Melissa grabbed the blankets from her bed, took two pillows, and grabbed her favorite pink PJs before running into the kitchen and opening the cabinets. She and Lola raided the fridge of cake, the freezer for all the ice cream they could find, and the pantry for cookies, chips, and every other cavity-inducing goodie.
They took it all into the movie room and locked the door so that Melissa's parents wouldn't disturb them. They giggled as they laid the cushions underneath and put the blankets on top, creating their own fortress.
"God, I love that you're in my life," Melissa said with a sigh as they grabbed all the snacks and put them between them on the makeshift bed.
Lola smiled. A little laugh tumbled from her, and she looked with adoration at Melissa.
"I am too, Mell," Lola said and wrapped her arms around Melissa's shoulders.
"I'm serious. I rarely say it because I know you don't like this mushy affection, but I've honestly never been happier in my life. No one would ever build a fort with me and stay up all night talking and eating junk," she said and grabbed Lola's hands. "You're my best friend, and I love you," she continued and gazed into Lola's eyes. She dragged out the word to make sure that Lola listened and understood.
"I love you too, so much. Which is why I have to ask something of you, and I kind of just need you to trust me on it," Lola said and winced at the sound of her own voice. She was worried how Melissa would react to what she was about to say. It wasn't something sense at this moment, but she felt it was right.
"What?" Melissa asked and tipped her head to the side.
"Don't trust Jax. Don't flirt with him and interact with him. Just, if you see him in school, ignore him and walk the other way. Please?" Melissa looked quizzical at Lola's request, but her eyes slowly widened and glimmered. Her lips turned up in a deviously happy grin, and she squealed.
"You like him!" she said loudly. There was nobody home, yet Lola shushed her.
"No, no, that's not it-" she said, but Melissa raised her hands.
"Say no more. He's all yours. I'll be the wingwoman. You'll have him on his knees by the end of the week," she said and squared again at the thought.
"No!" Lola said sternly.
Melissa sat back, shocked over Lola's reaction but probably planning their wedding at the same time.
"No, I don't like him. I think he's up to something, and I think he has something to do with what happened last night."
Melissa shook her head. "But we already know what happened. You fell, remember?"
"No, I don't remember, and neither do you. That's the point. That dream you had, I had the same one, and I don't think it's a coincidence."
All joy and playfulness vanished from Melissa's face. "What do you mean it's not a coincidence?" she asked.
Lola slowly pulled her shoulders up to her ears. The big TV was on and lit up the room. They lit candles on the tables and were waiting to choose a movie. The silence fell heavy over their heads, and a cloud of uncertainty circled them.
"What if they weren't just dreams? What if... what if they were memories of what actually happened that night?" Lola heard how crazy she sounded, but it wasn't too far-fetched for her.
The memories of that night long ago, the one always in the back of her head, played repeatedly. She knew that maybe this was an actual possibility. She had repressed it. Who was to say she didn't repress last night's events the same way?
"You mean someone actually bit me? Lola, that's crazy and a little sick," Melissa said with a disgusted expression.
Melissa pulled the blanket tighter, abasing her chest as though it would protect her.
"I'm not saying it happened. I'm just saying, what if it did? What if we didn't fall but were actually attacked, and Jax just happened to be there?" Lola said, which seemed to cause Melissa to think a little harder about the situation.
They agreed to stick to the plan that Lola came up with, to ignore Jax and move on after last night's events. Whatever happened might never become clear, but they also couldn't live in the past and dwell over answers they weren't getting.
Nevertheless, Lola was sure that Jax had something to do with it, and the only thing she hoped for was that it wasn't connected to her past because she didn't want to move. She had finally built a life for herself, and for the first time, she had a friend.
"All right, so Pride and Prejudice or Mean Girls?" Melissa asked and scrolled with the remote through the options on the TV.
"Mean Girls, obviously," Lola said and smirked, knowing Melissa would scowl, which she did.
They played the movie and ate most of their snack. They drank the ice cream that had melted. When they started feeling sick, they both went to sleep.
* * *
"Don't leave the car," her father said and smiled nervously. One pearl of sweat was forming on his temple, and his eyes glinted with something untold.
The man behind the wheel kept looking back at her through the rearview mirror. Lola tore her eyes away from him and ignored the unsettling feeling spreading through her body. She kept looking out the window for the other cars with her mom and aunt, but she couldn't hear any wheels or see any headlights coming up behind them. Her father walked up to the little cottage and knocked on the door. It looked like a hunters' meet-up spot perfectly located by the woods, benches placed out, and a rifle standing leaning against the house. Lola reached for the door handle, but the driver pushed a button. A loud clicking sound rang in her ears. She tried opening the door, but it had been locked. She carefully looked at the back of the driver's head and slowly leaned back in her seat.
Her eyes went around her surroundings, but there wasn't to see in the darkness. All that was really visible was what the car's lights allowed her to see, and that was only her father and the cottage. The door opened up, and she looked around the diver. Two men stepped outside, dressed in all black, and one had a cigarette in his mouth.
They were toned, their muscles were visible, and their faces were beautiful, she thought. Blue eyes, sharp jaws, and perfect symmetry over both their faces.
She looked in awe at their beauty but faltered back when they turned their heads and locked their eyes with her in the car. One of them smiled and bit down on his lip.
Her father was nervously pulling his hands. He fell back a step when a big duffle bag was pushed into his hands.
"Bring her inside. Let's have a taste," the bigger guy said to her father.
He took cowardly steps to the car, and the driver unlocked the doors. Her father opened the door and smiled. With a shaky voice and a wave of his hand, he said, "Come on, honey. Let's go meet our new friends."
He didn't need to say it. She wasn't dumb, nor was she blind. She could see that whoever those people were, they were not her friends.
"Come on, get out of the car. Let's go," her father said and loaded the bag in the car. His voice began to rise and grew agitated.
"Where's mom?" she asked.
"On her way. She'll meet us inside," he said and reached for her hand.
Lola looked through the windshield. Her eyes met the blond guy leaning on his arm against the cottage, and he smiled at her. She squinted and leaned further. The light was showing his face. She only saw the contours. However, when he took a step out of the dark, the light hit him and bounced against his eyes. Lola gasped and fell back, her eyes fixated on the sharp fangs that stuck out from under his lip.
She shook her head, looked at her father, and then back at the men, but the fangs were gone. She must've been tired, hallucinating from sleep deprivation. There were so many reasonable explanations.