Lost Boys (Slateview High 1)

It was strange to think of fast-food as a foreign thing. I had traveled to other countries and gotten used to their customs and cuisines, but this? This experience felt the most alien to me, and I was suddenly a little self-conscious about that fact.

I tried not to make it obvious that I was watching curiously as Misael leaned forward between the seats, rattling off a few items from the menu. He called them out by numbers instead of the item name itself and stipulated no onions on his. I said nothing; I didn’t expect to be fed. But Bishop surprised me by glancing over at me after the crackly voice coming through the speaker asked if their order was finished.

“What do you want?”

I blinked. “What?”

Bishop sighed. “What do you want? To eat. For breakfast.”

“Oh… I wasn’t going to get anything?” I was confused. Why would they offer me breakfast? Was this even the food I wanted? It had to be better than whatever the ancient vending machine at school had stocked.

He shook his head and turned toward the speaker. “A number five on top of that. Actually—make it two.”

“You got it. Total will be twenty fifty-seven. Pull up to the first window.”

My brows furrowed as I looked to Bishop, but he didn’t comment on the fact that he’d just bought me breakfast. A number five… what was that anyway? I wished I’d paid a little more attention to the menu so I knew what I was getting myself into.

We rolled up to the first window, and Bishop pulled out his wallet. Surprisingly crisp twenties were folded inside—more of them than I would’ve expected. When he caught me staring, his brow rose, and I looked away, my face flaming.

Shit. Was he some kind of gang banging drug dealer or something? Is that where he got his money?

I knew better than to ask, and a few minutes later, three fat paper bags with grease slowly seeping into the bag fibers were passed to us. Bishop tossed them to the back where Misael caught them with practiced ease, and then we pulled out of the lot. As we drove the rest of the way to school, Misael started divvying up the food.

“You ain’t had a breakfast like this, I bet.” He chuckled, passing up two wrapped burgers to me as he took a huge bite out of one that was twice the size of my own. Gingerly, I unwrapped my first burger, not sure if I wanted to dive right into it.

“Simmer down, Princess. It’s not gonna bite you.” Bishop rolled his eyes, sipping out of an extra large soda.

A frown tugged at my lips. I wasn’t afraid of it biting me…

Then

I shrugged, eyeing the burger before opening wide and taking a big bite. It was a greasy, cheesy, tomatoey mess.

But it was also delicious.

I actually moaned, unable to hold it back. It tasted amazing, better than half the fancy dinners our old chef had cooked. Was fast-food supposed to be this good? I’d always thought it was supposed to be convenient, cheap, and accessible. I’d had no idea it tasted like a greasy slice of heaven.

“Well, well, look at that. Uptown Girl likes her some BK,” Misael crowed from the back. “See? Bish told ya it wasn’t gonna bite.”

I flushed, saying nothing as I continued to eat. My gaze met Bishop’s, and there was something like a smile teasing at the corner of his mouth.

His words from last night filtered through my head. I like to hear you moan, Princess.

This was a completely different context, but he still seemed pleased to have drawn that noise out of me. I half expected him to tease me, to say something crude about last night, to tell the other boys I was easy or something. But he said nothing, and neither did I. Instead, I found myself actually enjoying the last half of our short ride to school, my stomach full and my nerves oddly settled in the company of three boys I had no business spending time with.

Several minutes later, we pulled into the school lot, right up into the space that seemed to be the Lost Boys’ personal parking spot—nice and close to the front. I wondered if there was a reason they’d picked this spot. The part of me that still saw them as some kind of lawless gang thought maybe it was for quick getaways if they needed to leave the school in a hurry. The logical part of my mind knew it was probably just because this was prime parking.

Probably.

I’d finished up both of my burgers already. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was. I slid out of the car as Bishop, Misael, and Kace stepped out too. There was a moment of silence as I glanced at the three of them. Should I thank them for a ride and breakfast? It was the polite thing to do, but social conventions were so far from what I was used to in this situation that I really wasn’t sure what the moment called for.

“We’ll take you home later,” Bishop said, steering the conversation before I could make up my mind. “Anyone gives you shit, you know where to find us.”

Misael gave me a grin as the three of them set off. Neither Bishop nor Kace looked at me, but it didn’t matter. Everyone in the vicinity was watching me, and everyone seemed to have gotten the memo already: the Lost Boys had an indisputable claim on me.

Twelve

For the rest of the day, I was left alone.