Page 26 of In The Dark
“Remind me why we’re carving six pumpkins again?” Skyler wrinkles her nose and sets down her knife. “Mine looks mutilated.”
“Because the school needs them for the Haunted Harvest Festival. It’s the field day we put together right before fall break when the kids are mentally checked out. We try to incorporate learning into the activities, but mostly it’s four hours of them having a good time.”
“Is one of those activities judging horribly decorated gourds? Like, look at this tooth I tried to cut out. It’s so bad.”
“That’s atooth? Jeez, Sky. You should stick to performing.” I scream when she throws a handful of seeds at me. “Not in my hair! I take it back!”
“That’s what you deserve for insulting all my hard work.” She giggles and stands, jogging over to the hose to wash her hands. “A harvest festival sounds fun. What games do you play, and can I come?”
“Of course you can come. We do bobbing for apples and have a Halloween costume contest. Oh! There’s also a dunk tank. I’mrefusing to be one of the people dunked, but the kids love it. The fifth grade teachers use it as a science lesson. My first graders and I stick to the dessert table where we practice addition and subtraction with pieces of pumpkin pie.” I laugh and wipe my hands clean with a paper towel. “This job has so many hard days, but things like this make it so worth it.”
“You still have pumpkin strands in your hair, Max.”
“Gee. I wonder why.” I stick out my tongue and sit on the lounge chair by the pool. “I know we’ll never get snow in Orlando, but for once I’d like it to be October and not feel like we’re still living on the surface of the sun. It’s hard to get in the seasonal mood when I’m sweating.”
“Pop the umbrella open. That’ll help.”
“It’s broken, remember?”
“Shit. You’re right.”
“The screw is—hang on.” I scoot to the edge of the chair and lean forward. “That’s odd.”
“What’s up?” Skyler looks my way. “Oh, god. Did you swallow some pumpkin seeds?”
“It looks like the stand is fixed.” I stand and open the umbrella, securing it in place with a pin. Last week, it wouldn’t open wider than halfway before tipping to the side. “What in the world?”
“That’s fucking weird.”
“Did you fix it?”
“How would I fix it? My handiness skills are nonexistent.”
“Well, I didn’t do it.” I put my hands on my hips and look around the backyard, as if the answer to who is the mysterious umbrella fixer is hiding behind a hedge. “Wait. Look over there, at the edge of the pool deck. There’s dirt. Like someone walked from the side gate back here.”
“Okay? And? It was probably an animal jumping from the fence. Or the pool guy!” Skyler snaps her fingers, proud of herdeductive reasoning. “He was here the other morning cleaning the filter, and I bet he’s the one that fixed it.”
“He was? Oh, thank god. For a second I thought someone might be trying to break into our house.” I sigh and sit back down, stretching my legs out in the shade. “Ever since Molly told me about Brian being at school, I feel like I’m being watched. It’s really fucking unsettling.”
“Shit, Max.” She turns off the hose and hurries over to me. “One of the girls who performs in the show with me teaches a self-defense class. We should go to one and learn some moves. You can’t trust anyone in this world, and you can trust men the least. I was honked at five times on my run this morning because, why? I’m in a sports bra? Fuck off.”
“Wow. You’re very passionate about this, aren’t you?”
“We have to be. Like, Brian cheated on you. You broke up with him, which was a reasonable response. And now he’s lingering around? For what? To make amends? No one likes you, dude. Move the fuck on.”
I drop my head back and laugh. “I’m so glad I’m on the other side of that. Imagine if I married the guy? I’d be Max Fitzpatrick, and that just sounds like a fraternity president at a school who covers up hazing by calling itlearning opportunities.”
“Of all your exes, he’s my least favorite.”
“Mine too.”
“Okay, but if you had to pick one guy from your past to sleep with again, who would it be?”
I clear my throat and reach for my water bottle. I chug half the contents so I don’t have to speak right away, even though the answer is obvious.
The hot scare actor who got me off in a haunted house, I want to yell.
I’m counting down the minutes until Tuesday in case it means I get to see him again, I almost add.
