Page 25 of Diem

The slow pull of the pill Bone gave me burns through my veins and when my lips curve into a silly smile, I touch them with numb fingers.

Wow. I feel…I don’t know. Free. A giggle escapes me, and I open the door to find Maxie standing on the other side. Maxie is one of Hailey’s sidekicks and as she pushes past me, I wonder if that means she’s not far behind.

“Hey,” she says, as I back toward the door. Maxie is on the Hailey train which makes this all kinds of suspicious.

“Huh?” I think I slur but sounds whoosh through my ears, muffled like when I dive beneath the water.

Wow, whatever Bone gave me is serious shit.

“Whatever,” she says, frowning. “I heard you asking Matt about Kenny.”

With a slow blink, I wait for her words to catch up with my brain before saying, “And?”

She eyes me strangely before shrugging. “Well, why are you asking? Isn’t he like one of your brother’s contacts or something?”

“Wait, what?” I stumble, the words escaping on a breath of air. Oh man, I am so fucked up.

“Yeah, you know, he hangs out at Fight Club sometimes.”

He hangs out at Fight Club sometimes. Fight Club. Huh. Could it be someone close to Ollie?

“What do you want to talk to him about anyway?” she asks, fixing her hair in the mirror.

“Who?” Tingles cascade through my limbs and I glance behind me, searching for a chair or something to sit on.

“Look,” she says, dropping her hand and turning toward me. “I’ve heard things about him.”

Him, who? Focus. Shit, Maeve. Kenny!

“Like what?” I ask and she glances over my shoulder before whispering, “I heard he attacked Heather Poulty.”

“Wh-what?” This sobers me a little and I stiffen, grabbing the door frame.

Dear lord, Dixie, what did you get yourself into?

“Yeah, she dropped last year, remember? I don’t know, just you know, be careful.”

Shocked, I stare after her as she exits, frozen in place.

Oliver’s fucking associate or whatever attacked a girl, but does that make him a serial killer?

∞∞∞

After leaving Maxie in the bathroom, I search out my phone in my bag and drop wearily to my ass on the floor in the living room.

My head is spinning like a top and nausea has started a slow swirl in my belly. I’m regretting the drug Bone passed me and with Matt’s weird behavior and thoughts of Dixie’s death, I’m no longer in the mood to party.

Since I have nothing better to do, I open my phone and search through the missed texts, all the while wishing I had stayed home this evening.

Across the room, two teenagers are going at it on the couch, and I sigh when cheers break out in the kitchen.

Bone: Where’d you go?

Penny: I found another message from this guy…

Dr.Love: This isn’t a game. Someone could get hurt. You could get hurt. Wise up, before you get burned…

My heart jackknifes, and I drop the phone before picking it up with fumbling fingers.

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