by Vox Day
Chapter 22
Forked Tongues, Bitter Mouths
I've seen the wicked fruit of your vine
Destroy the man who lacks a strong mind
Human pride sings a vengeful song
Inspired by the times you've been walked on
—Creed, (“What If”)
“I hate you. I just thought you should know that.”
Distracted by her own thoughts, Jami shook her head and found herself staring into Angie’s freckled face.
“Huh?”
“I said, I hate you. Jeez, what’s the matter with you. If you say you were just thinking about what dress you’re going to wear, I swear I’ll kill you.”
Angie was jealous about the prom, naturally, but at least she was honest enough to admit it. And after Jami told her about Jason, her normally sarcastic friend hadn’t even said anything harsh about him, but instead had screamed and given her a big hug. Of course, it hadn’t taken long for her usual bitterness to return.
“The thing is, you expect this kind of thing from Holli. You know, looking all perfect, going out with older guys, getting asked to the prom. But I’d expected more from you! I mean, what happened to your ponytail? I didn’t have you getting interested in boys until at least eleventh grade!”
“Sorry,” Jami mumbled.
She wasn’t really that interested in listening to Angie’s inevitable complaints. So she half-listened to her friend’s catalog of objections to the world as she entertained herself by watching the intricate patterns of social interaction as various little groups of boys and girls swirled together, coalesced, then dissolved into new bunches. She watched as one girl in a red t-shirt flowed from a conversation with two other girls into a larger group that included three guys, which was then divided and divided again, three times in all, finally leaving the girl with her arms around the shoulders of a skinny guy with braces, dancing closely to the slow, romantic music that was now coming out of the speakers.
She spotted Christopher talking to someone over on the far side of the room. He looked deeply involved in his conversation, and it wasn’t until she leaned out and peeked around a football player’s pumped-up arms that she could see that Rachel was the girl sitting down in front of him. They seemed to be getting along all right without her help, so Jami decided to leave them alone. Of Holli, there was no sign, although since Eric wasn’t around either, it wasn’t hard to figure out that they had probably disappeared somewhere together. Jami was a little disappointed that she hadn’t been able to tell her twin yet about Jason, but then again, considering the effort Holli had put into dressing her up before the party, she probably already knew.
“Ick, check out who just got here,” Angie’s lip curled.
Jami followed the line of her friend’s gaze and saw that a small group of seniors had just arrived, led by Kent Peterson, the tough little bully who had tormented her brother along with many other victims. He was wearing his letter jacket, and his eyes were scanning the room as he looked for someone. Jami’s heart skipped a beat as he suddenly walked towards Christopher, but he stopped before reaching the far end of the room and exchanged high fives with his friend, Jim, who had been clumsily putting moves on a girl in a white dress.
Still concerned about her brother, who was the only sophomore boy there and Kent’s most likely target, Jami left Angie and forced her way through the crowded room. But before she reached the other side, she saw that Jim had already pointed out her brother to his friend, and the undersized senior’s ferret-like face was lit up at the prospect of making a scene.
“What’re you doing here, dipshit?” Kent stuck his chin out, trying to make himself taller. “This party’s for upperclassmen, not little baby boys like you!”
Heads were starting to turn, and electricity filled the air as the atmosphere began to get tense. Jami froze in place, afraid that if she tried to jump in and protect Christopher, she’d only make him look like a loser who couldn’t handle himself. She should get Jason, she thought, but she was reluctant to leave her brother alone with no one to back him up.
“Leave him alone,” Rachel protested softly.
Kent gave her an incredulous look. “Was I talking to you, bitch? I don't think so!”
Rachel flinched at the senior's harsh words, sparking a flash of anger across Christopher's face.
“Don't talk to her like that, Petersen!”
Now Jami felt like flinching. This could get ugly.
“Did you just call me Petersen, dickwad?” Kent's voice was low and threatening. “You don't call me that.”
Her brother rolled his eyes and forced what looked suspiciously like a fake smile. “Look, Kent, I'm not going anywhere and I'm not looking for trouble, okay? So why don't you just leave us alone?”
He started to turn his back on the bully, and the little senior's face grew ugly with fury. Jami gasped as Kent reached out and grabbed Christopher's shoulder, twisting him around so that her brother was forced to face the shorter, but stronger boy.
“Don't fucking turn your back on me! Do you really think I'm afraid to kick your butt, beanpole? Why don't you tell your little girlfriend here how we used to whitewash your stupid ass?”
Some of the guys behind him laughed, and Kent exchanged a blind high five with one of them, but his intense little eyes never left Christopher's face.
“It was my face you used to rub in the snow,” Christopher said, pleasantly enough, but his own eyes had grown hard. “And I haven't forgotten, Kent, but I have forgiven you.”
“Forgiven me? What's that supposed to mean? What are you, one of those church losers or something?”
“I am a Christian now, yes.”
The two boys glared at each other until Kent finally snorted in disgust.
“Whatever. Guess you're even more of a loser than I thought.” He glanced at Rachel, looked her over, and smirked. “Since you won't be getting any action from the choir boy here tonight, why don't you stick around and maybe we'll see what's up, huh?”
Jami didn't see exactly what Christopher did, but there was a sudden flash of movement and Kent was instantly doubled over. Her brother's face was filled with a cold fury as he threw a sharp left cross that smashed into the side of Kent's head and sent him crashing helplessly to the floor. Jami started forward, not sure whether to congratulate or restrain her brother, when he surprised everyone in the room, including her, by dropping to his knees at the side of the other boy.
“Oh, no!” he cried out. “Kent, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that, I shouldn't have. I'm so sorry.”
The look of utter dismay on his face left no doubt that his apology was sincere. Jami heard someone start sniggering behind her and saw that it was a tall junior who was laughing. Nor was he the only one amused by the sight of Kent dazedly pushing himself up from the carpet, clutching the side of his head and still gasping for breath. The senior was clearly stunned, not only by the blow but by the sudden violence of the attack, and he appeared to be more bewildered than angered. His face was a hilarious picture of disbelief and wounded astonishment, and it was obvious that he had no desire to continue the fight.
“Does that kid do karate?” Jame heard someone saying. “Holy shit, did you see how fast he moved?”
“I wouldn't mess with him,” another guy commented.
That seemed to be the general consensus in the room, and one apparently shared by Kent, who was waving off Christopher's abject attempts to apologize with some degree of alarm. He pushed himself away and self-consciously brushed at the white-patched green leather of his letter jacket without meeting anyone's eyes. He still seemed a little freaked out as he retreated back into the crowd, followed by two or three of his friends.
Well, good. The little jerk could use a lesson or two; maybe then he'd stop making everybody else's lives miserable. Jami never understood how some guys got off on pushing people around.
She reached Christopher and tugged at his arm. She was proud of him for standing up to the sen
ior, even if he didn't seem to feel that way himself.
“I should not have hit him,” he was saying. “Why did I do that?”
“Are you okay? What happened?”
Her brother grimaced and shook his head. “Oh, I just lost it, that's all. I mean, it was bad enough that he was bugging me, but when he started, you know, hitting on Rachel, I just reacted. I wasn't even thinking. One minute I'm trying to tell him that I forgive him for all that stuff, and then the next thing I know, he's going down! I really didn't mean to hit him.”
Jami laughed. “The first time or the second time? You're such a nut! Look, if you didn't mean to hit him, then it was kind of an accident. No big deal, I mean, it's obviously not the first time anyone's ever punched him, right? He's always picking on someone, so it serves him right.”
“Besides, if you didn't, I was going to smack him one,” murmured Rachel.
Hearing her friend's soft voice snapped Christopher out of his reverie of guilt and Jami had to smile at the dumbfounded way he looked at Rachel.
“So maybe it was wrong to hit him… twice.” The pretty brown-haired girl smiled and shrugged indifferently. “I thought it was brave of you to defend me like that. Not everybody would, not against a senior.”
Her brother's expression brightened considerably. He clearly hadn't considered that angle. The way the two of them looked at each other then….
Well, time for me to vacate, thought Jami wryly. One thing puzzled her, though. Where had her brother learned to fight like that? Oh, right, like the kissing thing, it must have been a skill he'd picked up somewhere along their fantastic adventure last winter. That experience had sure changed a lot of things, not only for him, but for her as well.
In fact, once you were aware of the whole angelic dimension, it changed almost everything. As she thought about that, she happened to catch a glimpse of Kent, moving across the other side of the room, and for just a moment, she was able to see him differently, not as a bully, but as a wounded spirit badly in need of love and affection. Then the moment passed, and she was glad it did. Maybe he needed those things, but who didn't? Kent would just have to find them somewhere else. Christopher could forgive him, and that was good, but Jami wasn't about to do so. He didn't deserve it, the jerk.
Then, out of nowhere, a powerful sense of nearby evil smashed into her, and she reeled, stumbling into her brother. Christopher must have felt it too, because he almost went down as she clutched at his arm, and only Rachel’s support kept them both upright. As quickly as it appeared, it was gone, and Jami glanced wildly around the room in a desperate attempt to catch a glimpse of whatever it was. She saw nothing that hadn’t been there before, just the packed room full of half-drunken boys and girls, some certainly hell-bent on violating at least one of the Ten Commandments as soon as possible, but nothing that seemed likely to account for the terrible feeling of strong and active evil lurking amongst them.
“Hey, are you okay?” Angie had made her way over to them and was holding her wrist. “You look all pale!”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jami said. “Hey, did you see anything strange tonight?”
Angie snorted.
“Strange?” she asked. “What do you mean by that? Kent trying to beat somebody up isn’t exactly unusual, that’s for sure. Tim Griffin’s throwing up in the back yard but he always does that. Rena Thompson disappeared with some guy from S.P.A. a while ago, and Ginny just told me that Robbie heard Jason got to you first and he’s all pissed off about it.”
“Hmmm. He is?”
That was certainly interesting news, Jami thought. Maybe he really did like her?
“Yeah. Hey, check that out!” Angie pointed. “Now that’s weird!”
Jami turned around and saw Jim Shumacher dancing closely with the girl with whom he’d been talking earlier. When she looked more closely, she saw they weren’t actually dancing, they were just making out to the music, swaying around a little, but not really moving.
“Who’s she?”
“I think she’s a junior. Yuck, can you imagine kissing him?” Angie shuddered. “I’d rather lick my cat’s litter box!”
Jami winced at the thought, but Angie was right. That would be a hard call. She was repulsed, but she found it hard to look away from the couple. For some reason, the memory of Jason leaning towards her suddenly flickered across her mind.
“Ewww, now he’s taking her upstairs. Do you think they’re going to do it?”
“Angie!”
Still, she couldn’t help wondering the same thing herself.
“Rachel and I are going for a walk,” Christopher announced suddenly. Jami couldn’t help noticing that he was surreptitiously holding her friend’s hand. “I’m supposed to have you guys home by eleven, so why don’t we meet at the truck in forty-five minutes. Can you tell Holli?”
Sure, if I can find her, Jami thought, and it would be fine if she could shake this sick feeling at the pit of her stomach. It wasn’t just Jim Shumacher. Something was wrong, something was very wrong, and she didn’t know what it was. But she wasn’t going to think about it now, she decided. Tonight was all about having fun, not good and evil. That could wait for tomorrow. She checked her lipstick in the reflection of a nearby picture, took a deep breath, and went off to find Jason.
Chapter 23
Blue Monday
How does it feel?
How should I feel?
Tell me how does it feel,
To treat me like you do?
—Orgy, (“Blue Monday”)
Brien couldn’t help being in a good mood, even though it was a Monday morning. He whistled as he pulled into the parking lot, and smartly eased his car in between two pickups, one of which bore the unmistakable signs of being an early graduation present. Brien wasn’t envious, though. A new truck was one thing, but he could look forward to the prom with Tessa, which after last Saturday’s almost-but-not-quite-a-date, was looking pretty promising, much to his delight.
As he walked up the gentle hill towards the front door of the school, the thought crossed his mind that perhaps going to the U wouldn’t be so bad after all, since Tessa was almost certain to be going there herself. Since her father was a university professor, her tuition would be next to nothing. She wasn’t stupid, but she wasn’t particularly above average either, so there was no way she’d be applying to the Ivies or any of the elite schools. He just hoped she wasn’t one of those girls that graduated and headed straight for Florida. Given that she’d never sported much of a winter tan in the past, that wasn’t too likely either.
Of course, you could just always ask her, doorknob. He grinned at himself and checked out his hair in the glass door’s reflection. Not too bad, not too bad. No one was ever going to pick him to play the next James Bond, but now that he’d lost some weight and his skin was clearing up, he was actually starting to resemble someone that dated girls on a regular basis. And with any luck, the girl he’d be dating over the summer would be Tessa.
He made his way through the crowded staircase, and waited patiently as it took a while for the bottleneck at the top of the stairs to sort itself out. Senior Hall was buzzing with the usual post-weekend chatter, as the inevitable stories about who got drunk, who got stoned, who hooked up with who, and who threw up where, were passed on from ear to eager ear, with most of the actual details being rendered totally unrecognizable in the process. The approach of graduation tended to lead to an increase in both the frequency and intensity of senior partying, which was good since there was a chance that people would find something else to talk about besides poor Derek’s beating at Kent Peterson’s hands.
“Hey, Brien,”
He was surprised when Mandy, Tessa’s cute friend, touched him on the shoulder as he passed her locker. She smiled at him, but seemed to be a little uncomfortable for some reason. Probably just not used to talking to me here, Brien thought, and he smiled back at her.
“Hi, Mandy, right? How are you? How was the party?”
“Oh
, it was all right, I guess.” She looked away, and he wondered if she felt bad about not inviting him. It’s no big deal, he wanted to reassure her. It’s not like I ever go to those kind of parties anyhow. “Say, I think Tessa’s looking for you. She wanted to, like, talk to you about something.”
“Really? Okay, thanks.” Brien barely managed to keep an idiot smile off his face. “I, um, I guess I better go find her then.”
“Right,” Mandy agreed, nodding her head. “Well, see you later.”
“Sure, thanks a lot, Mandy!”
Although he was only a few rows down from his own locker, Brien didn’t bother dropping his books off but instead turned around and headed directly for Tessa’s locker. He glanced at the clock on the far end of the hall, and saw he still had three minutes before the bell rang for first hour. Plenty of time. People were starting to slam their lockers and wander off towards their classrooms, so he had to jostle his way past a few slower-moving people, leaving only a mumbled apology in his wake.
“Tessa!” he cried happily when he finally saw her, crouched down as she withdrew an English grammar book from her lower shelf. “Hi. Mandy said you wanted to see me?”
“Oh, Brien,” Tessa said, looking a little startled. “Mandy? Oh, yeah, that’s right.”
She looked tired, and her whole demeanor seemed to be somewhat withdrawn. When she stood up, she sighed, and she only glanced at him briefly. Their eyes met, for just a moment, and then she flicked her soft brown gaze away from him. He cocked his head, trying to read her expression more clearly, but she hid behind her long bangs and refused to let him clearly see her face.
Obviously, something was wrong. Brien’s heart started to beat faster. But what was it? Had he said something wrong? Had he done something? Oh, no, had Derek been spreading around a B.S. story about the two of them that had gotten back to her? No, that was impossible! Derek wasn’t even coming to school this week, at least not until the bruises on his face were healed.