Carrie took out her phone, checked the time, and then tapped Freddy’s shoulder. “Let’s go, Freddy.” He nodded, hoisting the bread knife like an Olympic torch before they walked away.
Though not before Carrie took a long backward glance at Jason. That bitch still couldn’t get over that Jason would never be hers. Tiffany decided to be the bigger person, however. She was above petty jealousy and there was nothing to be jealous of. Tiffany outshone girls like Carrie nine times out of ten.
There was always that tenth time, though, if Tiffany wasn’t careful.
Carrie’s anxious doe eyes skimmed over her. Tiffany gave her an encouraging, queenly smile. Carrie gave Tiffany a small smile in return, and then she and Freddy disappeared into the woods, in the opposite direction to Patrick and Jen.
Tiffany realized then she was clutching the little paring knife so tightly the plastic handle had probably fused to her palm with her sweat. She took a deep, shaky breath. The ominous feeling she’d never see the Jumpscare Society all together again settled over her like a cobweb, twitchy and unsettling. Even though she’d totally expected they’d go their separate ways after this weekend.
Save for Jason, needless to say. The boy—now man—whose name she’d doodled all over her high school notebooks. She’d writtenMrs. Tiffany Ackermanso many times that sometimes she forgot it wasn’t her real name. He was her soulmate. Antony to her Cleopatra. Richard Burton to her Liz Taylor. Ben Affleck toher JLo. They always found their way back to each other, no matter what, and tonight was no different.
She was pleased to finally get him alone, although she wished the circumstances were different. Still, a little danger would be good for making him snap out of his stubborn mood. He might have to literally come to her rescue, if Russ attacked them. Though she hoped it wouldn’t come to that. But the trick to drawing men, in Tiffany’s experience, was to make them believe she needed them. That at the end of the day, despite her confident exterior, she was a delicate flower who needed a big strong man to take care of her. Having Tiffany Podemski on his arm was the biggest ego boost a man could get.
She looked up through her eyelashes at Jason, fluttering them helplessly. It wasn’t hard to pretend to be helpless, because she really was frightened of Ranger Russ. Jason’s blue eyes were shadowed in the dark, and his boyishly handsome face, which she’d always thought of as an open book, was closed to her. Closed and guarded. Like he knew something she didn’t.
The threat of Russ suddenly seemed far away. Shit. Had Mikey finally told Jason about her and Billy? It might explain why he’d pulled away this past year.
Jason knew she dated other guys during their breakups. They’d always been to make him jealous, but his older brother was different. Jason had tried to live up to Billy’s example for so long, under pressure from their father, and Tiffany knew how sore he was about it.
Jason would never forgive her if he knew she’d slept with Billy after her junior year of high school, when he’d come home from college that summer. Billy had just seemed so much more mature, and so she’d picked a fight with Jason and run straight into his brother’s arms. It was only that one time, anyway. And the blow job in his car. And getting to third base in her Jeep near the observatory on the outskirts of town, where they’d been interrupted byMikey knocking on the steamed-up windows. Who knew people actually went to the observatory to stargaze instead of hook up? He was such a geek.
That had been before Carrie’s infamous photo had leaked. Tiffany wasn’t the only girl in town who could make spectacular mistakes. For a brief time she’d fantasized being an NFL wife—Billy was a much better player than Jason—but Billy had ghosted her after returning to college. Now at every family function with the Ackermans, she had to pretend nothing had happened between them. He’d texted her when she and Jason split up earlier that year, but as he was now working as a lowly trainer at some grubby Fairvale gym, Tiffany had ignored the message. He wasn’t worthy of her, after all.
“Let’s head down to the lake,” Jason said.
So the Slasher could try to drown her again? Tiffany gripped her knife a little tighter.
As if he read her mind, Jason added, “Since Mikey ran off in that direction. He might’ve taken the canoe and gone to the summer camp for help.”
Tiffany shook her head. “The canoe wasn’t there when I went swimming.”
“Huh. The last renters must’ve moved it. We’ll keep an eye out for it while we look for Mikey.”
He started to make his way around the cabin, skirting the tree stump where the boys split logs. Wood chips sank into the wet soil under Tiffany’s sneakers as she caught up to him.
“If we find the canoe,” he added, “we could cross to the summer camp and use the phone, or borrow your uncle’s car.”
Tiffany bit her lip, thinking of her little sister. “I don’t want to lead Russ to the camp. Alice is there.”
“He’s already been across the lake, according to Jen.”
Tiffany’s blood ran cold. “Oh my God. What if he hurt the campers?”
Jason’s face softened, and he was his old self again. “I’m sureAlice is fine. We would’ve noticed if something was going on there. Anyway, aSlasherfanatic is only going to be interested in the cabin. Or if it’s Russ, he’s just going to have a beef with the Jumpscare Society. The camp won’t be on his radar.”
He laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, like he would’ve done when they were together.
The stress of the situation overcame Tiffany in a rush. She was chilled and damp, the Virgin Carrie had unexpectedly shown up, making heart eyes at her man, and they were about to start a forced march through the woods because of fucking Mikey. And worst of all, her phone didn’t work.
She whimpered and stepped into the familiar comfort of Jason’s body, carefully tucking the paring knife into her belt before wrapping her arms around his torso.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” he said, rubbing her back with strong fingers, and Tiffany felt a little zing of triumph. She’d finally made a breakthrough. Nothing could stop him from coming back to her now, not even a treacherous little church mouse like Carrie Zhao.
Her worries melted away in his hug and she wanted to cry at how good it felt. She’d missed him, although she’d never admit it to his face. She’d tell Clive it was over in the morning. Or next week, after he took her to that new tapas restaurant. She had to keep Jason on his toes, after all. She wasn’t just going to fall into his arms. He needed to put in more work to win her back, especially after how he’d been treating her these past few months.
Though she could give him a taste of what he was missing. A promise of what was to come, if he made the effort. Closing her eyes, she breathed in the spicy scent of his aftershave, mingling with the wet cedar from the woodpile. She stood on tiptoe and tilted her lips up for a kiss.
Only to have two firm hands grasp her shoulders and hold her at arm’s length.
