Page 28 of Dirty Roulette
Payton:Where are you?
Crab:Weight room.
Payton:Is Brody there too?
Crab:Yeah, why?
“Now if you turn to the next page on the syllabus, we will talk about rules on using cellphones in class.” The professor flashes me a quick glance.
I couldn’t prevent the eye roll I gave him as I slid the phone back into my pocket. The packet stares at my face for another fifteen minutes. He tells us something about writing a biography and I miss half of the words he says.
When we are dismissed, I race out the door before anyone else. My gaze stays on the worn muddy blue tiles as I fume down the hallway, staring at the map for the weight room.
I push the Sports Center doors open and footsteps pound into my eardrums. It’s like my lungs are in a mosh pit – one second I can’t breathe at all and the next I’m hyperventilating.
At this point, I have zero control. The manual system is overridden and tossed overboard. I guess the little voice in my head decided to pull a no-call-no-show on me today. My brain screams. It’s legit, a buildingon fire, with filing cabinets tipping over. Some subconscious part of me rocks in the back corner sobbing.
Nothing matters now. I storm into the men’s locker room like a full-blown category-five hurricane.
I funnel through the narrow metal lockers with clenched fists at my sides. Boys in their underwear or nothing at all stare with sweat skating down their faces. It stinks, and I can’t tell if it’s mold or the mixture of hormones perspiring off sweaty bodies.
“Girl, are you lost?” A guy asks in tighty-whitie underwear with a nice bulge greeting me.
I ignore him and shoulder-check another dude who tries to snag my attention.
“Hot chick at five o’clock!” A ginger guy winks, with his leg propped up on a bench with... ... Oh god...A wrinkling ball sack and his shriveled-up penis on full display.
I recoil when I inhale a whiff of cat piss and rotten feet. “Look, it’s the girl from Cloud Nine!” I hear the laughter bouncing off the metal lockers.
Stray clothes litter the benches. The howl of the showers gets closer with each step. I spot him through the clear shower curtain.That prick. I whip my backpack off and drop it on the wet floor. The steam melts my face as I draw the curtain to find Brody. Sizzling water hammers down his soapy back as he turns to meet my gaze. His shaggy blond hair drips with foamy water, and his dreamy eyes fuel my blood with rage.
I push Brody hard in the chest. “You’re a piece of shit! Delete those pictures!” I ball my fists and slug at his face multiple times. My heartbeat burns a hole in my knuckles.
“What the hell!” He shouts.
I’m molten hot from the shower raining down on me. I thrash, kick, and slap him repeatedly. “Get this trash off me!”
My palms burn. My bones snap into position before I even know what I’m doing, and I punch him in the chest.
Brody’s bare feet slip on the tile; But he steadies himself, grabs my wrists, and pits me against the ceramic wall.
Drops of blood pour down his nose and into the gurgling drain below. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”
“Delete those pictures!” I snap.
He throws my wrists down and wipes his bloody nose with the back of his hand. “Come on, Trash... All you gotta do is put out for me. I thought maybe you needed a little encouragement.”
“You can’t keep dangling my virginity over my head like it’s a trophy to be won!”
A hand grabs my upper arm and pulls me out of the hot shower. I’m sopping wet, dripping from head to toe. My eyes blur with tears as I look up at Ryder in a pair of gray sweatpants and dripping wet hair. His mouth sets in a grim line, jaw tense.
Brody mops his brow. “Of course Crab came to save your ass!” He steps out of the shower, snatches the towel hanging on the rusty rack, and wraps it around his waist. I claw off Ryder’s grip and shove all my strength to push Brody.
“You’re insane!” His foot slips, and he stumbles back into the towel rack. Men in the locker room tip-toe over, running towels through their hair with those side smirks I want to smack off their faces.
“Okay, we are done. Stop!” Ryder wraps his arms around my torso, pulling me back. I’m digging my claws into his hands. “Stop! It’s not worth it!” Ryder shouts.
“Let me go!” My throat tangles in a knot and I scream, spit flying out of my mouth.
