Chapter Ten #2
By the time I’ve finished my research for the night, the world is dark outside my window and my stomach is grumbling for snacks.
I had a solo dinner earlier—Xander had already eaten with the mayor, and Elle wasn’t home—but that was ages ago. Besides, a full day of successful research deserves a treat. Closing my laptop, I slip out of my room and make my way downstairs by the light of my phone.
On the main floor, light spills out from the back of the house.
The kitchen, as far as I can tell. Xander must also have the late-night munchies.
I turn off my flashlight and creep toward the open door to surprise him, but instead of finding Xander in the kitchen, I find Elle… climbing onto the counter.
I pause in the threshold, watching as she stretches to reach into the small cabinets tucked away above the fridge. She curses under her breath when whatever she’s trying to grab remains out of reach.
“Uhh…what are you doing?”
Elle freezes, her body going taut for a beat before she glances over one shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“I came to find something to eat.” I step farther inside, stopping near the table in the middle of the room to stare up at her. “Why exactly are you on the counter?”
She bends over and grabs a long wooden spoon from the organizer on the counter. “I’m trying to get something.” She sticks the spoon into the cupboard. Cellophane crinkles, but she winds up empty-handed.
“When you’re ready to admit defeat, I can help.”
“Why?”
“For one, I’m taller than you.” I reach out a hand to help her climb down from the counter.
Begrudgingly, she accepts the help, and I force myself to ignore the thrill that runs through me at her touch.
She hops down to the floor, landing so close to me that she has to crane her neck to meet my gaze.
Elle stares at me with those spring-green eyes. “Was there a second reason?”
“A second reason for what?” I ask, flustered at her proximity but unwilling to be the first to step away.
“For—never mind.” She points to the cabinet. “Go ahead. Make use of your extra inches.”
I follow Elle’s original path skyward, via a chair she pulled over to the counter, and reach into the high cupboard.
I have to stretch onto my toes, but my fingers close around a small package in the back corner.
“Victory!” I pull the package toward me and read the label. “Cannabis-infused chocolates?”
Elle reaches up and snatches the package from my fingers. “I had a shitty day.”
“Hey, no judgment here.” Once I’m safely back on the ground, I offer a smile. “I’m just surprised. You don’t strike me as the weed type.”
Elle unwraps one of the chocolates and slips it into her mouth. “I mean, I grew up next door to Alex.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, you went to college with him.” Elle returns the chair to its proper place at the table. “You can’t tell me you didn’t get high together.”
“Not in college,” I admit, tugging on the end of my ponytail as embarrassment warms my cheeks.
“I was terrified of pot back then. My parents really reinforced all the pre-legalization scaremongering. I didn’t smoke for the first time until I moved in with Xander five years ago.
He made it seem like it was new to him, too. ”
Elle barks out a laugh that is so far removed from the stoic version of her I’ve gotten used to that it throws me off-center.
“Uh, no. Not at all. Alex and I got stoned all the time in high school. Senior year, my parents were going through this brutal divorce. Alex and I would get high at his house and watch those ridiculous ghost-hunting shows. The ones where super bro-y ghost hunters spend the whole episode screaming things like ‘I’m not afraid of you! Prove you’re real!
’ but then they jump at every little noise. ”
“Ridiculous or not, they must have made an impression,” I say, but Elle tilts her head and scrunches her brow like she doesn’t understand. “Why else would you open a haunted B&B?”
I regret the words the moment they pass my lips. Something shutters inside her, the bit of humor draining from her face. Elle looks impossibly tired now, like she’s haunted herself. Now that she’s not smiling, I notice the dark circles under her eyes. The slump of her shoulders.
“You said you had a bad day?” I try again, softer. She nods. “What would help? Do you want to talk about it?”
“Definitely not.”
“Okay, how about a distraction?”
Elle taps her fingers along the back of the chair, considering. “I could do a distraction. Did you make any progress with your research today?”
“I didn’t mean work. A real distraction. Something fun.” Stepping close, I reach for the bag of chocolates in her hand. “Mind if I join you?”
She relinquishes the bag, and her attention settles over me like a physical thing. I unwrap an edible, and the chocolate melts on my tongue, accompanied by the bitter, earthy tang of cannabis.
“While we wait for this to kick in,” I say, tossing the wrapper in the trash under the sink, “I vote we stock up on snacks and find some entertainment.”
“There are board games in the library.” Elle pulls open the fridge, extracting two bottles of water and the leftover salsa she made last night. “Grab the tortilla chips?”
I do as she asks and follow her into a corner of the library I haven’t explored before. She lifts the top of a wooden bench, revealing a pile of board games. There are the usual suspects, Scrabble and Monopoly and Settlers of Catan, but then I spot a box I haven’t seen since college.
“No way.” I reach into the pile and extract the familiar game. “I can’t believe Xander still has this!”
Elle lowers the bench lid. “What game is that?”
“Party Polygraph. Xander invented it in college. He had one of his artsy friends create the board, cards, and player tokens. I provided the magical polygraph component. It was a huge hit at parties.” I bring the game to the narrow table at the center of the room and open the lid.
From a cursory glance, it looks like all the pieces are here, including the tower of sodalite, a blue stone that I’d spelled to tip over if someone lied during the game.
I wait for Elle to take the seat across from me before I continue.
“It’s essentially truth or dare meets Trivial Pursuit.
Minus the dare component.” I unfold the game board and offer Elle first choice of player tokens.
She selects the green one. I take blue.
“I don’t suppose there are written rules somewhere in that box?” Elle asks.
“Don’t worry. It’s simple.” I set out the four stacks of color-coded cards: pink, purple, blue, and green.
“When it’s your turn, you roll the die and move your piece the corresponding number of spaces.
Whatever color you land on, you take a card from the matching pile.
You have to answer whatever question you get in order to keep your progress on the board.
If you refuse to answer, you have to go back to the beginning. ”
Elle opens the chips and salsa and scoops up a bite. “What are the four categories?”
I search my memory for the answer. Most of the times we played, everyone was tipsy and horny and looking for an excuse to hook up, and the questions definitely facilitate that.
“He had clever names for them, but I think it’s something like your past, your future, romance stuff, and secrets.
” Why he didn’t have his art friend include the official category names on the cards, I don’t know.
Probably, I realize now, because he was high when he designed it.
A flush of pink blooms across her cheeks. “And Alex made up all the questions?”
“Why?” An unexpected boldness stirs within me. It’s too early for the weed to be kicking in, so I can’t blame that. “You scared?”
Her smirk holds nothing but challenge. “And how will you know whether I’m telling the truth?”
“That’s where this comes in.” I pick up the tower of sodalite.
The magic I’d once imbued it with has long since faded away.
Still minimally affected by the edible for now, I funnel magic into the crystal.
When I’m done, I open my hand, the crystal balanced in my palm.
“Place your hand on top. It needs to attune to both our energies to work.”
There’s a moment of hesitation as Elle tugs on the end of her sweater, but she ultimately pushes up her sleeves and places her hand in mine. I direct magic to flow through me, into the crystal, and then weave through her energy, too.
“Oh, that tickles.” She shudders, and a laugh slips out into the space between us. “Now what?”
Reluctantly, I pull my hand away and set the tower standing upright next to the game. “If either of us lies, the tower will fall over and you lose the game. For example…” I clear my throat dramatically. “I have green hair.”
The tower wobbles a moment, then tips and clatters loudly against the table.
“Voilà,” I say with a flourish of my hand. “Party Polygraph is ready to go. Newbies first.”
“Is that seriously a rule?” Elle doesn’t wait for me to reply, though, grabbing the die and rolling a five. She moves her piece, landing in a purple space. Secrets. Drawing a card from the top of the pile, she reads silently to herself.
“You’re supposed to put it face up on the discard pile so I can see it,” I prompt.
She taps the back of the card and clears her throat. “ ‘Name something that you’re scared to do without alcohol/weed.’ ” Elle flicks her gaze from the card to my face. “How did you play this with Alex without realizing he was a total stoner?”
“I grew up sheltered. Sue me.” I point a chip at her before dipping it into the salsa. “Are you going to answer or are you going back to the beginning?”
Elle worries at her lower lip. “Fine. My therapist says I’m supposed to ‘process my feelings’ or whatever, but sometimes, I can’t stomach the idea of feeling this much. So occasionally…I let weed make it easier for me.”
She studies the crystal tower like she’s afraid it’ll topple over. It doesn’t.