Fallen Crest High(38)

He opened his mouth for a retort, but I slammed the door shut behind me. I hadn't taken two steps away before I heard his high-pitched laughter on the other side. Mason barked something and it stopped.

I sighed, but tried to clear my mind. That was what running was for. My head needed to be clear. I needed to quiet the storm in me and after an hour, it was successfully subsided. Sweat dropped from me as I made my way back into the house and I hadn't made it to the stairs before I heard my mother's voice.

"Really, Samantha. Can you dry off a bit before coming inside after your runs?"

I gritted my teeth and wanted to go right back for another run.

She came from one of the side rooms dressed in a yellow dress and a white sunhat. Her make-up was done flawlessly with bright red lipstick. Pink lipstick had been her favorite until a month ago.

She stopped in front of me and her hands perched on her hips. "David called me last night. We came back earlier because of it. What were you thinking, honey?"

I knew my eyes were either heated or they looked dead. It was one or the other because both emotions twisted inside of me. "You're a calculated woman.

Figure it out."

"Sam—" She started to follow when I went up the stairs, but James' voice pulled her back.

"Analise?" he called from the hallway.

She sighed with a dark frown, but went to him.

I hurried upstairs and got ready for Becky's. Thirty minutes later and I was back out the door. It was a welcoming feeling with the mansion in my rearview mirror and when I went inside of Becky's house, the two places contrasted sharply. One was homey and welcoming and the other had a stranger's coldness.

An older woman, probably in her mid-forties, welcomed me at the door. Her dark brown hair was pulled up in a ponytail and freckles covered her face. It made her look tanned and healthy as her eyes sparkled in warmth. "You must be Samantha. Rebecca has told me so much about you."

"Yeah…"

She gestured inside. "Come in, come in. I'm Laura, her mother."

"Sam!" Becky hollered from somewhere inside. "Tell her to come out here, mom."

Laura patted me on the back. "Make yourself at home. Pretend this is your home from now on. Everyone's in the backyard. I was grabbing some fruit platters on my way back."

"Do you want some help?" I watched as she started to lift two giant silver trays of meat and fruit.

"Oh, no. Go and have fun. We're not going to get these nice summer days for long."

"Hi, Sam!" Becky waved from a small pool in her backyard. The raft slipped from underneath her and she screamed as she fell into the water.

Adam shook his head and came over with a can of soda. He had a lopsided grin on and sunglasses in place, dressed in only red swim trunks. "She can never stay on those things on a sober day."

I took the can from him. "She's drinking?"

"Wine coolers, nothing hard."

"But." I saw Laura at a picnic table where the food had been compiled. Another older lady was with her. She had blonde hair and wore a similar dress like my mother's. Something told me this was Adam's mother. "Her parents are here."

He shrugged and gestured to two recliners by the pool. "They're pretty lax about it. My folks aren't. If my mom saw a beer in my hand, I'd be running killers at five in the morning for a month."

"She doesn't say anything to Becky's parents?"

"They have different parenting styles, but they're old friends. They respect each other."