The Stepbully She Craves

Chapter 2

“So you’re really coming, Piper?” Ava asks, and I turn my attention back to my friends, trying to get my head from sinking into the quicksand of my worried thoughts.

“Yes.” I nod, gulping back my fear. Cord promised to keep me safe. The guys will leave me alone. And Drake will get kicked if he doesn’t. Therefore, I’m going to put on my big-girl shirt tonight and take one for the team. Make a memory with my friends that will hopefully last a lifetime.

Let’s just hope it doesn’t haunt my dreams for that long too.

“Yay! I’m so excited,” Samantha cheers, throwing her arms up in the air. “We’re all going to the Fright House!”

Cord pulls out of my embrace as the girls start to chatter and turns between my legs to face everyone. I snuggle up against his back and prop my head on his shoulder, trying to keep myself warm. It really is starting to get cold out.

“You girls should come over early so we can get dressed up in our costumes together,” Lex says, and the girls all bounce with excitement, agreeing— while my stomach bounces with dread. Not only do I have to go to this thing, but now I have to dress up in a Halloween costume? Ugh…my Friday night is going to royally bad.

“I haven’t gotten my costume for the party yet,” I tell them, hoping to at least get myself out of that part of this frightful night.

“No worries, Pipe!” Lex shakes her head. “Just borrow something of mine.”

Yeah, that’s so not happening. She always dresses in saxy costumes. Like a saxy nurse. A saxy vampire. A saxy bunny. Me—I usually go dressed as something funny. Like a candy bar, or a hot dog, or a giant blow-up sumo wrestler. Anything to cover up my curves.

“That’s okay.” I wave her off. “I’ll just stop by the store on my way to your house and get something. What time are we meeting up?” I’ll need to make sure I leave myself enough time to shop.

“Why don’t you girls plan on coming to the Fright House close to closing time so we can all go out after?” Banner chimes in, showing off his two hot dimples.

“Yes!” Mercy practically shouts as the rest of us nod. She looks like a genie just granted her biggest wish.

I swear, that girl never gives up. She’s had a crush on Banner since elementary school. And even though he’s made it clear he’s not interested, she still has dreamy eyes every time she sees him. She’s probably hoping tonight will finally be the night he changes his mind and falls madly in love with her. But I doubt that’s ever going to happen. No offense to Merce. It’s just that Banner goes for “easy,” and my dear friend is known as the “Vrrgin Mary.”

“Okay, so do you girls want to come over around seven?” Lex asks. “I’ll order pizza and we can just hang out until it’s time to get ready. Then we’ll head to the Fright House at ten. Does that work?”

Everyone agrees, and my terrifying Friday night is locked in stone. All I can say is Cord better make room for me in his bed tonight because there’s no way I’m sleeping alone.

“Are you guys going to tell us what your costumes are so we can look for you as we’re going through?” Samantha asks.

“What? Are you scared, Sam?” Drake cocks his brow up, giving her an evil smirk.

If I were her, I definitely wouldn’t be stepping foot in the Fright House tonight. Drake will be eating her fear up like a starved man. But, then again, she’s used to his attacks, so she’ll probably just laugh in his face. Those two despise each other, yet I still don’t know the reason why. All I know is that it happened in middle school—which is a seriously long time to hold a grudge. But the hatred between them runs deep.

“What fun would it be if you knew who we were?” He shakes his head, that evil gleam sparkling in his eyes. “We want you to have the full Fright House experience.”

Yeah, no thanks. That’s exactly what I’m trying to avoid.

I lean up to Cord’s ear, keeping my voice at a whisper so the troublemaker doesn’t hear. “Will you tell me who everyone is, so I have a heads-up?”

He turns his head in my direction，“Love your sweetness, baby.” He kisses my cheek, sending a rush of warmth right through my bones. “I won’t know what costumes we’ll be in until I get to work tonight. But if I have time to text you, I will.”

I give him a kiss for being the best big brother. “Thanks, Cord.” And another because I can’t resist his gorgeous face. I wish the two of us were going to be wrapped up on the couch together watching a movie tonight. His wrapped around me, protecting me from all the bad guys on TV, whispering fun facts about the movie, giving me a warning when a jumpy scene is about to happen so I don’t get scared.