How We Were | ✔️ (Complete)

50. Peyton and Jake

Then a voice spoke up from behind me.

"So? What do you think they talked about?"

***

I screamed before falling flat on my ass and scrambling away, stopping only when my head hit the side of the canoe. The oar dislodged and smacked me across the shoulder before clattering to the floor.

When I looked up, she was staring down at me with her hands clasped behind her back, her head cocked slightly to the right, like she simply couldn't understand my reaction.

"Charlotte! You scared me!"

"Did I? I was standing here the whole time, right in that corner. From the moment you came in, actually."

The thought of her watching me for that long without my knowledge was enough to make tears of terror well in my eyes. As it was, my heart was hammering in my chest so hard that I felt pretty sure I was going to throw up. "God, Charlotte, what are you doing in here?"

And why the hell are you wearing that creepy ass white dress, looking like you walked right off the set of "Children of The Corn"?

"Same thing you're doing, I imagine. It's strange to see the two of them together, isn't it? After everything that's happened?"

Well, I wouldn't know, because I knew nothing about that. I considered engaging her in conversation to see if I could get some information out of her, but thought better of it. Daddy'd always said that knowing yourself was half the battle, and I knew I stood no chance in outwitting her.

"So...? Any theories?" she asked.

"Leave me alone, Charlotte." Bracing myself against the side of the canoe, I struggled to get back onto my feet. My knees were still shaking from shock.

Refusing to cower before her again, I forced myself to look at her. And when I did, she shocked me again, this time with her appearance.

She looked wretched.

She was still impeccably groomed, her hair and makeup perfect even in the gloomy light of the shed.

But her eyes...

They were manic, unhinged. Too blue, too bright, bloodshot. She looked like she hadn't slept in a month.

You know, I'd always said she was crazy, but for the first time, I wondered if she was crazy in the clinical sense. She sure looked it at the moment.

"Charlotte?" My voice came out reedy and thin. Scared as fuck. But I was.

"Layla?" Her tone was sing-song-y, like some fucked up little girl ghost from a horror movie.

She also hadn't blinked for like two whole minutes.

"Charlotte, are you okay?" If I hadn't been so afraid of her, I would've reached out and put a hand on her arm to try and shake her out of it.

"Oh, so now you care about how I feel?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

It was ninety five degrees out, but I was freezing.

I sized her up. We were about the same height, but she was ultra thin and built like a gazelle. So at the very least, I had bulk on my side if it came down to that.

Still, nothing beats crazy so I took a hesitant step back.

She took one forward, stepping into the light. "Leaving already?"

Her skin was so pale and wan that I could see all the veins running beneath her skin. I was pretty sure she had a broken blood vessel in her eye and she also had a long scratch on the side of her neck. No, make that scratches, as if someone had clawed at her neck.