Page 20 of Soul So Dark
Next door,I laugh to myself,you mean across the estate?
“Oh!”
The girl arches her brow and methodically places a bookmark between her pages before closing her book and uncrossing her legs. She stands with all the poise of a pageant queen and strides toward Evie with her hand outstretched.
“I’m Sydney Van Doren,” she shakes Evie’s hand, then reaches for mine, “I moved here from Elysia Lake right before school started.”
“Col told me,” Evie nods, “he said you have class together?”
“Colson,” Sydney echoes, squeezing her book to her chest, “yeah, he seems nice.”
But even with her lyrical voice and warm smile, I can tell she doesn’t quite believe her own diplomatic wording. Evie can tell, too, evident by the way she purses her lips together and casts Sydney a knowing look.
“If Col did something, just tell me and I’ll beat his ass.”
A laugh bursts out of Sydney and she covers her mouth with her book, averting her eyes. “No, no, it’s not that.”
Evie accepts Sydney’s response for the time being, until something catches her attention over Sydney’s shoulder. Evie’s smile fades ever so slightly as she peers into the shadows cast over the house in the twilight. I follow her gaze and when I see it, my blood runs cold.
Sydney does the same, looking over her shoulder at the house. Her demeanor changes on a dime as soon as she notices a figure standing on the terrace…just watching. Like a gargoyle.
Evie returns her attention to Sydney and lowers her voice with a slight smile. “If you need an escape every once in a while, I can help you with that.”
My eyes dart back and forth between Sydney and the demonic shadow lingering in the background. It’s completely still, like a statue, making my skin crawl and goosebumps break out on my arm. And then I immediately feel terrible for Sydney that she lives in this house, even though it’s probably the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen.
Sometimes, the most beautiful places can harbor the most terrible secrets.
“Actually,” Sydney replies in a hushed tone, a smile creeping across her face, “that sounds absolutely amazing.”
???
I can’t believe Alex called that girl out at lunch and made her look like a total idiot. Scratch that—Icanbelieve Alex did that, it’s not out of character for any of them. What I can’t believe is that he cared enough to do it just because I bawled my eyes out to him in the stairwell yesterday.
Soembarrassing.
Everyone is talking about Alex going off on that girl and straight up running her out of the cafeteria and the reasons vary based on how close each person was to their table.
She said something about Alex, she said something about Colson, she said something about Evie, she lied about knowing Evie, she was dating one of Alex’s friends and got caught with someone else…
It doesn’t matter, though, I don’t correct any of them. I know why he was chastising her, and I get immense satisfaction from it because I would never have the nerve to confront someone like that myself. The miniature high lasts until final period in Web Design when Shelby, Austin, and I are working on our end-of-the-year project. Each group is assigned a page from the school’s website to redesign and go live by finals week.
“What theever-loving fuck?” Shelby whispers as she leans over her keyboard.
Austin glances at me and I stifle a smile as she continues cursing at her screen. She’s my best friend, but also absolutely terrible when it comes to technology. She fell into the same trap as many other students, thinking that web design would be easy just because they can use social media. By midterms, Austin and I both accepted the fact that we bear sole responsibility for Shelby passing this class.
“What’s wrong?” I ask out of the corner of my mouth.
Shelby rakes her fingers through her dark chocolate hair and lets out a frustrated growl. “My link doesn’t work, and I followed the freaking directions to a T!”
“Are you getting a 404? Did you change any of the pages?” I toss out some suggestions, hoping something sticks.
Austin doesn’t even bother, just continues scrolling on his phone, waiting for the bell to ring.
He taps the side of my leg. “Is this the headset you have?” he asks, tossing his sandy blonde hair out of his eyes.
I lean over to look at his screen. “Yeah, why? Are you getting some? And if you’re thinking about it then yes, you should.”
“Thought so,” he grins and retracts his arm, “I can have them by tomorrow, so tell me when you’re on and I can try them out.”
