Page 6 of Shrouded in the Dark
She pulled out her flashlight and returned my grin. “Not really.”
I liked this girl.
Chapter 2
Becca
“Freedom!” As the clock hit four o’clock, the classroom erupted into chaos. It was officially summer break. The only one in the room who didn’t look thrilled was Felicity.
“Hey, it can’t be that bad.” My hand squeezed hers as we stood. “You said you’ll get a week at the end? You’re coming up to the cabin and spending it with me still, right?”
Felicity had become increasingly withdrawn as the week had progressed. She never really talked about her family, except for small things. I knew she didn’t get along with most of them and was being pressured into joining the family business. Whatever it was.
“Of course, I am.” She offered a wistful smile. “I’m going to need it.”
We dodged other students as we walked through the hallway toward the door.
“How’s it going with Jasper?” A little bit of her spark was back as she threw me a teasing grin.
“Uh, ok? We’re just friends. He’s fun to talk to. He gets my nerd talk, even if someone I know doesn’t.” I emphasized the last sentence, which made her laugh. “Stop talking about me. How’s it going with Axel? When are you going to make it official?”
There was a faint blush to her cheeks as we walked through the entrance to the building and out into the fresh air. “I’m not sure. This thing with my family is going to take all of my attention this summer, but, girl, I can tell you, the man can kiss.” Her voice sounded like she was about to swoon.
“Did you talk to him about it?”
She nodded as we walked across the street toward our dormitory. “He said he’d wait for me.” Her blush became more pronounced. “We’ll still talk, even when I’m doing my family thing.”
“Good. You deserve to be happy.”
The dormitory common area was packed with bodies of students and some parents as everyone worked on getting ready to go home and leave their room for good. My heart sped up. Felicity grabbed my hand and wove through the crowds as quickly as she could get us through and up the stairs. The hallways on our floor were even worse with the amount of people.
I usually was ok with crowds as long as there was breathing room, but when bodies are packed together like tuna cans, my anxiety gets the best of me and I usually freak out. Felicity had experienced one attack and since that time, she’d been around to help me avoid them. They didn’t happen often, but this situation started making me feel like I couldn’t breathe. I know, the partial blind girl also has high anxiety. Who would have thought?
As soon as we got into our room, Felicity slammed the door shut. I laughed breathlessly in relief as I moved to stand in front of the window so I could see the open spaces. “Damn. That’s a lot. That’s even worse than the first day we were allowed to move in.”
“No kidding. It’s a good thing our families aren’t coming to get us until later.” She faced several empty boxes that we’d stacked in the middle of the floor this morning.
I went to grab a large trash bag for the things we’d throw away. “Yeah, about that.”
Felicity turned to me, narrowing her eyes.
“I’m taking a Lyft back to Englewood, packing my stuff for the summer, and taking another Lyft in the morning up to the cabin.” I had turned around to start packing my art supplies into one box that would be going with me up to the mountains.
“How does that work?” I could tell she was annoyed. She’d wanted to meet my family, but she didn’t push. “What about groceries? It’s in the mountains where there’s nothing around for miles, right?”
My sketchbooks went on the bottom, followed by the smaller blank canvas I still had left. “We have a small truck we keep up at the cabin. I’ll just have to connect the battery. We have one of those portable battery jumper things.” I didn’t look up from where I’d grabbed my watercolors, I was trying to decide if I’d put them in their own box. All of my finished artwork had been either shipped to my house, or stored in a small storage unit that my stepfather rented for me across town. “I’ll come pick you up in Fraser if you don’t want your family to know exactly where the cabin is.”
I stumbled forward as Felicity threw herself on top of my back hugging me tightly. “YOU ARE THE ABSO-LUTE best!”
“You’re just saying that because I have a cabin in the middle of nowhere, away from your family,” I teased as she went back to her side of the room.
Cleaning out the room that had been home, for what seems like years, ready to be empty only took a little while after we were done packing. We’d done most of the cleaning the night before. It was nearing six in the evening when we both finished. I had four large boxes and a suitcase. Felicity had double that. Thank the person who had invented those vacuum seal bags or we’d both have a ton more boxes.
A knock sounded on our door just as I finished taping the last one up. Felicity wilted in front of my eyes. The bright energy dulled in her eyes but she forced a smile as she opened the door.
“Hey, Mom! Dad! You’re right on time!” She stepped back letting in several people. “I see you brought help.” She left the door open before walking to stand next to me. “Mom, Dad, this is my roommate that I told you about. Becca, this is my mom, Nina, and my dad, Ralph. The three other guys are my cousins, Bud, Charles, and Wyn.”
Her mother was tall, taller than her father by at least an inch. She was willow thin, like Felicity, with lithe muscles. She wore a pressed pantsuit and her hair was perfectly braided with no hair out of place. Her father was broad in the shoulders, he wore a black business suit, and he had his hair shaved close to the sides of his head. Both of their eyes were deep set and the same exact color of Felicity’s dark brown.
