some real deep shit for sure. He’s already pissed off at me as it is. I don’t want to give him any reason to break my balls any harder than he’s already been doing.’
Pointing directly at Claire’s wonderfully developed chest to single her out, he added, ‘You can come with me if you want, but your friends will have to stay here until we get back. It’ll probably take an hour or so.’
The probation lie scored more points. And why not? All the cool guys were in some kind of trouble with the law, weren’t they? Of course they were. Who in the hell wanted to date Lawrence Welk when you could be seen making the rounds with James Dean? Still, Claire Bishop creased up her pretty face at the suggestion. ‘Yeah, right,’ she said, giggling nervously and clearly a little less certain of her position at the top of the pecking order now. ‘Like I’d ever go anywhere alone with you. I don’t even know you, for Christ’s sake. For all I know, you want to rape and kill me, you fucking sicko.’
Nicholas pressed his lips together into a tight line. Not a bad assessment there, actually. Not a bad assessment, at all.
You’re absolutely right, Claire, he thought. I probably do want to rape and kill you. As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what I want to do to you. Luckily for you, though, that’s something of which I’m quite incapable.
Out loud, he said, ‘Whatever. Suit yourself. Have fun with your stupid pot. Try not to get too high on that shit, all right? For your information, though, it’s probably oregano if you bought it over on the east side. But again, whatever. Give me a call when you grow up and want to try out some of the good stuff.’
Turning on his heel, he then sauntered away as casually as he possibly could. It might have been a risky gamble, but he knew that he needed to push in all of his chips now, even if it meant losing all his money in the process. There was no other option now. He’d passed the point of no return.
A flurry of hushed whispers sounded behind him. A moment later, Claire Bishop called out to him again. ‘Hey, wait up!’ she yelled, running to catch up with him. ‘I’ll come with you but we have to hurry. We have to be back in, like, half an hour. Missy’s driving and she said that’s all she’ll wait for.’
Nicholas turned around and smiled at the girl. Bowing at the waist, he swept his right arm gallantly toward the bicycle rack forty feet away, motioning to his beloved Schwinn. ‘Great,’ he said. ‘C’mon. I’ll give you a ride over there.’
Thankfully, the girl didn’t protest any further, which meant that Nicholas was that much closer to finally becoming a real man. About goddamn time. He’d already waited a very long time for this day to arrive, and he certainly didn’t want to wait a single moment longer now than he absolutely needed to. Already standing on the ledge of full-blown manhood, he was ready to leap. Wanted to leap. ‘Cool,’ the girl said. ‘Let’s go.’
Nicholas’s heart skipped rope in his chest as he unlocked his bicycle and offered her the seat. He’d ride standing up – the same way he’d ride her in about twenty minutes or so. ‘Your chariot awaits, my dear,’ he said.
Ten minutes later – having darted through the heavy traffic barreling down Lincoln Road with Claire Bishop’s long hair streaming behind them in the stiff breeze – they finally made it to the butcher’s shop across town. Nicholas concentrated on controlling his shaking hands as they stood underneath the striped awning out front. Reaching into the front pocket of his shorts, he produced the illicit key he’d copied at the drugstore a few days earlier and slipped it into the lock before opening up the door for her and stepping to one side. ‘After you, my dear,’ he said, trying mightily to disguise the heightened anticipation in his voice. ‘My stash is in the back.’
Claire Bishop looked up at him, surprised. ‘You own this place?’ she asked.
Nicholas shrugged. ‘Something like that, I guess. My family does.’
Claire lifted her perfectly plucked eyebrows and entered the building. Wordlessly, she kicked the door closed behind him as Nicholas entered after her.
Turning around to face him, the girl immediately stepped forward and raised herself up on her tiptoes to cover his mouth with