Page 47 of Fraternizing with the Enemy
She ducked out of the closet first. I looked down at my shirt, expecting to find her tears soaked into the light fabric, but there were no marks. It was because when Jade had pulled away, her cheeks had been completely dry.
The Brentwood Mall was empty. At least, their parking lot was. Then again, it was six-thirty on a Tuesday—no one was shopping when the mall would close in a little over an hour.
Which meant it was probably the best place to meet Logan for our second date.
I’d put my car into park five minutes ago, but I couldn’t do more than chew on the edge of my thumbnail. Had Ireallymeant it when I asked him to help me move on from worrying about high school stigma? Because now, in the light of day and after the initial MLT spiral, I wasn’t totally sure I meant it. My impulsivity was behind me—this totally seemed like a bad idea.
My phone vibrated in my hand.
Logan
You here yet?
I glanced around, searching for Logan’s car on the off chance he texted it while watching me. After a thorough scan, I didn’t see his.
Yeah, just pulled in.
Logan
Come up to the second floor.
I frowned.
Aren’t all the stores closed on the second floor?
There used to be a big department store that took up the majority of the level, but it went out of business years ago.
Logan
No questions.
I couldn’t help but snort a little at the straightforwardness, and some of my nerves ebbed. Apparently, Logan was bolder through text.
I flipped my visor and, for what felt like the millionth time, checked my appearance in the mirror. I’d second-guessed it the entire ride over, since Jade hadn’t been there to help me this time. I kept my mascara light, no liner, and left my blonde hair loose down my back. I’d laced through just enough oil to keep the frizz at bay without it looking greasy. The jeans I wore were flared out at the bottom, and I’d paired it with a baby blue tank top, a lightweight white cardigan covering my arms.
Pretty, but casual. If I ran into anyone, I could easily play it off like I was just wandering around the mall,notdressed up for a date.
Swallowing the nerves—and maybe a little bit of bile—I popped open my car door.
As I walked toward the mall’s entrance, I forced my thoughts on other things, trying to dim my pulse. Jade didn’t bring up me skipping out on cheer practice againafter this morning, and even more surprisingly, neither had Coach Chelsea. Out of anyone, I would’ve thought she’d reem me out for it, but no one said anything when we met on the field after school.
Honestly, it only made me feel even worse. Jade had apologized for everything, and yet here I was, still committing treason.
Like the parking lot, the interior of the mall was empty. There were a few people milling about in the food court entrance, a few small lines at different vendors, but after doing a quick scan, I didn’t see anyone I recognized.
My phone vibrated in my hand.
Logan
Are you coming?
Smirking, I pocketed my phone and headed for the direction I remembered the escalators being.
If I thought the base level was empty, the second level was a ghost town. I could still hear the chatter of people below, though, white noise that nearly swallowed the sound of—was that music?
I followed the pathway past the closed store, toward where the lilting sound was coming from.
And there, just around a corner, sat a glowing arcade.
