Blackout

By Caroline Crane

She wanted to be popular, but not like this.

What happens when a girl gets drunk and helpless at a party? Kelsey Fritz finds out the hard way, thanks to football hero Evan Steffers. Kelsey’s friends rescue her from suicide, and then they themselves are in deadly trouble. Maddie, who used to date Evan, knew he was bad news. She got away from him once, but how can she save herself this time?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fire & Ice
• Release date: Jun 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781680461145

Caroline Crane

Caroline Crane spent her early years in the suburb of Croton-on-Hudson, New York. There, as a stage-struck teenager, she began her writing career, penning plays that she would produce, direct, and star in along with her siblings and friends. After receiving a college degree in drama, Caroline headed for New York City and the professional theater. From a basement apartment in Greenwich Village she made the rounds, earning a living with temporary office work and occasional modeling jobs. At that point her love for writing took over. She began with six novels for young people, which were published by such firms as Doubleday and Random House. The first two, drawn from her own experience, dealt with stage-struck teenagers. After that came adult novels of suspense-- seventeen at last count--and numerous short stories. Most of the suspense novels are now available in reprint from iUniverse.com. Caroline has taught novel writing and worked as a freelance editor. She has a grown son and daughter and lives in the Catskill Mountain area, where she continues writing.

Book preview

Blackout

A Revengers Novel

by Caroline Crane

Published by

Fire and Ice

A Young Adult Imprint of Melange Books, LLC

White Bear Lake, MN 55110

www.fireandiceya.com

Blackout, Copyright 2015 Caroline Crane

ISBN: 978-1-68046-114-5

Names, characters, and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States of America.

Cover Design by Lynsee Lauritsen

BLACKOUT

by Caroline Crane

She wanted to be popular, but not like this.

What happens when a girl gets drunk and helpless at a party? Kelsey Fritz finds out the hard way, thanks to football hero Evan Steffers. Kelsey’s friends rescue her from suicide, and then they themselves are in deadly trouble. Maddie, who used to date Evan, knew he was bad news. She got away from him once, but how can she save herself this time?

Table of Contents

Blackout

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

About the Author

Previews

Chapter One

The dress was a pink sheath. When she saw it in daylight, it had more of a peach tone.

Still, it looked good on her. It was soft and pretty and it didn’t wash out her pale coloring.

The shape was another story. How could she have been so stupid? She knew she didn’t have any figure. The reflection in her mother’s full-length mirror only confirmed that fact. She was as straight up and down as a person could be, and bony.

She turned to look at the back. It was cut low enough to show her chicken wing shoulder blades. Really, really stupid. She reached for the zipper to tear off the dress.

Kelsey, you look so glamorous!

Her sister Velda stood in the doorway. Let me look at you. Velda came on into the room.

Kelsey shriveled under her touch. Velda was the firstborn, the one who got all the looks. She was shaped the way a woman should be, and had golden blond hair that fell to her shoulders in soft waves. Kelsey’s hair was platinum and tightly curled. She could do nothing but keep it short, a curly mat all over her head. She hated herself. She always would, in spite of Dr. Schiff.

Velda turned her around, studying every angle. I’ve never seen you looking so beautiful.

I am not. Kelsey snapped it out, but softly. Velda paid no attention.

Kelsey went on. It’s all wrong! It’s wrong for me and it’s not what the others will be wearing.

What are the others wearing? Velda’s tone was soothing, as though she talked to a child.

Jeans. Or shorts. After all, it was August.

Well, then, why don’t you wear jeans or shorts?

Kelsey had no answer. She had wanted to be beautiful, but she never would be. Especially not in this dress.

What sort of party is it? Velda asked.

Just a get-together. My class.

I see. Before you all scatter to the winds. My class did that, too. It’s sad, leaving Lakeside. Where is this party?

At the Brandons’. On Overlook.

They have a pool, don’t they? You’re bringing a suit, I hope.

No way. Cindy Brandon had suggested it, but no way was Kelsey going to expose herself in a swimsuit. The other girls would all be in bikinis. And would look good in them. No way.

I’m not wearing shorts, Kelsey said. Not with these legs.

Velda looked down at her legs. Hadn’t she ever noticed what sticks they were?

Kelsey folded her arms and huddled into them. I’m too skinny all over. I don’t have any—anything.

Oh, come now. You’re a beautiful young woman.

Am not.

Kelsey, listen to me. Haven’t all those months of therapy done anything for you?

My body image was not what we talked about.

Then what did you talk about?

That—man. Kelsey longed to take off the dress, but not in front of Velda.

The one at school?

"No! Not Ben. He hadn’t really done anything, only terrified her. The one next door."

Oh, that man. But he’s in prison now.

That’s not why he’s in prison. And he’s not what bothers me. Kelsey went to her own room and looked through everything she had. Pants, shirts, sweaters. A few dresses that she never wore.

She paused at a black skirt with a flower design and accordion pleats. That might work, as a compromise between jeans and the pink sheath. She would return the sheath, if she could. If not, she would save it for another time and wear it with a lacy stole to hide her chicken wings.

To go with the skirt, a white tee with crocheted edging around the neck. The neckline wasn’t too deep and there was no bare back. She held them up together. The effect was only so-so, but better than jeans if the others were dressed up. Yet not too dressy in case they weren’t.

She wished Velda would leave so she could try on the outfit. Velda stayed, wanting to fix her hair.

Kelsey tamped down her irritation. "There’s nothing you can do with my hair. It just is."

Once again, Velda studied her. Ran a finger through the silver-blond curls. People always told her she was lucky to have naturally curly hair. They didn’t seem to grasp, or didn’t want to, that there was such a thing as too curly.

Glynis Goode from school had hair like Kelsey’s. It was a little darker blonde but just as curly. Glynis didn’t mind it at all. She tied it up sometimes, or else wore it frizzed out like a tent. On Glyn, it didn’t look too bad. As if it was supposed to be that way. Was that confidence, or what was it?

Velda turned her again and said, Hmm.

Would you please just get out of here?

Maybe what you need is some jeweled combs.

What she needed was somebody else’s hair. Anyway, Velda had just confirmed that she needed something.

I don’t have any jeweled combs, Kelsey said.

I have. Let me run home and get them.

Run home and stay there.

Her expression must have said it all. Velda relaxed and forgot the jeweled combs. Who are you going with?

Nobody. These are just people from school.

Velda should have known Kelsey wouldn’t have a date. When did she ever?

You’re going by yourself? That’s so brave. I mean, it’s not like—I mean, you’ve come a long way, Kel.

A long way from what? Kelsey knew exactly what she meant.

From the way you used to be.

That was exactly what she meant.

Velda had to pile it on. Was it the therapy?

Oh, sure. Give somebody else all the credit. Maybe it was me.

In that case, sweetie, congratulations.

Velda didn’t believe her. Kelsey took her chosen garments to the bathroom. Velda followed, asking about shoes.

Sandals. Kelsey tried to close the door.

Her sister held it open. With or without hose?

Why hose? This is summer and it’s supposed to be informal. She had planned to wear stockings and white pumps with the sheath. What a mistake that whole outfit would have been. She hoped the skirt wasn’t too much.

We had a party like that when we graduated, Velda said. It’s so sad, the whole class breaking up after all those years. Anybody else going to be in the Boston area?

I don’t know.

She did know. Ben Canfield, she had heard, was going to MIT. She refused to mention his name or even think about him. Nor would he want to think about her. She was the reason he had left Lakeside. Transferred to the public school right at the beginning of his senior year. All because of her.

I’m going to take a shower, she announced to the hovering Velda.

Take a bubble bath, sweetie. It’s so-o-o relaxing.

I don’t need relaxing.

No doubt Velda could see through that, but she had better not say so. This was a test, going to the party unescorted. She couldn’t be escorted because there was nobody to do that. Cindy Brandon had assured her it wouldn’t matter. Plenty of people, Cindy claimed, were going single. It was a test for Kelsey to prove to herself and others that she could handle it. Not because of the therapist, but just because she was strong. She could do it!

She showered and dressed. Put on lip-gloss and a touch of eyebrow pencil. She needed that, with her blond eyebrows. She checked herself in the full-length mirror. It wasn’t too bad. Could have been worse. She straightened her back and checked again. That was better.

They heard her on the stairs and called for a command appearance. At least her mother commanded it, backed by Velda. They were out on the patio, her mom and stepfather, Velda and Velda’s husband Ron. Both the men approved automatically. The women had endless comments.

Are you sure you want to wear that? her mother asked. What happened to the dress we bought?

It’s too formal, Kelsey mumbled.

But it was good. Not everybody can wear a dress that slim. This—I don’t know what this is. It’s—it’s—

SS&G, said Velda. It was a term that came from their grandmother and stood for sweet, simple, and girlish.

That’s what it is, yes. Are you sure you want it?

I don’t have anything else.

Mom glowered, cocked her head, and took another look. Well—it is rather girlish. But then, you are a young girl. It gives the right idea. She still seemed doubtful.

Never mind that she was almost eighteen. To Mom she would always be four years old. Stepdad handed her the car keys and finally she could escape.

Overlook Place was a short road that went off from Fremont Drive, where Kelsey’s home was. It didn’t overlook anything more than a steep wooded hill that sloped down toward the Vanorden Kill. In winter when the leaves were off part of the Kill was visible, at least from Glynis Goode’s house at the end of the road. That must have been what it overlooked.

Besides the Goodes’, there were only two other houses on Overlook. The Brandons’ came first. Cars were parked helter-skelter on the grass in front of it. She felt silly arriving in a car when she could have walked. It wasn’t that far, but the car gave her safety. She could still turn around and leave.

But not go home. There would be too many questions. If she said she was suddenly ill, they would see right through it. Even if the illness were genuine, they would know the reason for it.

Why did she have to be such a wimp? All those months with Dr. Schiff hadn’t done a thing. She had told Cindy Brandon she would be here. With that crowd, Cindy wouldn’t know if she wasn’t.

A car whizzed past her and into the Brandons’ driveway. She hoped they hadn’t seen her sitting outside, trying to get up the nerve to go in. She pictured herself driving on in and getting out of the car. In her skirt. Nobody else wore a skirt. They all had on shorts or cut-off jeans.

Dr. Schiff once said, You have to keep in mind, nobody else is as conscious of you as you are.

They had been discussing focus. For one brief instant, Kelsey had an epiphany. People who weren’t shy generally had an outward focus, on people and things outside themselves. They focused on how other people seemed to them instead of the other way around.

That insight was gone in a second and the focus went back to herself. Really, that was kind of egotistical, but what was she to do? She had read somewhere that there was an actual chromosome for shyness. Maybe she read it wrong, but it made her feel a little better. She was born that way and couldn’t help it.

She put the car in gear, took her foot off the brake, and inched forward. See? That wasn’t so hard. She spotted a place on the grass where she could park and be able to get out easily. She forced herself to continue until she reached it.

Now what? She looked for Cindy Brandon. It might work better if she got out of the car. Most of those people were classmates but not really friends. There were strangers, too, probably dates.

She saw Evan Steffers and the other football players. Evan had left Lakeside but of course, they’d invite him. He was part of their class.

She saw Glynis Goode, who was in the class below theirs, but lived next door to the Brandons. They might have had to invite her. Or she invited herself.

Glynis was best friends with Maddie Canfield. Maddie was Ben’s sister. They had both transferred to the public school, but this had been Ben’s class, until he left it. Because of Kelsey.

What if they were both here? Ben wouldn’t want to see her any more than she wanted to see him. Her key was still in the ignition. Just as she reached for it, a car parked behind her, blocking her in.

It must have been a sign. Dr. Schiff sent it, forcing her to this party whether she liked it or not. She got out of the car, trying to put her focus on the pool and the people in it. The pool was a sizable one with underwater lights. It was screened from the road by a row of bushes. If anyone asked, she would tell them she couldn’t go in the water. The girls would understand.

She closed the car door behind her. She debated whether to lock it and what to do with the key. Jeans really would have been a better choice. Her skirt had no pockets. She started forward and nearly bumped into Glynis Goode.

Hey! said Glynis. You got here. Cindy didn’t think you’d make it.

Well—I did.

Glynis wore denim shorts and a multicolor halter-top. She had shapely, tanned legs.

Kelsey said, I don’t know where to put my keys.

I can take them. Glynis dropped them into a pocket in her shorts. You drove?