Page 22 of Devoured

And then I heard people singing happy birthday.

I saw a few people hurrying down the basement stairs and followed them. The singing was louder down here. The smell of stale beer stronger.

And there she was.

Standing with Melissa in front of a huge cake. A smile on her beautiful face.

I felt the corners of my mouth turn up too. It had been a long time since I’d seen her smile.

I stood in the corner like the stalker I was and stared at her. She was dressed in all green, ivy wrapping up her arms and legs. She’d teased her hair to make it stand out even more. She was Poison Ivy. A very sexy Poison Ivy.

The song ended and the two of them blew out the candles.

"Best. Birthday. Ever!" Melissa yelled as she cut each of them a slice of cake.

Penny said something and turned her attention to the right.

My stomach dropped. She was smiling over at Tyler.

Tyler who was dressed like some kind of lame pirate. I wasn’t concerned about his stupid costume though. I was more concerned about the state of disarray it was in. The top few buttons were undone. His hair was a tussled mess.

Penny appeared by his side holding a plate of cake for him.

I watched them talk.

I watched the way they laughed.

I stared back at the buttons undone on his shirt.

And suddenly I couldn’t breathe. All I saw was red. This pounding in the back of my head. My hands forming into fists.

They’d fucked.

I knew they’d fucked.

The music picked back up through the speakers. But all I could hear was my heartbeat pulsing in my head.

He’d touched her.

She’dlethim.

They laughed about something and I couldn’t look away. Penny had done what I’d hoped. She’d moved on.

I watched in horror as Penny wrapped her fingers around the back of his neck, stood up on her tiptoes, and kissed him.

I was used to feeling betrayed. But this was worse. It was like she’d physically wounded me. Like she’d stabbed a knife into my chest and was slowly twisting it.

She’d actually moved on. With someone else. Would she still be kissing him if she knew I was here? I could easily imagine her kissing him while staring directly at me, rubbing salt into the wound.

Breathe.

I blinked. Penny wasn’t like that. She wasn’t evil. That was the kind of fucked up shit I would do. But not her.

She finally pulled back and whispered something in his ear. Tyler laughed and stared down at her like she was his.

Not a chance in hell.

I was going to be sick.

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