Sinister

Chapter Nine

Sinister

Chapter Nine

Dante's Tavern was extremely busy. Friday nights were the shifts Leighton always hoped not to draw. It seemed like everyone in town poured into the pub on a Friday night, eager for small talk, the game and a glass of something.

The past few days had dragged with the absence of Tate. He had all but disappeared after their trip to Rosewood. Without him around, Leighton's life had slipped back into the mundane, making her wonder if she had witnessed the frozen flowers at all.

"Leighton!" Emma yelled from across the pub, waving a manicured hand.

Leighton turned, "Yeah?"

"Ladies bathroom."

Leighton made a noise of disgust as she pushed her way to the back of the pub, smiling at customers as she tucked a cloth into her apron. Leighton pushed the bathroom door open with her hip, grabbing the mop and bucket from behind the door as she entered.

"Leighton?" Bethany called, pausing at the mirror. "I didn't know you were, like, working here now." Leighton froze, mop in hand. She felt like a trapped animal, the kind that knew it was about to be prey. Bethany, with all her plans and dreams, was the predator. Behind the thin door the pub's music was a constant, heavy soundtrack to the hunt.

"Uh, yeah, hey Bethany. How are things?"

Bethany smiled, touching the rim of her glasses as she turned back to the mirror to apply a smudge of lip gloss. "Things are great," she mused, rolling her lips together to spread the colour. "Everyone missed you at the memorial for Jack Norton, up at the high school."

Leighton frowned. "I didn't know there was anything happening for him outside of his funeral," she said. Bethany dropped her lip gloss back into her yellow purse. Leighton cringed.

"The students arranged it," Bethany informed her, "I guess no one texted you about it."

Leighton grinded her teeth. "I have to get back to work. "

"Even that hiker dude that found him was there," Bethany went on, mock frowning. "And it wasn't like he lived across the street from Jack for eighteen years. That hiker and his friend were super cute we all felt so bad for him because he had to see the dead body and all. It must've been so traumatic."

"His friend?" Leighton inquired, interest peaking. Leighton wasn't surprised Tate had attended the gathering for Jack Norton, she was just shocked he hadn't been alone. Who would have attended Jack Norton's memorial with him?

Bethany nodded, "It was really cool of them to pay their respects and stuff." There was a biting quality to Bethany's tone that let Leighton know she was being judged.

Leighton rolled her eyes, she wasn't getting any more information out of Bethany. "Good luck next year at school, Bethany, really." Leighton meant it too, at one point, they had been close.

Bethany blinked but didn't miss her chance to bite. "Good luck cleaning bathrooms." Leighton grumbled a string of swear words when the girl left the bathroom, wishing she could retract her wishes for success. They had been close, but clearly, they weren't anymore.

Tuning her attention back to her job, Leighton did a quick mop over of the floor and made sure the stalls had toilet paper before checking off the time she cleaned the washroom, scrawling her initials and getting out of there.

A rowdy group of men had taken over the bar by the time Leighton returned to it, wiping down a table a few feet away. From the looks of them, they had come from some sort of sporting event.