A knocking on the door downstairs made me practically jump out of my skin as I whimpered and held my breath. I didn’t move. They knocked again, and I chewed on my lip. How long had I been standing there musing over why someone would send me something? Would that be Luke, or was it the person who sent it to me in the first place? My cell phone suddenly started vibrating in my hand. I gasped in shock and looked down to see Luke’s smiling face on my screen with his number glowing underneath.

I answered it quickly, not moving from the spot. “Hi.”

“Hey, you gonna answer your door or what?” he asked, laughing quietly.

I felt the tension leave my body because he was here. I must have been thinking about it longer than I thought and time had passed by without me realising it. I practically ran to the door, throwing it open to see him standing there, smiling the beautiful smile that I loved so much.

“Were you in the shower or something? What took you so-” Before he had a chance to finish his sentence, I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around him tightly as I pressed my face into the side of his neck, breathing him in. His body stiffened as he wrapped his arms around me in return. “Maisie, what the?” he asked breathlessly.

I sighed contentedly and stepped impossibly closer. Everything about Luke was comforting, from the way his arms fitted around me, to his warmth, right down to his familiar scent that filled my lungs. It felt so nice just being held by him that I didn’t ever want to move. There was no denying the fact that I just needed Luke right now, what with everything going on he felt like some sort of safety blanket. My feelings for Luke hadn’t diminished at all I realised.

I fought back tears as I pressed myself even closer to him, squeezing him and letting his smell surround me. “I just missed you, that’s all,” I whispered. That was only half of the truth, I had missed him, but the relief that he was here was what made me lose my composure and hug him like he was the only thing keeping me on this earth.

His lips pressed to my temple. “I missed you too. I’m not used to not seeing you at the weekend.” He grinned that dazzling smile, flashing me a row of perfectly white straight teeth. His hand moved up to the back of my neck, stroking at my hairline lightly with his thumb. My skin prickled as I unconsciously whimpered because I’d always loved it when he did that. Luke just fitted me so perfectly; everything he did made me melt inside, even just the way his arms wrapped around me made my whole body sag in contentment. I needed him whether I wanted to admit it or not.

I reluctantly pulled back, looking up at him gratefully because he made everything better. All the panic and fear that I’d felt moments before were gone as soon as I looked into his big brown eyes. He smiled down at me, his expression hopeful and purely happy. I felt a smile pull at the corners of my mouth too just because I always had to return his smiles, it was just something in me that reacted without my permission. Even after what he’d done with Sandy, I still had to smile at the boy, it was crazy really. They say that you never really fall out of love. Looking at Luke I knew that saying was true, I would always love him.

“Thanks for coming over,” I muttered, not pulling out of his embrace yet because I was enjoying his closeness too much.

He bent his head, his nose tracing up the side of mine, making my breathing falter at the intimacy of the move. But he didn’t kiss me like I was expecting; instead he pulled his head away and smiled at me tenderly. “Of course I’d come over. I just hope you’re not gonna make me watch some crappy chick flick,” he replied, laughing quietly. I laughed too, letting the last of the tension leave my body as my hand slipped into his before giving him a little tug towards the lounge, just eager to cuddle up against him on the sofa like we always used to on a Saturday afternoon. Hopefully he’d stay until Alex got home from hanging out with his newest bed buddy, and then I wouldn’t have to be on my own in the house with that box.

Chapter 16

On Sunday morning I decided to call Charlotte and Beth and see if they wanted to come over. I needed to tell someone about the package I was sent. I couldn’t keep bottling it up inside, it would fester and eventually drive me crazy. I couldn’t tell my parents, brother, or Luke because I knew they would go mad, insist on calling the police, and would make such a huge deal out of it that Sandy would end up winning. No, instead I was going to pretend like nothing had happened, hold my head up high and smile as if she wasn’t important enough to me to bother me. I figured that would have more of an effect than anything else, she obviously wanted a reaction, and there was no way I was giving her another one.

They both arrived together just after eleven, giggling about something as they let themselves into my house as usual. Luckily for Charlotte, my brother wasn’t awake yet because usually as soon as she stepped foot in the house he’d be showing off and trying to get into her pants. It was sickening really.

Charlotte grinned, flopping onto the sofa next to me as we exchanged greetings.

I stood up and nodded towards the door. “Let’s go to my room and listen to some music or something.”

They both instantly stood and followed me out and up the stairs. With each step that I took I felt my apprehension build. I was a little nervous telling them about the box. What if they thought it was more than a joke too? That would kind of make it more real for me. When we got to my room I stepped to the side and let them both pass me as I chewed on my lip wondering if I should just keep it to myself and pretend that it never even got sent in the first place.

They both flopped down on my bed; Beth immediately grabbed my book from the nightstand, flicking through it absentmindedly. I took a deep breath and decided to get it out there and see what they thought about it.

“Um, so there’s actually a reason I called you both to come over,” I started, wincing as I looked at my closed closet door, not really wanting to touch the box again but knowing I was going to have to. That caught their attention immediately.

Charlotte narrowed her eyes at me. “Please tell me you’re not getting back with Luke.”

I smiled weakly. Clearly they had no idea what I was about to say. “It’s not about Luke, well, actually it kind of is, but it isn’t,” I mumbled.

Beth’s forehead creased with a frown. “You’re making even less sense than usual.”

I laughed humourlessly and closed the door, leaning against it and closing my eyes. “I know. It’s a long story.” They both sat there watching me intently as I spoke and told them all about the deep breathing phone calls, the note that I found in my locker, the scribbling on my notebook, and the flowers. Charlotte’s body was tensing up like a snake ready to pounce on its victim. Beth’s mouth was wide, as were her eyes. I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat as I knew it was time to tell them about the last thing, the weirdest thing, the box that I’d been sent yesterday.

“And then I got this sent to me yesterday,” I muttered, pulling open the closet and grabbing the box that I’d stored there. I plopped it on the bed between the two girls, chewing on my lip, waiting for them to open it and look.

Charlotte’s hand shot out, flipping the lid. “What the hell?” she cried, frowning down at the contents distastefully. “Someone FedEx’d you a murdered teddy bear and a dead flower? That’s twisted!”

I nodded as Beth immediately pulled the box to her, closing it and examining the packaging that I’d stored with it in my cupboard. “Who sent it? There’s no return address,” she observed, looking over the front of it again.

I ground my teeth in frustration. “Sandy.” She was the only one that would have a grudge against me.

Beth frowned. “How do you know that? It could be anyone.” Charlotte flipped open the box again, reaching in and pulling out the note, reading it with wide eyes before she passed it to Beth. “Wow.”

I shrugged and slumped down to the floor, sitting cross-legged and watching them. “It has to be her, who else could it be? She’s just trying to scare me; she’s trying to get a reaction as payback for me calling her a dirty tramp at the party. She’s a freak.”

Suddenly Beth put the box down and shook her head. “We shouldn’t be touching this. It’ll be contaminated with our fingerprints now.” She set it on the side, looking at it worriedly. “You have called the police, haven’t you?”

Okay, I knew this was coming. “Er, no. I’m not going to, and I don’t want anyone else to know either. She’s just doing it to make me look like an idiot, so I’m not giving her the satisfaction.” I lifted my chin confidently. I wasn’t going to the police, not over a beheaded teddy bear and a couple of prank phone calls, I’d get laughed right out of there.

Beth’s lips pressed into a hard, disapproving line. “Maisie, this is serious, what if it’s not her sending it? What if it’s not a joke? You have to tell the police.”

I flinched; I refused to think about that scenario. “It is her,” I assured them. “I don’t want a load of people to know about it, but I needed to tell someone. I definitely don’t want Alex or Luke to know about this, they’ll go all caveman on me and insist that I don’t go anywhere alone, you know what they’re both like.”

Charlotte sat forward, leaning her elbows on her knees as her blue eyes locked onto mine. “But why would she go that far though? Sure, she’s minion of the devil, but why would she even bother with you now anyway? She’s got what she wanted, you and Luke have split up, she’s free to make her move on him if she wanted. So why would she start sending you stuff like this? She’s already won, it doesn’t make sense.”

I groaned in frustration, wishing I hadn’t told them. The fact that they were making a big deal out of this was making it worse, I was hoping they’d both just agree with me, and we’d laugh about how stupid Sandy was and then burn the teddy in some kind of voodoo ritual or something. “When has she ever made sense? She already told me that us breaking up wasn’t enough for her,” I countered. “Look, I only wanted to get it off of my chest. I don’t want to go to the police; I don’t want a big deal made out of it. That’s what she wants to happen.”

Charlotte nodded slowly. Beth still looked like she disapproved of the whole thing. “You should call the FedEx people and see who sent it, they have records and stuff. Or maybe I could find out another way,” Charlotte suggested. There was a mischievous little glint to her eye and a smile pulled at the corners of her mouth which signalled that she was up to no good.

I raised one eyebrow. “How would you do that?”

She sat back and clasped her hands together, smiling in full now which only meant one thing - she was going to do her computer thing again and hack FedEx to see who sent it. “I need my laptop,” was all she answered. I rolled my eyes. Beth looked at Charlotte with apprehension clear across her face, she didn’t approve of anything illegal and usually shied away from Charlotte once the laptop came out. “I’ll look as soon as I get home, shouldn’t be too hard to crack their security. We have the tracking number on the box, so it should be a breeze.” She looked almost excited as she said it. Computers were her thing so she relished anything that posed a slight challenge to her.

I sighed and nodded. “Okay, but it won’t make a difference, that’ll just show that it was sent from her, I still don’t want to do anything about it. She’ll get bored soon enough and she’ll move on to someone else.”

Beth still didn’t look convinced. “All right, but if anything else happens then you should report it, or at least tell your parents. Prank calls and stuff like this is no joke, even if it’s only meant to scare someone.”

I nodded in agreement. I already decided I’d do that anyway, if something else came along then I’d tell people, but for now I was happy just sweeping it under the carpet. I had too much other stuff going on at the moment; I was still struggling to deal with the fact that Luke had shattered my heart. I didn’t want to have to acknowledge that yes, for a few minutes, I was actually scared when I opened that box, and that yes it had actually crossed my mind that someone was, in fact, threatening me. It was easier to pretend like it wasn’t happening.

“Once I get the proof that she sent it, we should all jump her or something,” Charlotte suggested thoughtfully.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “I don’t like violence.”

She raised one eyebrow. “The girl sent you a mutilated teddy bear; I think violence is justified in this situation.”

I chuckled at the hopeful glint in her eye. “You sound just like Zach.”

“Ooh, and that’s another thing I wanted to talk to you about,” Charlotte said, eyeing me curiously. “What’s going on with you two? Personally I don’t think he’s a good fit for you, he’s too… badass, for you. But you seem to be getting on well,” she mused.

I laughed incredulously. “Nothing’s going on. I’m tutoring him, and for some reason he seems to like hanging out with me. Nothing more than that. He’s a nice guy actually. I don’t think he’s as badass as he likes to make out he is. He’s a pretty complicated person.” I frowned, thinking about some of the things he’d said to me, he was definitely complicated and had a lot more going on than he liked to show people. Cocky and arrogant seemed to be an image he liked to portray to people so that they’d stay at a distance. Underneath it all I would bet that he was more sensitive than he let on.

Charlotte pursed her lips and nodded. “I’d sure like to work him out. If only he hadn’t called me sweetness, I’d be all over him like a rash.” We all burst out laughing and talk turned onto boys and school rather than Sandy and police, for that I was immensely grateful.