Water Under the Bridge || Evan Buckley [2]

chapter five

a ghoulish night

Josephine grumbled shuffling through the wooden floors of the house barefoot in the early morning in search of the front door. A pair of heels, dazzling black clutch, and phone held against her chest by one hand. This house deemed to be the one where she finds herself knocking out at the end of the night, recently. 

Finally, she managed to reach the front door and slipped out swiftly until blinded by the sunlight for a millisecond. She cursed under her breath before digging into her clutch for sunglasses. Ironically, one of the few items she considered to possess when nights come to an end at the crack of dawn. Spotting the vehicle parked at the front of the house, she slid the heels back on and fixed her dress before sauntering over there. 

"Thanks for picking me up." Her brown eyes casted to the driver's seat occupied by Bryan. 

"It's no problem, Josie. By the way, I have your Starbucks order." He lifted the drink from the cup holder into her hands. "Also, I have some wipes if you want to remove that fake blood on your mouth." He pointed out the fake blood drip on the corners of her lips.

She accepted the drink while he revved the engine steering out to the main road. "Let me guess...vampire?" 

He earned an eye roll from the brunette diving into the glove compartment for a packet of wipes. Once found, she whisked the wipe out of the packet. "Yes, I was a vampire considering it's Halloween this week." She flipped down the car visor to swipe the dry blood on her face. 

When she pushed up her sunglasses to check her makeup, she scowled at the sunlight. "No wonder vampires hate the daylight." She mumbled out and then proceeded to remove the eye makeup.

"Not surprised you went as one with your constant night outings." Bryan teased.

The car came to a stop at a traffic light causing him to drum his fingers on the steering wheel and take a glance at the passenger seat. "So, how long are you going to keep this up, Josie?" He pondered. 

"You mean the night outings?" She snapped her head at him. "I don't know. It's pretty fun going out with Carmella and our friends." Her hand brought the cup to her lips for a refreshing sip. 

Bryan nodded along in spite a worrisome expression formed on his face. To ignore the past conversation with Josephine at the sacred spot was hard for him. Although, he respected her wishes and didn't want to cross any boundaries. Knowing each other since they were children, he has figured during the roughest patches that she needed a friend. Someone to lean on at the moment which he has been for her. 

His foot pressed on the brakes at Josephine's complex. He shifted the gear into park and shut off the engine. While she gathered her belongings, he extended his arm into the backseat for a black hoodie. "Here, thought you'd like to cover up before going in there."