Light in the Shadows (Find You in the Dark #2)(22)
Author: A. Meredith Walters

So I ran. Not fast, but I ran far. I was pleased at how my endurance had increased and I found that I was able to run the 3200 meter in a record eleven minutes. That was incredible! I had beaten my best time by a minute. I felt good and the closest to happy I had been in a while.

Coach Kline was pleased and made sure to heap praise my way before I left. As I walked out to my car, I saw Daniel and Jake headed to Danny’s truck. “Mags!” Daniel called out, waiting for me to catch up.

I smiled at him and then gave Jake a shy grin. I felt a little strange around him, now that he had asked me out and I had agreed. But he simply tugged on my pony tail and grinned as though nothing had changed between us.

“We’re headed to Bubbles, you wanna come?” Daniel asked. I tensed up at the suggestion. I hadn’t been to Bubbles since…

You know what? Fuck this. “Yeah. I could use a banana split,” I said almost defiantly. Though who I was defying I wasn’t entirely sure. Was I defying Clay? Myself? The memory of the hundreds of banana splits I had shared with my ex-boyfriend? God, how ridiculous was that?

So I followed them to the restaurant and I ordered the banana split with extra whipped cream. And I ate every last bite. “Jeesh girl, you were hungry,” Jake teased as I scooped up the last bit of ice cream and put it in my mouth.

I felt faintly nauseous with the amount of food I had just consumed. I had never finished one of Bubble’s banana splits by myself before. But damned if I hadn’t made it my mission to eat that entire one. It was like I was proving something to myself. Like if I could do this, I could really start to move on with my life.

Though I think all I got out of it was the need to puke all over the table.

Daniel only shook his head as I dropped the spoon into the bowl with a loud clang. I met his eyes and dared him to say anything about my gross display of overeating. But he just smirked and finished his hamburger.

Jake tapped my foot with his under the table. I looked at him and grinned sheepishly. “I think I might have overdone it,” I admitted, feeling my stomach roll in revolt.

“That was pretty impressive,” Jake said, pushing his half eaten sundae aside. “So what do you think about going to see a movie on Saturday? We could hit the IMAX in Charlottesville,” Jake suggested and I wanted to groan as Danny’s head popped up.

“You guys have plans this weekend?” Daniel asked, raising his eyebrows at me. I’d be interrogated about this later. If not by Daniel, then by Rachel. Separate they were dangerous, now as a unified team, they were darn near lethal.

“Yeah, we do,” I told him sharply, shooting daggers in his direction with my eyes. If he embarrassed me, I’d flipping kill him.

“That’s cool. Can Rachel and I join you? Make it a group thing?” Daniel asked and my irritation dissolved in place of my relief at not having to sit awkwardly though a date like situation with Jake.

Daniel raised his eyebrows at me and I knew his suggestion wasn’t a spur of the moment idea. My best friend knew me so well. And I too often underestimated what he would do to make me happy. He really was a good guy, even if he tried to hide it under douchy armor way too often.

Jake shrugged his shoulders, though I could tell he was less than thrilled with our date crashers. But Jake too, was a decent guy, and would never let on to his disappointment. “Sounds good. We can figure out what we want to do at lunch time. Cool?” Jake looked at me and I gave him a thumbs up.

“I’m sure Rach and I can find some sappy chick flick to drag you guys to. I’m thinking Zac Efron or ohh, I know, what about the movie with Robert Pattinson! A theater full of squealing women will be awesome!” I clapped my hands. Daniel laughed, knowing I was full of it. There was no way I could subject myself to a chick flick, let alone anyone else.

“Whatever, we’ll discuss tomorrow. I’ve got to pick Rachel up from work. Come on, Jake.” We each slid out of the booth and paid our tickets. Jake tried to pay for mine but I staunchly refused. We were not a couple and even though we were going on a quasi-date this weekend, it didn’t mean I had to throw myself head first into coupledom. I was so NOT ready for that.

“See you guys tomorrow,” I called out as I made my way to my car. For the first time in as long as I could remember, I was feeling pretty good. The funk I had found myself in after Clay’s phone call was finally receding. And while I was nervous about where things were headed with Jake, I wasn’t overly freaked out about it either. Even the sound of my engine struggling to turn over couldn’t darken my mood.

This could only mean that things were finally looking up for me. The clouds were parting and I could finally see the sun again. I took a deep breath, feeling the cold air burn my lungs and I felt like smiling. Just because.

I was surprised to see both Mom and Dad’s cars in the driveway when I got home. Mom typically worked crazy hours and it was Dad’s bowling night. He and a few of the other librarians had formed a league a few months ago, complete with shirts with their team name The Bookish Bowlers embroidered on the back. I had blown snot balls when he had shown them to me. My dad hadn’t been amused when I begged for a T-shirt of my own. He knew it wasn’t for my love of bowling or librarians, that’s for sure.

I dropped my keys on the table inside the front door. “Hello?” I said, walking into the living room.

“In the kitchen, Maggie. Can you come in here, please?” my mom called out. I didn’t like the sound of her voice and my good mood evaporated instantly and anxious nerves took its place in the pit of my stomach.

I walked into my brightly lit kitchen that seemed in such contrast to the dark looks my parents wore. They were both sat at the kitchen table, hands folded in an almost identical way. If they hadn’t looked so serious, I would have laughed.

“Uh, is everything okay?” I asked, moving to sit in the vacant chair at the table. My dad looked to my mother, who gave me, what I’m sure was meant to be a reassuring smile. Instead it looked strained and uncomfortable.

“Well, honey, I heard some bad news a little while ago,” Mom said uncertainly. I took a deep breath.

“Well, what was it?” I asked, feeling the sick sense of dread thick in my throat. My mother sighed and covered my hand with hers.

“It’s about Lisa McCabe,” she began and I blinked at the unexpected direction of the conversation. Ruby’s Lisa? I frowned in confusion.

“What’s up with Lisa?” I asked with some hesitation, knowing on an instinctual level that I wouldn’t like what she had to tell me.