Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 131789 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131789 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
“Listen.” He stops and gives me an impatient sigh.
“Awesome. Another chat?”
He ignores the jab. “There’s a way things are done around here. Guys do what they do, but at the appropriate time and place. It’s not cool to be walking around stoned all the time. We don’t flaunt it.”
“You keep forgetting, I’m not one of you. Not trying to be,” I remind him.
This is just another school in a long list for me. The only difference is the tax bracket. Doesn’t change who I am.
“Be whatever you want. But have some tact.”
My instinct is to tell Fenn to get bent. What the hell do I care about their arbitrary customs? I can’t see how it affects me in the slightest or what interest of mine it serves to assimilate. But then there’s this nagging voice in my head that reminds me he isn’t just a roommate. We’re chained together now, both victims of the same sick joke our parents played on us. And I don’t hate the guy, so why make an enemy when he wants to be an ally? For now, at least. I’m still not about to place my blind trust in him.
“I’m trying to help you,” he tells me, as if he sees the indecision working its way through my head to a conclusion.
So I tuck the joint behind my ear. Call it a compromise. “Don’t ever say I’m unreasonable.”
Fenn rolls his eyes at me but is sufficiently appeased.
We head toward the training facility where the gym and locker rooms are. Outside, a group is messing around with a soccer ball, doing a few minimally impressive tricks.
“Oh, this’ll be fun,” Fenn mutters as we approach them.
One of the guys pops the ball in the air toward Fenn and he dribbles it on his knee a couple times before kicking it back.
“Who’s your new boyfriend?” someone calls.
Fenn just rolls his eyes again. I don’t think much fazes this guy. Well, other than the fact that I refuse to pledge my social obedience to him. He definitely doesn’t love that. “Guys, this is RJ, my stepbrother.”
“You got a doctor’s note for that, stepbrother?” A guy with a tight T-shirt who looks like he’s compensating for a tiny dick with chest presses nods at my joint.
“Yeah, it’s right here.” I reach into my pocket and pull out my middle finger.
It gets a laugh from Fenn, but Mr. Pecs over here isn’t amused.
“Your brother hasn’t figured out how things work around here,” he says to Fenn while creeping into my personal space.
Fenn shrugs. “Don’t know what to tell ya, Duke. He’s got a willful streak.”
Duke. So this is the crime lord of Boys Town. I don’t know why I hoped he’d have at least a cool scar or something. The guy’s tall and ripped, but so are those Riverdale dudes, and I’m fairly sure I could take an Archie Andrews-looking motherfucker.
“You’re new here,” Duke starts, posturing up with his arms crossed. “So I’ll lay it out for you. If you’re thinking of dabbling in any kind of volume business, I get a cut. There’s no action on this campus that doesn’t go through me.”
“Is this a shakedown? I never saw Goodfellas.”
His answering chuckle is loaded with arrogance. “You know, it’s always the funny ones who break first.”
“Am I funny?” I glance at Fenn. “I was going for rudely dismissive.”
Duke’s voice gets quiet even as he affects a smile to prove to his friends he’s unbothered by my indifference to him. “You’re gonna figure out quick, I’m the guy you don’t want as an enemy.”
I don’t know. I’ve been to a lot of schools and seen every kind of bully adolescent America has to offer. From what I can see, he’s not so unique. The bully at my last school had a neck tattoo, a throwing knife collection, and a stabbing problem. I make a mental note to text Julie and find out if ol’ Gavin was finally arrested for something.
“Got it,” I tell Duke. “But see, you don’t even know me. So which guy do you suppose I am?”
He narrows his eyes.
Guys like Duke, they don’t know yet how much they have to lose. Or how easy it is for someone to take it—if properly motivated.
Because I’m the guy you don’t want to give a reason.
Ignoring my question, Duke shifts his gaze to Fenn. “Bring your brother to the fights Saturday night,” he says as he and his buddies walk away. “Love to see him there.”
Fenn shakes his head at me once they’ve gone. “Went exactly like I thought,” he muses, more to himself than to me.
“Fights?” I echo, only mildly curious.
“You’ll see.”
We go to the side entrance of the building for the locker rooms, and I realize where I am now. Just across the lawn, past a small grove of trees, is the narrow dirt path where I encountered the angry girl.