Fourteen. That was the age that Carley learned to trust her own judgement. She had been at Sarah Whetstone's birthday party and was picked for Seven Minutes in Heaven with junior, Kyson Kameron. Total dreamboat.

The first red flag was her even being invited to Sarah Whetstone's birthday in the first place, but when Kyson instructed her to 'go in first and keep her eyes closed,' it didn't sit right with her, so, when no one was looking, she slid past the closet and quickly left the party. It ended up that Kyson and Sarah were planning on shooting her with water guns filled with Kyson's pee. From that day on, she vowed to always go with her gut.

Of course...neither alcohol, nor an adrenaline rush, came into play for that decision.

"A ghost bridge, seriously?" Carley tried to contain her laughter as the group trekked across the muddy field. They were guided by the moonlight that bounced off of the tall grass, and a single iPhone flashlight.

The idea seemed moronic, until Nate spun around on his heels to gawk at her. "You've never heard of Lacey's Bridge," his jaw fell. He continued to walk backwards a few paces until he fell in line with her. "It's the bloody craziest story I've heard in my fucking life." He stopped in his tracks, looking around at the five that were cracking up at his enthusiasm. "You lot don't believe it?" Carley perked an eyebrow up, clearly intrigued, as she'd never heard of Lacey's Bridge. That was all it took for him to go into story mode. "Lacey and her daughter were brutally murdered and tossed over the bridge on a full moon. Story goes that you can still hear them crying under the bridge, and some have even said they hear the sound of a woman singing a lullaby."

Tyler threw his head back and let out a few snores, making the others laugh, except for Carley, who was now more scared than before. "For fucks sake, that story changes every time you tell it."

"If the bridge was haunted, Tyler would know," Danny pointed out. "That's his mopey place." She jabbed him in the rib with her finger, making him flinch away from her touch

He narrowed his eyes at her teasing. "Piss off," he spat.

"C'mon, it'll be fun," Danny urged, seeing the apprehension that Carley was wearing clearly. "Scariest thing I've heard lately is some old man that circled the property. I heard he's a squatter at the cemetery up the road."

"Maybe he needs a mopey spot too—does he cry with you, Tyler?" No sooner than the words left Nate's mouth, Tyler lunged at him, putting him in a headlock.

As much as Carley hated to admit it, mainly because she was shocked at the fact, she had been having a pretty decent time with the group. There was still doubt gnawing at her, but she pushed it aside. Granted, having to dodge two full grown men wrestling made it easy to push aside any apprehension.

"Can you two apes simmer down," Danny hissed, dodging one of them herself. Nate immediately straightened up and fell into step beside her, brushing a hand through his still-messy hair.

They were nearing the bridge and, upon inspection, Carley could see why the bridge got such a bad rep. Although covered in colorful graffiti, it held a very solemn ambience.

Austin dropped the backpack he was wearing and started tossing cans towards each of them. Carley reflexively caught the one that came her way and discovered it was spray paint.

Her expression must have reflected her inward hesitation, because Alexa immediately came to her aide. "We don't have to," she said quietly—though not quiet enough.

"Wouldn't that be a shock," Tyler sneered, shaking his can. Danny and Nate were already spraying their own cans, chattering away.

Tyler's hot and cold attitude towards her was getting under her skin. She gripped her can and brushed past Tyler as she started shaking her can.

"Look how sick," Nate beamed at his work. VOID was written in neon green spray paint, with red outlining each letter.

They started writing their names around the band name. The idea of defiling federal property with her name seemed like an insane concept to her, but the thought of Tyler berating her again made her blood boil and before she knew it, she was adding her own name amongst the others.

"Oh, shit—oh, shit!" Carley's head snapped up to see Nate backing towards them from where he'd wandered farther down the bridge. Just past him, she saw a shadowy figure. She was frozen in place, until an arm pulled her away.

They darted away from the bridge, dropping their empty cans behind them. Be it from the alcohol, adrenaline, or pure fear, she couldn't help but burst into laughter as she ran with the others—this led the others to join into laughter.

She laughed until her sides hurt from the speed she was running and from laughing so hard. She only stopped when her shoe slid off her foot. "Shit my shoe!" She yelped, she knelt to the ground, cursing herself for leaving her phone in the car. Her heart started pounding as she heard the thudding of footsteps growing distant.

"Forget the bloody shoe," Tyler's harsh voice came from behind her, spooking here. "Here, come on. I don't want to have to kick this old man's ass." He turned around, gesturing for her to jump on his back. She hesitated, but she didn't dare check to see if the shadowy figure had followed them all that way before leaping onto his back.

"Thanks," she muttered, once they'd slowed from a trot to a brisk walk.

"Don't mention it." This sounded more like a command than a response, but Carley opted to brush it off.

Carley was relieved and embarrassed all at once when they arrived at the group of cars.

"Oh, thank God," Alexa sighed. "I thought I was going to have to explain to your parents that you were murdered by a cemetery-squatting old man."

"I told you, they were probably out there snogging—look, she's even lost a shoe," Nate howled a laugh.

Tyler released his grip from under Carley's thighs, letting her drop to the asphalt. This made her wince, as a stray rock dug into her heel. "We're likely the only two not snogging here," he scoffed, stalking away from the group with his hands tucked into his pockets. That was the last he said more than two words the rest of the night.

The next morning, Carley had to force herself out of bed when her alarm started blaring in her ear. She blindly reached for the source of the noise and silenced it. Despite the small amount of alcohol she had ingested, her head was pounding with the thump of her heart. She planted her feet on the ground, grimacing when pain shot up from her heel—an unfortunate reminder about the night before.

She frowned, looking over at her lone, muddy, Van that was lying in the corner of her room. She really liked those shoes, too.

Carefully, not to irritate her heel anymore, she trekked on the balls of her feet into the bathroom. She turned the shower on, welcoming the steam that quickly filled the room and fogged up the mirror. Showering before going to work was her morning ritual anyway, but the feeling was pure bliss that morning.

She was quick to get ready, hoping to get in a workout before her first client got to the gym. When she walked into the kitchen to make a protein shake, she was shocked to see that Alexa was awake, scrolling through TikTok with one hand while shoveling Cap'n Crunch into her mouth with the other. "Morning, sunshine," Carley chuckled, grabbing her powder from the cupboard.

"Mmm," Alexa grunted around her mouthful of cereal. "I need to get to the gym," she sighed, gulping down her final bite. "Maybe that'll be my New Years resolution. If my bestfriend would just agree to be my trainer—,"

Carley cut her off, chuckling. "No friends or family. That's my one rule."

"Ugggh," she groaned. "Fine, I'll just be out of shape forever."

Carley shook her head, pouring the shake she'd make into a cup. "I'll be back around lunch." Alexa waved her goodbye and she was on her way.

Working out was one of Carley's favorite things. Of course, it wasn't always that way, but when she formed the habit it became like a drug to her.

She was finishing up her run with her AirPods in when one of the gym managers approached, causing her to pull one of them out. "Hey, there's a guy up front asking for you personally," the manager, Amber told her.

Carley's eyebrow perched up, as she slowed her treadmill to a halt. "Who is it?" Most people that asked for her were gym regulars.

"I'm not sure," she admitted, looking a little nervous. "He's got dark hair, kind of messy, he's got an accent—Australian, no, maybe British? Deep blue eyes, his arms and neck are covered in tattoos..." she trailed off, turning a little red. "A-anyway—he's got a dirty shoe with him," she added, perplexed.

Carley's confusion peaked when she realized it was Tyler there for her. She grabbed her towel off the arm of the treadmill and patted the beads of sweat from her face.

The pair walked to the desk together, and sure enough, it was Tyler. He was dressed a lot more casual today with light washed jeans and a black graphic T-shirt and beanie. He was leaned against the counter reading one of the pamphlets for the gym with her dirty Van sitting next to him. He turned his head and spotted an intrigued Carley headed towards him and he sat up a little straighter, not bothering to hide the fact that he was scanning her body. "I got your shoe," he said. "It's still pretty muddy. You've got a small ass foot," he cracked. "Hard as hell to find a shoe that size at three in the morning."

"You went back for my shoe," she couldn't help but laugh. "I mean, thanks, of course, those are my favorite shoes, but I'd all but written them off."

"Couldn't sleep," he shrugged, trying to avoid eye contact with her. "It was that or do something that would land me in jail, so I opted for the former."

"How did you know where I work?"

"Do you always ask so many questions?"

Carley didn't budge. "This is my first question," she countered.

"Austin showed me," he explained. "Anyways," he continued, before Carley could further pester him with questions. "The main reason I came was because we need your help with something."

Carley crossed her arms and her eyebrow peaked yet again. "I'm listening." She leaned against the counter, looking up at him, finally getting him to make eye contact with her for the briefest of moments, and she understood Amber's statement about his eyes. It wasn't long before they both averted their gazes.

"Um, yeah," Tyler shook his head, regaining his train of thought. "Austin is putting together a surprise party thing for Alexa tonight," he explained. "We figured you, being her roommate, could help get her to our place."

Carley nodded thoughtfully. "Unfortunately, my trunk isn't quite big enough for a hostage situation."

For the first time since meeting Tyler, she saw a smile breakthrough his stone cold demeanor, accompanying a laugh. He cleared his throat and dropped his eyes to the floor, clearly surprised himself. "Austin suggested a blindfold, but I'll let him know your idea as well."

Carley cleared her throat with a quick nod, realizing that by that point, several eyes had fallen on them. "We'll be there," she assured him, reaching for the muddy shoe. She waved a small bye as she started to back away. If she didn't know any better, she would have sworn his eyes were burning into her back until she disappeared behind the heavy dressing room door.

Quietly, she began to try and salvage the poor, barely recognizable shoe. It was a rather nice gesture from Tyler. Unexpected, absolutely, but nice nonetheless. He was hot and cold, to say the least. Maybe, she thought, he wouldn't be so bad after all.

The sound of the door opening behind her dragged Carley out of her thoughts. She peered up in the mirror to see Amber walking up behind her. "Okay, who was that?" She gaped. "And why did he have your shoe?"

"Tyler," Carley answered simply, focusing back on her shoe and fighting off the warmth that was rising up her neck. "A friend of my roommate's boyfriend. The shoe is a long story," she shook her head, deflecting.

"He was—wow," she gushed. "Are you guys, like—,"

"No!" Carley quickly cut her off. "I mean, no, we just met and he's not exactly my type."

Amber's eyebrows peaked. "Well, he can definitely be my type," she chortled, leaning against the vanity.

Carley clenched her jaw at the statement, as she wiped off the final streak of mud. "I'll be sure to put in a word for you," she did her best to bite back the sarcasm, but judging by the look on Amber's face, she didn't do that great of a job.

Carley returned to her workout and met with a couple of clients that kept her busy until close to three. She knew that, if she was going to convince Alexa to leave the house for a 'birthday outing', she would need to be getting back to their apartment.

Much to her surprise, when she walked through the front door, Alexa was sitting on the couch wearing a frown.

Carley plopped down next to Alexa and crossed her arms. "What's wrong?"

Her roommate let out a heavy, dramatic sigh in response. "Austin has be very weird today. He's hardly texting me, being short, avoiding plans..." she trailed off. "I know he's busy with band stuff, but I thought he would at least plan something."

"Well..." Carley sighed, matching her dramatics. "I guess we can sit here and eat ice cream...orrr," she paused, catching Alexa's attention. "We can go on this birthday adventure I planned out." It wasn't the complete truth, but it would be an adventure, at least.

Alexa's eyes widened. "Ooh, that one! Let's do that," she grinned, jumping to her feet. "How should I dress?"

"Casual, definitely," Carley assumed, grinning as she watched the happiness fill her best friend again, as she bounded off towards her room.