10. Chapter 9: Interrupted (1/2)

chapter 9: interrupted

as velma stepped out of the mystery machine and walked up her front driveway, fred and i were finally alone. as fred always does at the end of the day, he was driving the gang to their homes. but even though it was finally just the two of us and this would have been the perfect opportunity to

eak away from the label of "skinny love," i didn't know what to say.

apparently, fred didn't know what to say to me, either. as he drove, we passed the time in silence, as velma's neighborhood flashed before us outside our window. we both looked at the road ahead of us attentively, as if there was something fascinating that we couldn't look away from. as the mystery machine turned out of velma's neighborhood and rattled down the main road, i decided that i was going to wait until fred spoke first. he was the one who texted me first asking if we could talk; if he still had something he wanted to say to me, then he could be the first to talk, skinny love be damned.

finally, fred cleared his throat, as if he was going to speak. i watched him swallow, his adam's apple moving up and down in his throat. he opened his mouth, prepared to speak again, but then he suddenly jerked the van into a sharp right, pulling into a deserted parking lot.

i knitted my eye

ows together in confusion: somehow, we had ended up parked in front of sherry's dairy and diner.

fred ran his hands throw his hair, exhaling loudly, as if he were trying to expel nerves. i could feel my heart tugging: i couldn't believe he was as nervous as i was right now.

finally, he spoke: "i'm sorry, daph. you probably wonder what the hell is going on. it's just that i really need to talk to you about something, but i'm a little nervous, and i just really need to take a second to gather my thoughts." and then he opened the door and stepped outside, walking out into the middle of the parking lot.

i shook my head, bemused. i was starting to feel a little less unsettled seeing fred so nervous. maybe velma is right, i told myself, feeling a surge of confidence. maybe he is nervous because he really does have feelings for me, too.

i tried to keep my hope at bay, just in case this was a horrible miscalculation; besides, fred was starting to make me a little nervous. he was pacing in the middle of the parking lot, and i had never seen him like this. i was growing concerned that something was even wrong with fred: it wasn't like him to act out of sorts. i stepped out of the passenger seat and walked over to where was standing.

the sun had already dipped out of the horizon: the moon hung overhead, lighting the parking lot around us. when fred saw me approaching, he walked right up to me. i faltered, suddenly feeling less confident and less resolved, but he wasn't looking at me, he was looking at the ground and the three inches of space that was separating us, and i thought he was going to say something but he didn't. we both just stood there, rooted in place, and i watched his chest as he was

eathing, in and out, up and down, and i felt as though my head was spinning. my heart began pounding, and it would not stop racing as i asked, "freddy, is everything all right?"

later, when i thought back on this moment in an attempt to remember everything that had happened, i would first remember how everything happened all at once, a quick succession of events that exploded one second after the next.

fred finally began to speak, whispering, "daph, there's something i need to know –"

as he began to speak, he finally rose his head, his eyes meeting mine. but then fred's eyes widened, and his mouth dropped. my head was still spinning, waiting on what fred would say next, when suddenly he rushed towards me, closing the gap between us, and he circled his arms around my hips, and our bodies collided in a similar manner as they had earlier, only this time purposefully. i flew to the ground as fred pushed me away from where i was standing, and he fell clumsily on top of me in the process, and again i could feel his soft chest flush against my own, his arms still locked around me. i heard the pounding of footsteps and saw a shadow looming overhead, standing at the very spot i had occupied just seconds ago.

"daph, look out!" fred yelled, pointing in the distance. "we've got company!"

i looked to where he was pointing, attempting still to process everything that was happening at all once. but when i saw what fred was pointing at, my blood ran cold.

standing over us in the very spot where i had just been facing fred was a man. at a glance, he looked harmless enough. he wore street clothes, like blue jeans and a plaid shirt, and had short, messy

own hair. but then i noticed that the man didn't look normal, as if he were sick. his skin was pale and shone, almost as if it were coated in wax.