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“Then why does everyone say that? And what’s with the books?”
Right…the books. The entire reason I came down here.
“Um, well…it may not surprise you to learn that Darci never liked me. She made that pretty clear whenever I was around, but when I moved in with my dad full-time and started going to Black Rock, she raged against it in a really weird way. Because—well, I’m a loser, and that was her turf. And she looked at the way I dressed and decided she was going to tell everyone that I worshipped the devil. A lot of people believed her. I think her mom even believed her. Anyway, I went ahead and let her run with it—encouraged it, even—because it scares people.”
“And you like that?”
“Sure. It gives me a wide berth, makes them think I’m crazy. And the books…”
I grab my backpack from the bench, open it, and pull out some books from inside. “This is just a dust jacket I made. For fun,” I tell her, holding out a book I’d titled666 Ways to Serve Satan. “See for yourself.”
She opens the book and pulls the cover back, revealing the third book in the Wheel of Time series.
“See?” I tell her. “Not a servant of Lucifer, just a nerd. Check this one out. I just made it last week, and I’m pretty proud of it.”
I drop what’s actuallyThe Great Gatsbyin her lap, and she reads the title aloud. “Sacrificing Small and Medium-Sized Animals: The Complete Guide. Oh my god,” she says, before laughing.
“I did get sent to the office for reading that one in English.”
“Did you get in trouble?”
“No.”
“No?”
“Believe it or not, Ms. Coleman actually finds my bullshit amusing.”
“I do believe it.”
“You think my bullshit’s amusing, too?”
She shrugs. “I guess I do.”
“You never answered my question earlier,” I tell her.
“Which one?”
“About swimming.”
“Ally?” Darci calls out, heading back down the stairs.
I didn’t expect her to ever actively look for her or give a fuck. Her timing is shit.
“I better go,” she says, pushing off the ground. She takes a couple of steps forward before she looks over and says, “But Devon? Yes.”
“Morning,” I say when I come downstairs much earlier than usual.
“Well, look who it is,” my dad says. “What are you doing up?”
“I smelled food. I’m hungry,” I lie. I grab a plate and sit beside him and across from Ally. She half-smiles when my eyes meet hers, then looks down at her plate. Darci glares at me before returning to her phone, and I shovel a couple of pancakes in my mouth while my stepmom drones on and on about church bullshit.
I take the opportunity to pull outThe Great Gatsby/Sacrificing Small and Medium-Sized Animals: The Complete Guideand prop it on the table, turning to the bookmarked page.
“Mom! Do you see what he’s doing?”
“Are you going to just let him do that?” Lydia asks my dad.
“He’s not hurting anyone,” my dad replies.
