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I pulled the hem of my t-shirt. “Oh, uh, a little place in Santa Barbara.”
“Sounds… fancy,” she replied with a hint of sarcasm that made me internally wince.
“Not really. Just your average coastal town, I guess.” It came out barely a whisper.
“Right. Well, Credence Woods isn’t as bad as it sounds. We have running water, and we even have those things called toilets.” Her voice was light but still had an edge of something that made me feel like a complete bitch for the way I’d reacted.
“Cool. Maybe one day I can come visit?”
“Oh, Mom would love that. She’s always bugging me to bring friends home so she can bake cookies and talk boys. Like I want to do that.”
I stifled a laugh. “Are we picking up Lilly?”
“Nah, she’ll meet us there. I’m digging those bracelets, by the way.” She flicked her head to my wrist. “Where’d you get them?”
“A store in town.”
“Treasures?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Oh man, I love that place. Next time you go, call me, and we can go together.”
“Sure.” I sank back against the seat, unable to hide the smile on my face. Sometimes, I wasn’t sure about Scarlett and her straight-talking ways, but she’d included me. And that was all that mattered.
“You didn’t tell anyone where we’re going, right?”
“No. I said we were hanging at your house.”
Scarlett slid her glasses down her nose and turned to me. “Awesome. Stick close when we get there, yeah?”
I was beginning to wonder what kind of place Rogues was if it had all these rules. Scarlett and Lilly seemed like good people. I didn’t think they’d be involved with anything dangerous or even illegal, but it all seemed so mysterious.
It wasn’t dark out yet, but the sunset on the horizon was painting the sky flamingo pink.
“I don’t think I’ve been this way yet.” Nothing looked familiar, but we were only fifteen minutes from my house, so we had to be in Credence still.
“There’s not much out here.” Scarlett leaned over and fumbled with the radio. It crackled and then some rock song blasted through the speakers. She grinned. “I fucking love Royal Tailor.”
Scarlett’s voice filled the car, and I laughed at her sudden outburst. Most of the time, she was guarded. I liked this more open side of her, and although the song wasn’t familiar to me, I hummed along until something caught my eye on the horizon. I leaned forward to get a better look. Was that… no…
“Pretty cool, huh?”
“Please tell me that’s not where we’re going?” The fairground grew closer, but it wasn’t a regular fairground. There were no bright lights and excited crowds… no, this was deserted. Abandoned. I craned my neck up against the window, taking in the rusted Ferris Wheel filling the skyline, as Scarlett drove alongside the fenced-off park.
“It’s been abandoned for years. I think the last time I came here was when I was like five. The owner, old man Callen Rogue, died, and the place closed. Over the years, developers tried to buy the plot, but it’s protected land, so it’s never happened. Not yet, anyway.”
“And what? You guys come and hang out here? In an abandoned fairground? That’s kind of…”
“Creepy? Hell yeah, it is.” Scarlett had driven around the perimeter of the park and stopped in a dirt clearing cloaked on three sides by trees. “This is the original parking lot, but it’s overgrown. No one comes out here much.”
She was right. It seemed to be one road in and out. Dense woods stood behind the park, years of overgrowth spilling out onto the deserted parking lot where Scarlett had parked.
“Ready?” Scarlett unbuckled her belt and leaned between the seats to grab her backpack off the back seat.
“Uh, I don’t know, Scarlett. What exactly do you guys do in there?”
Her lips tugged up in an amused smirk, and she shook her head gently. “Stop worrying. It’s just where we come and hang out. The really wild stuff only happens on the weekends.” Her eyebrow cocked up, and I couldn’t tell if she was telling me the truth or playing me.
