Page 22 of The Wicker King

Things changed after that.

Jack told August what he saw now, without prompting. There were people, animals, and objects in his world, and he was really good at describing them. Apparently, it was interactive, too, which was kind of cool.

In fact, the whole thing was pretty cool if you didn’t think about it at all, which August was now 100 percent all right with.

Jack would pet cats that weren’t there, wave at people clear as glass. He didn’t care anymore. School was only seven hours long, nine on game days. Outside of school, it was easy to give zero fucks. And he had hours every day to do so.

August thought it was fun, but it was that kind of fun that felt urgent. Like they had to get it out all at once before something awful brought that fun to an abrupt halt.

But he didn’t mention that to Jack.

He just let him chase invisible butterflies by the light of a second invisible sun.

FIELD TRIP

Alex was trying to drag everyone to the next town over because they were having some sort of science observatory fair. The only way she’d convinced Gordie to go was because there was a really great bar with a dartboard nearby that let in underage kids. The only reason August was going was so he could stock up on cigarettes. The twins just sort of silently hopped into the back of Jack’s car like Jack wasn’t glaring at them venomously.

Of course, then the car was way too full. Jack and August sat in front, Alex and the twins sat in the back, and Gordie lay across their laps with her knees curled over Roger’s arm and her head on Alex’s giant notebook.

“Why can’t I be in the front?” Alex whined.

Jack didn’t even dignify that with a response. He had been roped into this because he was the only one with a car.

It wasn’t a terribly far drive—even if it was starting to snow. They crossed the few giant hills that separated their towns and parked on the street in a residential area. As soon as the car came to a complete stop, Alex threw the back door open. Gordie tumbled out and headed straight for the bar without even asking if anyone wanted to come with her. Alex and the twins rustled their school stuff together, pulled out a map, and headed off to the science fair. Only Alex remembered to say thank you for the ride.

Jack and August sat in silence for a bit. It was still warm inside the car, and neither of them really felt like getting out.

“What do you see out here?”

Jack leaned his head against the back of the seat, lifting his sharp chin a half inch and closing his eyes. He smiled even though he looked a bit tired. “Nothing really, yet.”

“Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know. Let’s just walk around for a bit.”

RINK

For the first time in months, things were actually really relaxed.

It was cold outside, but August’s mom had knitted both of them some really nice mittens a couple of years before and they were still holding up fine. They went to pick up August’s cigarettes first from that dinky corner store that sold to minors, then they backtracked through the town to the ice rink to smoke and watch people skate.

“Should we get something to eat?”

“Huh?” Jack laughed. “I feel like I’m on a date.”

“It’s the stupid snow.” August scowled. “Without all the trees, it looks kind of like it does in movies.”

They both looked up at the sky.

“Would it be too cliché for us to have a snowball fight?” August asked, grinning.

“I would rather die than let you get the seats of my car wet,” Jack replied dryly.

“Fine, fine. Wanna go check up on Gordie? I’m pretty sure they serve food at bars.”

Jack shrugged and August took it as a yes.

RIOT