Others weren’t as lucky as I was, and had to be carried into the building looking unconscious. I wondered if we’d ever see them again.
“For those of you who leaned on the Lord, you passed our test and will be receiving an hour of free time. For those that didn’t, you’ll be subject to more testing until your faith is so strong that nothing will shake you!” Pastor John looked like the ominous figure he was in a black slicker and combat boots, as if he were commanding cadets at a military base and not molding the minds of teenage students.
“Alright, let’s head inside. Get yourselves cleaned up before your next class,” Pastor Big C said, ushering us all into the building. It was a miracle that no one was struck by lightning with how hard the storm was coming down. I’m sure they’d write it off as an accident and sweep it under the rug like they did with everything else. There was no justice to be had when you could buy yourself a desired outcome. Any complaints about this school were always squashed quietly and quickly.
I rushed into the boy’s showers, cleaning off the thick mud that coated itself all over me. It sloughed off in chunks, obstructing the drain, but I didn’t give a shit. My anxiety felt bone deep and it took every ounce of energy I had not to completely lose my ever-loving mind back there.
We’d been put through hell at this school, but being buried alive like that nearly crumpled my reserve. If I hadn’t seen Delilah’s face when I did, I probably would have been hanging up on a fucking cross with the rest of the class that tapped out.
“What do you think of the new girl?” A distant voice asked, their words echoing off the tile.
“Oh, hot as fuck. I’d do her in a second,” another voice replied.
“She looks like she’d be a screamer. And those fucking tits,” whoever it was moaned loudly and was met with a chorus of laughter.
I was in no fucking mood for this. White hot anger sparked in mychest and before I knew it, I found the fucker that was laughing at Delilah’s expense and made a home in his face with my fist.
He went down hard and I looked around the group of guys who had gone deathly still.
“You don’t talk about her like that,” I said, shaking so violently I could feel the vibration all the way down to my toes.
“Fuck, man. Calm down. It was just a joke,” the guy on the floor, whose name I think was Thatcher, said. He had a red welt across his cheek from where I’d hit him.
“Did I not make myself clear, or did you need me to make the message clearer?” I said, my voice taking on a cadence of danger that I didn’t recognize. It sounded like my father and that fucking scared me.
“Fuck, yeah, okay,” he said, putting his hands up in surrender.
I stalked away, grabbing a clean towel on my way out. That anger though was still so palpable under my skin. I felt like I could explode at any moment.
I don’t know what it was that made me snap like I did. Maybe it was the pent-up frustration of not being able to fight against Pastor John like I wanted to and how it reminded me of all the torture I’d endured in my own family. Or the fucked-up way I had just been buried alive. But hearing those creeps talk about Delilah like that was the last damn straw. Maybe I couldn’t control what happened to me, but I’d be damned if I just sat by letting them talk about Delilah as if they had a right to. She deserved so much better than any of us could offer her.
When I’d exited the locker room, Delilah was waiting for me. Her big blue eyes searched my face and whatever she found there made the crease between her brows deepen.
“I’m fine,” I said, the lie falling easily from my lips. It was one that I’d become used to telling even myself.
“No, you’re not,” she said plainly, and I stopped in my tracks.
“Delilah, are you calling me a liar?” I asked.
She looked me up and down, her gaze landing on my lips for a moment and then flicking back up to my eyes. “Absolutely. There’s no way you can be after that.”
I shrugged my shoulders, “Well, you caught me out then.” Isounded more clipped than I cared to, but she was skating dangerously close to a nerve I didn’t think I could handle being poked right now.
She raised her eyebrows at my words and pursed her lips. The simple motion stirred something inside me, and I flexed my hand, feeling the sting of that punch I’d landed earlier still vibrating in my bones. It was worth it.Shewas worth it.
This is what we did for each other, I realized. We checked in when the world had gone to shit. When Kingston had dragged us into a torment so deep and fucked-up, there was no way to know which way was up. We were each other’s life rafts in a sea of shit. It felt… different to have someone care about me enough to risk a punishment for waiting for me after class. Good different.
While I had scrubbed the dirt off my body, I could still feel the phantom weight of it like an invisible layer on my skin. Could feel the sediment under my nails and taste it on my tongue.
“We could do something about it, you know,” she said, voice so low that only I could hear.
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“We could sneak into Pastor John’s office and rearrange his whole desk. You know how he likes to keep things just so.”
“You’re more diabolical than I realized,” I said, which only made her smile wide and turn those eyes of hers into shimmering blue pools of amusement. I liked that reaction. A lot.
“So? You in?”
