Page 18 of Soul So Dark

It made sense; the stereotypical cowboy hats and bandanas have their drawbacks when you’re trying to remain anonymous. Two of them looked like guys, but the third was definitely a girl, and they clearly knew how to herd livestock. After circling around, they let out a few whoops and the horses took off, driving the cattle back out the gym doors. It really gave a new meaning tohorsepower.

But the result was catastrophic for the gymnasium. Dents, cracks, and a dusty mixture of dirt and cow shit covered the floor, sending Coach Wheeler into a tailspin. I’m sure he spent the next few hours crying in his car. The floor was destroyed, and so were any plans to have prom there. Alternate plans were kept quiet, likely because there weren’t any, at least until now.

Jamie turns to us, leaning on the table so her cleavage spills out of her shirt. “You all should meet us at the creek on Saturday—” she flashes her eyes at me, “kayaking.”

Man, this bitch…

“We’ll be pretty busy,” I reply flatly, to which her face falls into an exaggerated frown. So, I elaborate, “Burying Colson’s sister.”

Suddenly, it seems I’ve jogged her memory. “Oh yeah,” she furrows her brow with concern. I’m surprised the dramatic change in expression doesn’t make her face spasm. “I’ll definitely be at the visitation. How’s he doing? Does he need anything?”

“Like his dick sucked before the service?”

The table goes quiet. Jamie blinks, her brain short-circuiting behind her vacant brown eyes. Logan and Jordy exchange glances and their eyes shift back and forth between Jamie and me. Josh lets out an airy,ooh, from the other side of Aiden.

“Did youknowEvie?” I ask, ignoring her subsequent lack of response. “I didn’t think so, because if you did, you wouldn’t be talking aboutwhoring yourself out to her brother at her funeral.”

As my voice crescendos, heads start to turn and a ripple of silence consumes the surrounding area. I don’t want to embarrass Dallas—I don’t even know if she’s here—but I can’t let this shit slide.

“What are you talking about?” Jamie finally finds her voice, scrunching up her face with indignance. “I never said anything about Colson or his sister.”

“Are you calling me a liar?” I ask with a tilt of my head.

Jamie glances at Jordy, who averts her eyes, offering no assistance. She must be desperate because then she looks to Aiden, who only glares back at her, his mouth twitching with amusement. He doesn’t know what the hell I’m talking about, but he’s here for it. I can always count on him to make an uncomfortable situation 10 times worse.

“I didn’t even know her,” Jamie snaps defensively, “and why would I—”

“Her name—” I growl, “isEvie!” Then I draw my knee back and kick the leg of her chair, knocking it away from the table.

Jamie lets out a shriek and grabs onto the edge of the table. Jordy flinches and leans away toward Logan to get out of the line of fire. Once Jamie recovers, she jerks her head up, her eyes blazing as she scowls over the table at me.

“What the hell is your problem, Alex?” she hisses, trying not to draw more attention.

But I’m not trying to hide anything. “My problem is that I don’t like people sitting at my table who talk about my friend’s dead body like it’s garbage and then, in the next breath, plan how to fuck her brother at her funeral.”

A shocked hum ripples through the room. “What?” Josh murmurs, shifting his gaze to Jamie.

Rory leans back in his chair. “That’sfucked up,” he says with a shake of his head.

Jamie’s face twitches with embarrassment and confusion as her eyes dart between the rest of us. “I didnotsay that about Colson!” But the look in her eyes says she’s lying through her teeth.

“Oh, no?” I let my head fall back, “Anyone else want her?” I call over my shoulder. “Are you into necrophilia, too, or do you just like the cemetery vibes?”

In a flash, Jamie slams her hands down on the table and launches herself out of the chair, glaring at me with that pinched face of hers as she storms toward the back of the cafeteria in an effort to escape the cacophony of shocked murmurs, jeers, and nervous giggles. Right then, the bell rings and the cafeteria returns to its normal state, with chairs scraping across the tile as everyone rises to head back to class.

Summarily excommunicated from the lunch table, my gaze lingers on the door, surmising that I won’t see her for a while. Good thing, because there’s more where that came from. When I finally look away, I suddenly catch sight of two big blue eyes looking straight at me, framed by a wave of long black hair.

Dallas glances at me as she walks past, a smile tugging at her mouth before quickly looking away again to follow her friends to the door. I don’t know how much she heard, but it was clearly enough to acknowledge me. She doesn’t look upset, though, so that’s all that matters. I get up to follow, naively thinking that I’ll be able to catch up to her, much less find her in the hallway that resembles a salmon spawning ground.

By the end of school, I’m ready to get the hell out of here and away from all these people. As usual, the four of us find each other in the math hallway near the stairs, where we continue on to the senior parking lot.

Colson shoots a look over his shoulder to Aiden. “What’d you do to Sydney now?”

“Who said I did anything to her?” Aiden replies, utterly unconcerned.

“So, you’renotthe reason she looked like she had a big stick up her ass in English?”

Aiden shrugs. “She always looks like that.”