"Later, sissy."

"Uh-huh," Mercy mused, when he was gone. "Just friends." She waggled her brows and grinned. "Gotcha."

17 Daryl

"You ready for the game tonight, D?" Molly asked on Friday afternoon after school. Her father was back in town for the weekend, which would normally fucking blow, but since Wren, Mom, and Sophie had all taken a trip to Tampa to visit Wren's sister, it had miraculously worked out.

Molly was sprawled out on the worn leather couch in my garage, with a ton of papers and textbooks opened out in front of her.

Always the bookworm, she completed her homework with a kind of ease that put most of our grade to shame.

Girl was crazy smart.

Her short blonde hair was pushed off her face with a small black hairband, and her face was void of all make-up. Dressed in faded jeans and a long-sleeved red and black plaid shirt, the girl was crazy beautiful, too.

"Always," I replied, not breaking my stride, as I continued a set of pull ups on the built-in workout machine on the opposite end of the garage.

"Uh-huh." Her pen danced across the page as she scribbled furiously into her notebook. "Hey, where do you think Rourke and Mercy rushed off to after school today?"

"Where'd you think, Dolly?"

"Ah." Her cheeks flamed as realization dawned on her. "Right – but wait, I thought you guys weren't supposed to do, uh, you know, the deed on a game night."

"It's a guideline, not the law, Molls. Coach doesn’t inspect our dicks to make sure we've been celibate – not that anyone could tell either way."

"Ew." She wrinkled her nose up. "Now that's a disturbing image."

"You're so cute," I chuckled with a shake of my head.

"Sure I am." A snort escaped her. "So, have you got your penguin suit all ready to go for later, homecoming king?"

"Already told you," I grunted, pulling my body up once more. "I ain't going without you."

"And I already told you that I'm not going," she shot back. "I'm going to the game with Mercy. I'll be in the bleachers screaming your name at the top of my lungs and cheering you on. That's more than enough."

"Fine, go to the game with Sissy, then go to the dance with me."

"No."

"Don’t say no."

"Well, I'm not saying yes."

"Then don’t say anything. Just come."

"As if, D," she grumbled. "I've watched the movie Carrie, and there's no way in hell that I'm going to be a willing target for Ashley asshat and Britt the bitch."

"Molls –"

"You know what they call me behind my back. What they repeatedly call me."

Yeah, I knew.

Freddy Kruger.

My blood boiled at the memory. "I've taken care of that. Those girls won't say shit to you again." They wouldn't fucking dare…

"God, I still can't believe you let that girl put those poisonous lips on you." She fake gagged. "I hope I haven't caught some second-hand venereal disease from kissing your contaminated lips."