by Lake, D. K.
"You look tired still, you should get some more rest." Drew said automatically and sat down on the long couch under the windows.
He lifted his legs up and laid down and rested his arm behind his head.
I assumed he was settling down for the night. Any ideas I had of us sharing the bed had suddenly gone out the window and I didn't know why.
"Uh...yeah." I started to walk to the bedroom. "You know there's a perfectly big enough bed with room for two in here." I said playfully.
"No, I don't want to disturb you. Try and get some rest, you're gonna need it before we leave."
I stalked into the bedroom and slammed the door harder than necessary. I thought maybe the trailer had upset him to start with, now I wasn't so sure and I think it had something to do with going to Washington and I knew he didn't really want me to go, or maybe it was Lane showing up and me wanting five minutes alone with him. I had no clue. Anything could have upset him, and the way he was just staring at me, maybe he was having seconds thoughts about being with me.
I got undressed again, opened the window wider to let the cool air in and crawled into bed. Alone. This was not how I pictured tonight going. I went to sleep with a whole bunch of things whirling around inside my head.
Chapter 5
I woke up to the sunlight streaming through the nets. I felt so much better after my sleep. I rubbed my eyes and sat up. The side of the bed next to me was still empty. I had hoped Drew would have come to bed but clearly not. I heard someone moving around inside the trailer and climbed out of bed. I pulled on my clothes and opened the bedroom door, walking out and stretching at the same time. Sophie was in the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of water.
"Hey, how ya feeling today?" Sophie asked, sipping her water.
"Better. Where's Drew?"
"He had to go into town." she replied, walking back to the table where there was a bunch of clothes strewn all over it.
She put down her glass and picked up a needle and went back to fixing the black outfit she had in her hands.
"What do you mean he went into town? What town?" I asked, following her over to the table and looking at all the clothes, wondering what they were all doing in here.
"Milford Falls, it's the nearest town, about five miles from here. It's where Hutch and I grew up."
"Ok. But why is Drew there?"
She shrugged like she had no clue.
"I dunno, he just said he needed to pick something up." she answered, avoiding my eyes. I got the feeling she was covering for him.
"And you are here because?"
"Because I'm babysitting you in case someone tries to chop off your head." she said, pulling the needle through the black piece of fabric.
"You're serious?"
"I doubt it, but just in case, and Hutch is nearby mowing the grass outside. You missed breakfast but lunch is in an hour if that's ok?"
"Sure." I said, helping myself to a glass of water. "So what's with all the clothes?" I asked.
"For the party tonight, you are coming, right?"
"Uh...I don't know. I haven't spoken to Drew about it."
She waved her hand at me.
"Don't worry about him. Come on, have a look through and see if anything tickles your fancy."
"Tickles my fancy for what?"
"For the party. What is with you? I rummaged through my closet and this is what I found that I think will fit you, so have a dig through and see if you can find anything you like."
"It's ok, I think I'll just wear this if I go." I looked down at my t-shirt that had a rip in the shoulder and my skinny jeans that were a little grubby.
"Alex, it's a party! Everyone is going to dress up, so you have to too, so get digging." Sophie gave me a pointed look and I sighed.
"Fine."
Sophie went back to sewing her top while I sifted through the garbage bag on the seat opposite that was overflowing with clothes.
"These are um...a little fancy don't you think?" I said, lifting out a strappy black top with no back.
"Stop complaining or I'll make you wear the curtains."
"At least the curtains would cover more." I laughed, pulling out a leather mini skirt.
"What is all this stuff for? Some of this looks a little too kinky to be worn outside. I mean, what is this?!" I asked, looking at the weird harness bra contraption with a collar attached to it.
"Oh, that wasn't supposed to be in there." Sophie smirked.
"I don't even want to know." I said, shoving it back into the bag.
"The clothes are all mine, I used to go clubbing a lot before everything changed."
"There's nothing in here that will cover my legs, it's all skirts, dresses, and short shorts."
"No one goes clubbing in pants."
"Not even the boys?"
"Haha, stop being smart with me and pick something, and I can alter it if you need me to."
"Hmm, can you add legs to this?" I asked, holding up a skirt.
She grabbed the skirt from me and threw it in my face, laughing at me.
I managed to find a slinky dress that I liked the look of, it looked a little casual compared to the other stuff, like something you would wear on the beach. It was a black halterneck with a low back, and there was a small sequined palm tree and flamingo on the front near the top of the dress but they were so small they were hardly noticeable.
"I like this." I said, holding it against my body.
If I had to wear a dress then it would be this one.
"That?" She frowned.
"Yes, this. What's wrong with it? It was in the bag."
"I know, but it's boring."
"What no, look there are sequins." I pointed at the flamingo.
"You really want to wear my boring old beach dress?"
"Yes, I like it. I will need to shave my legs though."
"Ok, fine. Go and try it on then." Sophie said, tying her needle and thread off.
I walked back into the bedroom and got changed into the dress. I looked in the mirror on the back of the door before I walked back out. It fit nicely, wasn't too tight, felt slinky and nice and cool when it was on, and I liked the low back, but I would have to go braless. I undid my bra and slid it out and studied myself in the mirror, pleased that I had small boobs because I wouldn't be able to pull it off otherwise.
I spun around and checked my bum, pleased with what I saw, and then I opened the door. Sophie was in her bra and panties and was just stepping into the black outfit she had been mending. She slid the outfit over her bum and over her boobs, it was an all-in-one playsuit with a halterneck and shorts.
She looked up at me and smiled.
"How does it feel?" she asked.
"It feels good, really soft. I kinda want to wear it every day, it's nice to be able to feel the air on my legs."
"Hmm. When was the last time your legs saw the sun? You look like a walking milk cartoon."
"It's been a while. We are living in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, getting a tan isn't really top of my priority list."
"Well, it should be. Anyway, the zombies don't want you no more, so you can wear what you want anyway, right?"
"I guess, I hadn't even thought about it. It will be nice not to have to wear a hoodie all the time."
"I think I can find you some self-tanner lotion, I'm sure I've seen some in the supply cupboard that no one uses."
"Thanks. I like yours." I gestured to her outfit.
She smiled and turned around.
"Can you help me tie the neck?"
I stepped closer and tied the strings for her and she spun back around.
"Oh, I need to paint my toenails." she frowned, looking down at her toes. "We can pamper ourselves tonight, and I can paint yours too." she suggested.
"Ok, but nothing pink."
"I have like every color under the sun for you to pick through, so I'm sure you'll find something you like." She started packing the clothes away again. "Do you want to come and help me set up for tonight, they have asked
me to string up the fairy lights all over the picnic area, and help to blow up balloons, are you up for it?"
"Uh...is that a good idea? Will I even be wanted?"
"It doesn't matter, I want you there, and so does Hutch, and they asked him to paint the backdrops."
"Backdrops?" I asked confused.
"Oh, uh, nothing. Go and get changed and you can come with me."
I went back into the bedroom and got changed back into my usual clothes and hung the dress up on the back of the door. Just before I left the bedroom I remembered to grab my sunglasses and slid them onto my face.
"Ready." I said, walking into the kitchen.
"Good, you can carry this." Sophie said, dumping the clothes bag into my arms.
"And what are you going to carry?" I asked.
"This." she said, picking up her miniature sewing kit that was the size of a small purse.
"How's that fair?" I laughed, the bag was so big I was having a job to see where I was going.
"This way." Sophie directed me, picking up a baseball bat that was propped up by the door.
"What's that for?" I asked.
"Protection, just in case."
"I love how you say ‘just in case’. Am I even safe to go outside?"
"Of course, most of them have cooled off now. Anyhow, it was mainly the older ones, they're just a little disgruntled but harmless."
"So what's the bat for?"
"Just in case."
I shook my head and followed her out of the trailer, but I managed to spill some of the clothes and Sophie walked behind me picking them up. We walked back to Sophie's trailer and met up with Hutch who had just finished mowing his area of grass and we dropped off the clothes inside the trailer.
Afterward, all three of us wandered to the main picnic area where everyone was gathered, all busy getting the place ready for the party tonight. It looked completely different to yesterday. All around the area there was people busy hammering in fence posts and erecting those decorative lattice fence panels that had already been painted white, and there were girls going behind them and looping voile through the gaps and hanging up decorative birds and other hanging ornaments on the lattice panels. The picnic tables had been moved to the side along with the gazebos. Chairs were being placed out in rows and there was some kind of stage being erected at the front. There were girls busy decorating the backs of the chairs with voile and bows. In another area, there was already a wooden hexagon gazebo erected and two teenage girls were helping to give it a fresh coat of white paint.
"That's pretty." I said, pointing at the hexagon gazebo that usually had a large tented gazebo in front of it which is why I hadn't seen it before.
"That's what everyone gets married under usually." Sophie explained. "Right, this way." Sophie led me over to a table where there was a load of boxes and Margo was on the other side, digging through a box.
She looked up at us and temporarily froze when her eyes landed on me.
"Oh, hi." Margo said, looking at Sophie and blanking me.
"Where are the lights? Alice said she wanted us to string them up." Sophie said, looking inside a box.
Margo tore her eyes away from me and moved to the other end of the table and looked inside a box.
"Here, these two." Margo said.
Sophie picked up one box and gestured for me to pick up the other one. She started walking away and I was about to follow her but stopped and turned back to look at Margo. Margo had done a good job of ignoring me and I was still pissed at her.
"So you're just going to ignore me? You have nothing to say to me?" I asked and Margo just looked at me blankly. "I helped save your life and then you bash me in the head with a bat." I said, glaring at her.
"What was I supposed to do, huh?" She threw her arms in the air.
Sophie turned back around and came back over to the table and rested her box on the edge, waiting for me.
"Uh, how about not bash me in the head." I deadpanned.
"Your eyes were all freaky and I dunno, I just panicked."
"You panicked? What you thought I was gonna eat your face? I'm not that desperate, thanks." I muttered and Sophie chuckled next to me. "Next time you need saving don't expect me to help. I still have a lump on the side of my head."
"It wasn't just me, everyone was packing, thinking you were one of them."
"Yes because you started it."
"Look, I'm sorry ok, it was dark, we were all scared and your eyes were glowing like neon lights, so I'm sorry if I overreacted."
I sighed. At least she said she was sorry.
"If you ever try to knock me out again, I will hurt you."
"Jeez, all right. I said I was sorry. So are your eyes still, you know?" she said, looking at my sunglasses, trying to get a glimpse of my eyes.
"Never you mind." I said, picking up my box and turning to leave.
"Alex!" Margo called me back.
"What?" I groaned, turning around again.
"Have you seen Lane recently?"
"No, not today."
"Oh," she frowned.
"Why, what's wrong?" I found myself asking.
"It's um...he won't talk to me, and he keeps avoiding me. I was wondering if you could-" She stopped talking when she saw the stupid smirk on my face.
"Aww, Lane won't talk to me." I pouted, making fun of her puppy dog expression.
"You're such a bitch!" Margo snapped and stormed off under the gazebo and Sophie and I burst out laughing.
"Like I care if he talks to her or not, I'm not going to play matchmaker for her, she's already caused me enough trouble."
I followed Sophie over to the lattice paneling where we dumped the boxes on the grass and spent a good forty minutes helping each other to detangle the lights before we could hang any up. The boxes were crammed full and all the wires had got tangled together. After we had detangled the lights we decided to get lunch before we got started and waited in the queue at the lunch table that had been set up around the back of the picnic area for today. We sat on the grass and ate our lunch in the shade.
"I can't believe she had the nerve to even bring up Lane's name. She's basically the reason why you two fell out. If it hadn't been for Margo sleeping with Lane you may have never found out about his antics. The girl is a homewrecker!" Sophie exclaimed, breaking her bread roughly and cramming it into her mouth.
"I know, tell me about it. But she did do me a favor I guess. But I don't get why she's still bothered about Lane, it's not like she'll see him again after we leave this place."
"She just wants to cause trouble. I'll tell you something but you have to keep it a secret because I'm friends with the woman it happened to."
"Sure," I said, listening carefully
"So last year, Margo started having an affair with that guy over there." Sophie carefully pointed out a man lifting a stack of chairs. "He was married and his wife was pregnant at the time, anyway, they got caught and his wife kicked him out of their trailer, and he just assumed Margo and he would end up together but three weeks later she had moved onto the guy over there." She pointed to a different guy eating his lunch with a group of people. "She's such a troublemaker, I can't stand her. She doesn't care about anyone other than herself. She even tried it on with Hutch right under my nose, flirting with him and shit, and I gave her a warning and told her I would break her nose if she came sniffing around him again." Sophie said, glaring across the grass at Margo who was sat at a table with Sully and the others and she was giggling over something Sully had said to her.
After lunch, we got started on stringing the lights up, hanging them along the fence amongst the other decorations. The fairy lights were all different, ranging from palm trees to unicorns, and there were even red fluffy hearts.
I zoned out for a bit, worrying about Drew. Why had he needed to go into town? We had everything we needed right here so why leave, and why not tell me he was leaving? I could have gone with him if I had known. I tried to concentrate on what Sophi
e was talking about, she was telling me stories about her time at high school with Hutch and the mischief they used to get up to but it was hard to think about anything other than Drew. I really hoped he was ok. Then I panicked, wondering if he had left for good. I never checked to see if his stuff was gone before we left, I was so distracted by Sophie and her clothes to notice if Drew's bag was still in the trailer.
"Are you ok?" Sophie asked, looking at me with worried eyes.
"No, not really, I'm worried about Drew. Did he say why he needed to go into town?"
"No...he just said he needed to get something." she said vaguely, reaching down into the box and grabbing a bunch of fairy lights.
"Get what? He doesn't need anything."
"I don't know, Alex. He just came by early this morning and asked where the nearest town was and asked if we could keep an eye on you. He didn't say why he was going."
"It makes no sense. Maybe I should go and look for him."
"Alex, no, he'll be fine. Anyway, we have a load more lights to put up, and I can't do it alone." She smiled sweetly.
"Fine. But if he's not back in time for the party then I'm going to look for him and no one is stopping me. I'm the safest person to go and look for him anyway, and I still haven't forgotten the last time he went out and didn't come back, and instead, he was kidnapped by savages."
"He'll be back before tonight, just you wait and see."
Why did I get the feeling that Sophie was hiding something?
"And the savages are gone thanks to you. Stop worrying about Drew and try to relax, we've got a fun evening ahead of us when we're done here. We can make it a girlie night, pampering ourselves, I have face masks and everything."
I let out a breath and turned my attention back to the lights. We emptied both boxes before we reached the end of the lattice panels but Alice managed to find another box of lights so we could finish off the last few panels and then we went on to decorate the white gazebo, winding lights around the framework. After all the lights were in place we got stuck into blowing up the balloons with a group of other people. Rosie came over and joined us and chatted to me like normal. She asked me about the whole Blood Gang ordeal and I told her, but she didn't seem afraid of me. I spotted Lane slinking around the grass and he was directed to the stage area. I still didn't know what the stage was for.
