Devils' Day Party: A High School Bully Romance - C.M. Stunich Page 0,125

his attention back to the car. “I was going to let you drive it, but well, fuck it, I guess.” My lips part as Sonja makes her way over to stand next to Raz, red hair blowing in the breeze.

“What was that all about?” she asks, flicking her green eyes my direction. “Ah, that's right. All my friends are in love with the weird girl. Barron must be pissed.”

“In love with me?” I echo as Luke and April come over to stand beside us.

“Calix, Barron,” Sonja adds, shrugging loosely, her dark purple skirt rolled up at the waistband, so that it sits much higher on her pale thighs than mine does. “For the life of me, I can't understand it, but you're a hot commodity, I guess.”

She doesn't say Raz's name, but I suppose that's implied.

“Karma,” Luke starts, looking between me and Raz with her brows raised. “We should probably talk.”

“You two should probably talk? What about me?” April asks, looking at both Sonja and Raz with suspicion clear in her pale green eyes. “Sorry if I'm struggling to understand this, but … are you two both secretly fucking the people you hate?”

“We haven't had sex yet,” I say as Raz looks back at me, his dirty blond hair mussed, his devilish face pinched, eyes narrowed. He smiles a bit at the word yet, but it's just another one of his defense mechanisms. The lie sticks to my tongue like ash, but I have no choice but to tell it.

“Yet?” Luke echoes, cringing slightly. “Sorry, that came out wrong.”

“Yet,” I repeat, reaching down to take Raz's hand. He leans back to look at me, his face breaking apart with confusion. He can't understand simple kindnesses, and that's sad. Just like Calix. Whenever I'm too nice to him, he rears back like I've kicked him in the balls.

“Maybe we'll correct that at the party tonight?” Raz says with a snide little smirk, using my hand to drag me close. He puts his hands on my hips, like he's testing me. When he leans down for a kiss, I meet his mouth hungrily, our tongues twisting together like we're old hats at this. Luke lets out a little whistle as Sonja cackles and tosses her hair over her shoulder.

“I have to say, I expected this morning to go quite differently,” she says as I pull away from Raz, noting the fire burning in his eyes. It's amazing. We think our actions have little effect on the world around us, but that isn't true. Just one person, one moment, one single word can change somebody else's world entirely.

Was it okay for Raz to bully me because he didn't know how to express his feelings?

Fuck no.

But people are human, infallible creatures capable of beautiful destruction.

We're also capable of selfless acts, acts of true love, acts of compassion.

My hand squeezes Raz's. I have no idea if he's going to turn on me later today, if he thinks this is all bullshit. But I've seen what lies inside his heart, and it's worth it to me to try.

The bell rings and we all glance toward the building reluctantly.

“It's Devils' Day,” Raz says, flashing one of those razor-sharp grins of his. “Let's bail and go to town. Fuck, let's go to Eureka Springs or something. We could get some guns and set up a target during the party.” My mouth thins at the idea of garnering illegal weapons for a wild, wanton party filled with teenagers, weed, cocaine, and alcohol. Bad idea.

“I have something I need to do today,” I say, thinking of Pearl. “Is it too late to buy something from the Devils' Day Committee?”

“You can shop through first break,” Luke says, speaking up, her forehead dotted with beads of sweat. She pulls the goblin mask out from her blazer pocket and slips it on, offering up the sparkly pixie mask with the antennae to April.

“You can get your Devils' Day shit tomorrow,” Raz says, yanking me toward him. There's a hint of suspicion in his gaze that says if I don't go with him, everything I've said to him this morning will unravel. “And you know, if you were thinking of buying me a dead bug on a chain, I'd rather have your ass in my lap.”

A smile tilts my lips. The thing is, I know if I don't find a way to save Pearl, I can't feel okay with moving on. That is, if the universe gives a crap about how I feel. Presumably,