Page 83 of The Devils They Are

"Oh, come on," she whines. "Senior. Year." The words annunciate with such force that I break my gaze with Hunter to look at her over my shoulder.

"You haven't told us the theme yet."

She grins. "Villains and sinners."

I roll my eyes, noticing that Arch does the same. Could the Willowbrook administration be any more obvious? I'm surprised they are even still holding a dance with our attendance here. It seems like the last thing they would want is to have all of us in one big room together—probably with spiked beverages.

Rylan plucks the flyer from her hands. "Villains and sinners, you say."

My eyes turn to him on their own accord, finding brief release as he scans the paper. When he looks up, his eyes dart to me. I turn back to Hunter. We're in some weird fucked-up version of I-Spy.

Thankfully, he doesn't seem to notice. Hunter sneers in disgust, finally turning away to read the flyer too. "The cheerleaders certainly have a weird sense of humor."

"Cheerleaders?" Abby asks, piping up with interest. "They picked the theme?"

Soph nods. "The staff give them a list of options and they pick one they like. It's a fundraiser for them."

"You omitted that information," I grouch. "Count me out. I'm not donating to those psychos' funds."

"Oh, come on," Soph groans. "We can hang by the food table. They don't come near it."

At the table, I catch sight of Abby giving doe-eyes to Arch, and when he sighs in resignation, I know we're both screwed. He turns his face, pursing his lips together in a silent conversation that says, "Well, if I have to go, you're fucking coming too."

"Fine," I relent, folding my arms. "But can we get to the purpose of this visit so I can return to my cheeseburger?"

Tai hands the flyer back to his sister, who snatches it for no reason other than she can. He holds up his hands in defeat before turning to me.

"Fight night tonight," he says. "The new cage is ready. No point waiting," he finishes with a grin.

Millie gasps excitedly behind me, and I swear I hear Parker curse under his breath. "Fine," I nod. "I'll let my people know."

"And don't think I've forgotten about the project," Tai grumbles. "We only have a week left. I'm not letting you be the reason I fail."

I raise an eyebrow. "Seriously? You're the idiot that near cried when seeing the equation."

"I had something in my eye!"

Soph leans closer to me, lowering her voice but ensuring Tai can still hear her. "Not true. He's been raging all week about it."

"Shut up, Sophia."

"Make me, Tai."

"Alright," I sigh, intervening before the siblings can draw any more attention to our small crowd. There's already a bunch of eyes watching the exchange. We can save that for tonight. "We can meet Monday after school."

Tai shakes his head. "We need more time than that. We're running out of time."

"Just take what you can get," I snap suddenly.

The table falls silent. I'm surprised that even the Three Musketeers are also biting their tongues at my random outburst. A flash of concern crosses Rylan's face, but it's quickly hidden with expert precision. We've been texting again this week but even he doesn't know why I've had a moment of weakness.

A hand touches my shoulder and immediately, I know it's Arch without looking. Mom's funeral is tomorrow. Rylan doesn't know. A part of me feels guilty, like I've been playing a persona all week in our conversations, purposely hiding a secret and making sure only to put forward the best parts of me—if they exist anymore. Only Arch knows the intimate details—just how I need it.

Mr. Morrison was nice enough to accommodate my schedule. After missing my fair share of classes lately, I was grilled by Dean Lannister at the start of the week and warned that any more absences would affect my graduation. I know I had ammo, a genuine reason, but I kept it to myself. If I was still at Cedar Heights, I probably would have owned up to my secret. But not here. So, we organized for a small service to take place at the Ridgeview Community Gardens over the weekend. Originally, I was going to go with Sunday since it's meant to rain tomorrow, but Arch made a good point—I'll want Sunday to myself, to grieve and come to terms with shit.

All in all, their suggestion of a fight night couldn't have come at a better time. I've been in a daze this week, doing everything I can to distract myself. But I can only run until tomorrow. At least tonight, I can find peace again… even if it's only temporary. I probably deserve to be locked up in an asylum. What sane person finds peace in violence? Humans are meant to have emotions, but I run from them like a person with commitment issues. It's the only cardio I'm good at—well, besides fighting. And I'm keen to get my knuckles bruised tonight.

Our card is already getting full. Between Mills and me, it won't take much to fill the other spots. Hell, Parker looks ready for round two as well.

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