Teaser!

I am so busy that I am blog-dead and doing little else but teasing. Soon, I'll be back properly to write real posts :) From CROSSROADS:

Ben stops at the end of the hill and points. In the corner of the Takochis’ garden is a swing set with red fairy lights twisted around it. Soft red light twines its way through metallic chains that attach the swings to their wooden frame.

It's an impressive sight.

“How the hell do they get the electricity up here?” I ask.

Ben shrugs. “The Takochis are geniuses. I’d be too stupid to do it.”

He picks his way over the grass, skipping around short bushes until he gets to the swing set. He plonks down onto one of the seats and the red light washes over his face. He looks like a stop sign, telling me right then and there to head back to that fucking party.

I ignore the paranoia – because I’m still like five hundred percent sure that he’s not going to kill me, and I can still hear the music from the house, which is a good sign that I’m within ‘screaming distance’ – and go join him.

I don’t know whether the swing really smells of cherries, or whether my mind’s just being tricked by the presence of the fairy lights. “Ken’s got a weird sense of decor,” I mutter, as I sit down on the swing. Scuff my shoes through the gravel at its base.

Rough stones. Pressing against my shoes. Pressing against my skin.