A Piece of Heaven (Allendale Four 1)

His face fell a bit, but he recovered, tapping his fist on the side of my car. “Sure, call me. Tonight.”

“I will. I promise.”

“Great.” He turned and swung the car door open. I saw Anderson inside. Not looking forward, not looking at Jackson. This time, staring straight at me. His jaw clenched tight. Anger rolled off him in waves as the door slammed between us. Moments later, the squeal of his tires confirmed that something was definitely not okay between us.

*

That night while sitting on my bed and doing my homework, there was a direct message from Eric. He was inviting me to the party at Peter’s house. Payment, I suppose, for my services earlier in the week. I deleted it, but the invite was a reminder that I should call Jackson and give him my answer. I wanted to go, but at the same time, things were moving fast. I couldn’t tell what was real and not real any longer.

Still wavering, I got his number from Oliver and called.

“Heaven?”

“Yeah. How did you know it was me?” I asked.

He laughed. “Lucky guess. I didn’t recognize the number.”

“Oh.”

“So, is this about Saturday?” he prompted.

“Yeah.”

“I can pick you up around seven...” He wasn’t giving me much of an out. We had a plan. This was what I wanted. I repeated that mantra over in my head.

“Awesome.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. Definitely, I’ll get you at seven, okay?”

I agreed and hung up the phone, unable to stop thinking about the last party I’d gone to and the fallout that ensued.

*

Five messages were waiting on me when I stepped out of the shower. All from Oliver.

Wake up.

Wake up.

Wake up.

OMG WAKE UP.

Fine. Check your Facebook.

With only a towel wrapped around my body, I sat at the desk chair and opened my account. I had been tagged in two new photos from the anonymous account. One was of me getting into Eric’s car. The other was of me and Garrett at the coffee shop. The picture was taken exactly when I kissed him on the cheek.

I texted Oliver back.

Do you know who posted these?

Nope.

A chill ran down my spine and I looked around my room. It was silly. No one was in here but I still had the feeling of being watched.

It was none of us. You okay?