Devils' Day Party: A High School Bully Romance - C.M. Stunich Page 0,12

to the school to make up for their unruly child, not the way Raz’s family does.

So, even though it’s Devils’ Day, even though everyone—including most of the staff—will be heading out to some party or another tonight, I’m forced to sit for almost two hours after school in the library. At one point, I see Raz walk by the window outside, shouting into his phone, but I can’t hear what he’s saying, and I don’t care. My only hope is that his asshole dad is finally cutting him off.

When I’m finally released, I check my phone for messages from Luke and April. I sent them home to get ready for the party, promising that I’d get a tow truck for Little Bee. Neither of them wanted to leave, but April relies on Luke for rides, and she’s too far along in her pregnancy to sit around an empty school waiting for me.

I brush my fingers against Little Bee’s fake eyelashes, attached to her headlights and only partially mangled from crashing into Calix’s Aston Martin. There’s only one towing service in Devil Springs, and when I dial them up, I get a pre-recorded message from the owner about taking the day off. If it’s an emergency, he says, call the police. Well, that’s hardly an option for me, is it? After hitting Calix’s car this morning, I can’t make a big deal out of this. Whatever damage I did to his fancy ride is worth far more than a car I got from my neighbor for a few hundred bucks.

My thumb swipes down the screen of my phone, searching my contacts for a possible ride. Crescent Prep is about twenty minutes away from Devil Springs proper, and everyone I know is either prepping for the parties tonight, or going out of their way to avoid them. My aunt’s already left to visit a friend in Little Rock, and my moms are both at home in their studio, phones set to silent. If I call them, they’ll answer, but then they’ll want to know what happened to Little Bee and they’ll make a big deal out of it.

I don’t have the energy tonight.

Instead, I decide to walk to the bus stop.

It’s a good thirty-minute walk, but I enjoy the peace and quiet, book bag swinging by my side as I cut through the woods, taking a shortcut past the creek and around the edge of the lake. The terrain’s a bit rougher, but there’s little chance of running into anyone out here, so the extra effort it takes is worth it.

Fortunately, I make it to the bus stop just in time to hop on, sighing in relief as my ass hits the seat and I put my head in my hands, forgetting briefly about my mask. My fingers come away stained with glitter as I tear it off and clutch it in my lap. After the crap I’ve been through today, I’d be an idiot to attend the Devils’ Day Party tonight.

I’d be an idiot not to.

I can’t let the Knight Crew start dictating where I go and what I do; I never have.

I lean my head back against the seat for the rest of the drive, not even bothering to open my eyes when we stop and several other people get on. After ten grueling stops in the middle of nowhere, we end up at the edge of Devil Springs, where the Diamond Point Mobile Home Park sits, surrounded by trees. It’s not a bad place to live; there’s not a resident here who doesn’t take pride in their home and yard. I’m not ashamed of it, despite what the Knight Crew might want to believe.

“I’m home!” I call out, tossing my bag on the sofa and knowing that if my moms are in the studio out back, that they won’t hear me. I’m not sure whether I’m relieved or frustrated when Mama Jane peeks her head out of the kitchen.

“I’m making tea. Do you want some?” I shake my head, and she frowns, slipping back into the kitchen to answer the whistle of the teapot. All around me, art fills the colorful walls from floor to ceiling. There are original oil paintings, framed prints, wall hangings made of metal, and mosaic tiles. The entire house is a spectacle, somewhere between a gallery and a maelstrom. “Are you sure you don’t want tea?” Mama Jane asks, reappearing with her dark hair coiffed on the top of her head, the only mark