Sharp black parapets make up different heights, accents of polished wood at the eaves and glistening white marble with splashed gray veined planter boxes hold overgrown greenery that falls and cascades off the edges. It’s huge, a perfect picture of modern architecture and money.
Over a dozen cars are looped around the edges, parked in the scrub. Chase pulls off the driveway, and nestles his truck deeper into the woods and the pair of headlights behind us does the same, parking us in.
And I wonder for a moment how we are going to get out when we want to leave, but I let it go quickly, realizing it's not a problem now and something we can hurdle over later.
The four of us pop our doors. I jump out of the cab last, the base of my black strappy sandals crunching leaves beneath their flat soles. I stumble and Harlen reaches out, latching onto my elbow.
“Fuck, thanks,” I laugh.
He smiles, flicking his golden curls out of his eyes. “You owe me.”
A scoff sounds from me, then I’m shoving him playfully. “As if.”
Laughing together, we walk around the ass of the truck and the four of us begin to move toward the house. Jade and Harlen walk ahead of me and Chase now, teasing each other the way they do, but we fall back. I feel Chase’s arm brush mine and I try not to shiver.
“Looks like we missed the memo,” Harlen throws over his shoulder, wrapping his arm around Jade’s neck and pulling her smiling face to his chest.
I allow my eyes to dart around, noticing people in costumes. Girls with bunny masks, others with cotton ski masks that lowlifes use to commit faceless crimes.
“Fuck the memo,” Chase replies, stepping closer toward me. He nudges my elbow, but I pretend I don’t feel it.
Persistent as ever, he does it again, and I continue to stare off into the woods.
He takes a stride in front of me and turns around, inserting himself in my line of vision.
His hands are pushed into the front pockets of his black ripped jeans, his biceps flexing and ticking as he raises his shoulders to his ears and asks quietly, “What the fuck was that?”
I smile. “I could ask you the same thing.”
My words are directed at his reckless and exhilarating driving, not the song…we both know what happened there.
“Your voice, Laik. What the fuck?”
Shrugging, I try to step around him. He doesn’t let me though.
“It’s no big deal,” I breathe.
He latches his hand around my bicep, stopping me, and goosebumps trek a stippled path across every surface and layer of my skin.
“It kinda is to me; you know what music means to me.”
I snort. “Yeah, but you’re good at it, there’s a difference.”
He laughs, and when I don’t say anything, he scoffs and when we reach the bottom of the large white and gray marbled entrance steps that Harlen and Jade have already climbed, I take the first, leaving Chase behind.
“Didn’t think you liked fishing, Laik!” he calls.
I snap my head over my shoulder, pausing. “What the hell does fishing have to do with what we are talking about?”
He grins and ascends the first step. I step backward, keeping space between us, feeling my heart rattle against my ribs.
Chase’s teeth are stark white in the darkness when he smiles wider. “Little fisherfor compliments.”
I try to bite my own smile away, sinking my teeth into my bottom lip. “I don’t need you to tell me I’m good?—”
Chase speaks over me, “Good?” he questions, his dark eyebrows rising, pushing into his hairline. “Fuckinggood?” he repeats, taking the next step, landing on mine. Chase is shaking his head, staring at his feet and when he swallows, he looks up at me and whispers, “You’re fucking great, Laik.” Before taking the rest of the stairs.
I pause at the entrance of the living room.
