Page 47 of Mad Mabel

“So it’s your turn, Beanstalk,” Billy said.

“Actually, it’s yours, Billy,” Christos said.

“Yeah, Billy,” echoed the others.

It quickly became evident that he’d been responsible for some of the less favorable dares and the group wanted him to have his day in court.

“Fine.” He groaned. “Dare.”

“I dare you,” Fred said, “to kiss the Beanstalk.”

I glanced at Daphne in alarm. She looked as horrified as I felt.

“Gross,” Johnny said, his eyes eagerly trained on us.

“All right,” Billy said.

My stomach flipped, then seemed to bottom out completely.Billy was going to kiss me? In front of everyone? Was this some kind of punishment? A prank?

I didn’t have time to think. He pressed his dry, chafed lips against mine so firmly I nearly lost my balance. Then his tongue was in my mouth. It was an odd, unpleasant sensation, and I clamped my mouth shut and shoved him away. Billy stumbled, caught himself, and straightened with a scowl.

Fred and Johnny howled with laughter.

I wiped my mouth.

“That bad?” Daphne said.

“She wiped her mouth!” Dolly cried.

Billy shoved her to the sand. “Shut up, twerp.”

Christos helped Dolly up and Billy made a big show of wiping his own mouth with his sleeve, before spitting on the sand.

“You’re a stuck-up bitch, aren’t you?”

Billy’s voice was quiet, which perhaps is what made it so scary. The laughter died on the breeze.

“Hey,” Daphne said sharply.

“Billy,” Christos warned.

But Billy wasn’t listening. “Who do you think you are?”

“Let’s go, Mabel,” Daphne said. I nodded and we turned to walk away.

“Someone like you should be grateful for my attention,” he called after us. “No one else would look at you twice, baby killer.”

I stopped cold.

“That’s right,” he continued. “We all know what you did to your baby sister, Mad Mabel.”

I turned slowly. I could see from Tammy and Dolly’s scandalized expressions that they knew exactly what he was talking about. Fredand Johnny too. But how? I’d only just found out about Kitty myself. How could they possibly know?

Only Christos looked genuinely unsure about what was going on.

My face became hot. But this time it wasn’t humiliation. This time, it was rage.

“Wanna know my theory?” Billy said, smiling now. He’d found a vein. He was going to make me bleed out. “I think you were jealous. You didn’t want a baby sister stealing your toys…”