Devils' Day Party: A High School Bully Romance - C.M. Stunich Page 0,27

steep cliff, passing by Thorncrown Chapel on one side. The signs flash beneath my headlights as I sweep past, warning me to slow down, to stay at fifteen miles per hour.

I don’t listen.

I’m not thinking.

I’m not sure that I care.

And then it happens. I hit the brakes, but I can’t take the curve at the speed I’m going, and I can’t slow down fast enough. The tires skid as my heart leaps into my throat, and the old Taurus slides to one side. More, more, more. It hits the edge of the road, and then I’m weightless, flying through the darkness and into nothing.

There isn’t even time for a scream.

Just regret.

I fucked today up, I think, but really, not just today. Everything. Everything.

My thoughts spin to my mothers, my sisters, Luke, April, the Knight Crew …

And then nothing.

Because the universe just doesn’t give out second chances.

There’s blood all over my steering wheel.

I sit up, shaking, disoriented, certain that I must be dead. I reach my quivering hand up to my head and pull it away, staring down at the splotches of ruby red as I blink through the rush of memories. Getting locked in the Devils’ Den, finding out about the video, confronting the Knight Crew. My stomach lurches as I remember driving along Highway 62, the tires skidding, the weightless feeling as I plunged into blackness.

I look around, but I’m not sitting in the woods, surrounded by the mangled remnants of my mother’s car. No, I’m at the gas station again, tucked inside of Little Bee, her front end buried in the side of Calix’s Aston Martin.

What …

I barely get a chance for the thought to form before my door is flying open and Calix is yanking me out, slamming me back into the side of my car. I stare into his dark eyes, rife with anger, and try to remember how I got here. This isn’t like yesterday, when I had a momentary lapse of forgetfulness. Today, I’m just surprised that I’m alive at all. Did I drink something at the party that I forgot about? Did I smoke something?

“Are you fucking insane?!” Calix snarls, releasing me as a crowd gathers once again, the rainy weather eerily similar to yesterday morning. I blink back at him, but I’m not sure how to respond. Why did I come here? Why did I hit his car again? How am I still alive?

“How did I get here?” I whisper, my entire body shaking as my knees go weak, and I collapse. Surprisingly, Calix catches me before I fall, scowling as he sets me down on the pavement and steps back. The look on his face is impossible to read, but at least he’s not wearing that black leather devil’s mask anymore. “How did I get here?” I repeat, feeling my eyes tear up.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Calix growls as an older woman approaches, leaning down to put a hand on my shoulder.

“Are you okay?” she asks as Calix glares at me from behind her, scowling and turning to look at the entrance to the convenience store.

But today, this time, I’m not okay. It’s one thing to forget a split-second in time, between driving down the road and seeing Calix’s car, to hitting it. I’ve forgotten an entire night this time. I have no idea how I got here.

Glancing down, I see that I’m dressed in my uniform instead of the outfit I wore to the party. My mask is gone and, after a quick look over my shoulder, I see that Little Bee is fully intact. No more spray paint, no more smashed windows. Her tires are back on and, obviously, if I just used her to hit Calix’s car again, she must run okay.

“Should I call the police?” the woman asks, and déjà vu washes over me. She asked me that exact same thing yesterday.

“That won’t be necessary,” Calix replies smoothly, standing up and plastering a fake smile on his face. It’s sickening, the way he does it, affixes that look to his full, lush mouth. “We’re classmates; I won’t be pressing charges.”

My eyes widen as the woman nods and gives my shoulder a quick squeeze before moving away. It takes me a second to realize that she’s the same woman from yesterday, wearing the same clothes. I stare after her, dumbfounded, until Calix bends down and reaches out to smooth some stray strands of hair from my face.

“You know what tonight is?” he whispers, and I