Devils' Day Party: A High School Bully Romance - C.M. Stunich Page 0,43

one hand and uses his thumb to swipe away one of my tears, staring at it for a long moment, mouth turned down in a frown. I almost expect him to lick it off, just to taste the saltiness of my pain, to savor it. Instead, he wipes his palms on his slacks.

“Meet me after school at the spring,” he says, and for a moment there, I'm sure I haven't heard him correctly. But then I realize that this, much like everything else regarding Calix, is likely a trick. His voice is monotone, as smooth and perfect as a river rock.

“Why? So you can tell me you love me again?” I snap back, hating myself for even saying it. My words to Luke from last night come filtering back like a beautiful nightmare. “Did you watch the video? Did you see it? Nobody could watch that and not realize how much I wanted it.”

Calix scowls at me, reaching out to grab me by the tie, tugging me closer.

“Karma,” he starts, like he's about to scold me. Calix closes his dark eyes and then releases me abruptly enough that I stumble. “Either be there or fuck off. I don't care much either way.” His eyes snap open, blazing with hate, and he turns away, storming across the parking lot and pausing next to Little Bee. He gestures at it with an angry hand. “And get your piece of shit car out of my fucking way.”

Calix climbs in and slams the driver's side door, but I just sit down heavily on the grass again, smearing my skirt and socks with mud. After just a few moments, Calix takes off, dragging my car along for the ride and leaving it askew in the middle of the parking lot.

I don't get up until one of the employees comes out to check on me.

“I'm leaving,” I snap, before he can say anything.

I shove to my feet and head for Crescent Prep.

“Holy shit,” Luke says when she stumbles out of class to meet me in the hallway. I'm covered in mud, my hair wet and plastered to my skull, my makeup bleeding in two dark trails down my cheeks. My shoulder is leaned up against a bank of lockers, my head resting against the scratched gray metal. Crescent Prep might be full of rich assholes, but they're delinquents first and foremost. We don't get fancy shit here like they do at Burberry Prep or Adamson Academy, two of the richest high schools in the country. “Where have you been? You hung up on me, and then you didn't answer when I called back …” Luke trails off, pushing blue hair off of her forehead.

“Luke, I can't do this,” I tell her, wanting to cry again, but feeling like my eyes are as empty and broken as my heart. She was dead. If the universe hadn't reset, she'd still be dead. And yet, all I can think about is how to get out of this. How to escape. And what might happen if I do.

“Yeah, okay, we can cut class today,” she says, misinterpreting my declaration. “It's Devils' Day, after all. Nobody will care. Let me grab April.” Luke reaches out to squeeze my arm and then starts to turn away. I snatch her wrist to keep her from leaving me. I'm not sure what I'll do if she goes just now.

“Not just class, Luke, but … everything.” The soft whisper of my voice makes her pause, her brown eyes widening. She nods once, pulls her phone out, and sends April a text before looking back up at me. “Let's go.”

Luke takes me outside, gaping at the ruin that used to be Little Bee, and then leads me to her own car. The very same one that flipped on the road just an hour ago …

“No,” I whisper, stepping back and shaking my head. The sight of the bleeding buck flailing around on ruined legs, his eyes wild, antlers casting strange shadows in the glow of the headlights … I'm not doing it. I'm not getting in that fucking convertible. “I'm sorry, but I can't get in that car.”

“Okay,” Luke says, holding up her hands in a placating gesture and watching me with a nervous expression. “We don't have to get in the car. Do you want to take a walk? We could go the bus station and ride to the bubble tea shop.”

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I nod.

I'm going to tell her. I'm going