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“They won’t let you walk home in this weather,” he said.
“They can’t stop me.”
“I won’t let you walk home in this,” he clarified. “You’ll sleep here tonight.”
I glanced over my shoulder at him, placing my hand on the door handle. “Make me.”
And before I could even turn the doorknob, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, tapping the screen.
“‘Stop it, you’re scaring me,’” I said on the recording. “‘Whatever will I do? Don’t be too hard on me, Daddy.’”
I stopped breathing for a moment, every muscle in my body losing strength. My hand dropped from the knob.
“‘But I admit, I like it when you’re hard on me. So hard.’”
I closed my eyes, hearing myself moan on the phone. Shit.
I turned around, meeting his self-satisfied little smile and knowing he’d recorded his prank. They always documented their dumb crap on that stupid phone.
I almost walked out. My feet almost took that step, and they could post that online for everyone to have a good laugh. My brother would get angry, because his mind would make up whatever story was the easiest to go along with what he thought was happening in that recording, too.
No skin off my nose because I was used to it.
But then Will said, “Door’s unlocked. Go get some pizza.” And he picked up his mask off the floor. “We’ll clean up here.”
I hesitated, looking around at all the broken glass and how much trouble I’d be in if my brother found out I’d helped make this mess. Even though I was kind of defending myself, I still didn’t want him to have any idea of what happened up here because he’d just blame me.
I blinked long and hard. Fine.
I walked out, charging down the hallway and through the doors to the stairwell.
I should be at home. I should be with my grandma.
He just wanted to play with me to prove he could.
But… a night away was rare. At least I could relax, knowing Martin wouldn’t be here. I had my earbuds and a book.
I still wasn’t giving Will another inch tonight, though. The lock-in was filled with witnesses. Let him try.
I kicked rocks all the way back down to the gymnasium, ignored the pizza, and planted my butt on the bleachers.
Opening my phone, I tapped the app and tried to continue reading The Night Eternal as the music and activity went on around me.
But after ten minutes, I’d barely absorbed a paragraph.
And when he and his friends finally came back downstairs, I forgot about the book as I waited for him to come over and try something.
Engage me. Annoy me. Tease me.
But he didn’t.
He left me alone.
I faltered for a moment, a little confused. I expected him to try to piss me off or coerce me into the scavenger hunt they were having or something.
But he just left me sitting there, the minutes stretching into an hour, and the hour stretching into two.
Just as I thought. To prove he could…
