Be the Girl

I frown. “Which man?”

“The one who …” She sticks her tongue out and makes a licking motion in the air.

“Excuse me?” I feel my eyebrows climb my forehead. “A man is going to lick me?”

Emmett laughs and seizes my biceps from behind. “No one’s going to lick you. It’s a wet sponge,” he promises, leading us to the two-story, rickety wooden fa?ade. A roped path leads up to the fake porch where the entrance is curtained off. He hands the operator our tickets. “You ready?”

“I’m not sure anymore,” I say warily.

With a grin and a nod toward the attraction, he lingers long enough for me to pass him, his hand skating across the small of my back for the briefest moment. Just long enough for my heart to skip a few beats, just quick enough for me to question if he meant to do it. “Don’t worry, the whole thing’s pretty lame. That part freaked her out because it’s pitch-black and, well, she’s Cassie.”

“Wet things touching me in the dark would probably freak me out, too.” I push past the heavy black drape, only to find myself caught in another one.

Emmett snorts. “No comment.”

I playfully elbow him as my cheeks heat. “God, how many curtains do they need?” I fumble through layer after layer until I finally break free.

A skeleton with glowing red eyes pops out from the wall to the left, the accompanying recorded cackle startling me enough to make me yelp and lurch backward, into Emmett’s hard body.

He laughs as he grips my waist. “I knew that’d get you.” His hands linger a few beats longer than necessary before he releases me. My heart is pounding, and it has nothing to do with the collection of plastic bones and electrical wire dangling from the wall.

We follow the narrow corridor, painted black and pitch-dark save for the red rope lights that mark either side of the floor. I hold my breath and brace myself as I sweep through the next heavy curtain, expecting another Halloween prop to jump out at me. Nothing jumps out this time, though, as we step into a small room that glows neon purple from black light. Creepy dolls line shelves on either side of us, trailing us with radiant eyes and maniacal laughter carrying over a crackling speaker.

“Where is this licking man, exactly?”

Emmett laughs. “It’s not for a while but after last year with Cassie, I’ll bet they got rid of him. By the way, I hear you guys have a dog now?”

“Yeah, as long as I feed and walk him twice a day.” That was the deal my mom and I struck this afternoon, after Uncle Merv spent the day rambling to Murphy about Aunt Connie and his forty years working in agriculture and the folly of youth today. When Mom made a comment about taking the dog back, Uncle Merv insisted that, if he’s just going to sleep in a cage until he dies, he might as well sleep in our living room until he dies.

So now we have a dog.

“Cassie told me all about it. That was a pretty cool thing you did.”

I smile to myself as we move past the doll room and into the next blackened corridor. We round a corner, and a guy with a Michael Myers mask steps out to loom over us, forcing me back to bump into Emmett again. I giggle as we edge around him and move on, past another heavy curtain and into a room of mirrors. “This is neat.” I wander deeper in, slowly spinning to take in all the tall panels, the countless reflections of Emmett and me, standing side by side.

Could we ever pass for a couple?

He’s the most beautiful guy I’ve ever laid eyes on, even more so now because I know he has a heart. He’s not a hot jerk; he’s not full of himself. He’s … Emmett.

And he’s watching me as I stare at his reflection.

“You figure it out yet?” he asks softly, smiling like he can read my mind.

“Uh …” That we should be together? Yes, I’ve known that from the start.

“The way out.”

“Oh.” My face flushes. “Yeah, it’s easy. This way.” I reach out, only to have my knuckles smack the glass.

Emmett’s reflection grins at me.

Determined to find the path, I search around us. “This way. No …” I note fingerprint smudges ahead. Another fooled occupant. So I turn the other way and pass through. We continue like this, me fumbling for direction, until another draped threshold appears before us.

I’m more curious than nervous as I push through the curtain this time.

That is until we step into utter darkness. I can’t see my hand in front of me. “Is this the room?” I whisper, my body shrinking into itself.

“Why are you whispering?” Emmett whispers back, his voice filled with amusement.

“Because—”

The space ignites with a flash of light, just long enough to show us a square room of maybe fifteen-by-fifteen feet and someone dressed as Pennywise standing in the far corner before falling into complete darkness again.

“Well, he’s new,” Emmett murmurs as eeriness settles over me.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean they didn’t have him last—”

Another flash and Pennywise is there again, only this time he’s standing a few feet closer.

“Oh man, thank God Cassie didn’t want to come in here.” Emmett chuckles. “She would’ve lost her mind.”

My heart races with anticipation. That light is going to flash again soon and Pennywise will be that much closer. “Where are we supposed to—”

My words cut off with the flash. He’s only maybe four feet away now.

“I don’t like clowns.” I back up and into Emmett before sidestepping to edge behind him and use his body as a shield, my hands shamelessly gripping his vest. He laughs.

One … two … three … I count in my head, pressing my forehead against him, inhaling the faint smell of his body wash and cologne as I wait, the muffled screams and carnival rides from outside so far away.

The light should have flashed by now.

Where is Pennywise?

Why hasn’t the light flashed?

Finally, I lift my head. “Okay, is this going to be over soon—”

Something wet slips across my cheek.

I shriek and dart around the other way, to press myself into Emmett’s chest.

His arms are around me in a flash, pulling me in close. “Did he get you?”

“Are you sure that was a sponge?” I grimace, wiping furiously at my cheek with my hand.

His chest shakes with laughter. “They’re not allowed to lick people’s faces. Trust me, it’s a sponge. That’s what they use at these things. Someone hides in the corner. I looked it up after last year’s disaster.”

Oh God, they did that to Cassie? “It felt like a tongue.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

“Is this over? I’m ready for it to be over.”

“Yeah. They’ll turn on the lights in a sec.”

I haven’t pulled away and Emmett hasn’t released me yet, and now that I’m over the shock of the face-licking, I’m acutely aware of how close we are.

I peer into the darkness, imagining where his mouth might be. A good six inches away, at least. Still … so close. Would he hold a female friend so protectively? “How did they know where I was anyway?” I ask softly.

“There’s a second person hiding in the corner behind us, wearing night vision goggles.” Emmett’s voice has dropped to a low, gravelly timbre, and I can feel his breath skating against my skin.

As if he’s peering down into the darkness at me.

He still hasn’t let go.

“That’s so creepy.”

“Right? Imagine having that on your résumé?”

“Carnival face-licker, 2002 to present.”

Our laughter mingles, the sound a sudden blend of nervousness.

“Are you sure they’re going to turn the light on?”

“Yeah.” His hard swallow fills the eerie quiet.

And I feel his heart hammering in his chest, pressed against mine. I sense his body leaning toward me, his head tipping forward.

His lips brushing ever so faintly past mine, almost as if by accident …

The strobe light flashes nonstop then, filling the room with—