Page 22 of Resurrecting the Enemy
I shook my head. “No. No, Mom, I was just…daydreaming,” I lied.
“We were saying that I’ve made plans to take your mother to Rosario next weekend for our anniversary,” Dad said. “We just wanted to make sure you’ll be okay on your own for a couple of days.”
“Dad, I’m eighteen,” I reminded him. “I’ll be fine.”
“You might be eighteen, young lady, but you’re still our little girl,” he sweetly replied.
“I’ll be fine, Dad,” I promised. “I can always have Eden stay with me if I get bored.”
“That’s a good idea,” Mom chimed in. “You girls will have a good time.”
I smiled. I liked how my parents weren’t worried about a raging kegger happening on their weekend away. They trusted me completely, and why wouldn’t they? I’ve never given them a reason to worry about me, and I didn’t plan on giving them any reason to in the future.
“I’ll be fine,” I repeated. “I think it’s neat you guys are celebrating your anniversary. You guys never do.”
Dad looked over at Mom. “We celebrate it every day, Lake.”
That was the thing about my parents; they were in love with each other. They weren’t big on celebrating Valentine’s Days and things like that because they appreciated each other every day. They didn’t take each other for granted, nor did they bullshit each other. If one of the was upset with the other, then that was communicated. Over the years, they’ve shown me the good balance of a healthy relationship and it was pretty picture perfect.
“You know what I mean, Dad. I think it’s neat that you guys are actually doing something special.”
“Well, we’re leaving Thursday evening, and we’ll be back Sunday afternoon,” Mom informed me. “I’ll make sure the fridge is stocked and you have some emergency money.”
“Mom, it’s three days,” I said softly. “It’ll be fine.”
“I know,” she grinned. “I just…well, this isn’t something we do often, is all.”
“Look, Eden will be more than happy to stay with me, and I promise no drugs, alcohol, boys, or occult sacrifices.”
My dad scoffed. “We’re not worried about any of that, Lake. We trust you.”
“Although, with Halloween only a couple of weeks away, if you do decide to engage in some sort of occult sacrifice, do it outside and don’t use the emergency candles. Buy some new ones with the emergency money we’ll be leaving you.”
“Ha. Ha. Mom,” I deadpanned.
She just grinned. “We’d love you just the same if you did practice in the dark arts, honey,” Dad added, and I started laughing. They were such goofballs.
I felt better after dinner and finishing up my homework. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I was probably freaking out over nothing. If I really wanted nothing to do with Satan 2.0, all I had to do was not engage. I could block his number. I could block him on all my social media sites. I could make sure I headed straight to the bus stop, instead of lingering about. I could even have a teacher, or someone, walk me to the bus.
There were a million and one ways to avoid Ramsey if I really wanted to. Sure, he could retaliate somehow, but bullies only get satisfaction if they get reactions, right? If I didn’t react, Ramsey would get bored and move on. And, yeah, he had those pictures, but…so what? Like Eden had said, they were rather tame in comparison to what was out there on the internet. Me in my underwear was no big deal, right?
With that in mind, I grabbed my phone and got to blocking Ramsey Reed Jr. from all my media sites and his number from my phone. Like a temptation I didn’t need, all I had to do was take him out of the equation. Could he unblock himself? No way. And we didn’t have any mutual friends that he could link himself through.
Feeling confident, I sent Eden a text.
Me:I blocked Satan 2.0 from my phone and all my social media
Her response was immediate.
Eden:Do u think that’s wise?
Me:It sends a statement
Eden:Or it can send someone who is crazy crazier
Me:He’s used to pampered. Once he sees I’m 2 much work, he’ll move on
Eden:I think ur wrong. I think he’s going 2 lose his shit
