The Wicked

“Are you eating?”

Logan’s voice makes my eyes crack open and my head turn to the right to look at her. She’s perched on her elbows, dark hair hanging behind her onto the sand while she studies me.

“What?”

The sun is shining so bright above the sand that it’s bouncing off and blinding me, and sweat has been dripping down the center of my chest since we stepped foot on the beach. I’m sure when I stand up, the towel I’m lying on will be drenched. The summer sun in the south-east is no joke; that’s why I lather myself in multiple layers of sunblock every time I leave the house. Sure, most of my tattoos were free because my cousin owns his own shop, and the others were paid for by my father’s accounts, but that doesn’t mean I need them getting damaged by the sun.

“Are. You. Eating?” Logan repeats herself slowly, like I’m stupid. “You look skinny.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Carson groans on her other side, a laugh in his voice. “Leave the man alone.”

I snort, cupping my hands over my eyes so I can see her better. “Dude, you need to chill. I’ve been taking care of myself my whole life, I’m good at it.”

Carson laughs louder. “Yeah, okay.”

“I’m just worried about you, Hayden. You’re not exactly the healthiest friend to have. I’m sorry that I care.” Logan rolls her eyes and looks out at the water, her hair falling over her face like she’s shielding herself from the vulnerability she’s showing.

Carson grabs her thigh. “Don’t be sensitive.”

“Lo.” I sit up, grabbing her hand. “I’m fine. Pinky fucking promise.”

She smacks my hand away. “You’re always disappearing, Hayden. You’re drinking a lot, you aren’t eating, I’m sure you have an STD or seven – you aren’t fine.”

I scrunch up my face. “I get tested after every new partner, dude. Plus, I haven’t hooked up with anyone in weeks.”

The lie slips from my tongue easier than it should – since if I can trust anyone, it’s these two people in front of me, but I’m not ready to talk about her. I’m not ready to talk about my fuzzy memories of my night in the storage closet with anyone. I want to keep her for myself.

And if I mention Penelope, I’ll have to mention Amethyst, and I’m not ready to share my oasis with my friends. When I’m there, I’m a Hayden they don’t know – one who does drugs off a dirty table and shares his cock with someone new every time.

I wasn’t lying about the STD tests, though, I’m not an idiot. I get enough unprotected head in the back of the club to know I need to be a regular at the doctor. Shit, I had a panel done yesterday. When I told Logan I’m good at taking care of myself, I meant it. I’ve been doing it since I was a child.

Logan clicks her tongue, her signature move when she isn’t winning an argument and wants the conversation to be over. I take the hint, not wanting this to escalate either. Standing up, I pat her shoulder. “I’m perfectly fine. Just because I do my own thing sometimes doesn’t mean I’m not taking care of myself. Plus, I didn’t think you guys would mind the time alone.”

She doesn’t answer me, so I start walking toward the ocean to join Levi. He’s been lying flat on his board for about an hour now, waiting for some magical waves to appear that he can ride. But the air is completely still. There’s not one cloud in the sky, and the ocean is resting as well.

The water is warm when I start wading in, and when it’s up to my waist, I dive forward and go under, heading farther out.

I stay under the salty surface of the Atlantic until my lungs are constricting in my chest, begging for oxygen. When I come up, Levi’s about four feet in front of me, so I keep pumping my arms to send me shooting through the water.

When I reach him, he turns to look at me over his shoulder. “Hey.”

“Nothin’?” I ask, nodding my head out to the still water.

“Not shit, man. Worst day for Lo to drag us to the beach,” he groans.

His skin is darker in the summer months since he’s spent so much time surfing. It suits him and makes his dark brown eyes seem lighter somehow. His hair is shaved down at the sides like always, except he has some stupid lightning bolt buzzed into the back right now.

“Do you miss me when I’m not around?” I ask, and Levi barks out a laugh.

“Oh yeah, I lose sleep over it.”

I laugh, pushing him hard enough that he almost falls from his board. “Bitch, I don’t mean in a weird way. Logan was saying that she’s worried about me because I’m always disappearing or some shit.”

Levi sits up and straddles his board, shrugging his shoulders. “That’s just Lo, dude. She worries.”

“Well, I wish she would stop,” I say, pressing my lips together.

“No, you don’t.” He chuckles, brushing some water from where it’s dripping down his forehead. “And neither do I, it’s nice having a girl in the group. She takes care of us.”

“You think that bothers Carson?”

“Nah,” Levi says, shaking his head. “It used to, but he knows she loves him with her whole chest. He knows she sees us as her brothers now.”

I hum between my lips. “I guess.”

“Dude, when you look at Lo, do you see someone you want to fuck?”

My face curls. “No, of course not.”

“And when you touch her, does your dick tingle?”

“What?!” I laugh. “No? Does yours?”

“Not anymore,” he says, looking out at the ocean in thought, as if he’s spitting wisdom. “I mean, yeah, there was a time when I wanted to be in her guts from sunup to sundown, but now when I look at her, it’s like I’m looking at someone else. I’m just looking at Carson’s girl, our friend, our sister.”

“What’s your point?” I chuckle, running my hands under the water.

“My point, bitch, is that Carson sees that, and he sees that she feels the same way about us. We all love each other, but in a fucked-up-family type of way. Don’t be so fucking hard on her for caring about you.”

I lick my dry lips. “Anyone ever told you that you’re one wise motherfucker?”

He cocks his head to the side to look at me and grins. “Not just a pretty face, dude.”

We leave the beach around lunchtime, stop to grab some food on the boardwalk and then head to Carson and Logan’s house to have a movie night. School starts in two weeks, and Carson heads to football camp tomorrow, so we’re having one last night, just the four of us, before things start getting busy.

We each go separate ways, Logan and Carson to their shared shower, Levi to the pool house, and me to the guest bathroom. Once I’ve soaked myself in the burning shower and put some sweats on, I head to the living room to wait for everyone else.

I mindlessly scroll my phone while I wait, flipping between each bullshit social media app. After I’ve gotten bored of them all, I swipe back to Instagram and type the name Penelope into the search bar. Long shot, but I’ve got time to kill.

I scroll through all the responses, the little profile pictures ranging from teens to old women. Levi drops down on the other side of the couch silently, but I don’t acknowledge him. I just keep hunting for the right Penelope.

I’ll never find her.

After another five minutes, I give up and lock my phone.

I look over at Levi, who has his head resting on the arm of the couch and his eyes closed.

Grabbing my phone again, I go to Facebook this time and type in her name. Clicking on the filters, I narrow the results down to people who live in Luxington.

Dozens of profiles pop up, but that’s better than the millions from Instagram, so I start my hunt again with fresh eyes. Again, it’s a mishmash of people, but I keep scrolling. When I get about halfway down the list, I spot her.

Penelope Leyton.

I press my teeth into my top lip as I click on her profile, and her image gets bigger along with the general information that Facebook displays.

Penelope Leyton.

Lives in Luxington, North Carolina

From Luxington, North Carolina

Went to Washington State University

Works at Luxington High School

Oh fuck.

“Who’s that?” Levi asks, making me jump. I realize he’s sat up and leaned over me to look at my screen while I got sucked into my phone.

I immediately lock the screen of my phone and drop it into my lap. “No one.”

“Let me see,” he says, grabbing for my phone.

I shoot daggers at him with my eyes, feeling heat spread over the back of my neck. “Mind your business, Levi.”

His brows pull down, and his mouth curls into a humorous smile. “What’s the big secret?”

“You guys ready?” Logan’s voice makes both of us look across the room to see her and Carson strolling in, both of them with wet hair and pajamas on.

“Ready,” I say, looking back at Levi, hoping he understands to keep his mouth shut. Thankfully, he doesn’t say anything, just relaxes back into the couch and puts his attention on our friends.

“What movie are you going to make us watch tonight?”

Logan and Carson have made themselves comfortable on the opposite couch, and Logan is already scrolling through the movies on the TV. She chuckles, but doesn’t answer.

“Oh god,” Levi groans. “Some girly shit? Okay, but we aren’t watching The Notebook again, I can’t cry like that tonight.”

I snort, kicking Levi’s leg playfully.

Carson laughs. “I don’t think any of us want to see you cry like that again, Valentino.”

Logan smacks him with the remote. “You cried when we watched Marley and Me, so don’t make fun of Levi.”

I shake my head as we all laugh, and Carson’s hand goes to his girlfriend’s neck. “Some things stay between us, remember, baby?”

She shakes him off. “Yeah, yeah. Now everyone be quiet, it’s starting.”

As I get comfortable on the couch, I’m desperate to pick my phone back up and keep stalking Penelope’s life on the internet. Now that I know her last name, it’ll be easier to find her on other apps.

Works at Luxington High School.

The words haunt me a little, but at least I know where to find her – especially if she doesn’t respond to me when I text her. It might complicate things that she’s employed by my high school, but I’m sure someone so young is only some sort of secretary or some shit. I’ve never even seen her before.

There’ve been a few people I’ve frequented – as far as sexual conquests. It’s not all hit it and quit it all the time; I’ve had some exchanges that lasted a handful of rounds. There’s this little feeling inside of me that keeps screaming at me that I need to fuck her again, need to touch her again, and goddamn, I need to eat her pussy for every meal.

I’m not done with her just yet. There’re still so many things in my imagination that I need to do with her.

No one I’ve met at Amethyst has ever fucked me that good – no one anywhere, really. She was fucking unhinged, a wild goddamn animal. The sex was unreal. The scabs underneath my shirt are proof of that, tingling and itching so good that I want to peel the skin off just to make the memory of her drip out again.

I pull up the contact I saved with her number, my thumb hovering over the button to send her a message.

It’s been two days, it’s time.

Pressing the button, I start typing.

ME:

Meet me at Amethyst tonight?

I lock my phone and drop it between my thighs in a panic, looking up at the TV to find the opening scene for Finding Nemo playing.

I chuckle, looking at Levi out the corner of my eye. “You’re definitely going to cry.”