Devils' Day Party: A High School Bully Romance - C.M. Stunich Page 0,99

will hurt me, even if he doesn't mean to, just by not remembering tonight ever happened.

“Come with me.” I push aside my feelings and take Barron's warm hand in mine, dragging him down the steps and over to the greenhouse door. It's unlocked, as always. We don't really feel the need to lock our doors out here. There are some definite positives to living in such a small community. Everyone in Diamond Point knows my moms and appreciates the care and effort they put into the park where we all live.

“A greenhouse turned art studio,” Barron comments as I push the door open, the sweet fragrance of violets and jasmine stirring in the cool air around us. “Interesting.”

He follows me in, and I'm struck suddenly by how intimate this moment is. Glancing over my shoulder, I notice his eyes scanning the sacred space, and my pulse begins to thunder. This is me extending trust that I shouldn't rightfully give, far more invasive even than sharing my body. If Barron rejects me here, now, the violation will be something I'll never be able to forget, not in this timeline, or any other.

“My moms believe art is the pinnacle of human invention,” I say, plugging in the lights and smiling as the strings of Edison bulbs strung through the space bloom to life.

“Not medicine or space travel or bio-engineering?” Barron asks, but not like he's judging, just curious. He pauses next to the pottery wheel and then moves over to a stack of paintings, thumbing through the canvases as my heart freezes in terror. Some of my work is in there, and if he starts shit here … I'll probably kick him right in the balls.

“All necessary inventions to keep people healthy and safe, so that they can make art,” I say with a laugh, the sound trailing off as Barron pulls out one of my pieces. It's just an oil painting of Little Bee, the bright yellow of the car at contrast with the dark woods behind her. There's a set of paints on the car's hood, a myriad of colors spilling over the sides and dripping to the grass beneath the wheels.

Barron stares at it for a long moment, and then turns to look at me, his face dark and serious, contemplative as always.

“Can I buy this from you?” he asks, and my brows go up.

“Wh… What?” I stutter, pushing red and black hair over my shoulders. It's pretty, but I had to bleach the shit out of it to get it here, and it's dry as hell. Likely, I won't be doing this again anytime soon.

Barron pauses for a moment to pull a unicorn-horn lollipop from the front pocket of his jacket. I'm honestly not even sure where it came from, probably some secret stash in Calix's car. He unwraps it, careful to keep the painting beneath his arm, and then sticks the whole damn thing in his mouth, twirling it in a circle as he studies me with one blue eye, and one brown.

“I'll give you two thousand for it.”

“Two … what?” I rub the bridge of my nose and close my eyes for a moment before opening them back up as Barron covers the length of the room in just a handful of careful strides. He gets far too close to me for propriety's sake, but I like it. It's almost like he can't bear to keep his distance anymore.

“It's all I have in cash,” he says, clearly a son of privilege. He has no idea what two thousand dollars could do for me and my family.

“Why would you pay two thousand dollars for that?” I ask, pointing at the painting. “I have better ones …” My voice trails off as Barron chuckles, pulling the rainbow lollipop from between his lips. I traded one poison for another, he'd said.

“Because this is a Karma Sartain original. It'll be worth much more when you're famous one day.” Barron studies my face, absorbing every emotion I have before I’m even feeling it. “My parents are supporters of the arts,” he adds, and I decide it's best not to mention how my moms feel about rich people playing with art as tax write-offs. “Maybe they'll hang it in their gallery in New York?”

“Please don't say things like that,” I tell him as he puts the canvas down on the worktable, next to a cluster of potted begonias. Barron puts the candy between his lips and then puts his hands on my