Sweet Evil(98)

Her colors darkened again.

“Protesters?” I asked.

“Yeah. They had signs with pictures and I tried to ignore them, but this one lady spit on me when I walked past. I remember exactly what she said, too. She said, ‘You’re a murderer—you’ll burn in hell for this.’”

I pushed Veronica’s black-and-gray swirls of guilt, anger, and fear away from me because I was dealing with my own and it was too much. My chest tightened and my voice was thick.

“She shouldn’t have said that to you. It was wrong. People are supposed to love and help one another, not judge. She doesn’t know your heart.”

Veronica let me take her hand. Our arms dangled between us, connected at the fingers. She still stared at her toes, but the darkness around her slowly receded.





CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

HALLOWEEN

I could not believe I’d let the tag-team duo of Jay and Veronica guilt-trip me into going to this Halloween party. It was the first time I’d gone out since the night I’d met the other Neph. Four bands were headlining tonight. Lascivious was not playing, but I knew Kaidan would be there. He’d given Jay the invite. My body tensed just thinking about it.

Jay, Veronica, and I walked through a sea of cars into a giant clearing filled with hundreds of rowdy people. It was a field party with a makeshift stage for the bands. We settled ourselves on the outskirts of the crowd, near the border of the forest.

There was a crazed buzz in the air—everyone in costume. I watched a caveman throw Wonder Woman over his shoulder as she screamed in delight. A robot was helping an alien do a beer bong on one side of us, while some Pokémon characters did a keg stand on the other side. A huge crowd was jumping and moshing in front of the stage.

I wondered what kind of sexy getup Kaidan would be wearing. Maybe Adam in a loincloth? And who would be his Eve tonight? Blech.

This was a terrible idea.

I smoothed down the snug black Lycra dress I wore. At least it was long-sleeved and flowed down to my ankles. I think it was a costume of Veronica’s from when she was in middle school. She swore it wasn’t too tight on me. She had no qualms about lying.

My face, neck, and hands were painted green. I doctored up a fake wart with some bubble gum and put it on my nose, much to Veronica’s dismay. I wore a ratty black wig and a pointy black hat.

Veronica was a seductive Minnie Mouse in red and white polka dots. Jay was a pirate with an eye patch and a freaky fake parrot sitting crookedly on his shoulder.

I stood with my arms crossed, scanning the crowd. My eyes halted on a very tall gorilla looking in our direction. He bore a red badge on his furry chest. I had no idea how long we stared at each other, unmoving, before I lifted one hand in a wave.

“Who are you waving at?” Veronica asked me.

“Um, that big monkey. I think he’s staring at... us.”

And at that moment, the gorilla lifted an arm and scratched his armpit. The silly gesture filled me with a rush of joy. But I wasn’t going to him.

I faced my friends, chewing my thumbnail. Please come over. When I glanced again, he was walking our way. Yes! My pulse went erratic.

Veronica giggled when he approached, but she shut up when he took off the gorilla head and shook out his sweat-dampened hair. From the corner of my eye, I saw her white polka dots cover over in bright red. I wasn’t going to lie; it annoyed me, though I could hardly blame her. I was thankful when he turned to Jay.

“Arrgh, matey,” Kaidan said.

“What’s up, man?” Jay reached out and they slapped palms, then grasped hands for a second.

“I’ve got a joke for you,” Kaidan told him. Jay nodded his head, ready. “What’s the difference between a drummer and a savings bond?”

“I don’t know. What?” Jay beamed bright yellow.

“A savings bond matures and eventually makes money.”

They did some big, barreling boy laughing, slapping hands again. While they were distracted, Veronica cocked her head toward Kaidan and raised an eyebrow at me. I shook my head and she eyed me, unbelieving. Her colors had settled down now. Kaidan looked back over at us girls.

“This is my friend Veronica,” I told him. “And this is Kaidan.”

“Oh, I’ve heard all about you.” Veronica gave him a big smile.

His brow elevated, but he didn’t take the bait. Instead, he stared at me funny. “Nice wart.” Leaning forward without touching me, he flicked the wart from the tip of my nose.

Veronica let out a loud cackle, proving she should be the one in my costume.

“I told you it was stupid!” She gloated.

With my pointer finger, I moved the paint around my nose to fill in the blank spot. When I finished, he was still watching me.