Page 41 of Devils' Day Party
“You can tell me anything, Karma. I'm here for you.” My eyes water and I slump down on a nearby log, swiping my hands down my face.
“This is fucking nuts,” I murmur as she kneels in front of me, putting a hand on my knee and looking up at me, completely ready to trust in whatever I have to say. She talked to the moms without telling you; she lied. I swallow hard, but I can't bring myself to be angry with her, not anymore. Not after last night. I look up, steeling myself for any possible rejection. “Luke, I'm living the same day over and over again.”
She pauses for a moment and then nods, turning up the barest of smiles for me.
“I feel like that sometimes, too. Every day is just a repeat of the last, you know? School, the Knight Crew, the dorms …”
I'm already shaking my head. She's not getting it. She's trying to be understanding, but …
“No, no, not like that,” I say, exhaling sharply and shaking my head. I thread my fingers in my purple hair and try to figure out how to explain this. “Luke, I keep waking up at the moment of the crash.” Her brows come together, and she opens her mouth once, closes it. She looks at me for clarification, and I stand up, pacing in a small circle in the dried leaves. A breeze picks up, swirling them around my calves, and I swear, there's something different about it. It's like the world knows it's Devils' Day, like there really are spirits living in the woods. “Anytime I … fall asleep or pass out, I wake up with my head hitting the steering wheel.”
“Karma,” Luke starts, but I just have to keep going or I'll lose my nerve.
“Listen to me,” I plead, turning to face her. I feel suddenly hot, so I strip my blazer off and toss it over my arm. “I thought maybe I was hallucinating or that I was dreaming, but Luke, it's happened five times already. Five. And on one of the days, you died.”
“I died?” she asks, rising to her feet and slipping her hands into the pockets of her own blazer. “Is that why you called me in a panic this morning?”
“Luke, you … we crashed your car. We crashed and you were dead, and then I … somebody hit me.” I swallow again and look her straight in the face. “We both died, and then I woke up.”
“I'm not really sure what to say,” she replies honestly. “I mean, I believe that you believe that …”
“Oh, fuck off,” I snap back, exhaling sharply. “I know it sounds fucking crazy, but I can prove it to you.”
Luke considers this for a moment, her otaku nature taking over.
“You can prove we're in a time loop?” she clarifies, and my lips part.
“A time loop?”
Luke grins, clearly pleased with the direction of the conversation. This is her wheelhouse, after all, fantasy and sci-fi shit.
“A time loop is a storytelling device wherein the main character experiences the same day over and over again.” Her eyes shimmer as she explains this to me. “The character masters their surroundings, their environment, and even the people in it, thereby learning life lessons they can use to break the loop. It's pretty brilliant, actually.”
“Learning life lessons?” I choke out. “What lesson am I supposed to get out of this? Wouldn't the universe be better served by teaching a lesson to someone like fucking Raz?”
“Maybe we all go through a time loop at some point and then just don't remember after it's done?” Luke suggests, but the thought makes my head hurt, so I don't bother examining it. “Look, I'm not saying I can't be convinced, but it'll take some work. You know I'm open to limitless possibilities.” I roll my eyes, but Luke's willingness to accept that the world isn't quite so narrow as it seems is the only reason I might actually have a chance at getting her help here. “Tell me something that'll happen later today. Anything.”
Fuck.
I choke back a lump and close my eyes.
“Somebody—I don't know who—is going to post a sex tape of me and Calix online, from last year's Devils' Day Party.”
“What?!” Luke shrieks, storming over to grab my shoulders. “Who? The Knight Crew?” I shake my head because I don't think it was them, much as I want to believe that. The way Calix looked at me that first night, I'm damn near positive he'd rather cut off his own finger than show the world that tape.
“I don't know, but … that'll happen sometime this evening. And before that, my moms will call you and ask about it.” Luke's brows come together as I take a breath and forge on. “On the first day, the Knight Crew smashed Little Bee's windows, popped her tires, dragged her into the woods, and used her like some sort of fucked-up throne for the party. They may very well do that again today.”
