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We never miss a Sunday run, no matter how gnarly things get the night before. It’s the only time I can beat him.
I slap him on the back. “The season starts in two weeks. You can thank me later.”
“You’re a jerk, dude.”
“Maybe you should have thought about that before you took Cindy into the bush.”
“No shit.” He squares off and pokes me in the ribs. Which hurts. “Well, you took her, too.”
Last night’s kegger was wild and had an interesting turn of events.
Cindy was coming onto both of us at the bonfire. I dared Tommy to nail her in the bush, which is funny since, apparently, she has an older boyfriend. To my surprise he did, then I got super turned on and decided I wanted to nail her, too, even though I hate her. And while it felt good, the best part was knowing I could ruin her.
The preacher’s daughter isn’t so innocent, and now…well, I hope she went home and prayed. Tommy and I often share chicks. You can’t fall for one charm without falling for the other.
He’s the pretty boy, I’m the grump.
He’s the sunshine, I’m the brood.
He’s got a sports car; I ride a motorcycle. We seem different, sure…but underneath it all, we’re the same. If you just scratch the surface, you’ll find the darkness that festers inside. Our fathers are like brothers, so we are, too. Our families are the most influential in Kinsmen, and while Tommy doesn’t realize how strong that power is, I’ve known longer than I should.
We are bound by blood and were born into a world of sin. We ain’t righteous, so what’s the point in pretending we are?
He wipes his sandy hair out of his face. “You want her, man? She’s all yours.”
I scoff. “She’s used goods. Plus, Talia can’t stand her.” Although Talia has valid reasons.
He gives me a stupid grin. “Fine by me. She’s not the one I really want, anyway.” My back bristles. Tommy’s been pining over Talia since he hit puberty, and I told him if he ever touched her, I’d slice off his fingers. Luckily, she barely spares him a glance.
I point to the bend in the path. “Race you. If I win you have to ride on the back of my motorcycle like a little bitch.”
His lip curls as he catches his breath. “Deal. And if I win…”
“If you win, what?”
“I get to take Talia out.”
“In your dreams. She has a boyfriend, dude. Why the hell would she ever want to go out with a creep like you?”
He shrugs. “It won’t matter that much will it, then? One. Two. Three. Go…”
Motherfucker…like hell I’ll ever let him touch my sister.
Diana makes her way through the library, bumps into a few tables and finds an equally dark corner to sit in and pulls out her textbook.
She doesn’t see me as I watch her, just as she didn’t see me yesterday or the day before as she wandered into my dark orbit, hiding in the library behind the bookshelves.
She’s not fooling anyone. The way her pupils dilated when I first saw her and the way she looks through people, I can tell she is blind.
Her hair is pulled into two white braids, same as yesterday and the day before. The same ivory dress she wore on Tuesday.
Normally, I wouldn’t look twice at a girl like her, given who I am. But color me intrigued.
Whispers echo from elsewhere in the library, and her eyes shoot up from her textbook. Her cherry lips purse together, a brief and fleeting flush rushing over her face before she diverts her gaze down to her book.
I’ve been observing her for days now, and I’ve noticed her preference for dark spaces. You don’t gravitate toward the shadows unless they’re already within you. I understand that feeling all too well. And now, the devil has her in his sights.
I sit in the corner of the dark library, watching each potential victim in my English class carefully as they waltz through unaware of the serpent in their midst. My fingers play with the burlap mask my father gave me. I never grasped its importance until I became him. It’s my turn now.
