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Chapter Eight
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2021-02-19 12:22:00The silent reverie was broken by the sound of three sets of feet on the ladder. “Oh, my God!” was about all Beth could understand, but she knew she’d be filled in soon enough.
“She did look like a ghost, just standing there all still,” Lexy agreed. Beth reached over and flipped the ball button on the scoring machine and then recorded the pitch in the scorebook. The girls resumed their seats, and Beth shushed them, afraid Mr. Cooper would get on to them as well.
“She was beautiful, though.” The revelation came from Andi, but Beth kept her eyes forward, locked on the game. Just what she needed—another gorgeous girl to swoop in and make her feel like a loser.
“Her lips are so red and pouty…. Her eyes are gold,” Lexy added.
“Do you have a crush on her?” Andi laughed, elbowing the other girl.
“Maybe&helli
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The sound of his voice caught her off guard, and goose flesh sprung up all over her arms. If it wasn’t for the sound of her friends “oh, my God-ing” to her left, Beth would’ve thought she was asleep, that the question had only taken place in a dream.She turned her head to see Sammy standing in the dimly lit parking spot, the moon illuminating his perfect face as he waited for a response. Behind him, Robby and Michael lingered, their arms crossed as they watched, a goofy grin on Robby’s face while Michael looked much more serious.“What was that?” Beth asked, still unable to process what was happening. How in the world was it possible that Sammy was actually asking her out? If this was true, it was a miracle form heaven….“I said, would you go out with me? I mean… I want to go ask Carly out, but these two assholes keep telling me there’s not a girl in
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Evelyn was up when they snuck in the back door; even her dad tried to avoid making any noise for fear it would wake Beth’s younger sisters, Dani and Lavender, and Evelyn would come undone. But Lavender, who was three and named after her mother’s favorite color, was standing in the kitchen in her Rugrats nightgown while Evelyn filled a sippy cup with tap water.“We won!” Richard announced, patting Lavender’s head. She smiled up at him but didn’t say anything, and Evelyn shushed all of them.“Don’t wake Dani up,” she insisted. Her sisters’ room was far away from where they were standing, across from the living room, in the front part of the house, away from the kitchen, nestled between the parlor and her parents’ bedroom. It was as if whoever designed this house had no blueprints and just started walling spaces off.“Sorry,” Richard replied, op
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Beth couldn’t see anything out the window from this angle except a dark street through the branches of her mother’s prized redbud tree.Ryan stealthily stood and crept to his front window, flipping off the lamp by the side of his bed as he did so, leaving his room in near darkness, except for the glow from his aquarium in the back corner. His room was only half the size of Beth’s but still ample sized for a teenage boy.She heard more giggling, though it seemed to be fading away. Beth reminded herself that she was no longer afraid of the dark or what might lurk there and waited patiently for Ryan to drop the shades and return. He turned his light back on and took a seat, taking his time to reveal what he’d discovered, from Beth’s perspective. “It’s Olive and Johnny.”“What?” Beth craned her neck back out the window, unable to believe what she was hearing from
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A thousand stars filled the sky directly above her head and despite the uncomfortableness of Brittany’s windshield digging into the back of her head, Beth was happy to be out in the solace of the woods next to Muddy Creek. The scene on the square had been too much, and her friends had decided this was a better location to spend their Saturday night, despite the fact that Lexy had practically needed to be peeled off of the window as she drooled over Michael’s truck parked two cars over. Their location was across town, near to where the creek broke off from the bigger Spring Creek, and out here in the woods, it was easy to lose oneself in nature and forget about everything else. Almost.“It’s not… the end of the world,” Brittany offered, sitting next to Beth. Andi and Lexy were sitting on the bumper, which had to have been made of corrugated steel the car was so old. &ldq
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Before the girls could pile back into the car, the sound of an engine behind them on the road had them all swiveling around. It was followed by another, until at least four, maybe five more vehicles were parked nearby. Clearly oblivious to the four girls huddled around the late model Ford, a stream of laughing teens poured from each car, and Beth recognized many of the voices.“Did they follow us?” Lexy asked, quietly.“No, dumbass,” Andi admonished, shaking her head. “We are on their turf now. This is where they come to party.”“You knew that, and you let me drive out here anyway?” Brittany asked. “Does your uncle, the sheriff know that?”Andi shrugged, and ignoring her question, replied, “You can thank me later.”“Huh?” But before Andi could answer Brittany’s inquiry, she realized Kyle was amo
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Lexy had no younger brothers or sisters, so she was the best choice for sleepovers, especially since her parents’ bedroom was in the back of their expansive one-story house, and Lexy’s room was near the living room, toward the middle of the house. It didn’t hurt that she had her own bathroom, and her older sister was away at college, so they were generally undisturbed and it didn’t bother her parents if they stayed up super late making macaroni and cheese with music playing on the radio while they slumped on the sofa, as they were doing the night of Halley’s revelation that she was the enemy.Beth stared at her half-eaten bowl of pasta and fought the urge to vomit that had been testing her will power and gut strength all night long, ever since she’d first seen Sammy and Carly together, something that, in retrospect, didn’t seem so bad now that she had seen him with Halley.“It’s not
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Lexy’s parents had let them sleep in so that by the time Beth got home the next day, it was past noon, and her family was already back from church. “Did you have fun at Lexy’s church?” Evelyn asked as Beth dragged herself to the stairs.“Uh, yeah, it was great,” Beth lied. She wondered why her mom even cared. It’s not like she made her go to church with her own family every Sunday.“I sure hope you didn’t wear that,” Evelyn muttered as Beth pulled the door to the stairs open.Beth glanced down at her cut-off jeans. “No, I changed. We went back to Lexy’s house to get our stuff. I didn’t want to wear a dress all day.”“Good idea. Although, maybe you should consider changing your outfit for batting practice. Those shorts aren’t exactly flattering on your backside.” Evelyn made the comment and then headed
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Batting practice started at 2:00, but when Beth and her dad pulled up at 1:45, the cages were abandoned, only the kid at the window, a fellow sophomore named Hugh that Beth only sort of knew, was the other soul present. “You wanna take a few pitches while we wait for the guys?” Richard asked as Beth took a seat on one of the benches. There really was no reason for her to be there at all, but her dad liked for her to come so that if none of the other coaches showed up, he’d have someone to make comments to. He had no idea her previous trips had all been made in order to take advantage of an opportunity to stare at Sammy.“You want me to get in there and hit a few pitches? Are you crazy, Dad? I haven’t played ball since I was four.” Beth had scarring memories of being awful at tee-ball, of skipping around the outfield collecting flowers and not paying attention to the game at all, of knocking the tee over every time she
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Pretty Little Monster Epilogue
The sun was sweltering the day they put Hannah Day in the ground. It wasn’t a dreary, stormy morning like in the movies, but it seemed fitting that Hannah’s funeral wouldn’t quite fit the mold either. She certainly hadn’t.Beth and Ryan held onto each other as the preacher said a few words about the beautiful girl who had meant so much to so many. There was no mention of the fact that she’d drowned trying to commit murder, and that according to the journal she kept, this was her second such act. Unfortunately for Brock Hill, there’d been no one there to save him.As the preacher finished his remarks, Beth squeezed Ryan’s hand, and they gave the casket one last look as Hannah’s mother began to wail. Beth couldn’t blame her for being unable to accept what her daughter had done—or what her daughter had been through herself. The journals were full of secrets Hannah hadn’t con
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 50
“Damn,” Beth muttered, hoping she was okay. She might be batshit crazy, but the thought of anything permanently damaging happening to her made Beth sick to her stomach, especially since she’d been the one to push her.“What happened?” Michael asked. “You’re bloody, Beth.”Beth hadn’t realized her face was scratched up so badly until she dragged her hand across her cheek, and it came back pink. Halley had made contact quite a few times while they were under the water, but she had hardly felt it at the time. Now that her adrenaline was starting to die down, she was sure it would all come back to her.Sheriff Bill Jones ran up, flashlight in hand, before Beth could answer Michael. He snaked his way through the fence. “You kids all right?” he shouted, straightening his glasses and running his spread hand across his mustache.“No, we n
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 49
It wasn’t enough to scare her off, though, and Halley lunged at Beth as Ryan began to float away, still not conscious enough to help himself. Beth was aware that the creek meandered for about a quarter mile before a small, but powerful waterfall merged the creek with the lagoon. She couldn’t let him get away from her, but Halley was coming at her again, and this time, Beth was close enough for Halley to scratch her face.Beth pushed her back as hard as she could, balancing on one leg as she brought her other knee up and made contact with Halley’s gut. The smaller girl groaned, and Beth shoved her backward as hard as she could. Halley stumbled, regained her footing, and came at Beth again, but this time, Beth was out of the way, already moving toward Ryan. She dove into the water, reaching for his outstretched hand when she felt Halley latch on to her ponytail.Halley wasn’t pulling her up, though, she was pushing
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There was no time. All of it seemed to speed up and slow down, to move backward and forward at once. Beth could hear a struggle, somewhere in the water, and she recognized Ryan’s voice even though it was strained and groggy. She couldn’t make out what he was saying as every word was clipped by the sounds of splashing and gurgling. Frantically, she hunted for the entrance in the fence and was just about to give up and climb over when she spotted it—and spotted them.Beth could see Halley in the water. It was deeper here than Beth had expected as it hit her above the waist. Either that, or the girl was on her hands and knees. Her face was lifted to the sky like she was praying, and though it was difficult to see, in the light reflected off the surface of the water that swirled past her, Beth could tell Halley’s eyes were closed.At first, she was confused, not understanding where Ryan might be, but then his hand ca
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Rushing over to her friends, she pressed the lid back down on Ryan’s drink. “Lexy, hold onto this. Don’t let it spill, and don’t drink it. Brittany, can you drive Andi down to the pay phone? Call your uncle, the sheriff, and get him down here, okay? I’m not sure what’s going on, but we might need him.”“Do you think it’s that serious?” Lexy asked as the other two started to move.“Maybe. I don’t know.” Beth didn’t have any more time to talk about it. If Ryan really was in trouble, she should’ve already been moving.She took off running, not sure of where she was going, but instinctively, she thought the creek would be the most logical place for Halley to take him if she was really trying to injure him. She hadn’t given him enough of whatever it was floating in his drink to kil
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“Hey, where’s Ryan?” she called when she was a few feet away from them. All three stood with their arms crossed, serious expressions on their faces.“We aren’t sure,” Lexy admitted. “He got up about ten, maybe fifteen minutes ago, and walked off, that way, into the park. With Halley.”Beth was confused. She peered off into the darkness. There were no lights at all in that section of the park. Across the street that circled the ball field, there was mostly just wide open space where people flew kites or lay on blankets in the shade. A few hundred yards away, off in the distance, she knew there was a chain link fence that separated the creek from the park so that no children accidentally ran into the water, but she couldn’t see it from here.“Why? Where were they going?” Beth asked, trying to keep her voice calm.“We don’t kno
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 45
The baseball game Thursday night was at home against Juniper, one of the smaller towns in the area, and there was a pretty good chance Barryville would win by the mercy rule. Beth climbed the ladder to the scorekeeper’s box alone since her friends decided they wanted to sit on the bleachers where they could keep a better eye on things. Beth remembered Ryan mentioning he wanted to go to this game back when he’d first won his freedom, and she thought there was a possibility he might show up with Halley. Since Beth wouldn’t be able to see the bleachers from her post, her friends had volunteered to observe, even though they had no idea of the potential threat.Beth hadn’t told them about the pills or all the details of Halley’s mysterious past. They only knew that there was a chance Halley wasn’t who she said she was and that Beth thought she might be up to something no good. Telling Andi, Lexy, and Brittany that she thoug
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 44
It must’ve been a day for cleaning because that’s what her mother was doing, too. “There you are. Your phone has been ringing nonstop since you left. I really wish it wasn’t so loud.”“Sorry,” Beth muttered wondering who was calling her now. She headed to the door to the stairs, her mother still talking behind her.“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Your dad just got home from work. You really should go out in the back yard and play with him and the girls. You never do that anymore.”“Okay,” Beth said, but her hand was on the door. How was she supposed to figure out who was calling so that they’d stop and also spend time outside with her family? Her mother continued to run a rag over the old piano in the corner of the room, the one no one knew how to play, and Beth headed upstairs, hoping whoever had been calling had good news.
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 43
Mrs. Wilson opened the door on the second knock. A surprised, yet pleasant, look crossed her face. “Beth! How nice to see you. How are you, dear?”“I’m good, Mrs. Wilson. Is Ryan here? I need to talk to him for a few minutes, if he’s not busy.”“Oh, uh, sure.” She looked worried, like she was afraid Ryan might be unduly stressed by having to talk to his unstable friend. “Come on in.” She gestured at the living room, and Beth walked in slowly. In all of the time she’d been neighbors with Ryan, she’d never come to his house before.The living room wasn’t what Beth had expected. It was clean, but the furniture looked much newer than the outside of the house would indicate. The television was small and built into a cabinet that sat on the floor, like the one Beth’s parents had had when she was little. She took a seat on a green and white ch
