Page 126 of Devils' Day Party
“If you ask me, the Devils’ Day party is overrated,” I say, pulling my mask from my pocket and slipping it on. “It’s the same every year. We could do much better out here.” I down my beer in just two gulps before starting on another. The alcohol leaves me with a pleasant buzz, turning the landscape into a watercolor dream. Surreal, perfect, unattainable.
“Should we call the others?” Sonja asks, and I assume by others she means the Knight Crew. Specifically, Calix and Barron.
“Please don’t,” I say, even though this morning didn’t go all that badly. Honestly, it went surprisingly well—minus, you know, the catfight with Erina. But at least I know now who has the video. It’s a relief to discover that the boys are innocent in all that. “Let’s just … hang out here.” I gesture toward the clear waters of the spring, and all its strange statuary. April mentioned that this was a place of reflection. Well, I can feel it.
A butterfly flitters through the air near our picnic blanket and then settles on the arch near the water, folding its orange and black wings up as it comes to rest. Fuck. It’s a Diana fritillary again. My throat gets tight and I down another beer.
The universe is very clearly sending me a cheeky hello. I’d like to send a very cheeky fuck you in response.
“You know, Karma’s right. We’ll go back, and it’ll be a bunch of politics and bullshit. Let’s just hang here, get high, eat, and swim.” Raz leans in toward me, brushing his lips against my ear. “Besides, I don’t fucking feel like sharing your attention with Calix and Barron, not today.”
A small grin splits my lips as he leans back, his eyes as red as a demon’s, his heart as dark as a devil’s. But there’s nothing inherently wrong with darkness, now is there? Light is only beautiful in contrast, the shimmer that chases away the shadows. Raz doesn’t have to be my sunshine; he can be my moonlight instead.
“I didn’t bring a swimsuit,” Luke says as she studies the rainbow-colored tattoo on her arm. It reminds me of Barron, and my heart clenches. My eyes turn up to the butterfly again, just sitting there, taunting me. I see you, universe, and I’m trying. Can’t you see I’m fucking trying? “Besides, I know Abigail said these new wraps she used on us are waterproof, but should we really test fate?” Luke traces her nail around the edge of the plastic cover protecting her tattoo. Sonja glances down at her own ink, this small black heart on the left side of her chest, just above her breast. It has red stitches around the edges, and an arrow that makes the heart bleed where it punctures it.
Darkly poetic.
That’s how my heart felt after Calix punctured it last year, like it was bleeding and would never stop.
“I’d rather not swim, but I’m content to stay here for the rest of the night. I can always go to the next Devils’ Day party, after you guys graduate and leave me here for two more miserable years.” April unbraids her hair, letting it hang in loose waves around her shoulders.
“Good thing we brought the weed with us then,” Sonja says and then laughs, kicking over her book bag and spilling out several large freezer bags filled with green flower, pre-rolled joints, and chocolate chip cookies. I’m assuming even the latter is laced with THC. “The others are going to be pissed.”
“Screw them,” Raz says, his eyes on me. “We don’t need them to have a good time.”
“No, all you need is some of that mystical Karma pussy,” Sonja suggests, and Raz chucks a bag of snack cakes at her face. She laughs as she catches them, tearing the plastic open with her teeth and then gesturing his direction with a single cake. “But you get to deal with Calix and Barron tomorrow, when they’re whining about how you stole their girl.”
“My girl,” Raz corrects, pointing at my name on his hip. He glances my way and I lift my beer in salute. We clink our bottles together as Luke rolls her eyes.
“Don’t get too excited, okay? This is your first day trying things out. It doesn’t have to work. It might, but it doesn’t have to.” Luke gives me a sympathetic look. “It takes more than one day to know you’ve made the right decision.” If only she knew how many days it’s really taken. Three years, plus three weeks on repeat.
Trust me: I know.
We hang out as a group for a while before April wanders off to take a call from Thad, and Luke and Sonja end up sitting together on one of the stone benches, passing a joint back and forth and talking in low, husky tones.
