DEMI
I storm out of his bedroom and down the stairs. I all but run out of the house and make my way over to my black Audi R8. I yank the door open and fall into the driver’s seat. When I start it, “Trouble” by Valerie Broussard blares through my speakers. I look up to see Deke standing at the front door. He has his right hand in the front pocket of his sweatpants and his left clenching the doorframe. His completely rigid body shows off his bulging biceps and six-pack. He’s too perfect for my sister.
I smile at him. This fucker thinks he can scare me, but he’s wrong. I look away, throw the car in gear, and take off, squealing my tires.
I adjust myself in my seat and tighten my hand on the steering wheel as his words turn in my head.
Don’t fuck with me because you won’t survive it.
He thinks he’s fucking God and holds that much power. It makes me think that is why my sister hasn’t done anything about it. Maybe he said something to her that I didn’t hear that night. Or since then. I don’t know how often they speak. I know Becky’s only friend in this town is Austin, and Deke lives with her and Cole, so they have to see each other on the regular.
I jump on the highway and head toward my mother’s house as the song changes to “Down” by Seven Day Sleep. I cut into traffic and ignore the guy who blows his horn at me and hit the gas. I’ve got shit to do.
Thirty minutes later, I’m pulling up to my mother’s gate, and it opens. I get out and enter the house. I take the left staircase and barge into Becky’s room. Her walls are a beige color. Her peach comforter and white sheets lie wadded at the end of her bed, unlike my room that I keep clean at all times. She has clothes thrown on the floor and draped over her computer desk by the windows. I almost trip over a shoe, making my way over to her walk-in closet. I start ripping the boxes open that she brought with her from Collins. She left quite a bit back at our dad’s, so I know whatever she did bring is important to her.
One is full of sweaters. I shove it to the side and pick another one. I rip it open to find a backpack and school shit. “Goddammit.” I hiss and push it aside as well. Then I come to a third box. I rip it open, and there’s a black and white notebook in it. I pick it up and flip through the pages. It’s a journal.
Funny. My sister has never kept one before. That I know of.
I go back to the very front and look at the first page.
He hit me today.
Not the first time. But it hurt like all the others.
He tried to put his hand up my skirt. I pushed him away, and he slapped me across the face. My mother saw the whole thing and all but shoved some weed in my hand and then pushed me out the front door.
I can’t wait to get the fuck out of here. I’m going to go live with my father. I’m not sure how that will be much better, but at least I know he’ll ignore me rather than touch me.
I flip the pages and then stop on a new one that has HELL scribbled across the top. Whose is this? My sister has horrible handwriting. I remember my dad used to make her erase her homework and rewrite it until it was readable. Whoever wrote this has beautiful handwriting. The cursive is easy to read. My sister’s looks like chicken scratch.
The devil doesn’t come to you as an ugly monster with fire breathing out of his ears. No. He is sent wrapped in a breathtaking smile and pretty eyes that can see to your soul.
Cole Reynolds is what was sent to me.
He is ugly on the inside but pretty to look at. He just dropped me off from Shelby’s house. He had her stitch up my arm. That he cut while in the cemetery last night. Where I watched him and four of his friends kill a guy.
“Shit.” I hiss. This is Austin’s. Why the hell does Becky have it?
He caught me watching them. He cut my arm without a thought and then placed the bloody knife in the body. Said if I turned him in, I’d go down with them. The fucker is too smart for his own good, but what he doesn’t know is that I’m better.
I burned that motherfucking body and then took a hammer to what bones remained before scattering the ashes into the ocean. They can try to pin it on me all they want. I won’t lie down and let some punk ass kids take what little life I have away from me. I’m gonna record every little thing I hear and see from now on. Consequences if I get caught, be damned.
“Holy fuck.” I like Austin more already. How did she end up being friends with my sister?
But my other problem is his friend Deke. He’s the only other one who knows I saw them. He wanted to shoot me right then and there, but Cole stopped him. What will they do when they tell the others? I’m not sure, but I know I won’t quit fighting them.
“Demi?”
“Shit!” I hiss when I hear Becky’s voice shout out my name, followed by the front door shutting.
I shove all the boxes closed and push them up against the wall. Then I cram the notebook into the back of my jeans and run out of her closet. I get out into the hall and see she’s down in the grand foyer placing her purse on the glass table and a small suitcase down by her feet. Where the hell has she been?
“Demi?”
I duck and run across the walkway that overlooks the foyer and into my room. I yank the notebook from my jeans and shove it into my backpack that sits next to my bed as my bedroom door flies opens.
“I’ve been hollering at you!” she barks.
I stand straight and spin to face her. “What?”
Her blue eyes look me up and down as I breathe heavily. Crossing her arms over her chest, she takes in my skinny jeans, black top, and matching heels. I never dress like this. It’s just not my thing. Not even for Seth. He doesn’t give a fuck what I wear, and I never have either. But Deke noticed. Just as I wanted him to.
“What were you doing?”
“Nothing,” I lie. “What do you want, Becky?”
She pushes her right hip out in a typical Becky stance. “Austin and I are going to take Lilly to the movies in about an hour. She told me to invite you.” She rolls her eyes.
“You’re inviting me?” I can’t hide my surprise. And why does Austin want me to go? She just saw me at her house not even an hour ago. She could be setting me up. I don’t want Becky to know I was there. Not yet. If Austin says something, I can play it off. Make up some bullshit about how I’m trying to protect Becky from Deke. Austin would believe it. I can be convincing. But my sister? Since when do I give a shit what she thinks?
She has nothing to say to my previous question.
I smile. Clearly, she didn’t think it was a good idea to ask me. That just made my mind up. “I’d love to.”
She turns, exits my room, and slams the door shut. I plop down on my bed and look down at my backpack. I have a feeling that Austin Lowes just gave me all the information that I need to scare the shit out of Deke.
CHAPTER EIGHT
BECKY
AUSTIN HAS DECIDED she wants to be friends with my little sister. Just fucking fantastic.
I can’t ignore it. It was on the tip of my tongue to lie and tell Austin that Demi had something to do. Or make up something about how my sister doesn’t like her. But that would just cause more problems, and as much as I can’t stand this new Mommy Austin, she is my only friend. And my only way to stay close to Deke.
If I push Austin away, then my chances with Deke go from low to nonexistent. Cole isn’t gonna be my friend or invite me over. So instead, I said I’d love to ask my sister to come hang out with us. It’s a movie. Not like I gotta talk to her for hours.