Devils' Day Party: A High School Bully Romance - C.M. Stunich Page 0,69

me bent over for Calix.

“Having sex changes everything,” I say, looking away from him toward the woods. The video of me and Calix is already out there, making me realize that no matter how well I try to get things to go between me and Raz, he'll always see it. And if he's this mad now, how mad might he get after he watches it? “But if you want to leave, I won't stop you.”

I start to turn away and Raz grabs my arm, causing me to drop my mug. It hits the deck and bounces away, sloshing lukewarm milky coffee onto my toes as Raz leans in and crushes his mouth against mine. My surprised fingers drop the quilt, leaving us naked in the moonlight, his coffee cup still held out to one side in his right hand, like a shield to protect us from getting too wild.

He tastes like barely restrained desire, malicious narcissism, and dangerous temptation, all wrapped into one. When Raz pulls back, I naturally lean forward. My palms settle on his chest and we stare at each other again.

“You never answered,” I reply, gesturing toward him with my head. “When I asked why you hated me.”

He's silent for a pause, setting his coffee down and then grabbing me by the wrists. He takes a step back, putting some space between us.

“You're …” Raz starts, hesitating just long enough that I can hear my phone ringing in the silence. When Raz turns away and grabs his coffee again, I sigh and pick the quilt back up, shambling down the steps of the deck and across the grass. My phone sits in the small space between the front seats, and I lean down to grab it, ignoring the cracked screen as I unlock it.

There are dozens of missed calls from my mothers, from April, from Luke.

I decide to glance at my texts instead; the most recent one from Luke grabs my attention.

It's about Calix and Pearl. Please call me first.

All the weirdness of today flees in a wave and I forget, for the briefest of moments, that I'm living in a time loop. Fear strikes me cold and wild, making my hands shake as I frantically call Luke back.

“What is it?” I blurt as soon as I hear her start to speak. I'm moving up the steps with one hand clutching the quilt, the other holding the phone, collapsing into the cushioned bench on the deck. Raz pretends to ignore me, his elbows resting on the railing again. “Please tell me it isn't bad.”

“It's really bad, Karma. Really, really bad.” Luke sniffles, like she's been crying. “Do you want the shitty news or the shittier news first?” I close my eyes and wet my lips, sucking in a breath of icy nighttime Arkansas air.

“Hit me with the worst first,” I say, knowing it's going to be about the video.

Of course, I'm completely wrong.

“Pearl is dead,” Luke gushes, sniffling again. “She killed herself. There's a note.”

No.

“Apparently, she mentioned you in it. The police are looking for you, Karma.”

Luke keeps talking, but I don't hear anything she says after that. My vision focuses to a pinprick of white and I have to scramble my way to the railing to throw up my coffee over the top of it.

“The fuck?” Raz snaps, but I'm not listening to him either.

The things I said to Pearl … did they push her over the edge?

The indisputable fact that I’m now a monster as big as Barron or Raz, Calix or Sonja … that’s a hard pill to swallow.

“What? How?” I stutter, my head spinning as my fingers curl around the rough edges of the old wooden railing.

“She shot herself, Karma. At the party.”

“At the Devils' Day Party?” I choke out as Luke sniffles again. What if she saw something? I mean, this timeline will likely end come sunup—or sooner, I’m sure—but that doesn’t mean some part of that trauma won’t stick to Luke's soul like glue. What if, with each day that passes, we all just collect bad memories in our psyches?

“Yes, at the party,” Luke repeats, exhaling sharply. I can just imagine her pinching her brow with her short blue nails. “Where are you? I can come and get you if you need me to.”

I'm staring out at the darkness, my mind slipping away before I can catch myself, and trying to talk some sense into my emotions. Today will end and tomorrow will give you another chance. It's okay, Karma, it's