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“Let it go, man. You can get all worked up over this. She’s single, and technically, you're not.”
“Just because the girl you like hates you doesn’t mean you get to stick your dick in my soup.”
“It’s rain on your parade. It’s kind of weird talking about dick when we’re in the shower.”
“The fact that you pointed it out says a lot, Garret. It’s okay if you’ve got a small dick.”
He looks down at his cock. “It’s not small.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
I haven’t looked and don’t plan to, but the whole Victoria Jess thing fucked up his insecurity.
“Hey, guys.”
I rub soap on my body, keeping me from punching Jeremy in his smug face. If he touches her, I’ll kill him. His parents wouldn’t be able to prosecute anyone because I'd cut him up in pieces, and no one would ever be able to find him. It’s all I could think about when he was staring at her like a lovestruck fool and waving at her like an idiot. She is oblivious to the danger of accepting anything that has to do with him. As much as there is a fire inside that no one can see but me, there is an innocence about her that drives me wild.
Jeremy walks to the far end of the showers. Neither I nor Garret acknowledge him. Garret doesn’t like him, and in my eyes, he’s an annoying fly buzzing around that I want to kill. He knows not to provoke me. If she’s oblivious to what he is capable of, he’s oblivious to what I’m capable of when it comes to her.
Garret shuts the water off and grabs his towel. I wait and do the same thing. Garret gets everyone out of the locker room, locks the door, and shuts off the lights.
“Hey, I’m still in here,” Jeremy calls out.
I wait in the shadows until he emerges, his towel wrapped around him. A string of curses echoes off the walls.
“What the fuck?” Jeremy says, annoyed. “You fuckers need to grow up.”
I hear his footsteps as he walks toward the exit so he can flick on the lights. I wait until I can get behind him. He doesn’t hear me when I wrap my arm around his neck and cover his mouth so he can’t scream.
“This is your only warning,” I say in a hushed whisper. “Stay away from Melody.”
He tries to say something, but his voice is muffled. I squeeze my forearm over his throat, cutting off his air so he gets the point. He struggles, trying to shake me off him, but he can’t. I’m stronger and taller. The rage inside me won’t abate. It feeds off his weakness and my desire to kill anyone who could hurt her. After a few minutes, he stops struggling, and I put him to sleep, letting his body fall on the wet floor.
Garret turns on the light, and his eyes fall to the body on the floor with no remorse in his expression. The past two years have made him harder. Colder.
“Is he dead?”
I shake my head. “No. I don’t feel like cleaning up, and she will know it was me. It’s not the right time.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
I check my phone, and there is a text message from her. I grab my stuff, head to the parking lot, and sit in my car so I can open it without Garret around.
I open the message and see it’s a picture. I wait anxiously as the picture downloads as I turn on my car. I almost drop my phone the same way my stomach drops and my vision blurs. How? I close my eyes, wondering how she got the picture. I replayed everything that night and know who it was, and I can’t blame her for it. She is her friend. Rose saw me with Melissa, and it looked bad, but in Melody’s eyes, Melissa was telling the truth. It’s why Melissa played into it. She wanted it to look the way it did. She must have known Rose was in there watching. I was too busy threatening her and didn’t notice she was playing me, so I would react and use it against me. She wants Melody to hate me to make sure I marry her.
It would make sense for me to tell her father the truth, but that wouldn’t benefit me. He would make sure I married her to save face in front of the Order that his only daughter is a lesbian. There is no rule against being gay in the Order, but marriage and lineage between man and woman are requirements. What happens behind closed doors, no one gives a shit about.
Valen: I’m coming for you.
I slide my phone inside my apron pocket, reading the text Valen sent for the fifth time. I scan the booths looking for him, but all I see are Ohio and Kenyan students hanging out and some leaving.
For the past hour, more students have come together. Some leave other groups. I’ve had to keep tabs on all the checks to avoid someone leaving without paying since it comes out of my pay.
I know Dorothy would let it slide because she knows I need the money, but still, it’s my job to keep tabs on checks and orders.
The bell dings, letting me know the food is ready from the kitchen. Tonight, we are swamped. My feet throb, but I’m making tonight what I made a whole week at the hardware store. My last check was for two months’ pay, and I know it was Valen giving me money. I almost didn’t take it, but I can’t afford not to know about the possibility of Zack and his asshole friends telling everyone not to tip me when they come to eat at the diner.
It gets louder. When I turn around, my heart begins to race as my fear slams right into my line of sight. Zack and his friends walk in, taking a seat at the booth of girls I’m about to serve.
