Page 21 of Devil's Bargain

FOUR

“You shit! You looked inside it!”

I close my locker and turn, ignoring the knowing smile on Nina’s face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

Laughter bubbles out of her, and like a volcano, it spills out and destroys everything sour in its path. Even my sullen mood after finding my mother asleep on the couch with an empty bottle of vodka in her hands. “You’re full of shit!”

“Who is?” Josh asks as he joins us. He must have been in a rush this morning because his black T-shirt is inside out.

Nina points an accusing finger at me. “She took the wrong bag home yesterday. I told her not to look inside it, but can you see her blushing cheeks? She’s totally peeked!”

Josh squints. “Oh yeah! I can see it. It looks as if she had them pinched by her grandma.” He chuckles at his own joke as he straightens up. “So, whose bag did you look inside?”

I make a slashing motion across my throat, but Nina isn’t paying attention to me. Her eager eyes are already on Josh.

“The quarterback.”

I groan.

Josh blinks. Then they both laugh as if it’s the funniest shit ever.

“You’re both crazy!” I walk off, but I’m smiling too.

They hurry after me.

“What exciting shit did you find in there? A tuxedo thong? Baywatch memorabilia? How about condoms for extra small wieners?”

I stop in the middle of the hallway. “A tuxedo thong?”

Nina bites her lip to stop more crazed laughter from bubbling up, but it’s no use. Her shoulders shake.

Josh motions to his crotch. “Yeah, you know those underwear men wear with a pouch for the dick. But it’s a tuxedo. Get it?”

My lips twitch and I start walking again. “I worry about your brain, Josh. Is it always weird in there?”

He catches up in two long strides and puts his arm around my shoulder. “Don’t be like that. You’re still blushing, by the way.”

I ignore him.

Josh is undeterred. “I have a class with Rick. Want me to bring him the bag?”

Terrible idea. I was hoping to hand-deliver it myself. “I don’t trust you not to do something weird, Josh.”

Nina, who’s on Josh’s opposite side, winks at me. “Wise!”

“I am capable of behaving like a mature eighteen-year-old kid,” he says with a straight face.

Nina and I both laugh. It’s too funny not to.

The look he gives us is comical. “I can!”

Nina pats his shoulder. He’s tall, and she’s exceptionally short, so it’s a miracle that she reaches up. “We believe you.”

He listens with half an ear as he follows a passing cheerleader with his eyes. “Good.”

“Want to chase after her?”

He drags his eyes away from her long legs. “You’re both crazy! She’s like one of those pretty flowers that insects are drawn to before they get eaten alive by it. Don’t be fooled by good looking cheerleaders.” He points to me. “Or jocks!”

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