Sugar Coated (10 page)

“Not sinister enough for you?”

“It has to be a front. I bet the inside is full of ways to kill innocent library patrons who ask her one too many questions,” she said, trying to rally her newest defeat.

“You know how much I hate to let you down, but I think the evidence speaks for itself,” Jonah said sadly, pointing to a nearby window.

Looking inside the perfect little house, Brynn was disappointed to see an immaculately maintained home. Instead of the surgical table and implements of torture she was expecting, there was an overstuffed sofa, a wooden coffee table, and a wall screen playing some sappy romantic movie of the week.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Brynn said in disgust. “She doesn’t even have a pair of scissors in there.”

“See? She’s just a poor, misunderstood librarian looking for her one true love,” Jonah said with mock sweetness in his voice.

“That is definitely not helping.”

“Are you satisfied now that maybe all Workers aren’t psychotic murderers and maybe you’re the creepy one who follows innocent women home from work?” he asked.

“You’re never going to let me live this down, are you?”

“Not a chance.”

Chapter 10: Lights

“Charlie, I need your help,” Brynn said as she swiped her finger frantically over the screen on her tablet.

“I’m always here to help,” her house assured her in her child’s voice.

“I told Amber and Bennett I was making an outfit for their party, but I never did and now I have nothing ready to wear,” she explained, still browsing through the selection of clothes on her tablet.

None of them seemed formal enough for the party that night, and because she wore her default outfit most days, she hadn’t really created anything new that her friends hadn’t seen before. Normally Brynn wouldn’t care about wearing something new to a party, but because she had told Amber she’d make something just for that night, she felt like it was important to look like she put forth some effort on her friend’s behalf.

“I’ve already taken the liberty of creating a party dress for you,” her house informed her, the dispenser in the wall humming gently as it created the clothes.

“Charlie, you’re the best house ever,” Brynn said, genuinely
happy that her house had gotten to know her so quickly.

Walking excitedly over to her new outfit that was still warm out of the clothing creator, she unrolled the black tights and pulled them on. She then proceeded to pull the thick-strapped black mini dress over her head before glancing at the mirror in disapproval. The dress was jet black with an electric blue stripe starting right under her arms and running down either side. It was form fitting in a way that made Brynn uncomfortable, and it came several inches above her knee, causing her to continuously pull the hem down.

“Charlie, how well do you know me?” Brynn asked the house, still staring at her reflection in the mirror and trying to figure out how well she could create an entirely new outfit in the ten minutes before Ty would show up at her door.

“Better than anyone,” her house said matter-of-factly.

“Then why in the world did you think I’d want to wear this piece of fabric that barely passes as a dress?” Brynn practically shouted, starting to panic as she realized there wasn’t enough time to make anything new and that she’d be forced to go to the party in the arm warmer her house was calling a dress.

“I thought you may want to impress your new friend,” Charlie said
in a voice that was almost sly.

Sometimes Charlie seemed like a real little sister to Brynn—complete with the annoying interest in her love life.

“I’m not trying to impress Jonah. He doesn’t even want to come to this stupid party to begin with. Bennett forced him,” Brynn informed her house, remembering the message she’d received on her tablet the night Ty walked her home from the café.

Where did you find him and where can I get one? P.S. we’re making him come to Amber’s for the party. You have to share your new toy with everyone.

Brynn brought a hand up to her temples and tried desperately to think of a way to avoid this embarrassment of a dress.

“I think it looks very flattering,” her house said defensively, obviously hurt that Brynn didn’t appreciate her efforts.

“Well, it’s going to have to be,” Brynn answered with a grunt of annoyance. She had already curled her long hair so that it cascaded around her shoulders like a black waterfall, and her makeup was subtly applied. “Might as well look like I planned it,” she said to herself, drawing a thin, neon-blue line above her thick black eyeliner. The effect made her blue eyes stand out even more than usual. Not wanting to look too made up, she removed the red lipstick she had applied earlier that night and replaced it with a nude color.

“Beautiful,” Charlie exclaimed, a bit too emphatically.

“Yeah, well, I programmed you to compliment me, so I can’t really trust what you say,” Brynn countered, feeling like a brat for being rude to her house, but not really caring enough to change her tone.

“Have a good time at th
e party,” her house offered as the doorbell rang, announcing Ty’s arrival.

“Have fun filtering air,” Brynn mumbled under her breath, not sure what had put her in such a foul mood.

When she reached her front door she stepped outside to join Ty in his walk toward the bus stop. He wore black pants, a black collared button-up shirt, and a black jacket, all of which were very tailored and looked as if they had been made for him—which, she quickly reminded herself, they had.

“You look really good,” she said, looking him up and down approvingly. He didn’t say anything in response but instead stared at Brynn with wide eyes, looking slightly shocked. She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head. “Don’t say a word about my dress. It was my house’s brilliant idea.”

“I think your house and I have just become best friends,” he finally said, the glazed look still present on his face.

“You pig,” she joked, linking her arm through his and walking to the white bus that waited on the corner of their neighborhood. It departed as soon as they boarded and took their seats, always efficient when it came to the transportation of citizens. “Don’t tell Amber and Bennett my house made the dress. They’re supposed to think I did it.”

“And you really expect them to believe you’d design a dress so…what’s the word I’m looking for?” he asked, snapping his fingers as if trying to recall something.

“Skimpy?” Brynn offered.

“Considerate!” he exclaimed, “That’s the word. Considerate to every male in attendance at this party,” he finished with a sideways smirk.

“When did my best friend become such an animal?” Brynn asked, rolling her eyes for the second time since she’d seen Ty.

“When you stepped out of your house in
that
dress,” he answered honestly.

“At least I’ve got the black tights on, right? That makes it not so bad maybe?” she asked, hoping he’d agree with her.

“Whatever makes you feel better,” he said as the bus stopped in front of Amber’s building, letting them off. They made their way to the elevator and typed in the code for Amber’s floor, riding the enclosed glass box up in silence.

“You’re terrible moral support,” Brynn informed her friend finally, right before they opened the front door leading into Amber’s house.

“I know, Brynn,” he said sympathetically, kissing her cheek, taking her by the hand, and dragging her into the sudden throng of noise and people.

* * *

Amber wasn’t exactly a big partier, but when she did throw a party, she did it properly. It seemed as if everyone their age in the city had been invited to the little get-together that night, and anywhere Brynn looked she could see people’s dimly lit faces.

Somehow Amber had managed to turn off all of her overhead lights and only leave a long string of neon lights lining the floor to illuminate the party. The glowing tubes turned the walls pink, purple, and blue as Brynn and Ty walked down the noisy hallway, barely able to hear themselves think over the din of music and talking.

“There’s Amber and B
ennett,” Ty yelled to Brynn.

Even though she was only a few inches away from him, she could still barely make out what he was saying. They made their way over to the solid wall of windows where Amber and Bennett stood admiring the view and congratulating themselves on a party well planned.

“Everything looks amazing,” Brynn said, grabbing a glowing purple drink with neon pink ice cubes from a nearby table.

“I froze pink sugar into the ice cubes,” Amber said with a smile. “Got the idea from some brilliant girl.”

“I’m nothing, if not addicted to sugar,” Brynn agreed, raising her glass to Amber and reveling in the taste of the sweet liquid hitting her tongue. It felt like wrapping a comfort blanket tightly around her.

“Nice dress Brynn,” Bennett said, looking her friend up and down interestedly. “Never pegged you for a mini dress kind of girl,” she added with a giggle. “I don’t suppose this change in style has anything to do with Jonah?”

“No, I just thought I’d try something new for Amber’s party,” Brynn explained, biting her tongue to keep from telling them the truth.

She was
n’t quite sure which was worse—her friends thinking she’d actually want to wear this dress, or her friends finding out she’d been lying every time she ditched them with the excuse of working on her new dress.

“I find it very refreshing,” Ty said with a raise of his eyebrows, daring Brynn to tell her friends the truth.

“Yeah, well, I do what I can to make you happy,” Brynn replied in a mockingly sweet voice. “You guys both look amazing of course,” Brynn added, wanting to turn the focus of the conversation away from herself.

“I was going to go with green to kind of match the theme of my new house, but let’s be honest, I like pink too much,” Amber said, giving a little twirl to show
off her new dress.

It was made from a lightweight sheer pink material that floated around her like a cloud. The strapless dress went to her knees in the front but hung down further in the back, almost reaching the floor. Bennett was dressed almost identically except for the color; she had gone with the sage green dress that matched Amber’s new remodel. Their signature colors.

“So who exactly are all of these people?” Ty asked, looking around the room skeptically at the interesting group of partygoers.

There wasn’t much you could do to permanently alter your physical appearance, but the people of Seaside did their best to morph nature as much as they could using dyes, makeup, and clothing. Brynn and her group of friends were considered pretty subdued when compared to the two-inch long hot pink eyelashes or neon blue lipstick most people wore to parties. Only a few feet away from the window stood a group of people who had dyed their hair and skin a pure white color, violently reminding Brynn of the Angel she often dreamed about.

“That’s a good question,” Amber said to Ty, watching a group of blue haired boys in white suits walk by. “Most of them are people we’ve met at pick-up games, I think, but we sent out a general invitation, so I’m not sure who really showed up.” She absentmindedly fluffed up her blonde hair, which she had curled and pinned into a pile on top of her head. Brynn could see a few glittering strands of pink ribbon she had wound in with the curls catching the neon lights in the room. “I thought maybe if enough people came tonight, my remodel would make it into the week’s top ranking,” Amber admitted with a shrug.

Brynn laughed at her friend’s insistence on reaching the weekly top ranking in any category as she pulled out her tablet to check the time.

“Have another party to go to after this?” Ty asked, as she slipped the tablet back into her purse.

“No, just a train to catch,” she answered distractedly.

“Seriously?” Amber asked, looking disbelievingly at her friend and tapping her peep-toed shoes that revealed toe nails covered in pink diamonds. “You do realize it’s weird how often you travel, right?”

“I didn’t before, but I’m always glad to have good friends like you to point those kinds of things out,” Brynn said with a good-natured laugh.

“She’s kind of right, you know?” Bennett added, also fluffing up her hair as Amber had done, the light green ribbons standing out against her dark brown hair. “Most people go on one trip a year, tops. And that’s only when they’re really old and bored and don’t know how to work their tablet anymore. What’s so fun about going to a city where you have no friends and your house doesn’t know you that well?”

“Don’t you guys ever get tired of looking at the same scenery every day?” Brynn asked.

Amber and Bennett thought about it for a moment, looking out the tall windows in Amber’s house over the city that sparkled like a thousand tiny diamonds in the night. In the distance, the full moon reflected light onto the turbulent water of the ocean.

“Not when the scenery
is this good,” Amber said.

“She’s got you there,” Bennett agreed.

“And the scenery just got a whole lot better,” Amber suddenly said, looking over Brynn’s shoulder with a smile. Brynn turned around to see the object of their attention standing awkwardly by the door, looking very uncomfortable in his usual black fitted jeans and grey shirt.

“Jonah,” Brynn b
reathed, feeling terrible at how out of place he looked in a loud and rowdy party, surrounded by some of the most bizarre fashionistas in the city.

She tried to imagine what this kind of scene must look like to someone who spent most of his time alone in a quiet, dusty library. Before she could bring him over to apologize, Amber and Bennett were flanking him, smiling winningly up at him and offering him drinks as they passed by tables on their way back to the window. When he arrived
within earshot Brynn shouted a quick, “Hi,” to him, trying to show him that he wasn’t alone.

He looked over at Brynn in mild interest before saying, “Wow
…that certainly is a…dress.”

“Isn’t it though?” Ty asked, patting Jonah on the shoulder and looking back over at Brynn with a look that said
I told you so.

She shot Ty a silencing look before grabbing Jonah by the hand and leading him over to a quieter corner of the room away from her overbearing friends an
d the crowd that was growing in size and volume.