Fear Games

9. Do You Love Me, Do You Not?

"This all sounds like a lot," Elaine said. "Like you're carrying a heavy weight on your shoulders."

"I am. And it fucking pisses me off because none of this ever should have happened. But with Harlin's betrayal, and whoever the other killer is...there's more to this than we even know. And we're trying to figure it all out. We need answers before anyone else gets hurt."

Elaine was silent for a moment as she finished writing stuff down on her notepad. Then she set it down on her desk, looked into my eyes, and said, "Emerald, this is not your responsibility. The police are involved, right? Why don't you let them handle it?"

"The police have been defunded since like 2022," I said. "And besides, I don't trust that anyone can figure this out. This is a family and friend kind of situation."

"Part of my job is to ensure that you are going to be safe during all of this," Elaine said. "I know this is difficult, but you have to let the adults here do the work to protect you and the others. Can you please promise me that you won't involve yourself at all that could put you in harm's way?"

I knew why she was asking me this—because she legally had to—but that didn't mean that I had to be honest. I nodded my head and said, "I promise I'll stay out of it. The adults can figure it out on their own without my help." But I think Elaine and I both knew in that instance that I was full of shit. I just hoped that she'd let it go.

CINDER

That weekend, Colton invited me over to his house while his parents were away, and I was nervous about what that would mean for the sake of our pending relationship. We still hadn't made anything official, but now that I had Emerald's grace, it seemed like being with him was even more of a possibility by the day. So on this particular Saturday when Colton invited me over, I didn't hesitate and decided to go and see what would happen—if anything would at all.

When I pulled into his driveway, I stared at his ginormous house—which was more like a mansion to be honest—and butterflies started swarming around inside my stomach. Colton may have been a wealthy kid, but he never acted spoiled or anything. He was fairly humble, even if he was an asshole at times.

He must have seen me pull up, or been watching, because just as I was getting out of the car that I borrowed from Mom, he came rushing out of the house to greet me. Today he was wearing blue jeans and an orange t-shirt. Over the shirt he was wearing his red and gold football jacket. He looked pretty good today and part of me wanted to throw him on the hood of my car and have sex right then and there.

He pulled me in for a hug and said, "I'm so glad you came." When he pulled away, he smiled at me, revealing his perfectly white teeth. "I just had to see you. I couldn't wait until school on Monday."

"Me either," I replied, smiling back. "Shall we go inside?"

"Yes, definitely," Colton said, grabbing me by the hand. "You've never been over here before, have you?"

I shook my head. "Nope. I always knew you lived nicely, but this is..."

"Excessive? Yeah, I know," Colton said with a laugh. "Come on, let's go in."

When we stepped inside his house, the first thing I saw was humongous staircase leading up to the second floor, as well as a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The walls were a pale yellow color in every room, which wasn't exactly the color palate I would have gone with personally for the home, but whatever. He led me into the living room that had a sectional sofa and a giant flatscreen television hanging from the wall. He told me I could sit while he rummaged around for a movie for us to watch.

As I planted my ass on the couch, I said, "This is a really nice place you've got here."

"Oh, don't be modest," Colton said. "You can tell me it's ridiculous. Even I know that it is. My parents have a tendency to try and live as lavishly as possible. Anyway, what kind of movies do you like? Comedy, horror, action? I bet you're a rom-com kind of girl, aren't you?" He said it with a smirk.