Silver Stilettos

7 | silver stiletto

The rest of the day passed quickly, and by the time I rolled up to Reed's house, windows down, my entire body felt electric. I'd now convinced myself he was full of shit, and even if my head was swallowing it, my heart jumped erratically when I realized that in a few short minutes, I would be inside Reed Norcross' house. The place where the magic happened.

The two-story brick house looked like many others in his neighborhood, no bloody footprints or graffiti on the front door reading "Hi, we're part of the mob, please wipe your feet at the door!" I was almost disappointed at how normal it looked. The driveway was long and wide, and there were already six cars there.

"We can't stay long," Matt said, fidgeting in the passenger seat. "I have to study."

Even his anxiety couldn't quell the butterflies in my stomach. "Thanks for coming with me, Matt. I owe you one."

He sighed. "Well, you did lend me those notes. And they saved my ass on the test."

If Matt walked away from a test feeling good, it was because he'd scored an A. If I walked away from a test feeling like I knew the material, I spent all week giddy about my expected A...only to get a B.

"Think of it as a field trip," I said, rolling the window up after parking on the street in front of his house. "Walking into the lion's den."

"Why didn't you park in the drive way?" Matt unclasped his seat belt.

"I didn't want to get boxed in by other cars in case we had to get out in a hurry."

"Why would we need to get out in a hurry?" he asked as he opened the car door.

"Just in case we do, all right?" I regretted my snappy tone the moment I saw Matt's face blanch. "I'm sorry. I'm just kind of nervous and having an escape strategy is soothing."

He rubbed his face and cast a longing look at our backpacks tossed onto the backseat. "We could be doing homework right now," he bemoaned, following me as I cut across the lawn and made my way to Reed's front door.

The door opened without warning and a scowling Reed stood in front of me, almost baring his teeth at Matt. "Hey."

"Hi. I brought my friend. Hope that's okay." I pulled Matt's sleeve so he stood at my side instead of skulking behind me.

"Yeah." Reed stared at Matt. "We have some classes together." He stepped back, swinging the door open to usher us inside. "Come in. There's drinks in the kitchen."

Familiar dubstep music blasted inside, making my temples pound, and the air smelled like black licorice and earthy, sweet hay. Matt was close on my heels as we followed Reed into the kitchen. The place gleamed with shiny, stainless steel fixtures and a token fruit bowl on the counter. Surrounding the pyramid of fruit were several long-necked bottles of beer and wine, most unopened.

"Drinks was an understatement," I commented. "Did you buy the whole liquor store?"

"Grab something to drink!" Reed called out. "I need to talk to someone." He flashed me a quick smile, ignoring Matt completely, before ducking into the next room.

I craned my head, trying to see where he went. Living room, I determined, spotting the arm of a couch and an end table with sentimental knick knacks. A black and white baby photo with a newer class picture popped into the bottom corner. I recognized it from last year's yearbook.

Nothing about this place looked like a mafia den. Then again, it wasn't like they all wore Mafia R Us tees and wore pointy black hats, either, so I had to admit that appearances could be deceiving.