1642734778_punk-57-pdf

at the Cove, and strike a match, watching as the tip glows orange and
yellow. I bring it up to the letter, setting the corner on fire. Quickly the
edges burn black as the flame spreads across the paper, eating every single
word as the blue lines slowly disappear.
I let out a sigh, pulling my lip ring in between my teeth. The girl I saw
yesterday in the classroom—she disappointed me. My Ryen, the one I
thought I knew, would never treat someone the way she treated that kid,
Cortez. The way she just stood by and let that cocksucker mess with him. I
waited for her. I sat there and waited for her to stand her ass up and speak
up for him, to say something, to do anything, but…
Nothing.
Everything makes sense now. The cheerleader she talked about in her
letters and everything she hated—she was talking about herself.
I drop the small fire in my hand to the cement floor and stand up,
grinding my shoe into the dust, stamping it out.
I look at my watch and see it’s after seven. I’d stopped by my house
after school, before my dad got home, to check my mail and pick up some
things, and then I grabbed some food and came here. I remember Ryen
saying in her letters that she teaches swim lessons Tuesday thru Thursday
nights at the school’s pool. That’s where I’ll probably find her now.
I should’ve just given her the book back. She’d found Annie’s locket,
and I don’t want to start any shit with her, especially when she’s not the
reason I’m here, and I’m skipping town as soon as I get what I came for.
And she and I will never have to cross paths again.
But, I have to admit, fucking with her in class today was the first time
I’ve smiled in a while. It’s hard to resist.
I walk out of the warehouse to my truck and climb in the cab, slamming
the door.