Deuces Wild

But the side trip to the john to take care of my hard-on meant that my schedule is off whack. I didn’t get to eat my breakfast in the kitchen like a civilized human. I was forced to gulp it down in my Maserati while Waif did the same. There are crumbs all over the carpet and seat. I had to leave the car in that state because we got to school late.

Now I’m sitting in my English class watching Waif being stared at by half the penis-heads in my school. They’re about five seconds away from whipping their dicks out onto her desk, which means they’re about six seconds away from me cutting their sausages off with my notebook and shoving the meat down their own throats. I glare at every single one of them until they turn away.

“You’re making a weird noise. It’s scaring people,” hisses Waif. I installed her in the desk next to mine. Some kid walked in a minute later and objected. I handed him a hundred-dollar bill and he took his complaints elsewhere. Waif watched it all with a weird expression on her face. I couldn’t figure out if she was impressed or disgusted—probably the latter. She never appears to be impressed with anything I do.

“Good,” I retort. I’d piss on her leg to mark her as mine if that actually did any good, but I keep that information to myself.

“You might enjoy being the school asshole, but I’m trying to make friends.” She smiles at a girl next to her who looks vaguely familiar.

“Hi. I’m Aly,” says the girl.

“I’m Wai—“ she shoots me a dirty look as if I’m somehow responsible for her forgetting her own name. “I’m Mallory Franklin. Carter’s cousin. I just transferred.” She trots out her story about her mom getting sick and my dad insisting on her moving here to finish out her senior year. I wonder how much of that tale is true—that her mom is sick and all. Waif refuses to open up about her past.

“I didn’t know Carter had a cousin, but then again he never talks about anything to anyone.” Aly cranes her neck around Waif. “For all we know, he could be dismembering people at his house.”

“It’s still a possibility. His house is huge and I haven’t been inside of it yet.”

“You haven’t been inside?” Aly’s eyes grow wide.

At this point, everyone in the classroom is practically sitting on top of us, listening to this exchange. I clear my throat and try to stare everyone into submission, but no one is paying any attention to me.

“Where are you staying if you’re not at his house? They aren’t making you sleep in a car, are they?” Aly asks in horrified tones.

Waif turns bright red at this and a gasp spreads like mono through the room. I can’t believe I have to start talking to my classmates.

“She lives with me,” I say abruptly.

This generates a flurry of other activity such as where do I live and how come she doesn’t live with my uncle and where’s the party going to be at.

“He lives above the garage across from the house,” Waif interjects.

“Oh, at least you’re not in the car,” Aly says but there’s a suspicious glint in her eye. I remember her now. She’s Owen Fast’s girlfriend. Fast was a transfer last semester from a local high school, recruited for the football team because of his superior route running and his sticky hands. I like him a lot—as much as I like any of my teammates. The two of them came up to my car after the game and asked me some dumb questions about a post-championship. I think Aly might’ve asked me something about what I was hiding in the car. This is not the direction I want the conversation to go.

I clap my hands. “We’re having a party this Friday. Everyone’s invited. Free…” I trail off because I haven’t the first clue what happens at parties. I throw a questioning look toward Waif, who smirks.

“Free drinks. Free food. And a free gift card to Johnny’s Pizzeria for a free single-serving pizza.”

What the fuck? I mouth but Waif ignores me. She folds her hands on her desk, focuses on the whiteboard at the front of the class, and pretends she didn’t just promise a meal to every single dumbass in my school. A smile plays around on the corner of her lips and I can tell she’s trying not to burst out laughing.

If we were keeping score, and we’re not, I would be down by two touchdowns right now. She’s burying me and I don’t even care. There’s something wrong with me, but I don’t know what it is.

Chapter 14

Mallory

I smile at Aly and Owen. They are so adorable together I want to eat them up but I know that’s not acceptable. They are so sweet that it makes me have hope that love still exists. It’s nice to see two people that care for one another. That’s far from the atmosphere that I grew up in. It’s refreshing to see two people in love. Owen hangs on every word that comes out of Aly’s mouth. I don’t blame him. She’s crazy smart and funny too. Not as funny as Owen but it comes easier to him. They both have laid-back attitudes. It feels nice to have friends. It’s different than my old school. No one knows me here or my past. I know it’s soon to call these people friends, but I feel as though Aly and I have a great connection. I could see us becoming good friends.