Chapter 7: Rose
Ben and I made excuses to avoid the beach when it was dark from then on. We spent many daylight hours there, soaking up the sun and swimming in the sea. But when we went out late at night, we made sure that we went to clubs and restaurants further inland.
Unfortunately, I didn’t meet another boy like Caleb.
But after several nights of practice—and Kristal giving me some extra sessions during the day around the condo—I was beginning to feel a bit less of a klutz. Kristal had been surprised that I seemed so disorientated listening to modern music and asked me if I really had never gone to a party before. I explained to her that I’d just always been bad at dancing.
I also went shopping with Kristal to buy some new clothes and a pair of high heels. Despite Kristal pressuring me, I still didn’t cave into buying miniskirts or minidresses. I did make a compromise, however: the dresses that I came home were all shorter than my long summer gowns—they stopped just above the knee, and I felt confident wearing them.
One evening, there was a big boxing match on the TV, followed immediately by soccer, that Jake didn’t want to miss, so Ben decided to stay in with him.
Kristal was excited about the idea of a girls’ night out. “We’ll go out for dinner together,” she said, pulling me into her room and sitting me down in front of her dressing table. “Let me do your hair and makeup.”
I’d gotten used to the fact that she always liked to dress me up before going out. It was for my own benefit, since she always made me look better than I could. I wasn’t used to wearing makeup. I’d never had much occasion to around The Shade.
Kristal began tugging at my long dark hair with a brush, taming it into a slick ponytail. Then she took out her makeup box and set about giving me what she called a “smoky eye” look.
Smoky or not, I had to admit when I looked in the mirror that it suited me. And once I’d changed into one of my new dresses, fastened Griffin’s necklace around my neck and pulled on a pair of heels, I felt thoroughly sexy. I even caught Jake eyeing me as we made our way out through the front door.
Just as we were about to enter the elevator, Kristal stopped abruptly.
“Oh, damn it. Wait here. I forgot something.”
She ran back to the apartment and returned a minute later carrying a small black handbag.
“This is Chloe’s,” Kristal explained. “She left it with me when we were all out the other night and I forgot to return it to her.”
We exited the building and, to my discomfort, she turned right—toward the beach. She picked up her mobile phone and dialed a number.
“Chloe? Hi, you’re at Jacob’s right now? Okay, don’t go anywhere because I’m coming with your bag.”
Hurrying alongside her, I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. We reached the beach and stopped once we reached Jacob’s Restaurant. Chloe, a short brunette, sat next to her boyfriend, John. Kristal walked over and handed her the bag. They were sitting at a table outside in the open air, with a clear view onto the beach.
We were about to leave when Chloe said, “Hey, why don’t you join us? There’s plenty of room and we haven’t even started eating yet.”
Kristal answered before even consulting me.
“That sounds like a great idea,” she said.
I didn’t argue since it would have been too awkward. I took a seat next to Kristal, opposite Chloe and John across the table.
I tried to convince myself that I was being paranoid. Yes, it was night. And yes, we were sitting right on the beach. But we were near a restaurant, and that was probably the worst kind of place to collect humans, with everybody seated at tables. No way to mingle with drunk crowds.
Still, I failed to relax as we sat for hours on the beachfront, so close to where those girls had been abducted. I found myself looking suspiciously at each person who walked by us.
“Are you all right, Rose?” Kristal asked, squeezing my knee beneath the table. “You’re awfully quiet.”
“Yes, I’m fine,” I muttered. “I’m just a little tired.”
“We can go back home now if you want. We don’t have to stay for dessert.”
“Okay,” I said, nodding and clutching her hand. “Let’s do that.”
Kristal called for the bill and insisted on paying for all of us.
We all got up to leave together and I breathed a sigh of relief as we bade goodbye to the couple and left the beach.
I was so focussed on getting back to our apartment that I didn’t think to check if anyone was following us.
If I had, I would have noticed two tall, dark figures trailing in the shadows behind us.