Page 40 of The Facade

“But we need to get tickets first,” Elyse said, pointing to the ticket counter.

“You got theirs, too?” I called to Mack.

When he nodded, I turned back to them and said, “Mack’s taking care of it.”

We trudged up the grassy hill and made it to the line before anyone else could separate us too much from Ben’s group.

Before I even needed to figure out how to get Ben’s attention, one of his friends looked our way. Casey Elliot, who had the reputation for being a bad boy, called, “Are you stalking us, Caldwell?” to Scarlett.

“Of course,” Scarlett called back. “I heard you’d be here, so I wanted to see you scream when the killer clown popped out.”

Their back-and-forth must have gotten Ben’s attention because he looked back at us in that moment. And when his eyes caught mine, a pleased smile slipped onto his lips.

Stay cool. Act cool. Now is not the time to freak out over the fact that the boy you’ve been obsessed with for months saw you and smiled.

But my nervous system was not getting my “act cool” memo because suddenly, I was so jittery with excitement that when I tried to smile back, the muscles in my mouth shook.

“Ben’s coming our way,” Elyse whispered quietly beside my ear.

And sure enough, he was saying something to his friends and then walking around the mother and her kids to join us.

As I watched his tall, handsome form approach, I made myself take a deep breath. Acting like an idiot was something I could so not afford to do right now.

I felt him step up behind me. “Hey Cambrielle,” he said. “Looks like you made it.”

Okay, it’s officially go-time, I told myself.

I turned around to face him and slipped my most confident smile on my lips. “Yeah, who can resist a haunted house this time of year?”

“I see you brought your friends.” He glanced at Elyse and Scarlett behind me, his lip quirking up slightly as he took them in. “Is it just you three?”

“No.” I looked down the grassy lawn to where the boys and Ava were just finishing up buying the tickets. “Everyone is down there.” I pointed. “We just wanted to save a good spot in line.”

“Ah, cool.” Ben’s eyes narrowed, like he was trying to make out the faces of my friends and brothers below. Then he turned back to me with a half-smile on his lips and said, “Looks like your buddy Mack is here, too.”

“Yeah, he decided to join us at the last minute.”

“You know, that isn’t exactly helping convince anyone that you don’t have a secret relationship going on.” Ben winked.

“What?” I felt the blood drain from my cheeks. “We’re just friends.”

Had he somehow seen Mack and me in the back of Carter’s truck?

I’d only held Mack’s hand because it seemed right at the time, but had Ben somehow noticed how close we’d been sitting and thought there was more to it than there really was?

But then Ben laughed and playfully touched my shoulder. “I’m just teasing you. I was watching you two in class this week, and even though you seem close, I’m taking you on your word that there’s nothing going on.”

He’d been watching Mack and me during class?

Should I be flattered?

Or self-conscious?

The rest of our friends joined us before I could decide. Mack handed Elyse, Scarlett, and me our tickets.

“Here, let me pay you back,” Elyse told Mack, pulling out her wallet.

But he just waved her away and said, “I got it. The money is from Dad, anyway.”

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