Risky Business.

005 . the best way to spend a birthday

chapter 005 ,
the best way to spend a birthday

THE DOOR SLAMMED TIGHTLY, just barely missing her heels, shooting a breeze of air on her back that brought a shiver up her spine.

Her father's car was not in the driveway and every light in the house appeared to be off. Lucy wondered if maybe her father and his girlfriend had taken a weekend getaway—it was possible, in the honeymoon phase of their new relationship, that Paul had forgotten he had the kids for the next two weeks, which meant that Lucy and Leo had the house to themselves for a couple days. Lucy wasn't complaining; her dad's girlfriend was a lot to handle, and after the excitement of the last few days, she just wanted to be able to curl up in her room with Madonna and a tub of ice cream.

     Leo was out—probably next door at Mike's, if Lucy had to guess. Or spending the day at Dustin's. Some part of Lucy was curious as to why the entire party wasn't hanging out together; they almost never did things one-on-one. If the party was going to hang out, they were going to do it as a whole group. But lately Lucy had noticed Leo staying home a bit more than usual. If he did go out, it was to see Dustin or Will, but never the whole party, and never to play D&D.

     Sure, she was curious as to what had caused a rift in their party; but Lucy didn't have the mind to be worrying about her twelve-year-old brother's friend group drama.

     She tossed her bags carelessly on the couch and moved to the kitchen, cupping it gently in her hands. Her life might've been falling apart, but the least she could do was keep a single cupcake safe long enough to put a candle in it and wish herself a happy birthday. She set the cake down on the counter and leaned her forearms next to it, tilting her head to lay on her arms. The candle was pink, as was the frosting, all swirled neatly together atop vanilla cake. A perfectly pink cupcake for a perfectly private birthday.

     Her wish was simple, not taking long for her to think of after shutting her eyes in thought. When she finished, her lips formed an O, and she blew out the flame on the candle. But before she could even move to take the candle out of the cupcake, the doorbell rang.

     Lucy frowned. Nobody ever visited Paul Andrews's house—if he did have a once-in-a-blue-moon guest, it was a work colleague. But all of his coworkers must have known he was on holiday. Who else would come to visit, unannounced?

Her questions were not answered—in fact, they multiplied significantly—when she opened the door, because before her was perhaps the last duo she would ever expect to see on the other side of the threshold.

Dustin Henderson held a rose bouquet at his side listlessly. He had his walkie talkie headset on, which was how Lucy knew he meant business. At his side was Steve Harrington, looking pretty conflicted with himself. Lucy's eyes moved between the two, her lips parting in confusion.

"Is Leo here?" Dustin asked.

Lucy blinked slowly. "Sorry—?"

"Your brother," Dustin said. Lucy got the feeling he was on the edge of losing his temper. "Is he home?"

Her gut gave a pang of anxiety. "I thought he was with you. Is he okay? What's going on?"

But Dustin had lost interest the moment she replied. He cursed and spun on his heel, storming back up the hill towards the street, where station wagon Lucy recognized as Steve's was parked.

She looked to Steve, ignoring the alarms blaring in her mind to punch him in the face and leave him bleeding on her porch. "Do you know what's going on?"