by L. J. Woods
Fuuucking. Fuck.
My knee bounces, my mom glancing at me from my right. “What is she doing?”
As if I fucking know. My eyes narrow at Delilah, bringing my thumb to my neck in a slow, slicing motion.
“But I know I’ll find justice. I’ll find answers.” Her gaze lands on mine, eyes turning to slits, horns rising from her head like the devil standing in our midst. She pounds on the podium. “By God’s grace I will.” She gets a round of applause and it’s clear my threat did no harm. Looks like I’ll have to try harder.
“I had sex with an elder in this church!”
My head whips to the sound of another voice. Sammy’s. She stands in one of the middle rows in her hoodie, comitting Clementine social suicide.
“That’s where the video came from!” she yells. She doesn’t need a mic, we can all hear her loud and clear, whispers and gasps following. “It’s not my fault. He’s married, he’s—”
“Can someone help our lost sheep?” My dad’s voice returns to the mic and when my eyes go back to the stage, he’s in Delilah’s spot. His grip tightens around the mic. “Now.” Security is quick to escort Sammy outside. She yells the entire way while my father continues to do damage control, the place abuzz. “Let’s not cast our sins on others.” He dusts off the front of his beige sweater, Laurier watch shining under the light. “Repent, young one. Take responsibility. Find forgiveness. We can help you.”
Slumping in my seat, I’m hoping this takes the attention off me. Off Delilah. But I’m on edge the rest of the service, jonesing for something to make this all go away.
Anything.
“So what’s the deal with you and Delilah?”
It’s way too early for Milo to ask this question. I’m riding shotgun in my own Tesla, Adam taking the wheel so I can get absolutely faded. If it wasn’t for the Ducati Adam had to have we’d be riding in his car instead.
The smoke leaves my lips, letting it out through the window before I answer. Plain and simple. “Nothing.”
“She didn’t make it seem like nothin’,” Milo pipes up from the backseat. A$AP Ferg plays on the bass-heavy stereo, thick smoke in the air.
Ignoring Milo, I tap Adam’s shoulder with my fist. “I’ll owe you back for the stuff next week,” I promise. I hate having Adam cover for me but with no bank account, I have no choice. Not like he needs it.
“No, don’t change the subject,” Milo laughs, wagging a pale finger at me. “I’ve known you too long, man. This girl is getting under your skin. What happened? You fucked her one night in the city and never called her back?”
My nostrils flare. “Dude.”
“What?”
“You mean you don’t know Gabe’s had a crush on Delilah before his balls dropped?” Now Adam’s joining in and this time my fist lands harder into him.
“Why do you wanna know?” I ask. Milo leans between the seat. He taps on the touchscreen to turn down the radio as if he has something serious to say. So I cock a brow. “What? You like her or something?”
I must be giving him the look of death because he hesitates. “Kinda, but, if she’s yours I won’t do anything.” He raises his hand in surrender.
Keeping my eyes on the road, I bring the joint back to my lips. “Delilah is trouble.”
“After living in this town, I could use a bit of trouble.” Milo bites his lip.
“Man, I’m not her keeper. She’s not mine.” So why do I want to drive my fist through his face? I’m keeping it light today because of our game but if Milo keeps pressing I’ll need more than weed.
“Well, you’re her brother’s best friend,” Adam says, pulling up to a light.
“Was.” The joint hits the end and I already need another.
“Yeah, I know I—” Turning up the volume on the stereo gets them both to shut up and they take the hint.
I want to keep being numb but that’s hard with Delilah around. She demands my emotions. My feelings. My attention.
This is why she has to go. If I knew she’d be here, I’d never come back. But if she keeps quiet and stops drawing attention to herself maybe, just maybe, we can coexist on campus.
“Woah,” Adam stops at the front door when we walk into the main building. “The hell is going on?”
I’m thinking the same. There’s a crowd outside the student council door, in front of the bulletin board. Mariam stands right in the centre of it all, her eyes looking as awestruck as the rest of the sheep. With another look around the hall, Delilah’s not in sight but when people notice me, some get out of my way and move to the side. They whisper something but I can’t quite make it out. Something about alcohol?
“Hammer!” Mariam’s eyes widen when she sees me approaching. “Please tell me there’s a reason for this.”
My eyes land on the item in question. Pinned to the cork is a picture I thought I’d never see again. Elijah and I stand in a kitchen surrounded by bottles and food. We both have a beer bong in our hands, pink and green funnels. I know we’re both stoned as fuck in this photo but it looks like we’re having the time of our lives.
We were. But they can’t know that or it’s good-bye to my ticket out. When I look at Adam, he’s trying to stifle a laugh.
“There’s an explanation for this, right?” she asks, her eyes on the halls, watching for her dad.
There will be. Ripping it off the board, the pin drops to the floor. There’s no avoiding her now. I’m putting a stop to this. I’m putting a stop to her. “Where is she?”
Mariam’s behind me but she can hardly keep up, her voice distant. “Where’s who, Gabe?”
She’s not too far from the drama. Never is. Doesn’t take me long to find her. Hazel and Delilah stand by the cafeteria doors at the other end of the building. And when Delilah sees me, her eyes drop to the photo in my hand before a smirk comes across her face.
“What the fuck?!” My hand comes around her throat before I even realize, her back pressing into the brick wall behind her. Her eyes widen, a flash of fear before she doubles down, that smirk growing. “I’m tired of your bullshit,” I growl in her face through gritted teeth.
I’m tired of this town. I’m tired of reliving that night. I’m tired of everything.
“Gabe!” Hazel calls and when I look to my right, I’m drawing another crowd.
“Not the golden boy they thought you were now, are you?” Delilah asks and that only angers me more.
Picking her up off the floor, I throw her over my shoulder. I need to take this show somewhere private. She pounds on my back the entire way, kicking her legs but she’s no match. Her small frame wriggles from the main room all the way to a building I know will be empty. We’re all the children of super religious parents but no one ever ends up in the chapel. “Gabe! This isn’t funny!”
“No? Then why the fuck were you smirking?”
To make sure no one comes in, I pull the chest at the side in front of the doors but I’m going to have to make this quick. It’s only a matter of time before a teacher or Mariam’s dad finds out what’s going on.
“Let go of me, you fucking psycho!” Delilah yells, her voice echoing around the room but I don’t. Not until I’m throwing her against the cross.
“You’re the psycho!” Being this close to her, that smell, that warmth takes over me again. I wish I could forget what it’s like to kiss her. Wish I could forget that overwhelming feeling of ecstasy.
“Coming from the guy about to crucify me in the chapel.”
“There’s an idea.” With a hard tug, my belt slides out the loops of my pants.
“What’re you gonna do?” she laughs. “You gonna spank me for being a bad girl?”
The way she says it stirs my cock and it almost makes me falter but I don’t show her that. With her wrist in mine, I pin it to one end of the cross, wrapping my belt around it and tightening it to keep her in place. Her belt is next. The one from the pants she insists on wearing instead of her uniform.
“You are!” She smirks.
“Better make sure it hurts.”
The fuck is wrong with this girl? Not only is she hotter than the last time I saw her, but she’s feistier too. “I’m through with your shit, Delilah.” Wrapping her belt around the other hand, her pants fall to the floor, exposing a sexy pair of boy shorts that cling to her round, firm ass. I stall, my eyes roaming up her thick, toned thighs.
She snorts. “You’re really crucifying me?”
“Isn’t that what we do to sinners?”
Taking a step back, the light streams in through the stained glass window onto her body. She looks majestic. Like a piece of art, her long arms pinned to the wood. My cock twitches in my pants before I turn around.
“You’re actually leaving me like this?” And finally, I hear the rise of fear in her voice. “Gabe!”
“Enjoy the attention. I know you love it.”
Laying off the high today isn’t working.
After seeing Delilah on that cross, it’s all I can think about. Not because I feel bad. I don’t. She shouldn’t be messing with me like that. Messing with my reputation. Messing with my life. But I’d never seen her look so … good.
If someone found her in that position, she’s keeping her mouth shut because it hasn’t gotten back to me. People still have questions about that picture. They eat up the lie that I was shooting an anti-drug campaign. With my dad being a celebrity and all, it wasn’t that hard of an idea to pitch. When Dean McQueen gives me a nod at lunch, it confirms it. Delilah’s not a snitch. She likes playing games and I play harder but there’s no way I’m getting through tonight without a little pick-me-up.
I know, I know. I said I wouldn’t but here’s a spoiler: I’m not always reliable.
Adam’s by the gym entrance when I call him over with a tilt of my chin. He knows what I’m after when he nods, winking at the pretty Freshman he’s chatting up before he follows me out the side door.
A crisp breeze slaps me in the face, the smell of earth and damp grass filling my nose. All signs that fall is around the corner.
“So, Delilah’s absolutely mad.” Adam chuckles as we make our way across the parking lot and into the forest of trees next to the school. “Batshit crazy you guys say, yeah? You sure you’re not into her?” Turning backwards along the muddy path, he brings a hand through his hair that makes him look more like Jesus than a god. “When you had her against that locker?” He whistles. “Man! I’ve never seen you so—”
“Dude, give me something. Quick.”
He laughs, “Alright. I got you.”
We find our tree. The big bushy one with a giant trunk, hollowed-out Bible inside it’s hole. A cool breeze rustles the leaves as we lean against the trunk. Crushing up lines, we find our bliss. Our solace.
“So, be real with me G.” Adam’s bringing Delilah up again and while it irritates me, my high is settling in too quick for me to care. “‘Cause that looked a lot like some kinky foreplay.”
Delilah’s ass on that cross comes to my mind before I shake it away. “Nope.” Wiping my nose, the breeze on my face tingles my skin. A feeling I got when I had her lips pressed to mine. “She’s someone I need to stay away from.”
He chuckles. “That might be hard.”
“Tell me about it.” That makes me grab the bill in his hand, readying for another line before he pushes his elbow into my side.
“Yeah, ‘cause she’s right there.”
There’s a pang in my chest and when I look up, sure enough, there’s Delilah. With her phone pointed in our direction.
Nine
Delilah
Gabe looks at me like prey.
That’s because I’m an idiot who forgot to silence my phone.
His nostrils flare, sunlight catching the darkness in his eyes. He pushes off the tree, the SAA shirt he’s wearing unbuttoned to his abs, his cross tattoo on full display. So are his muscles and fuck, that twist in my stomach tightens.
It makes me feel sick. Sick for feeling any kind of way for the one person I shouldn’t. His eyes bounce between the phone in my hand and my face, coming closer. Step by step. Leaves and twigs crunch under his sneakers before he growls, “Dee …”
Run.
The word hits my head like a bullet and like one, I do.
“Fuck.” I hear him mutter, before he calls, “Delilah!”
He thinks he can get away with what he did. What he does. Little does he know, I’m not afraid of playing games. It’s one of the things I do best. The Triforce tattoo on the back of my neck proves it.
“I swear to God, Delilah!” He’s catching up, the sound of his steps closer. We’re deep in the forest now, my legs moving like I’m on a hamster wheel, dodging trees and hanging branches. Hopping over a stump, I’m not sure where I’m going, but I’m keeping this photo for myself. Now I have something on him too. Proof.
“Delilah, fucking, Daniels!” His growl rips right through me before the tip of my shoe catches on something.
“Cocks!” I yell. I can’t tell if it was a tree or a rock but whatever it was, I’m going down fast. My phone flies out of my grip, my face hitting the mud.
He can definitely catch me now.
With a groan, I lift my head, stretching my arm for the phone. A clean white sneaker kicks it away, Gabe appearing by my side, towering over me.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” he says, his back collapsing against the tree beside us.
A sting runs through my arm when I push myself further off the muddy ground. “Okay, relax. It’s not like I’m that faaa—oh my god!” My hand comes to my heart. It pounds against my chest when I see what I fell over.
Or who.
A foot sticks out from under some leaves. Or what I think is a foot.
I hope it's not a foot.
Wincing, I poke it with the tip of my shoe. It doesn't move. Lifeless. Grey. And when a gust of wind blows away a pile of leaves, my muddy hands come to my mouth.
My stomach churns. Glancing at Gabe, his face is as white as his shoes. With wide dark eyes moving to mine, he brings a finger to his lip.
Too late.
A scream escapes me, loud enough that I hear a flock of birds fly away. Gabe’s knees hit the ground, his palm pressing to my mouth, stifling my cry. I’m wiggling in his grasp before he picks me up like I’m weightless, pressing me against the tree.
He pins me in place. “Breathe, Dee." The world spins, my head dizzy when I shake my head no. He presses my shaky body harder against the trunk. “Delilah, listen to me. Keep your eyes on me and breathe.” He takes a deep breath first, nodding for me to follow. My eyes lock on the dark depths of his eyes before I inhale through my nose, cinnamon and tobacco mixing with the smell of earth. I'm lost in his gaze when I let out a breath against his palm. “One more.” We go through the same motion, and the longer I stare in his eyes, the more the world around us disappears. Only when my body stills, does he move his hand away.
Taking a gulp, I try to glance at what’s behind him but he keeps two fingers against my cheek, keeping my focus on him. My voice shakes when I ask, “I-is that a fucking—”
“Yeah, it is.” His voice is shaky too. A croak. “You good?”
The fuck? “Am I good?!”
“Dee, I need you to be good.”
“I’m not as fucking high as you so no, I’m not good!” Pushing around him, my body buzzes with adrenaline. Fear. Dropping to the ground, my knees sinking into the mud, I push away the rest of the leaves. I need to know. But when I see that face, I wish I hadn’t. I can hardly say her name. “S-Sammy!?” Gabe's hand comes to my mouth as a scream escapes me again, my stomach twisting, tightening.
He pulls my back against his hard, warm chest but I can’t take my eyes off Sammy’s pale body. It lays lifeless in front of us in a dirty white lace gown, her arms to the side, eyes wide open.
I’m gonna hurl.
“What the fuck?” Gabe mutters, hand falling from my mouth. Looking back, I follow his gaze to her hand. A rosary with angel wings sits in her palm. �
�That’s—” Moving me to the side, he reaches for it. There’s only one person I know with a special rosary like that.
I gasp. “Holy mother of fuck, is that your dad’s?!”
“Shut the fuck up, Dee,” he growls, looking around. “Why do you always gotta be so loud?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, this is only my second dead body!” Reaching for the phone, I’m trying my best to keep it together. “I’m calling the cops.”
“No!” His growl is almost as loud as my scream as he grabs the phone out of my hand.
“No?!” I ask, reaching for it but he raises a muscular arm in the air, hoisting it above my head. I jump. “What the fuck are you doing?” When I reach for it again, my wrist lands in his free hand before he whips me against the tree, my back hitting the trunk.
Gabe presses his hard pecs to my tits as he brings himself to my level. “We’re not telling anyone anything.” He catches my gaze and my stomach is a mix of butterflies and bats. A crazy concoction of weird desire and disgust. “You understand?”
My throat hurts when I swallow. “Why?” I glance at the rosary in his hand. “Does your dad have something to do with this, Gabe?” He looks back at the body but he doesn’t answer. “Gabe, we gotta do something.”
“Can’t do that, Dee.” He shakes his head. Firm. “And you’re not gonna do anything either. I’ll handle it.”
“You’ll handle it? What does that even mean?” My eyes narrow. “Wait … what do you know about Sammy?”
“What? Nothing.”
“Bullshit. Just like you know nothing about my brother? What are you? A walking fucking slasher film?”
“Dee.”
“What’re we gonna do? Just walk away like we didn’t see anything? Just leave her fucking body there!?”
“Dee!”
“Sammy’s dead! Her body is in the fucking forest, Gabe! A fucking—” His lips cut me off, my eyes wide.