until there’s a noticeable crease directly in the center of his forehead.
“I suck at writing,” he murmurs. “I don’t think I got above a five on any of those assignments.” He scratches at the stubble coating his jawline. “Words are hard.”
“You’re right.” I nod firmly. “The stories sucked. The one about the camel taking a rocket ship to Mars and then finding the gold toilet? Classic.” I rub my hands together before placing them both on my knees. My muscles are cramping from holding myself in a crouched position for so long, but the grass is too damp for me to sit down on. “But I figured something else out about you, Karsyn. Something I don’t think you wanted me to know.”
“What?” He frowns, those glazed eyes of his seeming to stare into my soul.
“That you’re lonely. At least, that you were lonely. Each of your stories were about one little boy, taking on the world by himself. No friends to help him. No parents. Why is that, Karsyn? And then it got me thinking…the reason you tortured me. The reason you humiliated me. It’s because you hated yourself, didn’t you? And you couldn’t damn well take that hatred out on yourself, so you instead put it onto me and made me the villain of your story.”
He releases a bark of dry laughter. “So you think you know me because of some stupid shit I wrote when I was, like, thirteen?” I shake my head mutely, but that only seems to exacerbate his anger. “Then what the fuck are you going on about?” he rages, but as quickly as his anger rises, it deflates, almost like air leaving an overfilled balloon with a loud hiss. He sags against the wall once more, his head lolling to stare at me sleepily. “I hated Elias, Lucas, and Cassian when I first met them, back in elementary school.”
I bite my lip, thinking back to that time. Before I became public enemy number one. Before my life was a living hell. Before they targeted me.
And I remember…
Four cute boys, their bond closer than that of most blood relatives.
And me, the tiny girl who followed them around with wide eyes. I thought they would be my protectors, my slayers against this cruel world and the beasts living inside of it, but instead, they proved themselves to be the monsters.
“I thought Cassian was an annoying prick who talked too much. I thought Elias was always trying too hard to be a cool little shit and didn’t care about anyone but himself. And don’t even get me started on Lucas. Did you know that he once destroyed all of my shit in my locker and then blamed it on Tony Farter?”
I can’t quite reconcile his words with the image of the four of them in my head. It’s almost as if he’s talking about a different quad entirely.
“Why would he do that?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Karsyn laughs, the sound darker than the night currently pressing in on us. When he doesn’t continue, his huge body slumping forward, I release a heavy sigh before reaching forward and giving both his cheeks a gentle slap. His eyes flutter as they fix on me, and I roll my own heavenward.
“Come on. Get up, you ugly fucker,” I murmur, rising to my feet and extending a hand. He eyes it as if he doesn’t quite know what he’s supposed to do with it, before locking his fingers with mine and allowing me to pull him to his feet. His big body sways, but I quickly wrap my arm around his waist. He practically dwarfs me, and I doubt my tiny frame will be much help if he tumbles, but he seems alert enough to walk with my assistance.
I dig my phone out and quickly scroll through the web until I find the nearest cab company. Then I dial the number, rattle off the address, and hang up.
“What are you doing?” Karsyn murmurs, his body at an unnatural angle so he can rest his head on my shoulder.
“Calling you a cab, jackass. You’re drunk and it’s late and I don’t know where the rest of your evil friends are.”
“Probably partaking in a sacrificial blood ritual,” Karsyn murmurs dryly, and I snort.
“You can’t even begin to understand the irony behind that statement,” I say, too soft for him to hear.
We move to the front of the house, and I spot Christian’s car idling near the end of the driveway. Fortunately, he’s ducked over his