Page 27 of Running from Drac

“You and me both, Pippa. It’s been far too long since we last hung out like this. We need more of this, especially now since I’m newly single. Fuck that bitch!” I shout, even though calling her that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

I’ve never thought of Amber as a bitch, at least until recently. She’s the sweetest person I know.

Pippa snuggles into me, her head dropping back onto my arm that’s draped over the back of my couch after I briefly touch her shoulder. Both Wesley and Rich have been sending me looks all night, but I’ve been ignoring them. They seem to think Pippa has a crush on me, but I think we’ve just been friends for so long that it’s just natural to lean on each other this way. She’s always been here for me during my roughest times.

Rich hands me another beer. “Here, dude, I think you need it.” We’re on our third movie; this one is about some kind of creepy monsters from outer space coming to attack a town. It’s Rich’s pick. He always chooses the B movies for movie night.And this movie was definitely made in a time where cinematic effects involved mangled puppets and mayhem.

I greedily take the beer, downing it almost instantly. A loud burp follows, making everyone laugh again.

“I fucking love horror movies,” I yell, unable to control my own volume.

“Me too,” Wesley chimes in. “You know what? I’ve been thinking about something you said the other day.”

“Yeah? What about?”

“Were you and your dad serious when you said you wanted to start a motorcycle club? I’ve never ridden anything other than a dirt bike before, but I’ve always wanted to, and the idea of getting my own bike and riding with my two best friends, sounds amazing.”

“Same,” Rich agrees. “I think forming a club would be great for us. Give us something to do other than wrench on cars all the time. A purpose if you will.”

“Man, if you guys start riding motorcycles. You’ll have girls fawning all over you. Girls love a man in leather with hard chrome between his legs.” She winks at me. “Hell, I’ll be your club’s first bunny.”

“Bunny? Yeah, I don’t like that at all, my mom’s name is Bunny.”

“Oh, I forgot about that. They also call them sweet butts, patch bunnies, and sometimes just club whores.”

“Sweet butts? That’s some funny shit right there,” Wesley says, laughing his ass off.

“I honestly hate all of those,” I admit. “If I make a club, I’d want it to be unique and something just us.”

“We should base our club off horror movies,” Rich suggests. “We all love them, and we already call ourselves the Elm Street Crew, we could just change the name to the Elm Street Riders MC or something.”

“Oooh, I like that. If we did something like that, then we could call any girls who hang around our club something to do with Horror movies. What’s that movie where the woman is obsessed with the writer guy… it’s by Stephen King or something.”

“Misery,” Pippa offers. “Great movie. That chick was batshit fucking crazy. I think her name was Annie. She capped the guy’s kneecaps for not finishing his book the way she wanted. The woman was obsessed.” She emphasized the word obsessed by holding out the first syllable and giving me a weird look at the same time.

“That’s perfect! We could call our club girls, Little Annie’s or something. Psychotic bitches with a strange attraction and obsession for guys in leather, ain’t that right, Pippa?” Wesley goads while saluting her with his bottle of beer.

Pippa curls her fingers into mine, so we’re holding hands. I immediately untangle them and move to the opposite side of the couch.It’s time to put some distance between us, it looks like.

Rich and Wesley share a look, then give me the same stupid grin. Wesley raises an eyebrow, almost like he’s daring me to try something with Pippa. Well, fuck them both. I don’t want her. I don’t want anyone right now, because the only female I want is Amber, for whatever reason.

“Have another beer.” Rich hands me another one. I’ve lost count of which one this is.

“So, this horror thing, what kind of names are we talking about? Because if I get to choose my name, I’m thinking Jason.” His smile practically moves to his ears.

“Jason is so basic!” Pippa argues. “At least name yourself something cool like Voorhees or something.”

“Oooh Voorhees. That’s what my fucking name should be. Voorhees. It has that “it” factor, and it’s badass. You’re a genius, Pippa!”

“If we’re picking names out, then I want something cool, like Jaws or Kreuger,” Rich decides.

“If anyone should be named Kreuger, it’s Eddie’s dad. That’s one scary motherfucker, and I sure as fuck have nightmares about that eye of his.”

Wesley dodges the handful of popcorn I throw at him. “What? It’s true. Tell me he’s not fucking scary as hell.”

“He really is,” Rich agrees. “But he’s also one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. I guess that means I’ll take Jaws then.”

“Hell no, motherfucker. With that ugly mug of yours you have to have something fucked up and disfigured. I just took Voorhees, so you’re shit out of luck. Maybe you could be Phantom or something?”