Chapter 2

 

 

Shelby stared at Kate in surprise. “What do you mean, it’s for me?”

“It has your name on it,” Kate said.

She managed to keep her smile contained as she passed the note to Shelby, who stared at it in astonishment. Then a slow smile spread on her face, suffusing her expression with delight. She looked to each of them.

“Jackson did this?”

“It certainly wasn’t Reed,” Kate said.

“But I don’t understand,” she said. “It says I’m supposed to go to the Eleven without a Seven, where Seven Ate Nine.”

“I’d suggest you start with streets,” Ember said.

“Ember,” Marta said in exasperation. “He wanted her to figure it out on her own.”

“Are you all in on this?” Shelby asked, skewering them with a look.

“Guilty,” Brittney said, but her expression was unapologetic.

Confusion and excitement washed across Shelby’s face and then she examined the note anew, a small smile flickering on her face before she registered disappointment. She swept her hand at the room.

“But what about girls’ night?”

“Another time,” Kate said. “We promise.”

Ember grunted in amusement. “Most girls’ nights we complain about the guys not doing enough. You actually get to do something.”

Shelby nodded and shoved the note into her pocket before collecting her purse and striding to the door. Kate noticed she took long strides, like she was trying to control her excitement and not quite succeeding.

“I’ll see you after?” Shelby asked, pausing in the doorway.

“Maybe,” Marta said with a smile. “Now go follow the clues.”

Shelby laughed nervously and nodded before departing. When the door shut Kate nodded to the girls and they scattered. Two minutes later they all re-entered the living room dressed in black. Ember even had black face paint on her cheeks, the pattern making her look like a diminutive commando.

“That’s not going to help you hide your hair,” Marta said with a smile.

“That’s what this is for,” Ember said, donning a black beanie.

“I’ve always wanted to be a ninja,” Brittney said with a giggle.

Kate grinned. “You know what to do. I’ll see you when it’s done.”

With excitement pumping through her veins, Kate stepped outside and sprinted down the block to where Reed’s car idled. Also garbed in black, he grinned as she dropped into the passenger seat.

“You look good,” he said.

“So do you,” she said. “But why did it take so long to get the box onto our doorstep?”

“The box snagged in Jackson’s truck and we had to do an on-the-fly repair job.”

Kate recalled extra tape holding the outer box together and realized it had been there to keep the box from falling apart. As Reed pulled onto the street Kate gestured to the clock, which showed after eight.

“We’re behind schedule.”

“Jackson has it figured out,” Reed said.

“You aren’t helping him?”

Reed shook his head. “I helped him come up with the clues, but it’s been mostly him.”

“It was fun seeing Shelby so excited after the invitation,” Kate said. “It reminded me of when you dropped off the cauldron of skittles for me.”

He flashed his easy smile. “I was actually worried you would eat some before realizing they had letters on them.”

“We’ve come a long way since then,” Kate said.

“Further than I thought,” he replied. She raised an eyebrow and he backpedaled. “I never imagined I’d get such an incredible girlfriend out of the challenge.”

“Nice save.”

“I try.”

She laughed and pointed to the back of the car. “Is the ammunition ready?”

“I finished it while you were in class.”

She smiled in anticipation. “Is it bad that I’m excited to do this to her?”

“Were you excited to hose me down with water guns?”

She laughed at the memory. “Enormously.”

“I think she’s going to love tonight,” he said, and then his smile turned sly. “And so will you.”

She wondered what he had up his sleeve but in that moment didn’t care. They pulled into the park where they’d had their very first date and parked. Then they went to the trunk and each picked up a container filled with water balloons. She felt the urge to giggle as they hurried out onto the field.

Lights filled the park and the grassy expanse beneath the hill, while a corner of the hill lay shrouded in darkness behind a grove of trees. Withdrawing two water balloon launchers from his backpack, he handed one to her and they hurried to string them up between the trees. Just as they finished, Jackson appeared and raced onto the field to deposit a box at the base of the slope.

“You ready?” he called up to them.

Kate grinned and loaded a water balloon. She aimed for him and released, sending the balloon over his shoulder to splatter against the ground. Reed laughed and Jackson joined in, his amusement rolling up to them.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he called.

He turned and raced back to his car, driving away to leave the park vacant for Shelby, who was probably just finishing the stop that Ember and Brittney were charge of. Kate fidgeted in the tense silence, her apprehension mounting . . .

—A water balloon exploded against her side, sending water across her body. She flinched in shock and turned to see Reed looking around as if in confusion. But he couldn’t stop the smile.

“Where did that come from?” he asked.

“Same place as this,” she said, sending one at him.

He ducked, but she grabbed another one and sent it into his chest. Reed stood, sputtering, as water dripped down his face. As he tried to wipe it off his neck she grabbed another balloon, bracing herself for retaliation.

“She’s here,” Reed said, pointing over her shoulder.

“I’m not falling for that,” she said.

He smothered a laugh. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t use the distraction tactic, but not this time.”

He stepped to his launcher and loaded the balloon, the action finally convincing her he wasn’t trying to get her to turn around. She looked to the parking lot and saw Shelby’s car pull into a stop. She got out and looked around before spotting the box sitting in the vacant field.

Shelby slowed as she advanced onto the grass and paused. She peered about before withdrawing the clue and reading it again, obviously trying to parcel out the meaning. Kate hadn’t seen the finished product, but an earlier draft had warned of the minefield she would have to brave to get the third clue.

Kate looked to Reed and found him armed and loaded. He nodded to her and she took aim, grateful they’d spent time practicing a few days ago. Then she released, sending the water balloon soaring into the night.

In the darkness and patches of light from streetlights, the small water balloon was impossible to see. Kate’s balloon barely missed Shelby and exploded right behind her, sending water against the back of her legs. Reed’s fell short, splashing her shins. Shelby gasped and retreated, searching for where the balloons had come from.

“When she figures it out, she’s going to run,” Reed whispered.

Kate was already loading another. “Then keep firing,” she said.

They loaded and fired as quickly as they could, raining balloons down on the bewildered Shelby. Then she surged into a sprint, dodging and swerving to make herself harder to hit. Kate smiled as she recalled Jackson taking the role of target in their practice session, enduring many hits as he prepared his troops.

Reed hit Shelby’s arm while Kate’s balloon hit her leg. Shelby didn’t slow. Graceful and athletic, the girl danced across the field even better than Jackson, and Kate felt a touch of envy for the girl’s athleticism.

Bombarded by water balloons, Shelby skidded to a halt and picked up the box, but Jackson had added weights to the message. She cursed as she picked it up and raced back, but slowed by the box, she was struck several times, the water balloons drenching her as she escaped the battlefield.

When she was out of range Shelby put the box down and put her hands on her knees, panting. The smile on her face was evident even in the darkness and distance, and Kate realized that Shelby had enjoyed the war enormously.

“I can’t believe she had fun,” Kate said as Shelby loaded the box into her trunk. Shelby paused and read the new note within the box while she dried herself with the towel that had also been present.

“Jackson and Shelby have always been competitive,” he said. “They enjoy a challenge as much as the victory, so Jackson’s invitation is designed to test her.”

“I would have hated this,” Kate said.

“I know,” Reed said. She heard the smile in his voice and turned to find him with a water balloon in each hand. “You’d rather face your opponent,” he said.

“True,” she said.

In a surge of motion she snatched a water balloon and hurled it, and the darkened hilltop dissolved into laughter and water balloons, the furious battle lasting until he tackled her and broke a water balloon on her stomach.

“Got you,” he said.

She smiled and leaned up to kiss him. “Yeah you do,” she murmured.