Hold Me

Chapter 1: I Dare You

"Oh, and did I tell you guys that I had to drive past the street that that abandoned mansion is on?" Kayla asked as she took a bite of her spaghetti. "I mean, really, that place is so creepy. Why the city still allows the building to stand is beyond me."

"I know, right?" Johnny asked with a quiet laugh, sipping his soda as he looked at the blonde-haired girl. "Although, I guess it makes sense from a business standpoint. The legend of the haunted mansion attracts tourists and whatnot. Don't you think, Paige?...Paige."

"Hm?" The brunette teenager asked as she looked up from her phone. "I'm sorry. Luke is asking if we can go out to brunch tomorrow. I was just trying to decide on an outfit to wear."

"Of course you were," her friend, Emily, mumbled. "Everything has to do with your precious fiancé lately, it seems. Have you two even set a date yet? You've been engaged for like a year now."

"Well...no, we haven't set a date. But I'll bring it up when I go to brunch with him tomorrow," Paige said with a nod, lifting a forkful of pasta to her mouth as she set her phone aside. "But anyway, that's not important. What were you guys talking about?"

"That creepy mansion on Elm Street," Johnny replied as he got up to get a glass of water from his refrigerator. "Kayla had to drive past it today."

"Oh, not that old thing," Paige said, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, there's nothing creepy about it. It's just an old house that someone used to live in, and now no one lives there because the previous owner probably died or moved or something."

"That's the weird thing about the place," Johnny's roommate, Milo, replied, finally chiming into the conversation. "The grounds are immaculate. All the topiaries are absolutely perfect and the flowers are gorgeous. If the previous owner died, why does the garden look so beautiful? Surely, if they passed away, it would have been years ago and the plants wouldn't have remained like that for very long. Not unless there's someone currently gardening there."

"Well, perhaps there's some lonely person with no life and too much time on their hands who goes there to trim the topiaries and water the flowers and such," Paige said with a shrug. "That's always a possibility."

"Or the ghosts that haunt the place are keeping up the grounds to make the place seem inviting," Johnny nodded, taking a seat at the table next to his roommate. "It's possible."

"That would only be possible if ghosts existed, which they don't. Besides, you all know that it isn't haunted. It's not even creepy, quite frankly," Paige replied as she got up to put her plate in her friends' kitchen sink.

"So, you mean to say that the old mansion on Elm Street doesn't scare you at all?" Emily asked with a frown.

Paige shook her head in reply. "No, not in the least," she said.

"Alright," Johnny nodded. "If that's the case, then I dare you to spend a whole night in there."

"You what?" Paige asked with a laugh.

"I'm betting that you can't spend an entire night in that mansion."

"As much as I would love to prove you wrong, Johnny, I have more important things to do with my time. Like planning my wedding, for instance."

Kayla looked over to her two friends, a small smile growing on her face. "Paige, come on, you have to. You know what? I second his dare!"

Before Paige knew it, all four of her friends at the table were echoing the bet that she couldn't spend the night alone in the mansion, which only made her laugh. "I'm sorry, guys, but my answer is no," she said as she grabbed her purse. "I have to go now, since it's getting late. But I promise that I'll text you all tomorrow. Come on, Emily."

"I don't want to go," her roommate replied with a sigh.

Paige rolled her eyes as she pulled her friend out of her chair. "Yes, but we drove together and you have work in the morning. Up."

"Fine, fine. See you all later."

-----

The next morning...

"Luke, I'm over here!" Paige called with a smile from where she sat at a table in one of their favorite restaurants, watching as her fiancé approached. "I'm so glad that you finally made it. Was traffic bad?"

"No, I slept through my alarm on accident," Luke replied with a chuckle. "Sorry I'm late, Paigey."

In all truth, Paige hated that nickname like nothing else. However, she knew that her fiancé liked it, so she allowed him - and him only - to call her by that name. "That's okay," she said, smiling at her fiancé as he sat across from her. "I missed you last night. It's too bad you couldn't make it to Johnny and Milo's for dinner. Milo made his spaghetti again, and it was absolutely out of this world."

"I'm sorry to have missed it. I'm certain that you all had a good time, and I really wish I could have been there."

"Well, that's okay. We get to spend some time together now, and that's the important thing, isn't it?"

"Yes, I suppose it is," Luke nodded, fiddling with his watchband. "When is the waitress going to come and take our order?"

"Oh, she already did. I know what you like, so I just decided to order for you," Paige replied with a smile. "So, since that's taken care of, I was talking with my friends yesterday, and I realized that you and I still need to set a wedding date. Perhaps we could start thinking about that."

"Paigey...I wanted to talk to about the wedding," Luke sighed. "It's not...the wedding isn't going to happen."

"Of course it's going to happen," Paige said, a small frown slowly forming on her face. "What do you mean?"

"Paige, you and I...we're just not working. I'm sorry. It's not you, it's me. I swear," Luke replied as he looked down at his lap. "I just don't feel like we're really going anywhere, and it's not your fault."

"What? Luke, no, you're joking," Paige said in disbelief. "We're engaged, so we're obviously going somewhere. Did you meet someone else? Is that it?"

"Maybe...maybe I did," Luke said quietly.

Paige's only reply was to bury her face in her hands, trying her hardest to not let tears fall. She couldn't help but feel like a fool. After all, she and Luke had been dating since high school, and he had always seemed like such a great guy. What went wrong?

"I'm sorry," Luke whispered simply before he got up and left the table without another word.

After Paige was sure he was gone, she removed her face from her hands, looking over as the waitress brought her food to the table. "Listen, hon, I'm not going to lie and pretend like I didn't just hear that exchange. He's a dirt bag and you deserve so much better," she said softly.

"Thank you," Paige replied with a quiet sigh. "Just bring me the check, please. I don't feel much like eating anymore."

"Look, kid, I'm going to give you your food on the house, okay? I'll just go put all of this in a few take-out containers and I'll be right back," the waitress said before she hurried back to the kitchen.

Paige sighed as she tried to comprehend everything that had just happened moments prior. Before she could fully wrap her head around the fact that she had just been broken up with, though, the waitress came back out and handed her a bag. "Thank you, ma'am."

"You're welcome," the waitress replied with a small smile. "Don't give up on finding someone, okay? A pretty girl like you will easily find another guy who's ten times better. Don't worry."

"Thank you," Paige replied, nodding slightly before she left the restaurant, practically running to her car. After quickly unlocking the door and sitting down in the driver's seat, she set her food aside and pulled her phone out of her purse. With another forlorn sigh, she opened up the group chat with her and her four friends - Kayla, Emily, Johnny, and Milo. "Hey," she texted. "So remember the dare from last night? I've changed my mind. I'm accepting the challenge."