Devil We Know (Short Story)

ONE

“Gimme another.”

Darren Lunsford sat at the dark mahogany bar in The Second Time Around and tossed back the whiskey the bartender passed to him. Few people filled the bar so early in the morning, but those that did shared his level of enthusiasm.

Normally he idly enjoyed the bar’s old world charm, it’s dark, smoke-stained paneling not overly cluttered with black and white photographs, as he drank himself into a pleasant stupor, but today not even the obscure collection of ancient beer bottles and cans ringing the ceiling interested him. He barely noticed the way sunlight had caught a few of the bottles at just the right angle to cast green and brown shadows over the floor.

Senior year, he thought. Two hundred and seventy days and he’d be out of this hellhole.

“Another,” he rasped. That last one hadn’t gone down quite right, but he didn’t care. He heard a thump as one of the other patrons fell out of his chair, but didn’t turn to investigate.

“How old are you kid?” the balding barkeep asked, filling the shot glass once again.

“None of your damned business,” Darren glared and tipped the alcohol into his mouth, enjoying the burn as it once again scorched the back of his throat.

He checked the watch on his wrist before standing and tossing a few bills from his pocket to the counter. He lengthened his stride to step over the emaciated man who still lay next to his chair as he left the bar.

◙◙◙

“Rani, I’m not comfortable with you taking those notebooks to school with you.” Mora Horrell knelt in front of her youngest son trying to stuff him into his grey school jumpsuit, but the boy was not having it.

“Ma! I want to wear my Spiderman shirt!” he cried.

“Doyle! You know that’s against the rules. You have to wear a plain white t-shirt.” Holding the two sides of the zipper together under his chin with one hand she was finally able to pull it closed. “There. Now go brush your teeth.” She swatted the impish boy on the bottom as he turned to run to the bathroom.

Sitting at the island in their rooster themed kitchen, Rani tipped her cereal bowl to her mouth to drink the last of the milk. She watched as her mother began patting her pockets as her eyes roamed the table next to the door. “Your keys and cell phone are already in your purse.”

“They are?” Mora opened the bag and marveled that it was true. “How did they get there?”

“You put them there ten minutes ago.” Rani hopped off the barstool and put her bowl into the dishwasher.

She was shrugging on her backpack when her mother stopped inspecting her briefcase for any missing briefs. “You know how they make me uncomfortable.”

“I know, Mom, but they’re empty.”

Mora snorted. “They won’t stay empty.” She tucked a lock of her daughter’s short blond hair behind her ear.

“No. They won’t.” Rani sighed and placed her hands on her mother’s shoulders. “But, I’m not going to give them up.”

“Can’t you wait until you get home? I want to listen to your valedictorian speech, not cry over your coffin,” Mora said, repeating the argument she made weekly throughout the school year. “That boy has it out for you.”

“Or I could but then I’d shoot myself out of boredom. I’ll be fine.” Her smile tight, she kissed her mother on the cheek.

“Ma? I gotta pee.”

Mora groaned, her eyes flashing to the ceiling, and Rani put her hand on her mother’s arm, “I’ll get it this time.” She turned, bringing her hands up to frame her mouth. “Doyle! You know how to work a zipper if you aren’t out here and ready to go to school in three minutes I’m going to feed you to the Elk!”

Her brother shrieked. Doyle had been terrified of their school’s mascot ever since their eldest brother’s best friend had tormented him with its foam antlers at his first football game.

“Rani!”

“I know,” Rani said, handing Doyle his backpack as he ran out to them, his jumpsuit only partially zipped.

◙◙◙

“Rani!” Melinda Hirsch bounced off a lettered jock as she ran to her best friend. “Sorry!” she called, waving her hand absently at him.

The jock frowned as the tiny girl with wiry red hair dashed down the hall. Seemingly unperturbed he shrugged and turned back to his friends.

Rani shook her head, a smile forming as she walked through the drab grey hall having just left Doyle in his kindergarten classroom. She was pretty sure that Melinda could yank on a lion’s mane and the lion would just purr and beg for more. The girl was that charismatic.

Melinda jumped as they met in the middle of the corridor, throwing her arms around Rani’s neck.

“Oof! I can’t breathe,” she said, stumbling for a step before awkwardly patting her friend on the back. It was hard to imagine that the wisp of a girl could squeeze that hard.

“Sorry!” Melinda let go and slid to the floor.

Rani gave a slight snort at Melinda’s favorite word, hitching her backpack higher onto her shoulder from where it’d slipped at the greeting. “No problem. How was your summer?”

“Great! Sandestin has the softest sand, and the water is the prettiest shade of jade! Oh!” She suddenly dropped her backpack to the floor and began rummaging in it, tossing aside a few notebooks, a sweater, and what looked like her crushed lunch.

 “Here!” She pushed a wrapped package into Rani’s hands.

“You didn’t have to buy me anything.”

“Uh, yeah. You’re my best friend. I couldn’t spend three months in paradise and not bring you something. Open it!”

“Thank you,” Rani said, smiling. She pealed back the aquatic paper and took the top off the rectangular blue box. “Oh.” She put a hand to her mouth as she looked down at the necklace. “Melinda, it’s beautiful.”

A tiny sea turtle on delicate silver chain rested on the black foam lining the box. The turtle was outlined with silver, but its parts were made of an iridescent material.

“It’s some kind of shell—sorry, I don’t remember its name,” Melinda said, reading Rani’s mind.

“It’s beautiful,” she repeated, touching the turtle with one finger.

“Well, look at that.”

Rani’s eyes flashed to the newcomers. “Darren,” she said, her body automatically tensing. Out of the corner of her eye she watched the halls clear at his gang’s arrival.

Not quite six feet tall and not very broad at the shoulder, he was far from the largest male in the school, but his eyes, black as pitch, left no question to the authority he wielded. Nothing escaped his notice and he was not stingy with his fury.

It was rumored that he knocked the teeth out of the captain of the football team their sixth year after he’d laughed at the two left turns Darren’s nose took as it made its way from his eyes to his mouth. That single fight established him as master of the school even before he’d fully reached puberty. Not even the administration questioned his actions and his father being mayor seemed to have little to do with it. Whatever he wanted was his.

But when Darren reached for the necklace, she pulled it away.

“Come on, let me see it,” he coaxed, stepping closer to her.

Rani tried to step back, but was stopped by the gunmetal grey lockers lining the hall. Darren put his hands on the lockers to either side of her head, bending his dark head to speak in her ear. “Let me have it.” She could smell the alcohol strong on his breath.

“No.” She tried to step around him, but was stopped by the hulking mass of Darren’s five member gang surrounded them.

As she slipped the box into the back pocket of her grey jumpsuit, she took a deep breath to steady her nerves and met his eyes. Her heart hammering in her chest, she tried to clear her face of all emotion. Failing, she bit her lip before pressing her lips together.

He was only a couple inches taller than her, but felt like a giant then, and she pressed herself closer to the lockers, trying to figure out how to get away. She heard the first bell ring, but none of the guys moved to go to class.

She saw something flash across Darren’s black eyes, but only for a moment before he leaned in to brush his lips over the curve of her throat.

Taking her chance, she brought her knee up and into his exposed crotch, shoving his shoulders at the same time to send him tumbling into Jed, his second in command.

Jumping over his legs, she ran, grabbing a stunned Melinda’s arm as she passed, dragging her through the deserted halls.

“You’re late Ms. Horrell and Ms. Hirsch,” Mr. Dowell said as they entered the chemistry lab. He was sitting behind his desk at the front of the room, reading a magazine.

Neither girl responded as they made their way to their table, as was the rule. Rani pulled the necklace box out of her pocket and tucked it next to the stack of notebooks in her backpack before she took her seat.

Etieg School, serving all the educational needs of the City of Etieg since 1902. Or so said the banner across the front of the grey stone building. The reality was that the school was less about educating and more about power. Questions and any extraneous conversation were equally discouraged.

“This is chemistry. Read your syllabus and you’ll know what we’ll be covering this year. This is the periodic table. Spend the rest of this class memorizing it. There will be a test tomorrow.” Mr. Dowell didn’t stand and made no move to point at the large chart on the wall behind him.

No one spoke as they opened the textbooks already available on their tables and began to study.

Rani’s quest to be at the top of her class had been initially fueled by boredom. Tests at Etieg were a matter of direct memorization which had never been a problem for her. Hand her any page and a few minutes and she’d still be able to recite it verbatim two years later.

School rules stated that textbooks weren’t allowed to leave the classroom, supposedly because students weren’t using them at home anyway and they were just being destroyed. In the third grade she decided to challenge herself to recreate their textbooks on her own. What started out much as more or less school as usual, revealed itself to be a dangerous undertaking.

Simple questions about certain laws printed in the textbook, but not discussed in seventh grade civics, exposed the many lies propagated by their esteemed mayor and earned her a week of detention scrubbing toilets and washing dishes for her trouble. Her parents were stunned to get the call from the school telling them what she’d been caught doing and, desperate to stop her they took her with them to the monthly trials.

In silence, surrounded by every resident aged thirty to seventy-five, they watched as three women not much older than Rani were hanged for subversion. The evidence was only circumstantial so far as Rani could tell. The girls had been simply working that particular shift when the anti-Lunsford pamphlets were printed, but it made no difference to the jury.

Rani vowed that day to double the amount she copied, refusing to be just another mindless puppet.

Unfortunately, as her lawyer mother and engineer father tried and tried to explain to her, no one was mindless. Everyone knew exactly what was going on--they’d all lost at least one loved one to the trials. Rani’s oldest brother Tad had been convicted the previous May and they were still dealing with the loss of a man everyone knew would make the NFL. She’d been horrified to learn that to the outside world his death was attributed to a car accident.

Rani kept her head bowed to not attract attention to herself as she and Melinda left chemistry and followed the crowd to their mathematics class. The day had barely started and everyone knew that tensions between Rani and Darren hadn’t been resolved by the summer months.

She sighed. These clashes with Darren were a dangerous distraction. If his father ever became suspicious of her, she knew she’d be the next one hanging from the beam.

◙◙◙

 “You need to kill that bitch,” Jed said, taking the fries off some kid’s tray as they walked through the cafeteria.

“I’ll get her.” Darren sat gingerly when they reached their table in the center of the room, his jumpsuit pulling uncomfortably at his crotch. “At the game this Friday.”

“Good.” Jed eyed another tray that was walking across the room and whistled for that kid to come over. The boy couldn’t have been ten years old and his hands shook so violently, his chocolate milk threatened to fall to the floor. Jed took his time browsing the selection before taking the fries, hamburger and, finally, the milk.

Darren snorted at the expression that flashed across the kid’s face as he gazed unhappily at the fruit cup left to him. The kid must have suddenly remembered where his lunch had gone because he ran away so fast he left a vapor trail of sweat.

Darren unzipped one of the pockets on his chest and pulled out his flask, drinking deeply while openly meeting the eyes of the teacher supervising lunch. The burly football coach bowed his head and turned to chastise the fourth graders who were laughing too loudly at their jokes. He wasn’t surprised when a tray suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Hey baby.”

Darren hid his wince as Ashlie dropped down on his lap, cooing. He tilted his head up for a kiss and her tongue playing avidly against his. “How’re you feeling?” she murmured, cupping him in what he assumed was supposed to be a sexual way.

“Sore,” he grunted, pushing her hand away with his free hand as he tucked his flask back into his pocket.

“Aw.” She held a fry to his lips and he sucked it into his mouth, nibbling on her fingers in the process. While Jed preferred to take his lunch from kids, Darren liked his with a side of woman. “You going to feel less sore tonight?” she asked, massaging his chest.

He shrugged, wanting his hamburger. “Quit flirting and feed me.”

Ignoring Ashlie as she cut his burger into bite sized pieces, Darren scanned the room for Rani. He almost overlooked her sitting at a table in the corner of the utilitarian room with her heard bent over a notebook. Melinda sat next to her, her mouth moving a mile a minute, but it didn’t look like Rani was paying attention.

His dick ached. She hadn’t needed to hit him that hard and Ashlie kept shifting more of her weight on him. He tilted his head back, closing his eyes and wishing that he was back in the bar.

“Open up, baby,” Ashlie said, tapping his lips again. He mentally rolled his eyes and did as instructed.

TWO

Six months earlier, Rani first attracted Darren’s attention. Happy to stick to the shadows, the only time anyone noticed her was when they wanted a tip on how to better remember their subject matter. The single time she dared step forward earned her not only a certain level of notoriety, but the school’s unanimous vote for the superlative of “Most Likely to be Killed on School Grounds”.

She’d been at her locker getting her coat after classes were threw for the day when she saw him and his cronies harassing a guy a couple years younger than them.

“Leave them,” Melinda said, taking her arm. Rani realized that she’d been staring.

Normally she would have. Growing up in this town meant speaking up was a good way to end up dead. But she saw the terror on the boy’s face and something finally broke inside her.

“Knock it off.” She cringed at how tiny her voice sounded and when six of the biggest and baddest guys in the school turned to face her, she instantly wished she could take the words back.

Jed broke rank, confronting her first. “What did you say, bitch?”

“Jed!” Darren left the boy, whose name Rani never learned, to reprimand his second in command. Jed stood taller and wider than Darren, but Darren’s pedigree left no one believing that he wouldn’t kill anyone who got on his nerves. His father hadn’t become the mayor without killing anyone who got in his way. Nor had his grandfather before him.

Rani didn’t see where Darren pulled the knife from, but no one dared move while it rested next to Jed’s carotid artery.

Darren’s voice was steady and, in other circumstances, conversational. “If you want to take my role as leader then kill me. Otherwise, stay in your place.”

Jed’s eyes were wide and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Fine. Sir.” He choked over the words, clearly not thrilled with the choice.

Darren left the knife at his second’s throat for a moment longer before slowly folding it closed and tucked it back into his jumpsuit. A bead of blood was evident on Jed’s thick neck, but he didn’t move to wipe it away.

Calmly, Darren turned to Rani who still stood before her open locker, frozen in horror by the display and wishing she’d kept her stupid mouth shut. Her stomach was queasy and tight. Her feet and hands had gone ice cold and she felt so lightheaded she feared she was going to faint.

Darren had knifed a guy for sneezing too close to him the previous semester.

“I’m sorry,” she squeaked, taking a heavy step towards him, preparing to fall to her knees to beg for forgiveness. She wondered if he preferred being offered favors or reasons why killing her wouldn’t be profitable for him and strangely, by concentrating on what words might get her out of this situation alive, she was slowly able to widen her tunnel vision. “Please…”

“Quiet.”

Rani snapped her lips shut, swallowing thickly. At least if he didn’t want her to speak, she wouldn’t have to fight her tongue or the lump in the throat.

He circled her once as though he’d never seen her before, even though they’d been classmates since they were five.

“Rani, right?” He tapped his finger on his chin.

She nodded quickly, her stomach clenching even tighter.

“You’re the smart one.”

She nodded again but stopped almost immediately when the floor tilted to an awkward angle. She closed her eyes and could feel the world spinning, threatening to buck her off.

He chuckled. “You don’t want to hurl on my shoe.”

She shook her head, but had to clamp her hand to her mouth, her eyes watering as she retched.

“Take her to the restroom, Melinda.”

Her friend grabbed her free hand and dragged her blindly to the toilet. Rani had barely made it into the first grey stall, falling to her knees before becoming reacquainted with her lunch.

Melinda reached around her to flush the toilet and handed her a damp paper towel. Rani pressed it to her face before resting her cheek on the seat, physically exhausted by the ordeal.

“That’s kind of gross,” Melinda said. “You putting your cheek there and all.”

Her eyes closed, Rani snorted. “I’m going to be dead in a few minutes, so I don’t think it matters what STIs I catch.”

“Still. Put this under you.” Melinda handed her a wad of dry towels. “It’ll make me feel better.”

“For you, I will go to my death perfectly healthy.” Her voice cracked and tears leaked from her eyes.

“Oh don’t cry, honey.” Melinda used another damp towel to wipe Rani’s tears away. “You’re a hero. It took some serious guts to stand up to him.”

“I don’t want to die,” she cried, her tears and nose running freely. She sat up suddenly, nearly cracking her head on the toilet paper dispenser. “I’m too young to die!”

Melinda wrapped her small arms around her friend and held her as she broke down.

“You can’t go out there like this,” Melinda said finally, once Rani’s tears began to subside. She held Rani at arm’s length, or as far away as she could manage in the small cubicle. “I’ll write you an epic eulogy, but only if you hold your head high and don’t beg for your life. Unless, of course, begging for your life saves your life. I love you girl. Do whatever it takes to save your life, but if it doesn’t save your life, don’t do it.”

Rani nodded, gulping air as a few sobs continued to escape her lips, following what her friend was saying until suddenly she couldn’t understand a word of what her friend was saying. “What?”

“Exactly.” Melinda stood and stepped out of the stall waiting for Rani to follow her. “How are you feeling?”

Rani inspected herself internally as she pushed herself to her feet. She felt mentally and physically drained in the way only a heavy crying fit could do. Her head ached, her nose was stuffy and she yawned loudly, rubbing her eyes with her fists like a toddler. She pulled a few feet of toilet paper to blow her nose. “I want a nap.” she said finally, tossing the paper in the toilet, but still having to breathe through her mouth. “But I’m not going to faint, at least. Until I get in front of him again, that is.”

She moved to wash her face in the sink, inspecting the red rimming her blue eyes in the cracked mirror above. Her cheeks were an awful shade of pale.

“Do you have any makeup in your bag?” she asked Melinda who was finger combing her frizzy hair into an even larger mess on top of her head. Rani gulped as she remembered the sleep over in seventh grade when Melinda finally came to terms with the fact that her hair would never be tamed into a fashionable style and decided to give it free reign. Neither girl had expected that her oft tangled curls would actually benefit from the freedom, framing her pixie-like face in a becoming way.

“Huh? Umm…let me see.” She searched her bag and pulled out a tube of mascara and a square compact of rosy pink blush. “I don’t know how old this is…” she said, handing them to Rani.

“I’m already dying,” Rani reminded her as she leaned towards the mirror to darken her eyelashes.

“It’s kind of weird that they’re letting you have so much time…” Melinda mused, taking out a comb to set Rani’s sweat dampened blond hair to its usual flared self.

◙◙◙

Darren could tell his crew was getting antsy waiting for Rani to reappear from the restroom. He leaned comfortably against a locker across from the door, clenching his fists at every sigh he heard.

“It you assholes can’t stand still I’m going to cut your fucking throats.”

“Boss…they’ve been in there awhile…”

Devin was a champion kiss-ass who loved nothing more than inflating the heads of his betters and Darren kept him around for precisely that purpose. Jed’s head was so bloated from praise of his larger size and strength that he couldn’t understand how he’d easily be defeated by anyone with half a brain—such a valuable quality in any good gang member.

Darren tilted his head to one side, in no real hurry to get an answer from his plebe. “Is there a window or other way for them to escape?”

“No sir,” Devin replied, his eyes dropping to the floor.

“Then what on Earth could they be doing in there that should worry us?” Darren assumed a number of things, but kept such information to himself. As expected, his partners answered like the typical flunkies they were.

“Crying?” Toby asked.

“Putting on make-up?” Bart supplied.

“Well…we know she threw up,” said Hank.

“Fuckin’ writing her will, if she’s smart,” said Jed, cracking his knuckles as he glared at the door.

Darren wished he hadn’t forgotten his sunglasses so he could roll his eyes at them. Rather than focus on the fact that she’s female and obviously scared, they really should have acknowledged that Rani was the smartest person in their class and he wouldn’t be surprised if she put together a MacGyveresque machine gun.

Finally the door opened and Melinda’s head popped out. She blanched and squeaked at the six men surrounding it and it took a lot for Darren not to laugh at her mouse-like behavior. “Erm…excuse me,” she said, scooting through their ranks to stop somewhat down the hall, out of the way.

A few seconds later Rani appeared in the doorway and Darren was surprised. She had put on some make-up. It covered the effects of her fear well enough, he had to admit. His eyes flashed to his flunkies, deciding that even if what they said was stupid, they weren’t always wrong.

She bit her lip as she met his eyes and he gave her credit for her ability to fake bravado. Even when she’d been about to puke all over him, or fall over, he wasn’t sure which, she didn’t start babbling or crying into his chest. It was distracting when people did that.

He was further surprised by how she filled the uniform jumpsuit. Most girls either lost their figure or looked slutty with it pulled too tight over their important bits, but Rani’s was snug in a flattering way. The drab color couldn’t wash out her tanned skin, especially with the slight pink added to her cheeks and he liked the way her short, dirty blond hair fell in her eye. He wasn’t sure how she’d escaped his notice in the years since girls ceased being icky.

She lifted her chin as he checked her out as though telling him she didn’t care what he saw in her. He really liked that. Especially when her knee started to shake showing him that she wasn’t quite as strong as she pretended.

“Are you just going to stare at me?” she finally asked.

The corner of his mouth turned up when her voice cracked, her sentence finishing as little more than a whisper.

He pushed himself from the lockers and crossed the hallway to her. “Do you have any idea how angry I am?”

He saw her gulp. “Not really.”

He smiled broadly and she flinched. “Then I’ll have to show you.” He stepped closer, pushing open the bathroom door behind her. “After you.”

“What?” Her eyes were suddenly really wide, the white showing all the way around her cobalt eyes.

“You’ve upset me by questioning my authority. When that happens, I demand retribution. Now, you can either die or you can do me a service. I’m horny and you’re not hideous so I’ve decided that today you shall live.”

Rani’s mouth fell open and her eyes darted around wildly, searching for Melinda. He bit the inside of his cheek to stifle a laugh.

“Yes, just like that. Now, after you.”

She clamped her mouth shut and made the strangest noise. Expecting her to run, he positioned his body to block her escape.

“Go.”

She made the noise again and he put his hand on her abdomen to push her into the bathroom. She resisted until Melinda yelled something about being alive. With that, she closed her eyes and took a step backwards into the room. He followed, locking the door behind him.

“I…I don’t know what you w-want.”

“Really? You’ve never heard of a blow job? Then you’d better listen closely to what I say.” As he spoke, he pushed her towards the wall furthest from the door.

Rani stumbled as her body rebelled against his demand. “Please…”

THREE

“Woo,” Rani called, lifelessly waving her pennant as their team ran down the field.

“Yay!” Melinda shouted, but even her default level of enthusiasm was deadened.

It was Friday afternoon and they were watching their Fighting Elks take on the Oakridge Baboons in the first football game of the season.

For appearances sake, five sports were offered to the boys: baseball, basketball, football, soccer, volleyball, as well as cheerleading for the girls. To outside observers, the students and parents of Etieg were rabid fans of their athletic department with near perfect attendance for all games. But in truth, students at Etieg faced hours of detention for unexcused absences and unenthusiastic cheering, all while their illustrious mayor happily sat at the fifty-yard line or half-court surrounded by the parents of the team.

“This is so pointless,” Rani said, pulling out a notebook, carefully angling her body to hide it from any teachers or security guards. She waved her pennant whenever she heard cheers around her, but otherwise ignored the game as she wrote out the next chapter for English Lit.

Melinda kicked her leg and Rani automatically shoved the book into the backpack at her feet, looking up with plenty of time to appear attentive for the group of men approaching on the walkway below.

She cursed quietly. It was Darren and he only had eyes for her. Her vision seemed to darken around the edges, and her hands tingled as he crooked his finger. Everyone in the section turned to see who he wanted, fearful that he’d turn on them next.

 “Go. Before he gets angry,” Melinda said, helping Rani to stand up.

He’d generally left her alone since the kneeing incident the first day of school, only sending a few glares from across the cafeteria to tell her that he hadn’t forgotten or forgiven. She should have known that he’d save her punishment to display in front of the entire city.

Her knees felt weak as she hitched her backpack onto her shoulder and she stumbled as she made her way across the row, her classmates taking her elbow to help her along.

Swallowing hard with her dry mouth, too soon she found herself in front of the devil himself.

As much as she wanted to stay strong and not show him her fear, her knees would not stop shaking.

“Touch me, bitch,” he commanded loudly, ensuring that everyone in the sections nearest knew exactly what he wanted.

When she made no move to comply, he grabbed her hand in his and pressed it to the lump in the front of his jumpsuit, grinding himself against her fingers.

He gave a loud moan, partially closing his eyes as his head jerked back. “You know you enjoy this. Squeeze me tighter…Fuck.”

Rani closed her eyes with a grimace and wished they weren’t in front of everyone. With only a handful of people not in their seats, anyone in the stadium not watching the game could easily tell that something was happening.

With his free hand he unzipped her jumpsuit to her waist, revealing the tight white t-shirt underneath and cupped her breast, squeezing her nipple hard. She shuttered from the revulsion of being groped in public.

“Stay here,” Darren instructed his crew, ripping Rani’s hand off his crotch and dragging her down the nearest flight of stairs.

Rani groaned as she opened her eyes and saw the stares from her classmates. Halfway down, she missed a step and fell into his back. He pulled her around his body and crushed his mouth to hers, their teeth clicking. She struggled to push him off which just made him grope her more.

He ended the kiss suddenly, a knowing fire in his eyes, before pulling her once again behind him. They passed a security guard who ignored them even though their main purpose was to keep spectators in their seats.

Rani stifled her instinct to shout for help, knowing that it’d not only be futile, but unproductive in the long run. Damn him!

Darren shoved Rani first though the cut in the chain link fence under the concrete bleachers, pausing to look around to make sure that everyone was watching their antics before following her in.

Rani faltered when she saw that they weren’t alone and Darren bumped into her back. She heard him curse before he spun her in his arms, pushing her jumpsuit off her shoulders, pulling her t-shirt over her head and shoving her bra to her waist.

She yelped, trying to cover her breasts with her hands while he pulled his own jumpsuit open and struggled to get out of it.

He ignored her as he stepped out of his clothes and pushed her against one of the concrete columns holding up the stands, crushing his mouth to hers again, pinning her with his hips.

 As though suddenly seeing the other couple, he pulled back slightly and shouted at them, “Get the fuck out of here you fucking fuckers!”

The other teens jerked away from each other and paled at the owner of the curses, unable to move. It wasn’t until he repeated the order that they stumbled over each other whilst trying to get back into their clothes.

Rani was having a hard time sustaining her fear while watching the boy fall over when he tried to grab his t-shirt off the ground without pulling the bottom of his jumpsuit up first. The girl didn’t wait for him and disappeared as soon as she wore enough clothes to be considered covered.

Even after they were truly alone, Darren continued to absently stroke her bared waist. She cleared her throat and he jumped back. “Sorry.”

Her laugh was soft as she twisted her bra back into place. Darren retrieved her t-shirt from the dirt and shook it out before handing it to her. Then he bent to pull his jumpsuit back on over his black leather biker boots.

“How…?” she asked, frowning as she realized what he’d done without falling over.

“My image. It’s all about my image,” he said, his face stoic even while hopping slightly to get his pant leg over the heel of his boot.

Rani couldn’t hide her smile as she put her backpack back on her shoulder. “How long are we going to be stuck under here?”

“Well, I’m known for my sexual prowess, but I’m also supposed to be raping you, so…” he straightened as he pulled his jumpsuit over his boxers, jumping slightly and pursed his lips, “half an hour? You might be unwilling, but I can’t leave you wanting.”

“Your image?”

Darren shrugged his shoulders into the jumpsuit “Of course.” He zipped up and scraped his boot across the dirt. “Man it’s filthy under here.” Broken bottles, dirty syringes, and used condoms comprised most of the debris.

Rani punted a dingy shoe into the darkness. “I can’t believe that those two were lying on this stuff.”

“Given that I see that girl in the men’s room a few times a month and he didn’t look like he was going to use a condom, I’m not surprised at all.” He found an empty milk crate and turned it over. “Well, one of us can sit.”

Rani appreciated his thoughtfulness, but, “I’d rather stand.” She leaned her back against the column again.

He nodded, also looking dubiously at the crate and leaned against the column as well.

“…you fucking fuckers?” Rani said, smirking.

“Shut-up, I wasn’t expecting to find anyone under here. Plus I’m known for my sexual prowess and my irrepressible anger, not my ability to think of insults on my feet.”

Rani couldn’t contain her laugh. Six months previously she’d though he was truly the devil incarnate, demanding she perform sexual favors at his command. Instead, in the girl’s bathroom, she learned the truth…

◙◙◙

Darren sighed. “Quit trying to beg. It’s really annoying and it’s not going to make me change my mind. I’m not going to force you to suck my dick.”

Rani’s eyes flicked up to his. “What?”

“It’s all a fucking act. I’m not an asshole and I’ve never killed, or raped, anyone. But if you tell anyone that, you may be my first.”

She started blinking very rapidly and frowned. “Wait, what?!”

“You know who my father is. He’s the monster and I have no desire to be like him. Unfortunately he doesn’t approve of that plan so I had the choice: either pretend to be just like him or get my nose broken every few weeks.” He gestured at his nose. “After the second time, I chose the first option.”

“Oh. So um…what are we doing here, then?”

“Waiting the appropriate amount of time for you to complete the deed. You’re in luck, I’m pretty quiet during sex so we won’t have to make any awkward noises. Unless you want to be loud—it has been done.”

“Oh god no!”

Darren forced his laugh into the lower registers. “On second thought, anyone listening to your outbursts won’t have trouble imagining what’s going on in here.”

“What?”

He smirked. “I thought you were smart.”

Rani gaped. He was questioning her intelligence?! They were in a bathroom pretending that she was going down on him. If anyone found out the truth, “We’re dead…or worse.”

“Now, that’s the spirit.” He leaned against the wall, before sliding to sit on the floor, hooking his elbows around his knees. He pulled out his flask and took a large swallow. “It’s not like I’m asking for much—you seem to be genuinely terrified of me and so long as you stay that way, we’ll be good.”

She sat on the floor not far from him. “I don’t think I’m so much afraid of you now, but am terrified of what will happen when someone figures this out.”

“Use that fear. It doesn’t matter what causes it so long as the effects are real.”

Rani frowned. That sounded like he expected her to fear him regularly. “To what end? Is this a one time thing? Or…?”

He shrugged. “Usually I only terrorize people who I know are leaving soon. Like that football player in sixth grade. His dad got a promotion at work and was heading to Japan. He seemed to think it funny to get taken out by a twelve year old.”

Rani’s eyes widened. “I thought you knocked his teeth out, there was an awful lot of blood…” The fight had happened during lunch in front of the entire school.

“He used those prank blood bags people buy for Halloween. Put three in his mouth to bite down on when I hit him—I was scared he was going to choke to death on it all.” He checked his watch. “Five more minutes should do it.”

Rani couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You’ve  never hurt anyone?”

“I’m not a passivist. I’ve never hurt anyone who was innocent, but you saw the blood on Jed’s throat. If he hadn’t backed down, I’d have cut deeper. I have no problem using people to get where I need to be, doing what I have to do. If you can’t keep your mouth shut about this, then you’ll be used as an example whether you’re willing or not.”

“What were you doing with that kid just now?” She couldn’t believe that the fear on his face was an act.

“I wasn’t going to hurt him much. He’s been running his mouth, so I had to put him back in his place. If you’d stayed out of it, you wouldn’t be in here sucking my dick.”

“I guess I can’t tell Melinda?”

“You’ve guessed correctly.” He checked his watch again. “It’s time to go.”

He stood up and reached for her hand to help her up. Shocked at the politeness of the gesture, she took it.

He frowned for a moment before grabbing her head in both of his and ruffling her hair. “Your jaw is going to be sore for a few hours, so don’t talk much.” He handed her the flask. “Also, you probably cried some more, so take a swig of this.”

She did as instructed and choked on the acerbic liquid, her eyes instantly filling with tears.

 “There, now your eyes are red again.” With a final nod he swaggered his way to the door, and she hoped, out of her life.

◙◙◙

“We have a change in plan, babe.”

She scowled at the unwanted endearment. “Huh?”

“You know that everyone knows about your notebooks, right? Well my dad is interested to know what you plan to do with them.”

Rani’s legs crumpled and she would have fallen to the litter below if Darren hadn’t caught her. “Oh god.”

He hooked his arm under her knees, picking her up and walking the short distance to set her down on the upturned milk crate.

He squatted in front of her, taking her hands in his. “I’m not going to ask you if you’re okay, because it’s obvious that you’re not. I am going to ask if you’ll trust me to keep you safe.”

Rani couldn’t think straight. She shook her head. This couldn’t be happening. She was careful. Everyone had notebooks for their classes and other people read unassigned chapters. All she did that was different was she recorded them for herself word for word.

She gave herself a mental bitch slap and wiped away the tears that had unconsciously slipped from her eyes. She’d known the risks for years. She knew that they made her an easy target and she’d accepted that. Her brother knew it, too, and encouraged her, even when facing the hangman himself. He thought that they might be useful one day. She couldn’t break down just because her time had come.

Rani tried to swallow around the lump in her throat and shook her head roughly to clear it. “Sorry about that. I forgot who I was for a moment there. What did you say?” Her words sounded thick to her ears and her throat was so tight it ached.

Darren tilted his head, his dark eyes searching hers. “I asked if you trust me to keep you safe.”

She nodded, unable to speak further and threw her arms around his neck. There weren’t any tears, but she wanted to feel connected to someone. Melinda didn’t know that the conflicts with Darren were faked, and even though she was always there to pick her up and help her through the imagined trauma, it wasn’t the same. Some might say it was cruel of Melinda to encourage her to degrade herself, but as she’d said during the first incident, it was better to be humiliated than dead. Dead men couldn’t fight back and Rani wanted to fight back if the opportunity ever arose.

Darren wasn’t used to being hugged. Sure, girls threw their bodies at him regularly and he wasn’t opposed to spending some time undressed with them, but they didn’t do much cuddling as a rule.

He put his arms around her slim waist, since that seemed like the thing to do, but was having trouble keeping his balance on his toes. He really didn’t want to fall over onto the crap surrounding them. Then abruptly, that didn’t matter so much.

She smelled like green apples and he dipped his nose into her hair to breathe more of her in and pulled her tighter into his embrace. She wasn’t a small girl, but at that moment she felt petite. Fragile.

If pressed, he’d have to admit that he’d sort of enjoyed their play over the past few months. The real fear she felt made her strength unmistakable. He liked that. Usually he had to rely on overt violence to hide the fact that he wasn’t an overtly violent person, even in private. But with her he could relax somewhat, could tell or laugh at a joke without her cowering, and vent his frustrations about how stupid this life was, trusting that she could still hold her end of the charade in public. It was like having a real friend.

It took him a second to realize that she was pulling back and he was surprised at how reluctant he was to let her go. She felt good in his arms.

Her eyes met his. “So what’s the plan?”

“More of what we’ve been doing. Total domination.”

The corner of his mouth quirked up as she raised a single eyebrow at him, pursing her lips. Yeah, he knew that she’d totally go for it.

“Excuse me?”

“Everyone knows I don’t actually have any power over you. You go about doing your own thing until I notice you and only then you know better than to defy me. I think that’s what my father’s noticed. If I control you all the time, then he’ll leave you alone.”

“So…I’ll be your sex slave every week instead of once a month?”

He hesitated. “No… It should be every day.”

Rani’s chin fell to her chest and she let out a puff of breath. “Right. If I didn’t know better I’d say you were doing this for your own sick pleasure.”

“My father hinted that you’d be the next one in the trials until I told him that you’re my favorite lay. That your spark was half of your charm and that if I went after you too often it would break you.” Darren paused. “He told me that if I didn’t break you, he’d kill you.”

She tossed her head back and laughed as she accepted the inevitable. “Craap.”

FOUR

“I want my crotch-shots.” Rani said sitting down on the moss covered fallen log in the woods that separated their neighborhoods. They’d decided to meet after school to plan their encounters for maximum effectiveness.

Darren flinched. “Really? Those aren’t exactly fun for me. You hit me more often than you miss.”

“It’s not my fault that you don’t…uh…wear yourself on the same side every day. I do try to aim for your thigh.”

Darren unconsciously shifted his body to protect himself better. “Forgive me if I’m doubtful that even if we plan for me to be…a certain way, I’m afraid, yes afraid that you’ll forget.”

Rani smirked. “Big baby.” But she leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before sitting back again. “I’ll be careful. But I can’t not go for it because that’s the most effective way for a woman to defend herself. Plus, it’ll piss you off to the degree that we need.”

He sighed and adjusted himself to relieve the shadow of pain that all men feel when discussing this subject. “Just be very careful, woman. They’re important to me.”

“You don’t see me cringing from the attack you plan for me. I’m the one that’s going to be covered in blood when this is over and done with.”

Darren groaned. “You know that I’d never hurt you.”

“And yet, you’re going to leave marks on me this time.”

He grimaced “I really don’t want to…”

“But you have to in order to make it believable. I trust you to not damage me, why can’t you trust me not to damage you?” She grinned.

“You’re not a guy. Anyway, I want to change this subject. So we’re clear, in Chemistry tomorrow I’ll goose you and you’ll…” He sighed. “Then I’ll drag you into the closet.”

“Yep. And then on Thursday you’ll barge into the locker room after phys. ed. while I’m changing and get really pissed off…”

◙◙◙

Darren leaned towards Rani inspecting her eyes. “Those are scary.”

She grinned more broadly than the cut on her lip should have ever allowed. “I know, right? I think I should go to Hollywood to be a makeup artist.” Her left eye was surrounded completely by deep purple fading to green and she’d added silicone to make it puff up. The other was only darkened at her temple as though he’d slammed him fist against the side of her head rather than directly punched her. It was also purple, but not quite as dark. Her appearance was freakishly realistic when she squinted as though they were really bruised and just freakish when she gazed at him normally.

Besides the “cut” on her lip, she’d also darkened her cheekbone on the right side, her jaw on the left. In short, few people would believe he hadn’t beaten the crap out of her in the shower stall of the locker room.

“What about the real bruises?” he asked, trying to inspect her body as they sat on their log in the woods.

“There aren’t any.” He’d been so afraid of hurting her that he’d barely touched her bicep and thigh. She’d finally had to resort to slapping herself to turn her skin rosy under the cover of blood. She’d hidden two large blood bags in her cheeks before the attack, smearing them over her body to further hide the fact that he’d never really hit her when Melinda picked her up off the  floor of the shower. “Do you want me to take off my clothes to show you?”

Darren sighed. “No. I believe you. How did your parents take it?” He still couldn’t get over how realistic her eyes looked. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear that he’d actually hit her. Whenever he closed his eyes he saw the blood that, fake or not, created a scene of horror as it mixed with the droplets of water left by the previous occupant, running in thin rivulets towards the drain. But worse than that, the memory of her tears and screams as he mimed brutalizing her drove him nearly insane with the desire to protect her. It’d taken a herculean effort not to stop and ask her if she really was faking it all.

Rani drew her knees up and rested her chin on them. “Depends on how you want to look at it. They’re supporting me as good parents should, letting me come to terms with the attack. But they are vocal about the fact that we can’t do anything about it, not that I’m surprised. I guess I’m glad that they seem to buy the fact that I’m not howling for vengeance. That I’ve finally been broken. I know my mom is thrilled that I’ll finally stop writing in my journals.”

Darren clenched his fists and made himself not punch the log. If his daughter had come home looking the way Rani did right now, he’d have someone’s head for breakfast. It pissed him off that her parents were happy that broken she’d stick to the safe route through life. If only it was the safe route. “Will you stop writing?”

The corner of her mouth rose as she shrugged. “Probably not.”

FIVE

Two weeks later, Darren tried not to sigh with pleasure as Rani settled herself across his lap. She wasn’t the smallest he’d had, but she knew how to position her weight evenly and he liked that her only scent was plain soap and green apple shampoo. Most of the girls drenched themselves in perfumes that did nothing for him but tickle his nose.

She was proving to be an excellent lunch wench and while she did know exactly where to hit his kidneys whenever he got too handsy, he was entertained by the subtle ways she defied everyone even while appearing to be totally submissive.

Jed was now perpetually pissed off. Yesterday she’d slyly stepped on Darren’s shoelace so that when he ordered her to re-tie it she could loosen one strap on Jed’s backpack, leaving them uneven. It wasn’t much, but on top of all the other little things that she did, such how she was now working to get the tail end of one strap stuck under his chair, Jed was now convinced that he was haunted.

At first Darren worried that Jed would see the connection between Rani’s arrival at their table and his sudden bad luck, but Devin did his job well. Jed only saw the pathetic creature she presented herself as and the one time he seemed to think a person might be the cause of his frustration, he’d blamed Toby’s big feet.

What Darren hadn’t expected was the impassioned female response to their new situation. Ashlie sent death glares at Rani for taking her place. Tessa flashed him repeatedly during calculus. And then Sarah had tugged him into the bathroom for an impromptu oral assignment between history and Spanish, which, for the first time in his life had made him feel rotten.

They were walking a very fine line. He had to spend enough time with Rani to show everyone that she was his to do whatever he wished, but he had to spend time with other girls to show that she wasn’t special to him. The problem was that with every passing day she was becoming more and more important to him.

◙◙◙

“Do you own any pretty dresses?” Darren asked as they met in the woods for their bi-weekly meeting. He took a chunk of the chocolate fudge she offered him.

“A few, why?” Rani replied around a mouthful of fudge.

He waited for her to swallow. “You’re going to meet the mayor.”

She choked anyway and he had to pat her on the back so she could breathe.

“What’s the occasion?”

Darren snorted at her casual tone, even as she wiped the cough induced tears away. “A dinner party for city council. You’re my date.”

“Woo.” She shoved another chunk of fudge in her mouth, chewed too quickly, and followed it by another.

“Careful there. I don’t know how to do the Heimlich maneuver.” He grabbed another hunk for himself. “This is really good by the way. Did you make it?”

She nodded once. “Old family recipe.”

“The dinner is next Friday and I’ll give you formal instructions for it that day. I don’t need to tell you that it’ll be a surprise to you.”

They were sitting next to each other on their fallen log with the fudge container between them. Rani nodded again, debating whether to take the last piece of fudge. He handed it to her with a small smile and she was surprised by how young he looked away from the stresses of school.

“It’ll be formal?”

“Yep. Ten courses and three hours of agony. But the food’s usually good if you have the stomach to eat it. Oh! And since I sit at my father’s right hand and you’ll be next to me, you get a front row seat.”

Rani chewed her lip. “What should I wear?” With five and a half days a week spent at school in a grey jumpsuit her wardrobe wasn’t that well stocked. A potential prom dress and a few short party dresses that Melinda made her buy. Nothing really fitting a grown-up formal function.

“Uh. How should I know?” Darren scratched his nose and frowned. “I’m wearing a black suit. I think its Armani or Valentino or somebody. My dad has some buyer fill our closets with what’s fashionable.”

Rani’s eyes widened. “I can’t afford that.”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure that you’ll be beautiful in what-ever you wear.”

Rani blushed.

“But I don’t like your hair now,” he said, scowling.

Rani’s hand flew up to inspect it for flyaways. “What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s not you. It used to be all spiky and untamed. Now you look like damn Jackie Kennedy!” He reached over to ruffle it and it didn’t do much more than dent from all the hairspray.

“Oh, that. Well, I didn’t feel very defeated when I was letting my hair flip up, so I decided to change it. I do need to look into better hairspray though, this stuff is awful. I feel like I’m wearing a helmet!”

“You look like you’re wearing a helmet.”

Laughing, Rani shoved Darren hard enough he nearly fell off the log.

SIX

Rani inspected herself in the mirror. “I don’t know,” she said softly even as her heart sped up.

She and Melinda were in Macy’s looking for a dress for the mayor’s dinner that night. Darren had just dropped the news on her at lunch and with hunched shoulders Rani had asked Melinda to help her shop.

Melinda hugged her shoulders. “Oh honey. You look gorgeous.”

The sleeveless navy slant-tiered dress was draped with a sheer flowy fabric that moved even when she didn’t. “My arms look fat.”

Melinda sighed. “No they don’t. You’re arms are as toned as Michelle Obama’s. Straighten your shoulders and push out your chest. No wonder you think you look bad, you’re all hunched up.”

Rani reluctantly did as instructed and smiled inwardly at her appearance. She did look great, but she couldn’t reveal that she thought so. “I guess.” She looked at the tag. “But this dress is really expensive.”

“You’re worth it and you know it.”

When Rani told her mother about the dinner, she’d handed her credit card to her daughter and told her to buy whatever she needed. She knew her parent’s could afford the dress and the strappy high heels the saleslady had brought over, but it didn’t stop her from feeling like it was still too much.

But when she pictured what Darren would look like in his Armani suit, she knew she had to buy the dress.

“Alright. I guess this one will work.”

“Great!” Melinda didn’t wait for Rani to slouch her way into the dressing room before she ran off to the jewelry department, probably looking for a necklace to pair with the dress.

◙◙◙

“You look beautiful,” Darren said after he tugged Rani into the coat closet. He started pulling coats off the rack and dropping them to the floor.

“Thank you.” Her cheeks still felt warm from being groped in front of all of his father’s guests and she could feel her cheeks darken again at his compliment.

Rani hadn’t missed the change that’d occurred the past few weeks. The way Darren stared a little too long, how he never drank when it was just the two of them. And especially about how reluctant he suddenly was to spend time with his female admirers. Rani nibbled on her lip as she watched him artfully destroy the small room.

Darren stood up and admired his work. “Not bad, doll. Thanks.” He ruffled Rani’s hair and she scowled up at him.

“Do you know how long Melinda spent on my hair this afternoon?!” she said through gritted teeth.

He gave her a pained look. “I realize that. But I can’t let you leave here unruffled.”

She sighed, crossing her hands over her chest. “I still have a crick in my back from sitting still so long, so I’m a little pissed at you right now.”

He kissed her cheek, his hands sliding onto her waist. “I’m sorry.”

Rani’s stomach clenched as her heart sped up. She leaned towards him to breathe in his spicy scent and realized just how close his mouth was. Gulping air, she tried to step back.

“Don’t,” he breathed in her ear, bending his head towards hers.

“No,” she said, pulling away. He let her go.

She turned towards the door, smoothing her skirt with her hands then trying to smooth her hair back into the up-do Melinda had painstakingly created. Her hands were shaking and she couldn’t work the pins free.

“Stop.” Darren took her by the shoulders and made her look at him. “I’m sorry for that.” The corner of his mouth quirked up. “Yeah, I’m attracted to you. Go figure. Please don’t kick me in the crotch for it. Are we cool?” he asked, tilting his head with a smile.

Rani couldn’t keep the mortification off her face as she reflexively brushed her hair behind her ear. “I don’t know what I’m doing. Just ignore me,” she said grimacing.

“We’ll, we’ve spent enough time in here, so your embarrassment is well earned. I’ll open the door and we’ll walk out. You won’t meet anyone’s eyes and I’ll vaguely point you towards the bathroom. It’s the first door on the left. Cool?”

“Got it,” she said, breathing easier as he didn’t press her about the non-kiss.

Darren raked his hands through his dark hair and surreptitiously half unzipped his fly before putting his arm casually across Rani’s shoulders and opened the closet door.

The foyer was still full of uneasy guests waiting to be called into the dining room. Mayor Lunsford didn’t believe in pre-dinner cocktails nor in welcoming his guests at the door and inviting them into the lounge. No, he enjoyed their discomfort and Darren knew he was sitting in his office watching the security camera footage of his guests’ painful attempts at small talk.

Just as he’d promised, Darren gave her a none too gentle shove towards the bathroom with instructions to “tidy yourself up”.

Even before she’d left his side he turned to look at the guests, daring them to comment on her disheveled appearance. He threw his head back and laughed when no one would meet his gaze then boldly zipped his fly to ensure that there were no doubts. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a father pull his teen-aged daughter slightly behind him and out of Darren’s view. Good man, he thought, even as he sent the father a glare that made the man pale.

◙◙◙

Rani was horrified by the state of her hair. What had been a style straight off Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s was now a mess worthy of Miss Frizzle, but not in a cool way. Melinda had added a hair piece to form the bun portion for Rani’s otherwise short hair and it had been turned askew, probably by her own doing after the minor freak out.

Sighing, she removed all the remaining pins holding the piece and briefly wondered how she’d turn her short hair into something dinner worthy. Luckily Melinda had tucked a comb and a travel sized bottle of hairspray in her clutch and Rani was able to comb her hair back into the demure Jackie Kennedy bob. It wasn’t special for the occasion, but didn’t give the stylistic bird she’d unconsciously flipped in defiance for the past four years. Her mother had found the product that didn’t give her a helmet while keeping her curls sedately tucked under. Rani’s tongue had been sore for two days from biting it to maintain a meek composure while Mora praised her for being a team player.

After touching up her makeup and satisfied that she no longer appeared a disgrace, she left the bathroom to find the foyer empty. It seemed that the party had finally started without her.

She followed the sound of murmured voices and loud cutlery to the dining room and smoothed her dress a final time before stepping through the archway to face the Mayor’s dinner.

The room was meant to intimidate. Whether by the twenty foot ceilings, the two enormous golden chandeliers, the single dark wood table able to seat thirty comfortably and yet unblemished by inserted leaves, or the mural depicting the crucifixion that dominated the entire wall across from the entrance, jaws were supposed to drop when one entered.

Rani’s jaw clenched, but after noting Darren’s location she wasted no time in dropping her eyes to the floor as though embarrassed by her late arrival. She took a tentative step in his direction and nearly collided with the footman who was serving the first course of oysters.

“Look who finally decided to arrive,” Mayor Lunsford said loudly, interrupting what little conversation his guests were making. The sound of the silverware scraping on the china stopped as everyone gave him their full attention.

Rani’s allowed her voice to tremble, but oddly she didn’t feel frightened. “I-I’m sorry, sir. I was in the powder room.” Thinking of Darren’s mouth, her cheeks flushed.

“Come here.”

Responding at once, she walked to the head of the table. Or she would’ve had her stiletto heel not caught in the thick pile of the carpet and caused her to stumble. The mayor laughed as Rani worked her shoe free and stepping carefully she was finally able to stand before him.

Darren had inherited more than his father’s black hair and eyes. They also shared the slight build that concealed the clout they wielded. But it was the subtle differences she noticed that proved that the son was not the monster his father was. There was no light in the mayor’s eyes that flickered whenever he was amused. His mouth didn’t quirk as he hid the desire to smile broadly. And his brow certainly didn’t soften as he looked at her when no one was around. There was no subtlety of emotion for the mayor. No pleasant expression ever fully removed the coldness from his eyes.

Marcus Lunsford leaned back in his French dining chair, resting his elbows on the arms and taping his lips with his peaked fingers. “So. You’re my son’s latest whore. Not bad, kid.” He reached over and squeezed her bottom. “Nice ass.”

Rani saw Darren’s jaw clench, but neither of them moved. She forced a tear to slide down her cheek and ruined her lipstick from all her chewing. “Please, sir…”

“You want me to take you right here?” he said, addressing the room as a whole with a laugh. The guests responded appropriately, laughing loudly with their master. “That’s not exactly sanitary, but given your history, I suppose it’s not a surprise that you’d suggest it. But, as tempting as you are I’m hungry for something else right now. Sit so that we can enjoy our dinner.”

He gave her butt an extra caress before pushing her towards her seat.

Darren ignored Rani, slouching in his chair as she was helped into her chair by a footman who didn’t dare serve her the first course, forcing her to sit uncomfortably and watch as everyone resumed their meal. After her disastrous entrance, no one seemed eager to speak to her.

Perusing the setting in front of her, she quickly counted six forks of varying sizes. She gulped, sending quick thanks skyward for her avid interest in period dramas. She was reasonably sure she wouldn’t use her dinner fork for her salad. Her water glass was full and she had to stop herself from gulping it all at once. Her throat was so dry she barely noticed the slight lemony flavor.

Rani was somewhat surprised by the happy little violets decorated the table, contrasting with the unhappiness apparent on the guests’ faces. She couldn’t help but feel a little glad that she hadn’t been served the oysters because while they might have given her something to hide behind they didn’t look particularly appetizing. No one dared to not eat them and she saw more than a few grimaces that were quickly stifled.

She watched as mayor Lunsford enjoyed his dinner party, laughing as he told the city manager sitting to his left an obscene joke. The city manager tugged on his collar as he laughed, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze.

Relief filled the eyes of the few that had stalled in eating their oysters as Rani realized that that the footmen had arrived with the second course.

“Thank you,” she said as the man placed the soup before her. A glance around the table showed that everyone waited for the mayor to begin, but unfortunately a glance at her bowl revealed an eyeball. Her eyes widening, she suddenly felt a hand on her thigh.

Darren hadn’t realized that his father would choose such a menu, but he knew that it was only going to get worse. The mayor’s soup obviously didn’t have any fish eyeballs floating in it. It was even red rather than the pale yellow of everyone else’s. Example #107 of how Mayor Lunsford demoralized his constituency, he thought.

Finally the mayor gave his guests the signal that they could eat, not that anyone was excited to. He called to the accountant sitting halfway down the table, asking how the soup was. The man’s smile was more of a grimace as he declared it delicious.

Darren tried to sip some of the broth, but it was over salted and sour. Flicking his father a not so subtle finger he downed his glass of wine and gestured for the footman to refill it and leave the bottle.

To keep his father’s attention off of Rani, he made an effort to flirt with the reporter sitting halfway down the table.  She was easily a decade older than him, but knew enough of his reputation to refrain from slapping him for his cheek as he openly discussed the probability of a rendezvous in the butler’s pantry in front of her fiancé.

The third course arrived and though he saw the relief cross Rani’s face, Darren wasn’t fooled.

“Rocky Mountain Oysters!” the mayor introduced with a grand flourish. “Or for those of you who prefer laymen’s terms: calf testicles.”

They mayor’s plate held what was obviously chicken tenders, breaded and fried. The things breaded and fried on everyone else’s plates were not as immediately appetizing. But at least Darren had tried this delicacy before and knew that they weren’t bad with ketchup once you got over the reality of what they were. He requested the magical red sauce from a footman and placed it on the table within easy reach for Rani.

Keeping her head bowed she whispered a request to have some.

“Whatever floats your boat,” he said, waving a hand. He was preoccupied with trying to flick lemon seeds from his water into the low cut collar of the city manager’s wife across the table. Running out of ammunition, he stuck his hand into Rani’s glass to retrieve the seeds there.

That might’ve pissed her off, he thought, catching a firm kick to the leg from her pointed shoe. She managed to keep most of her ire off her face even while her jaw tightened to the point of aching.

Closing her eyes she popped one of the “oysters” into her mouth and was surprised that she actually enjoyed it. Until she remembered that it was a testicle, at which point she gagged involuntarily and reached for her violated water goblet.

The rest of the dinner passed by thusly, with dishes that increased in their ability to nauseate even when their taste wasn’t awful. Rani had never been an adventurous eater so she found it interesting how often she could enjoy an item except when she was reminded of what she was eating. Unfortunately, to add to the enjoyment of the evening, the mayor had requested that random dishes be ruined in a variety of ways so that every mouthful was not only a question of “will I enjoy eating tongue” but also “will this tongue bite me back because of too much hot sauce”.

Darren moved on from throwing lemon seeds to telling the raunchiest jokes imaginable to the priest who sat at the foot of the table. Then he turned Rani’s chair towards him, unzipped her dress and made out with her in front of everyone, pausing occasionally to work on his second bottle of wine.

“Thanks babe,” he’d said, licking his lips and turning back to the dinner.

Mortified, she’d excused herself to the bathroom, struggling to keep herself covered, though she’d been thankful for the break that allowed her to settle her nerves.

Her butt had long sense fallen asleep and the pain in her back from having her hair done was from having her hair done was nothing compared to how it felt after two hours in the most uncomfortable chair she’d ever met. And wrestling to get her dress re-zipped on her own didn’t help much.

As she washed her face she inspected the fact that she’d spent a lot of time with her mouth on Darren’s in public over the past six months, but it didn’t compare with maybe kissing him in private. She had no real experience with kissing. She’d always just stand there lamely trying to push him off while he did all the work. To be honest, if what he did was supposed to be enjoyable, she’d rather not.

But her heart knew he was always over the top about it…and that freaked her out even more. He was going to expect her to kiss him for real in private and how the hell was she supposed to know what to do?!

Snorting, she shook her head. She had bigger fish to fry. Her stomach gurgled. Man, she wanted some fried fish now…or anything edible. She was surprised to find she had an appetite after an evening of her guts clenching and unclenching every time the mayor looked her way.

After fixing her makeup she returned to dinner where Darren was obnoxiously trying to play the water glasses and the mayor was delighting in asking the diners whether they enjoyed the floral notes in the Waldorf pudding knowing full well that they were eating ultra sour lemon gelato.

Finally the mayor leaned back in his chair, rubbing his hands together. “Now, after that delicious dinner, let us get down to business. It’s come to my attention that there have been certain inflammatory comments spreading through our community. These cannot be allowed to continue if we want to maintain our pristine record on crime. We’ve all seen the horrors that exist in communities where false accusations and rumors are allowed to spread.

“Citizens begin to think that their livelihoods are no longer protected so they think they must act first. Anarchy ensues. We cannot have anarchy. So tell me. Do any of you know where these rumors originated from?”

The silence as the city council members’ looked at each other was only disturbed by the occasional squeak of a chair as someone shifted their weight.

“Well, sir,” the city manager’s wife said finally, “there was that extra paragraph hidden inside the menus mailed out by that new Chinese restaurant. Maybe one of their employees was upset by the owner’s hanging?”

They mayor pursed his lips. “Do you really think that one of them would do that knowing firsthand the risks associated with such false accusations?”

Rani bit the inside of her lip to stop her mouth from falling open. She’d read the paragraph in question and had been amused by its author’s audacity. She also knew that every claim it made was not only truth, but that the evidence could be found in their textbooks! It was such common knowledge that no one discussed it.

“No,” the mayor continued, “there is someone else who is wants to destroy this beautiful city. Someone who thinks that they know what’s best for our citizens. Someone who, I’m afraid, we all know.” He gave the group a significant look and they all searched the room, trying to figure out who the traitor might be.

“Lynn isn’t here.” Rani recognized the president of the bank. He was a small, squat man with a doughy face. A face that was slowly turning purple as he drew a new conclusion about their world. “As the town librarian, she would have no trouble passing along rumors. She might even be secretly tucking pamphlets into the books of those who would be easily swayed by the lies.”

Rani’s stomach dropped into her knees. The bank president’s niece had stupidly bragged about her familial connections to the mayor in gym a few weeks ago. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but she’d gone into some detail about how the mayor could frame anyone at any time so her enemies had better watch their backs. Obviously she hadn’t considered the effects of providing evidence of activities the mayor wished to keep private.

Worse yet, Lynn Hirsch was Melinda’s mother and if the mayor decided to investigate one, the entire family would be vulnerable.

Darren laid his hand back on her thigh and she realized that her knees were bobbing up and down from her fright. The soft rustling she dimly heard disappeared as she willed them to stop shaking.

“I cannot believe that Mrs. Hirsch would do such a thing,” Mayor Lunsford said shaking his head in disbelief. Rani almost believed that he was shaken at the accusation except that the coldness never left his eyes.

“She does have the means and opportunity,” said Mr. Potts, the ancient owner of the hardware store, quietly.

“She should have been here tonight,” said the reporter’s fiancé.

The rest of the council seconded this judgment with varying degrees of certainty. All except for the priest at the end of the table who looked heartbroken yet unwilling to voice his opinion.

Rani’s throat was tight with tears as she watched and listened to the council condemn her best friend’s mother without any help of the mayor. Stealing a quick glance at showed him nonchalantly sipping his wine with nothing more than a tiny smile on his lips as they did the dirty work for him.

Darren sat back in his chair as apparently relaxed as his father. Only his hand on her thigh letting her know that he was as horrified as she was. Or was he?

SEVEN

Rani had to get out of that house. She could feel the walls enclosing in on her. The painting of Judas selling out Christ on the opposite wall was entirely too apropos for the moment and she lost all control over her knees.

Darren knew she was in the middle of a panic attack and he wasn’t sure what to do about it. While he could drag her to his bedroom and no one would comment the most unfeeling thing he could do to her would be to let her fall apart in front of everyone.

Fuck it. He stood up. “This shit is boring. Burn the bitch in her fucking library. That’ll make a point. I’m outta here.” He grabbed Rani’s arm, yanking her out of her chair and pulled her along behind him, not stopping until they reached the massive garage. He left the main lights off relying only on the emergency lights that were always on indicating that the exhaust system was engaged as he led her through the rows of classic coupes, exotic imports, and muscle cars.

“Y…You shouldn’t be driving,” she said, realizing where they were.

“That’s my girl,” he said as he concentrated on pushing the button on the handle with his thumb as he pulled opened the passenger door of the ivory ‘52 Packard. “Focus on the mundane.” He helped her into the car and walked around to the driver’s side.

She was sitting rigidly staring down at her hands clasped in her lap as he slid in beside her. “You’ve been drinking. You shouldn’t drive,” she said again and Darren winced at her lack of emotion.

“I’m not planning on driving. We’re just going to sit here and talk.” He was definitely feeling the effects of the wine and he moved closer to her leaning heavily onto the red and white leather bench seat.

Rani shivered and he smoothly put his arm around her shoulders.

“Ow!”

Whoops. He’d misjudged the distances and smacked her in the head. “Sorry,” he said, gently rubbing the spot he’d hit, annoyed by the stiffness of her hair.

She laughed softly at his drunkenness until it suddenly morphed into tortured sobs, her body wrenching. Silently he pulled her into his embrace, tucking her head into his shoulder. As he buried his nose in her hair he noticed that her hairspray muffled her shampoo. That annoyed him, too.

Rani’s nose was running even faster than her mascara and she was afraid that Darren would find her hideous. He’d never seen her in all her crying glory. Holding her breath she pulled away from him…

And realized that she’d left streaks of tears and snot on the shoulder of his $1200 suit clearly visible even in the dim yellow emergency lights.

“Oh my God. I’m so sorry,” she gasped, wringing her hands as she stared in horror.

“Huh?” Darren felt warm and fuzzy as he tried to figure out what she was talking about. “Oh.” He handed her his silk handkerchief and tried not to stare at the mess that was usually her beautiful face. He frowned when she started blotting his jacket rather than herself.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, taking the handkerchief from her and gently cleaning her face, moving slowly to try not to poke her in the eye.

“They’re going to kill her…”

Darren didn’t comment as he scrubbed the makeup from her cheek. For not being waterproof it sure dried fast.

“Darren. We have to do something,” she said taking the handkerchief from him. She shifted, tucking one leg under the other as she faced him.

“And what exactly do you suggest? Everyone who’s ever tried something has ended up dead. I’m not putting myself on the line for nothing.”

“You’d let her die?!” She shivered again and Darren pulled his coat off, holding it open as she inserted her arms.

“I’m not going to die in her place,” he said, pulling on the lapels of his coat closed around her.

Rani glared at him for a moment. Then her chin dropped to her chest as her eyes again filled with tears. “There’s nothing we can do?”

“I didn’t say that.” He tilted her chin up, forcing her eyes to meet his.

He lost his train of thought as he lost himself in her eyes. Before he could stop himself, he brought his mouth down onto hers.

At first she didn’t respond, but he knew she was unaccustomed to really kissing and he didn’t push her. His patience was rewarded as she tentatively pressed her lips into his and he brought his hand up to stroke her cheek.

She pulled back slightly, biting her lip as her cheeks warmed.

“You’re doing fine,” he murmured as he closed the distance between them again, wrapping one arm around her waist as he pulled her closer. Tilting his head further, he slowly deepened the kiss, taking a risk and sliding his tongue against her soft lips. He expected her to pull away and was pleasantly surprised when she opened up for him.

Rani was slightly overwhelmed the unfamiliar feeling and pulled away again as she was assaulted by the taste of alcohol on his tongue.

He growled low in his throat as her mouth left his.

“You taste sour,” she said.

“You taste sweet,” he replied, leaning into her once more.

“Stop.” She pushed against his chest and he relented with a sigh.

“I’m drunk, but that doesn’t change things. I’m not going to hurt you, but I want to kiss you. A lot.” He brushed his hand over her hair before softly running his thumb over her bottom lip.

Rani’s heart sped up as she met his gaze and she licked her lips. She wanted to kiss him too, but she also didn’t want to look like a dork. Swallowing, she reached up slowly and ran her hand through his hair, marveling at how soft it was.

The corner of his mouth turned up and his eyes brightened as he bent his head towards her again. “If you need to pull back, do it. And when you’re ready again, my mouth won’t be too far away.”

Rani couldn’t keep the slight smile off her lips as she took the initiative and pressed her mouth to his.

◙◙◙

“Mornin’.”

Rani grumbled, snuggling deeper into her warm pillow. Her eyes flashed open as her pillow started softly tickling her waist.

“Oh crap,” she said, realizing that she and Darren were still lying across the bench seat of the Packard.

Darren’s chest shook as he chuckled, “Not a morning person, eh?”

“My parents are going to kill me,” she said sitting up.

He gave a disdainful snort, rolling his eyes. “I doubt that.” He sat up too, though with a slight grimace. “I’ll be right back, don’t move.”

She frowned as he worked his way to the driver’s door. “What’s wrong?”

“Full bladder.”

Rani didn’t hide her smile as she leaned heavily against the seat, yawning and rubbing her eye. It was chilly in the car without him so she burrowed deeper into his now very rumpled suit coat.

Her good mood disappeared as she remembered what all had happened the night before. Melinda’s mother…

“You distracted me last night,” she said as Darren opened the driver’s door and climbed inside.

“Actually, you distracted me.” He pulled her onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her and burying his nose into her neck.

“Stop that,” she said, pushing his head away. “We have to do something.”

He inhaled slowly, his arms tightening. “I’m with you,” he said finally. “Whatever you decide. I’m with you.”

“But will you help me?”

“Yeah,” he said reluctantly. “Take me to the hangman, I’ll help you. Whatever you need.”

“Thanks.” She twisted around and kissed his cheek quickly. As she pulled away he grabbed the back of her head and tugged her mouth back to his, growling.

“Stop that,” she chastised as she drew herself away from him. “We have work to do.”

“‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,’” he quoted, pouting.

“Well you got to play all night, so now is time for work.” She tried to wiggle off his lap, but he kept a firm grip on her.

“You know, that’s the first time I’ve ever spent the night with a woman and not had sex with her.” He shifted her weight to a more comfortable position.

“Well don’t go getting any ideas…please.” She knew that if he ever decided to go bad, she wouldn’t be able to fend him off.

“Really?” He gave a sarcastic snort. “After all we’ve been through,” he said, shaking his head.

“Anyway.” Rani pushed herself off his lap and he let her go. Sitting with some distance between them, she could think clearer. “Everyone who’s ever stood up against the mayor has always hidden in the shadows, right?”

“For the most part,” he agreed.

“Then we should do something very public. A demonstration against the oppression showing everyone that we’re not going to ask them to do anything that we wouldn’t do ourselves.”

“Okay. Can you put it together yourself or do you need my help directly?” He twisted a lock of her hair between his fingers.

“Alright, bud.” She flicked his hand away, turning to face him fully. “We need to discuss just exactly how much you’re willing to help because you’re giving me nothing here.”

“I’ll tell you what your odds of success/death are for the plan you give me. But without more information I don’t know if you’re looking at a few days or a few hours. That’s why I asked if you want me to give direct help or just critique your plan once it’s finished. You’re the brains of this operation.”

“What would you do?”

“Run. Right after graduation I’m hopping on my Chief and leaving this hellhole. That’s one thing my father has never stopped. We’re all free to leave and I cannot understand why people stay.”

“It’s our home. And the world outside is…” she shrugged.

“Brainwashed. Got it.” He leaned back against the driver’s door.

Rani frowned, tilting her head. “They’re brainwashed?”

“No. This town is brainwashed. Yeah, some bad stuff happens on the outside, but it’s not as bad as most people think.”

“I’ve read the papers—there’s always murders.”

“There are murders here, too. Everyone’s brainwashed into thinking that if they behave and do what they’re told they’ll be safe and that’s bullshit. The few times my dad has come close to catching an actual guilty person, they’ve left. Every single person that’s died has been innocent.

“I watched you at your brother’s…” he trailed off. “You know he wasn’t leading the football team into revolt.”

She bowed her head. “I know. It’s just…I can’t even imagine leaving. My family has lived here for generations.”

“Yeah. And so has mine. A town of immigrants, unsure of this new world happily tucked themselves under the wing of a man who promised that if they gave him a bit of money he’d keep them safe. Add a few well placed rumors and some ‘evidence’ of foul play and neighbor will happily turn against neighbor.”

“But everyone knows that the mayor is behind it.”

“Is he?” Darren asked, taking her face into his hands. “Who was really plotting against Lynn Hirsch in there?”

Rani’s eyes widened. “Oh my God.”

He let her go. “All my dad does is drop a few hints then he presides smugly judge. Sometimes he’ll fabricate evidence, but more often than not he’s just spinning what already exists into circumstantial evidence.”

“Oh God,” Rani said as she realized the full extent of the situation. “Every time someone starts something, they create evidence for the next scapegoat.”

“Exactly. My father doesn’t care who hangs so long as he makes a statement and the bloody cowards either leave in shame or fight the hardest against other rebels.”

“So if we make a public statement we won’t be cowards, but we’re not going to make any allies from those who’ve tried before and ended up killing an innocent.”

“Not likely,” he agreed. “Though my father would probably enjoy watching us get ripped apart by those who formerly opposed him.”

“Shit.”

Darren smiled. Rani didn’t curse often and she always took on a bit of an accent as through trying to hide the profanity.

“What are you smiling about.” She frowned. “We’re screwed.”

“We were born screwed. We can’t screw up much more than we already are, so why worry?”

“Gah!” She threw her hands up. “I need to get home and face the walk of shame. And I need time to think about this mess. I’m not going to let Melinda go through this without a fight.”

“Of course you won’t.” He stroked her cheek with his finger. “Your pretty neck with hang right next to hers with me stupidly next to you. I hope you weren’t planning on a quiet execution because I plan to go down with some awesomely sarcastic last words.” He reached across her to the glove drawer and pulled out the keys. “Care to be driven home in this one? Or do you want something flashier? The Lamborghini?”

“Your dad let’s you drive his cars?!” There were easily $5 million worth of vehicles in the garage.

“No. But he’s not going to stop me. I’m a world class douchebag, in case you missed that performance at dinner last night. Are you happy with this car?”

When she nodded he helped her with the aftermarket lap belt before fastening his own. Automatically shifting into classic car mode, he pushed down the clutch with his left foot, turning the key and slowly pressed down the accelerator with his right until the car started.

He was careful as he drove through the garage. He might not respect his father, but the cars were all cherry and he didn’t believe in destroying any work of art out of vengeance.

He flicked off the security camera before punching his code into the key panel to open the doors, peeling out as soon as there was room for the car.

◙◙◙

Rani was lying prone on her bed poring through her psychology notebook when her father yelled to her that Darren was at the door. Frowning, she went downstairs.

She was still pissed that he hadn’t mentioned just how much her hair had resembled a bird’s nest when he dropped her off that morning. Not that her parents had commented on the fact that she’d been out all night.

She stopped a few steps from the bottom when she caught the insatiable lust on his face. He’d never come to her home before and had tore off as soon as she’d shut the door of the car. It took her a moment to hunch her shoulders and lower her gaze to his feet.

“Yes?” she asked as she stood in front of him, chewing on her bottom lip.

“I’m bored,” he said simply. “Show me your room.”

Rani’s eyes darted to her father whose jaw and fists were clenched tight, but he didn’t say anything and she didn’t disobey Darren, turning around to go back upstairs.

He followed slowly. “Do you have any silk nighties? T-shirts and pajama bottoms aren’t very sexy.”

Rani rolled her eyes as he tortured her father, but didn’t comment until they got to her room and she’d shut the door.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, sitting on the end of the full sized bed.

He threw himself on the bed next to her, completely laid out. “Like I said. Bored. And I wanted to see how you’re doing with our suicide plan.”

“Well…we have to get everyone to admit their own failings publically, which seems to be nearly impossible to do. Funny how it goes against human nature to admit that they screwed up,” she said sarcastically, falling backwards, enjoying the slight flip in her stomach as she released herself to gravity. She turned her head to look at Darren, noticing how his nose looked extra crooked in the light cast by her reading lamp. She drew her finger down the length of it, feeling the bumps.

“Yeah…it’s ugly, I know.” He didn’t flinch, resigned to the deformity.

“It’s not so bad. It gives you character. And it reminds me how strong you are.”

“Heh. I think it shows how big a coward I am. I got it from standing up to my father and haven’t done so since.”

“You could be just like him and yet you’re not. You let everyone think you’re this awful badass when in reality you’re kind of a softy. That takes strength. To let everyone hate you for something you’re not.”

He shrugged and changed the subject. “Tell me how you get people to admit their faults.”

Rani sighed. “I don’t know. There’s a chapter on empowerment that seems helpful, but it’s aimed at self-destructive individuals. People who are without hope. But the trigger is different for everyone and few are persuaded without an intense personal mentorship. It’s not something that happens overnight.”

Darren absently ran his fingers over Rani’s abdomen, thinking. “Do you think they’re happy?”

“What?”

“The people in this town. Do you think they’re happy being used?”

“Who could be?” There was always a sense of sadness under even the most pleasant encounters as families remembered their loved ones who weren’t there. And the constant fear that something said without thought could be used against them later on.

“Maybe you could give a speech on happiness. No accusations. No demands. Just a nice little push to help people take control over their own happiness. You might even be able to do it without my dad realizing its true intent. He’s not a big fan of literature.”

Rani sat up and frowned down at him. “I’m definitely not the brains of this operation. That’s brilliant.” She smiled as she got off the bed to find a blank notebook.

“I like listening to you speak. You always give great presentations in class and I enjoy the little digs you make under everyone’s nose.”

Rani ignored him as she threw herself back on the bed and began to brainstorm the speech.

“Wait,” she said, pausing her pen mid-word. “When am I supposed to give this? Mrs. Hirsch is going to be investigated within the next couple of weeks at the most. I can’t wait until graduation.”

“Homecoming is this weekend. As valedictorian it wouldn’t be too odd for you to give one of the speeches. It might do something or it might do nothing, but it’s a start.”

Rani crawled over to give him a deep kiss. “Thank you for coming over tonight,” she said before she moved back to her notebook.

He surprised her by throwing her notebook to the floor and rolling her over until she was pinned beneath him, his hips between hers. As she tried to ask him what he was doing, he crushed his mouth to hers in a way that frightened her.

Until her door opened to show her parents.

“It’s getting late,” her father said, his voice shaking slightly. “He should be getting home.”

Darren gave him the full force of his glare before turning back to look down at Rani his brow instantly softening. He gave her a tender kiss. “Don’t stay up too late,” he whispered against her lips before he rose from the bed.

◙◙◙

Rani looked out at the crowd gathered for the Homecoming presentations and dinner. It hadn’t been hard to get permission from the principal and Homecoming committee to give the keynote address as no one cared to do it anyway.

“‘A feeling or state of well-being and contentment,’” she began. “That’s how the dictionary defines happiness.

“We all know what it is. It’s what gives our actions meaning. Everything we do, we do because we believe it will make us happy. No one does something that they believe will bring them sadness in the long term. That’s not the way human nature works.

“Unfortunately, not all actions result in happiness. Sometimes the surgery doesn’t work and the dog dies anyway. Sometimes we still lose the friend even though we gave them proof that their lover is cheating. Sometimes we’re thrown a curve ball from left field and never suspected that the promotion would alienate us from our families.

“When our actions inadvertently create sadness it’s only natural to want to hide it. To pretend that it’s not our fault. Sometimes that is true. Sometimes, shit happens and there’s nothing we can do about it. We cannot blame ourselves for the things we cannot control.

“But sometimes, in order to be happy, we have to admit to ourselves that we did screw up. That we missed the signs. Because when we’re not honest with ourselves, we’re not truly in a state of well-being. We’re not truly content. We’re merely acting the part, praying everyday that no one sees through the charade and asks the questions we daren’t ask ourselves.

“To be happy, we must ask: Are we truly happy? Or are we pretending to love every little thing about our lives because it’s easier than dealing with the fear? It is scary to leave our comfort zone. To be someone new. Someone that even our closest friends wouldn’t recognize because they’ve never truly known who we really are.

“But it is also silly to fear the unknown when we’re not happy with the known. We shouldn’t give up the chance to really be happy simply because we’re afraid that we might fail. Everyone fails at some point. Everyone becomes certain that the path they’re on must be the right one because if it’s not then it must mean that they’ve wasted their life. But life isn’t wasted so long as you still have breath.

“Everyone deserves to be happy. To be content with their life. To experience the feeling of their wishes being fulfilled. Don’t push aside your hopes and dreams because some people don’t want you to succeed. Because some people desire power at the expense of all others. Don’t let people use your fear to control you. Don’t doubt what you know to be true. Stand up for what you believe in. Defend it. But don’t be afraid to question it.

“The most contented man on the Earth is the one who fears no question because he’s already asked it.”

Rani took a deep breath as she finished her short piece. No one applauded. No one spoke.  No one moved.

Darren was sitting on the edge of the stage facing the crowd. He looked relaxed, but Rani knew he was tensed, ready for action if necessary.

Finally a small older woman stood up. “I’ve lost two sons, a nephew, and a granddaughter in this town. I did not speak up.” She sat down.

A young man stood next. “I’m an orphan. I wish I’d spoken up.”

There was some confusion as two women on opposite sides of the room stood up together. The younger gestured for the older to speak first. “I’m a coward,” she said quickly before dropping heavily back into her seat.

The younger woman looked surprised at the admission. “That wasn’t cowardly at all,” she told her before telling them the room that she also did not speak up.

When Rani told Melinda’s parents of their upcoming investigation, they revealed that they were part of a growing peaceful insurgency. They thought that Rani’s speech would be the perfect place to formally introduce themselves and one by one the members were standing in solidarity. No one had expected so many non-members to stand hence the growing confusion.

Tears were flowing openly down the cheeks of many in the audience as they finally forgave themselves and vowed to never let it happen again.

As the testimonials wound down members of the rebellion passed around information packets for the first free elections to take place two months later. Anyone who wished to run for mayor could apply.