what are you supposed to be?”

“I’m just me,” I said. I was me, but more specifically, I was an almost twenty-eight-year-old woman with a mostly absent fiancé, a career she didn’t really care for, having a delayed quarter-life crisis and who was also upset because her neighbor was no longer arguing with her like he once did. Pretty terrifying. A monster would have been a more apt description.

“That’s boring. You’re supposed to be someone else on Halloween!” She tugged me along the sidewalk, eager to get back to the party.

“Well then, which princess are you?”

“I’m Princess Emmy. I’m the best princess.” Touché.

The front porch was covered in faux spider webs and the entire house was reflected in purple-and-green lights. There was a smoke machine in the corner that was turned on full blast and made it difficult to actually see the door. Luckily, Emmy seemed to have memorized the path and helped me narrowly escape the clutches of a spider web.

The rest of the house was decorated just the same. All the food was Halloween-themed, including fake eyeball candy, spaghetti “brains,” fingers, and blood punch. It was over the top and exactly what I expected from Becky.

“Hazel!” Becky cheered my name when I entered the kitchen with Emmy still tugging me. Like mother, like daughter.

“You have five minutes, then I’m coming back for you,” Emmy instructed before running deeper into the house.

Becky’s house was the largest on our street. Even from the outside, it seemed grander than the rest, and the inside was no different. Every finish was of the highest quality. Her marble countertops were immaculate, and the white cabinets were custom made—she made sure I knew that when we first met—and all the appliances were top of the line. But walking in for the party, you would never know. She had completely transformed the entire space into a dark, haunted house and every spare piece of counter space was covered by food, drinks, or decorations.

I spotted the alcohol right next to Becky, and as I stepped closer to her, I realized she was already more than a little tipsy.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” she slurred as she went in for a hug that turned into me catching her and spilling some of her drink on my shoulder.

“I’m so sorry,” she apologized and leaned back, steadying herself against the part of the counter with the alcohol. Her costume of choice was an ostentatious and very unrealistic pirate getup that pushed her boobs up almost to her nose. The costume probably cost more than what I would spend on a normal outfit.

“This party has been stressful, and Chris has been absolutely no help,” she continued. And as if he were summoned, I felt a hand swipe against my lower back and linger a touch too long. My skin crawled when I felt his hot liquor-coated breath against my ear.

“Look who it is. Hi, Brown.” Chris thought he was funny calling me a synonym for my name. I shrugged his hand off the best I could and maneuvered around Becky to the alcohol.

Luckily, she was able to move just enough to let me pass while she argued in hushed tones with her husband. He was wearing a matching pirate costume complete with eyepatch and funny-looking hat.

Chris was a classically decent-looking guy and seemed harmless enough until you realized he had been staring at you far too long and made any excuse to touch you. He also made crude comments no matter who was around, including his daughter. After a not-so-great run-in with him while I was going for a run—when he all but ambushed me in front of their house—I did my best to stay as far away from him as possible. Never again did I want to be caught alone with him.

With the help of the immense amount of alcohol in both of their systems, their hushed arguing turned into actual arguing while I was pouring myself a hefty whiskey and Coke. Behind me, Becky was saying something about touching other women when she abruptly stopped the conversation and turned to the door.

“Luuuuke,” she cried as our neighbor stepped into the kitchen. Based on the look on his face, he could feel the tension in the room but did his best to smile.

“Hi,” was all he said before he noticed me behind Becky and Chris. Even as Becky threw herself at him, spilling some of her drink once again, Luke’s eyes stayed on me over her shoulder. My skin suddenly felt hot under his intense stare, and I downed my drink to give myself a little liquid courage and something else to do by making another. Refreshing my drink gave me a reason to look away from him as Becky began prattling on about her decorations and the time it took to set the entire place up.

Even while pouring my drink, I could still feel his eyes on me.

“Where’s your brother? He wasn’t able to make it?” I heard Becky ask him.

“No, he’s working,” Luke responded.

“Oh, right. Thebar,” Becky drawled. The way she said “bar” made it sound dirty or like she didn’t approve of Josh’s job choice. She probably didn’t because everything in her life—at least on the surface—was perfect.

“I’m going to go find Emmy. I’ll talk to you later,” I said to Becky as I passed her and Luke. For Emmy, I would stay at least an hour, but I knew my ability to socialize for an extended period of time was lacking.

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