Elaine Bishop had made a serious error.
"This is a horrible idea." She looked out over the moor with wide brown eyes, taking in the vast expanse of green that stretched out, quite literally, in every direction.
As far as the eye could see!
Crossing her arms and resting back into the passenger seat, she mentally berated herself for giving into her best friend's impulsive behavior … yet again.
Let's drive out by the moor, Jackie said. It will be fun, Jackie said.
Okay. Well, Elaine was not having fun.
"Oh come on," Jackie sang, not phased in the slightest. "This is awesome! And look, no other tourists."
"Um, exactly, no other tourists." Elaine chanced another uneasy glance at the dark moor. The moon was full and bright. But even that didn't seem to be enough to pierce the black night. It was as thick as tar. "Let's just head back to the manor, you know? Curl up in front of the fireplace, drink some of Mr. Bailey's tea, eat biscuits …"
A flash of bright lights all of a sudden flooded the cab of their rental car. And Elaine, ever so slowly, shot Jackie a sidelong glance, her expression saying, 'What did you do?'
At least Jackie had the decency to look ashamed. "So, I invited some of the locals to, like, show us around."
"Oh, God, Jackie—"
"Come on, babe, live a little." With a flash of her bright white smile, Jackie bounced out of the car in a blur of black curls.
Elaine just wanted to go bed.
She blew her bangs to the side and, sluggishly, grabbed her leather satchel before stepping out into the cold night air. If there was one thing she knew, it was how persistent Jackie could be. In fact, a dog with a bone came to mind—a very, very hungry and aggressive dog.
The wind rustled the hem of her dress and goosebumps erupted over the skin of her arms and legs. She was wearing a white lace sundress and a simple pair of brown flats. Nothing conducive to a night cavorting around in the dark and cold and creepy grassland.
She leaned against the car, strawberry-blonde hair tumbling over her shoulders and down her back, delicate elfin-boned face tipped to the side. She watched, unimpressed, as some guy jumped out of the back bed of the pickup truck. A truck that was still shifting into Park, by the way. The stranger stumbled, hard. It was obvious that he would rather break his leg than spill his beer.
Given the direction her night had just taken, Elaine sighed.
And the stupid decisions kept on coming.
Forty-five minutes later, Elaine found herself surrounded by a group of local kids from the village on holiday from university. They were all camped out along a section of Hadrian's Wall. Elaine had never felt more out of place.
Sitting on the edge of the wall, while everyone else sat around a small makeshift fire, she took another sip of her beer. While Elaine may have felt like a fly on the wall, Jackie had not wasted anytime embedding herself into the group. The raven haired beauty seemed pleased to be plopped on some random guy's lap, soaking up the attention she was receiving.
Jackie threw her head back and laughed. It was a signature move that Elaine recognized instantly. It meant Elaine would be driving back to their hostel solo tonight.
With a pang of jealousy at her own social inadequacies, she jumped off the wall and set down her beer can.
"Hey, Jackie," Elaine called, and Jackie slipped off her new companion's lap.
"What's up?"
Elaine, hitching her bag strap higher up her shoulder, answered softly, "I'm going to head back to hostel. I'm getting really tired."
"Are you sure? If you give me a minute I can tell Greg—"
"Oh no, it's cool. I mean if you want to stay that is. You do, don't you?" Elaine smiled.
Jackie nodded. "Yeah," she giggled, throwing a swift glance over her shoulder at the blond Englishman. "I'll catch my own ride home. Do you want me to walk you back to the car?"
The car was at least a solid ten-minute walk away, but it wasn't anything Elaine couldn't handle on her own. "No, no, I'm good. Night, Jack."
"Night, babe."
After hugging Jackie and reminding her to be safe, Elaine started heading back to the car, leaving the sounds of the party behind as she strolled out into the dark.
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I know, why am I posting another story? Well, a friend asked me to post this, so here it is, girlie, you know who you are!
Everyone else, I hope to hear your thoughts. Review!