Kip was suddenly overcome with excitement for the party to start. He knew the other kids would give him a hard time at first, even with Zak there with him, but he didn’t care. Before the night was over, they would accept him. They wouldn’t outcast him anymore, wouldn’t spend so much energy making sure he was miserable every single day of the week.
Kip stepped out, trying not to grin too hard.
Zak whistled. “Damn, cousin. If I was a chick, I’d totally fuck you and have your babies.”
“Shut up. Does it really look okay?” Kip turned his hips, held out his arms.
“Looks great, man. How do you feel?”
“I feel pretty damn good actually. I’m kind of getting excited.”
“That’s what I’m talking about, cousin. Yes! You’ll never forget this night, I promise.”
Kip hoped he was right.
“I wanna see you again.” Chuck paced back and forth in front of Jade’s house, the cell phone pressed hard to his ear. Her dad’s car was in the driveway, but he didn’t give a shit.
“Well that’s too bad. I’m getting ready for the party right now.”
“We’ve still got over an hour before it starts. Can’t we spend some time together first? Come on, Jade. Don’t fuck with me like this.”
“Call your girlfriend, asshole.”
Click.
“Shit!” Chuck slammed his fist into his chest, stared up at Jade’s bedroom window. Her shadow moved back and forth behind the drape, and even from that distance, he could see the shape of her body. God, he wanted her so bad.
He knew his night was going to be filled with Chelsea’s babble, her and all her cheerleader friends. And when they got drunk it was even worse.
It was Jade he wanted. Yes, he wanted to fuck her. He never wanted to stop fucking her. But he wanted more than that. He wanted her all to himself. And as soon as she said he could have her, he would break it off with Chelsea so damn fast…
Fuck.
“What’s the deal, Chuck? Can we get goin’ or what?” Jerrod said, fixing his hair as he stared into the side mirror.
“Yeah, come on. How long we gonna sit out here. She ain’t comin’ out, man. And who gives a fuck. There’ll be plenty of pussy at the party.” Cash ignited his lighter and touched the flame down onto the bowl he’d been smoking. He offered the glass pipe to Chuck.
Chuck took a hit, held in the smoke as he glared up at Jade’s window. He blew it out, handed the pipe back to Cash. “Y’all shut the fuck up. We’ll stay out here all fucking night if I say so.”
Neither one of them talked back, but they smacked their lips, clicked their tongues.
“Fuck it. You’re right. We can have our pick of the ass tonight. Right, fellas?” Chuck slapped hands with both of his friends as they agreed. “Fuck this bitch. I’m sick of her shit.”
As they drove away, Chuck let Jade dissolve from his mind. Chelsea too.
It was Zak and Toad that filled his thoughts now. They were all he’d been thinking about for days. He dreamed about them, jerked his dick while he imagined stomping their fucking heads in.
And tonight, he would show Jade who the real man was. He would show Jade that she picked the wrong dude.
You’re mine, bitch. He can’t have you. Nobody can.
—7—
“What’d you bring that for?” Kip had opened the glove compartment when Zak told him he had a pack of gum in there. As soon as it was open, Kip could tell Zak had forgotten about the gun.
“You weren’t supposed to see that.”
“But why did you bring it?” Kip knew it was for Chuck before Zak said it. His cousin couldn’t even look him in the eye. “So when you told me not to worry about Chuck and his friends… this is what you meant? That if he messes with us, you’ll what? Kill them all?”
“No!” Zak’s face was red and his knuckles white as he squeezed the gray steering wheel in his fists. “It’s just to scare them. And it’s only a precaution. If they don’t fuck with me, with us, there won’t be a problem.”
“We should leave. This was a bad idea.” Kip rocked in the car seat, staring out the window as the other kids filed into the house. Kip didn’t even know whose house this was, but he recognized all the kids. The “cool kids,” the same kids that were the worst to him every single day.
And now I’m here to, what, hang out with them? Who am I kidding?
“Don’t blow this out of proportion, Kip. I’m not going to hurt anyone.”
“Oh yeah? So say Chuck and his friends start something. And you pull your gun out. But they don’t stop. Then what? You going to murder them in front of all the jocks and cheerleaders?”
Zak didn’t answer, just stared blankly out the windshield.
They stayed silent, only the sound of their breathing and the tiny voice on the radio.
“I won’t bring it inside, okay? You’re right. It was a bad idea.”
“Zak, maybe we should just leave. Seriously. You don’t know Chuck like I do. There’s no way he’s going to just let that fight go. No way in hell. Him and his buddies have probably been devising a plan to get us back since it happened.”
Zak only smiled, pulled his Camels from his pocket, lit one. He offered one to Kip but Kip refused.
“That asshole is not gonna ruin our time. No way.”
“Zak—”
“I’m not kidding. I learned a long time ago that the only way to make someone stop fucking with you is to show them you’re not scared. We run now, Kip, and we’ll always be running. I know that sounds fucking corny, but it’s true. You’re sick of being the Toad? Show this motherfucker you are. Show all of them.”
Throb… throb… throb…
Kip couldn’t help but be scared, but the pulsating euphoria began to ease his mind, and his cousin’s words started to make more and more sense. A low moan escaped his lips, and even when Zak raised an eyebrow at him, Kip just smiled, ran his hand across his chest and let his eyes roll.
“Kip?”
“You’re right. Let’s go.”
Zak slapped the steering wheel so hard, the horn honked. Some of the kids walking into the house turned to look, a few of them noticing that their class Toad had come to their precious party. Some of them frowned, but most smiled, knowing that if Kip was there, they would have plenty of entertainment for the night. They could all get drunk and make fun of him.
Not tonight. Not ever again.
Zak didn’t really know any of the students from Bowie High. Mostly the girls. He’d never had a problem with the opposite sex, and as soon as he stepped foot on campus, they took notice. Jade pretty much claimed him right off the bat, and Zak went along with it purely off her looks.
It was the same back home at his high school. The girls loved him, the boys wanted to hang out with him because, well, the girls loved him. So he never had a problem making friends. He could tell the same thing was happening now, and he hoped to use it somehow to help his cousin.
As they walked toward the house, Zak could feel the anxiety radiating off Kip like heat waves. The poor kid could barely look up, appeared on the verge of having a panic attack. The other kids stared, and even though Kip said he was used to it, that it didn’t bother him, it was already pissing Zak off.
“Hey, ladies,” Zak said to a small congregation of girls, all sipping from red plastic cups. They giggled, faces turning pink, but when they saw Kip, their smiles faded away and were replaced with revulsion.
“What’s he doing here?” one of the girls said, her eyes riding Kip’s new clothes.