Red Herring ✔️

61. Something Wicked This Way Comes

6 Hours to Midnight, Halloween

"How do you feel about this?" 

"Well, Mr. Therapist, since you asked," Mazie answered Christian with sarcasm. "It might come as a surprise to you, but this is oddly enough about the last thing I'd like to be doing right now. On a list, it's third after scalping myself and being buried alive. Out of all the things we've done, this one really takes the cake." 

Having overheard their conversation, Jason looped around the bed of Christian's truck. "I'd rather undergo Japanese water torture."

Makeup-less, scraggily hair, and days old comfort clothes paired last last season's Uggs on, these exposed revelations were clearly not being kind to Ailene, haunting her like the lingering smell of burnt pizza in the cafeteria. She looked like she hadn't slept a wink. Or showered or three days. "I'd rather pluck out all of my eyelashes." 

"Guys, come on..." Christian started. 

"I'd rather be eating spaghetti," Lonny chimed in. 

Everyone collectively gave Lonny the evil eye. 

He shrugged. "What? My mom made spaghetti. It's my favorite." 

"That's not...you kind of missed the point," Jason pointed out, slapping Lonny on the back to admonish him as a dense idiot. 

"We all know you're being funny as a coping mechanism to hide the fact you really don't want to dig up your old lady lover," Mazie declared, picking up a shovel and shoving it into Lonny's chest. He accepted it, despite the dejected look on his face. It didn't deter her in the least. 

Jason snickered at her comment. As did Christian who offered up his hand to high-five. She slapped her palm to his with triumph. "Savage, babe." 

Mazie smirked, tossing a long braid over her shoulder. She still rocked the Wednesday Addams costume that she wore to school which she kept on for trick-or-treeting with the kids in less than hour. Her short black dress flared out from underneath her slim puffer jacket and the thin black tights falsely promised mild insulation for her lower extremities.

Ailene gagged. "You two are perfect for each other. It's disgusting." With a roll of her eyes, she also fetched a shovel from the bed of Christian's truck. Her knuckles bared with as if exposing the brittle bone just underneath the surface. If the breeze blew too strong, Ailene might snap from the tension that tightened her entire body. "You're both cold, heartless, and dead inside."

Dramatically, Mazie laid her hand over her heart. "Oh my gosh, Ailene. That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!" With nothing less to do to stall, she took a shovel from Christian, surprised by the wheat of the steel head. "Besides, it's crazy to think how two people who are a good match can find each other when you're not banging your superior on the mayoral committee or sleeping with your best friend's boyfriend."

Gasping in shock, Ailene's mouth dropped open. Jason was all out guffawing, mocking both Ailene and Lonny. 

With excessive aggression, Lonny knocked Jason up the side of his head. "Shut it, Woo. You're the one who wasn't able to land the girl he was in love with for over a year."

The tables turned and everyone chuckled at the expense of Jason's pride. When she glanced up, she found Christian gazing at her with wonder in his eyes. And a bit of reserved temptation. If she had to guess, he liked it when she was delivering proverbial gut punches to these useless hairy nut sacks. Mazie wiggled her eyebrows at him evocatively. 

"Alright, who's ready to dig up a dead body?"

Christian's question sliced the humor straight out of her lungs. Normally, she stood at his side both physically and mentally. Now, she strayed away from him, collaborating with the rest of the gang. Right about now, she too would rather be plucking out all of her eyelashes one by one, as Ailene suggested.