Zak pursed his lips, widened his nostrils. Kip could tell he already knew. It was probably Jade who told him. But Zak shook his head.
“They call me Toad. Because of my pimples, they say I look like a toad covered in warts. How am I supposed to get a girlfriend with a nickname like that?” Kip felt like crying, but concentrated hard not to.
“You know they got pills for that now, right?”
“Yeah. I’ve been taking them for like a month. It’s like my acne is from another planet or something. It can’t be killed! Super-human pimples. It’s weird.”
Zak reached over and patted Kip on the knee. “We’re teenagers, cousin. Lots of teenagers have acne, it’s no big deal. You can still get a girl if you have pimples. Even if your nickname is Toad. I promise you.”
“Yeah? How?”
“Confidence. You have to show them that none of that shit bothers you. That even though you have zits or whatever, even though they call you Toad…you don’t care. You have to show them that you are the man and you know it. Girls eat that shit up.”
Kip sighed. “Yeah, that’s easy for you to say. I can’t do that. No way.”
Zak stared at the side of Kip’s head for a minute, but didn’t say anything. Kip couldn’t look at him, was too embarrassed. He checked his reflection in the side mirror, wished he could just grab hold of his face and rip it off like a mask. Then maybe a new one would grow. One that looked more like Zak.
Or anyone else.
The car stopped.
“All right, Kip. Jade’s house is just down the street. Sorry, man. About making you walk. I’ll make it up to you, all right? You won’t tell your mom or anything, will you?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Kip hopped out and started walking. It would probably take him a good fifteen minutes to get there, and he would have to run straight to class to make it in time. But at that moment, he was glad to get out of Zak’s car. Didn’t want to talk about his inability to attract the opposite sex anymore.
“I promise, Kip. I’ll make it up to you. Maybe we can hit a movie or something, yeah? Just me and you.”
Kip couldn’t keep his mouth from rising into a smile. “Yeah? That’d be cool. Street Trash is playing at the Alamo right now. I was wanting to go. Is tonight okay?”
Zak obviously had never heard of the film. Kip liked old corny horror movies as much as he liked his video games and comic books.
“Yeah, sure. See you later, cousin.”
“See you at school, right?”
“Yes, yes. I’ll be there. And, uh…Kip? You think maybe, I mean if I need it or whatever…that you might be able to help me with some things? Homework, studying for tests…that kind of thing?”
Kip’s grin nearly ate his entire face.
“If I need it,” Zak repeated.
“No problem. I’d like that.”
“Cool.”
They stood there for an awkward moment, Kip smiling stupidly at his cousin.
“All right then. See you later,” Zak said, then was off down the road.
Jade Brewster. Wow.
Kip started walking toward school, but his walk became a trot as his excitement burst out of him. It was the first time in a long time that he actually felt like he had a friend.
His zits boiled and vibrated, filling him with ecstasy.
***
Poor kid.
Zak felt bad for Kip, though he wasn’t lying when he said he wanted to be more like him. Kip had it easy, still the same old kid he always was. Just so goddamn innocent. School was second nature to him. He still found joy in things like super heroes and video games. Zak would give anything to be able to think that way.
But that acne. Jesus…
Zak had never seen anyone with acne that bad before. Each zit was big enough to have its own brain. And they looked painful, like every facial expression must be agonizing. He could tell Kip picks at them too, with all the scars and dark spots on his skin. A few of them had been bleeding, little red beads swelling at the tips.
And Zak could have sworn he saw them move. When Kip was in the passenger seat and Zak was asking him about girls. It was like they were bulging out, almost like they were breathing.
Just the sunlight hitting them weird. That’s all.
And the kid said all the other kids call him Toad. Actually, Jade had told him about it the other day. “You’re Toad’s cousin? Seriously?”
That’s so fucked up. Zak wouldn’t let that shit stand, not while he was around. Kip was a good kid, always had been, and he was the last person that deserved that kind of treatment. He knew every school, every grade, had their Toad. The kid everyone else picked on to make themselves feel better.
But not Kip. Not anymore. They can find someone else.
When he pulled the old Corolla up to Jade’s house, she was leaning against her front door smoking a cigarette. She wore a short black skirt that hung down just above her knees, with white stockings covering her long legs. Curls of smoke billowed from her fat, pink lips. She stomped her cigarette out, then crossed her arms, mashing her breasts together, deepening her light brown cleavage.
Zak’s pulse quickened, but he remained calm. Cool. He had only known this girl for a few days, and though she was definitely hot, he could already tell she had some crazy in her. She reminded Zak of himself, the old Zak anyway, and that scared him.
“What’s up?” she said as she slid into the passenger seat. She leaned over the middle console, both of her tits pressing up against Zak’s forearm. Her lips found his ear, and as she kissed, lightning shot down Zak’s spine. Then she found his mouth with her tongue and his crotch with her hand.
Her caress felt damn good, if not a little rough, but Zak pulled away from her, sort of chuckled. “Whoa. Happy to see me?”
She looked stunned, her mouth hanging open. “What the fuck is your problem, man?”
“What? Just chill out, all right?” Zak tensed up for a minute as she stared him down with venom in her eyes, but then her face softened and she smiled, bit her thumbnails.
This girl is trouble. Big trouble.
“So where we going?” she said, pulling a small bottle of lotion from her purse. She squeezed a worm of the pink stuff into her hand, rubbed her palms together, and released the smell of raspberries into the car. She pulled up her skirt—flashing the crotch of her hot pink panties, her pussy lips chewing on the fabric—rolled her stockings down, and ran her hands across the pale flesh of her legs.
“Um…we’re going to school. Remember that place with the teachers and the learning and what not?”
“Fuck you, asshole. You don’t have to be a smart ass.”
Zak didn’t know how to react to that. She still held that smile though. It was clear this girl was used to getting what she wanted.
“But seriously. Where’re you taking me?” She squeezed more lotion onto her fingertips, ran it across the twin bulges of her tits, making them glisten in the sunlight.
Zak couldn’t tear his eyes away, and he had to wipe the moisture from his lips.
“I know you like it, Zak. All the boys do. It’s okay…you can touch if you want to.” She sort of leaned back, one hand combing through her hair, the other fingering the collar of her shirt. “You really wanna go to school that bad? I can teach you things too. I can teach you all sorts of things.”
“It’s tempting…I’m serious. But I promised… I just have to go to school, okay?”
“Promised who? Your greasy little cousin? You’d pass me up because you made Toad a promise to be a good boy?” She had that twisted expression again, but she still rubbed herself, now massaging her inner thighs with both hands, biting her lower lip.
“Not just him. His mom too, my aunt. And you know what? Don’t fucking call him Toad anymore. I don’t like that shit.” Zak finally threw the car into drive and pulled away from Jade’s home, toward school.
“Are you seriously driving us to school right now?” Now she was all business. Sitting up straigh
t, arms crossed.
“Yep. Seriously.”
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I called your cousin—”
“Kip. His name’s Kip.”
“Kip then. I’m sorry I called him Toad. I won’t anymore. Okay? Do you forgive me?” She leaned over the center console again, started at his neck. She slid her tongue over the sensitive skin, bathed it in saliva. Then her face was in his lap. And his zipper was being pulled down.
He wanted to stop her. Knew he should have. But he didn’t. When her mouth engulfed him, when her tongue swirled over every inch, he could only moan, could only grab a fistful of her hair as she started bobbing up and down, up and down.
She pulled off of his cock with a loud pop, smiled up at him. “I know a place. Let’s go.”
Almost every part of Zak’s brain told him to refuse. Told him to pull her off, shove her away, get his ass to school like he was supposed to. But he nodded instead.
He was surprised how good she was at giving directions with a mouthful of cock.
—2—
Lunch time. Kip hadn’t seen Zak all day, had hoped they might run into each other at some point. Kip wanted the other kids to see them together, to see that Kip had cool friends. Or one cool friend anyway. He told himself he and Zak were just missing each other, that it was just bad timing. He told himself that Zak wouldn’t skip class, not after their talk.
He kept smiling sporadically all day, just thinking about having his cousin at home with him. The only person he had ever really considered a friend. His best friend.
And we’re going to see Street Trash tonight.
He couldn’t wait. He’d seen the movie at least five times already, but never in a theater. And never with a friend. There was over two hundred bucks burning a hole in his sock drawer at home—saved from his last birthday—and though he was saving it for a new computer, he had already decided to pay for everything tonight. The movie tickets, popcorn, candy, and sodas. Or whatever else Zak wanted. Maybe they could stop for a burger and fries afterward.
Kip had bought two pepperoni pizza pockets with the lunch money his mom had left for him, and sat at a corner table alone. He flipped through the latest Deadpool comic book, being careful not to rub any grease over the pages. This was pretty much his daily ritual. Try to hide in the shadows so his fellow students wouldn’t notice him.
“Hey,” a voice came from across the cafeteria.
Kip recognized the voice as Chuck, the douchiest jock in the whole school. The guy played football, basketball, and was even on the wrestling team. Kip only knew that because he had two classes with the jerk, and that’s all he and all his jock friends ever talked about. And of course, as if the asshole couldn’t be any more revolting, he was dating the head cheerleader, Chelsea McMahon. It was so cliché it hurt Kip’s teeth.
And Chuck just loved to give Kip shit, got off on it, him and all his buddies. He was the one who dubbed Kip Toad in the first place.
There’s an entire cafeteria full of kids. He’s not talking to me. Just keep your head down and mind your business, Kip.
“You hear me talking to you, Toad?”
Damn.
Kip’s eyes slowly rose from the comic toward the sound of Chuck’s voice, and he saw that most of the other kids were looking Kip’s direction now. As he felt himself blushing, his zits got to pulsating again. Felt like his entire body was thrashing in place, and it felt great. His eyelids flickered as he stared across the cafeteria at Chuck’s scowling face.
Kip only locked eyes with Chuck for a second before returning his attention to the comic book. He took another bite of his food and chewed it slowly, waiting for the onslaught.
Where are you, Zak?
Part of the reason he had been so happy today was because he thought being Zak’s cousin would somehow save him from all the ridicule he had been enduring for most of his life as a student. Zak was instantly popular when he arrived at Bowie High School. The girls loved him right away. Kip had heard a group of them talking, saying how Zak looked like David Beckham and that he was mysterious and they couldn’t stop swooning over how hot and cute he was.
At first, Kip resented Zak for this, even though he knew damn well it wasn’t his cousin’s fault. But after this morning, things had started to feel like they used to, back when they were kids, back when they were best friends.
And since Zak is so popular and so…attractive to the ladies, maybe I’ll become popular too. Maybe they’ll finally stop teasing me and start treating me like one of their own.
“I can’t tell what’s greasier, Toad. Your face or your pizza pocket. I bet if I scraped the oil off your back, I could run my Mustang on it. Whattya think, Toad?”
Kip just shrugged, turned the page. Though he glanced at the pictures, he couldn’t read the words—his vision was getting too blurry. Avoiding Chuck’s face, he quickly glanced around the cafeteria, hoping his cousin would be there, would come to his rescue. Would charge across the cafeteria like the Incredible Hulk and smash Chuck’s face into meatloaf. But he only saw the smiling faces of the rest of his classmates. And every last one of them was enjoying the show. Most probably just glad it wasn’t them being picked on.
There was only one face he caught sight of that didn’t look amused, and as soon as Kip saw that she was looking in his direction, listening to all the teasing, he wanted nothing more than to run away. Or die. Whichever came first.
Just seeing her sitting there, concern pinching her face, his acne throbbed more violently, felt like the pimples would start popping on their own any second, spray pus and blood all over the place.
Gwendolyn. She was the only person in the entire school, besides the staff, that was ever nice to him. He wouldn’t call her a friend or anything like that. They never hung out, never really spoke that much, but every now and then she’d smile at him, talk to him a little. It was always about whatever they were learning about in class, but that was fine with Kip. She took the time to talk to him, and that was enough. It was more than enough.
Except that he knew she did it out of pity. It was written all over her face how sorry she felt for him, but it just proved to Kip how sweet she was. How perfect she was.
And she was so pretty, always smelled so good. Her scent reminded Kip of the candy store, with a hint of flowers. Like rose flavored licorice. She never wore any makeup, never dressed in anything provocative, never showed any skin. But she didn’t need to. In Kip’s opinion, she was beautiful, his dream girl, and seeing her sitting there across the cafeteria pitying him hurt like a shotgun wound to his chest. The zits frenzied like they were trying to tear free from his skin.
Throb…throb…throb.
Sure, Jade Brewster was drop-dead gorgeous, was probably the source of every boner in school, but if Kip had his choice, he would take Gwendolyn any day. An easy decision. He had lain in bed many nights, imagining Gwendolyn confessing her love for him, kissing him with tears in her eyes. That was as far as his fantasy ever got, but it was wonderful. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to actually kiss her, to feel her soft lips pressed up against his, her nails scraping across his scalp as they embraced.
Jade Brewster was hot though. And she made appearances in his fantasies too, but they weren’t as sweet as his Gwendolyn ones.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen Jade around either. He had seen Jezebel and Sasha, Jade’s clique, and they were hardly ever without her.
Zak skipped school with her. That’s what he did. He lied to me. And now I’m stuck here with all of these assholes. Alone. Like always.
Kip was still hungry, but decided not to finish his food. The sickness growing like mold in his belly overpowered his hunger, and he wrapped a paper towel over the remaining pizza, tucked his comic under his arm, and stood.
“Where you going, dork? I’m not done talking to you.” Chuck weaved his way through the tables toward Kip, his buddies, Cash and Jerrod, following behind like a pair of pilot fish to a Great White.
Kip wondered if either of them could actually think for himself. They were like moons trapped in Chuck’s gravitational pull.
“Leave him alone, Chuck.” Gwendolyn was on her feet now. “Does it make you feel like a big man picking on someone smaller than you?”
At the sound of her voice, after hearing her stick up for him like that, Kip had to grab the edge of the table as his acne came alive. It pulsed so hard, he wondered if any of the other kids could see his face moving, see his skin thumping like he was filled with one giant beating heart, pressing tight against his skin from the inside. Hearing Gwendolyn’s tone as she stood up to Chuck, knowing why she was doing it, might have been worse than her joining in on the ridicule.
She thinks I’m pathetic. She thinks I’m a loser. And she’s right.
“What, you want me to pick on you instead?” Chuck now stood just in front of Kip, but had his eyes on Gwendolyn. He grabbed his crotch and licked his lips. “I gotta pick right here for you, girl. And I know you want it.”
Cash and Jerrod chuckled, both still staring Kip down hard. Kip kept his eyes on the table, chancing glances at Gwendolyn every few seconds.
“You’re a fucking pig. All of you are.”
“What the fuck did you just say, bitch? Maybe I’ll shove my dick down your throat, shut you the fuck up.”
“Hey,” Kip said. He was on his feet, and the sudden motion of standing tossed his chair onto its side behind him. Now all attention was back on him. Chuck’s head turned slow, like an owl’s, and his eyes looked like open flames on his face. “L-leave her alone, okay? If you need someone to pick on, just pick on me.”
Each bead of sweat felt like it had tiny spindly legs that tickled him as they ran down his flesh. He could feel each individual pimple now, each one calling his attention all at the same time. Each one inflated and deflated like a frogs’ throat.
The tingling became so intense that he started to feel his pants tighten. His erection pressed up against his cold zipper and demanded to be let free, and all Kip could do was hunch his back some and hope nobody noticed.
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