Lunacy (4 page)

"Holy Jesus..." I wheezed, hunching forward and
holding onto my sides. "I think that was a better workout than gym
class." I coughed and laughed at the same time. Hell must have
frozen over, because I never would have pegged him as the tickling
type.

Jynxx gave me a smile then, one full of heat and dark
things that my mind didn't even want to bother attempting to
process. "You have no idea how awesome of a workout I can
be..."

Humor faded from me then, and my pulse pounded wildly
in my ears. It roared so loudly that I was almost certain Jynxx
could hear it. His dark eyes gazed deeply into mine and he leaned
in closer. So close that the scent of his cologne seemed like it
would cling to my clothes and stay with me always. The cacophony of
sounds in the lunchroom faded, becoming muffled and quiet so that
everything was gone but the frantic racing of my pulse.

As I looked into his eyes, with the sheer heat
radiating off of him prickling my skin, their color changed. A
flash for the briefest of seconds. So quick that I must have
imagined it, his eyes went from a glossy black to predatory amber,
then reverted back to normal.

It was so sudden that it must not have really
happened, but it startled me badly enough to make me jerk
backwards. In my infinite wisdom, my body moved so quickly that I
tottered and was about to fall right off the back of the bench.
Jynxx's reflexes were quicker and his hand shot out in a blur to
catch me, his big hand wrapping around my wrist and hoisting me
back into an upright seated position like I weighed nothing.

I shook my head with a nervous laugh, making a point
of avoiding eye contact with him for a few moments. "Never a dull
moment with you around, is there Jynxxie?"

"Oh, God... Please don't call me that." He
groaned.

I raised a brow questioningly. "Why not?"

"Because that's what Gavin calls me. Like I'm a
pretty lady or a little kid who needs some dorky ass nickname." He
rolled his eyes, clearly not a fan of the childishly diminutive
moniker.

The mere mention of Gavin made the heat in my body
instantly cool, my blood running cold at the thought of the dark
promises and threats that dwelled within his artificially red
eyes.

Aloud I said, "Ah, I see. At least my name doesn't
really leave room for retarded nicknames. 'Kaysh' is about the only
way to abbreviate me."

He snorted lightly, his arms crossed over his chest
and a hilarious pout was on his lips. "Lucky you, Kacea."

Our little pow wow was interrupted by Tarren coming
over and taking a seat across from us. "How's the arm doing, Kaysh?
I heard Sir Meathead over here banged you up pretty badly
yesterday."

I couldn't contain my laughter at his horrendously
bad phrasing. When I could breathe again, the stitch in my side
growing worse and worse the more I laughed, I said: "Tarren...
Could you have possibly strung together a more horrible
sentence?"

"What do you..." He rolled his eyes and shook his
head as the implications sank in. "Pervert," was his reply.

I shrugged. "What can I say? It takes talent, luv." I
winked, mimicking his British accent.

"Oi... What the hell, Kacea."

I shrugged. "Sorry, Tarren. Being a repressed hentai
is just how I roll." Jynxx laughed, and I was momentarily shocked.
He'd actually gotten my reference to humorous perversion usually
displayed in Japanese anime. This could only mean that he was
secretly a fan as well.

I dramatically pointed at him with an accusatory
finger. "You're a closet otaku!"

Jynxx hung his head in shame, all that pretty black
hair falling forward to cover his face. "Dear God, don't tell
anyone..."

I laughed and clapped him on the back. "No need to
worry and hide. You're among fellow losers and nerds here, my
friend." That made me realize something. “The other guys in your
band, the ones you introduced me to when I was at work the other
night… They don’t go to our school. Teigan’s graduated obviously,
but what do the others do for classes, if they’re our age?”

Jynxx pondered it over briefly. “Kenshin’s still a
senior over at Savage, but Conner and Gavin dropped out last year
and got their G.E.D.s. They both have jobs, but they’re still
trying to figure out whether or not they want to go off to college
when everyone else does next fall.”

“Where do they work?” I asked, suddenly curious about
what two seventeen year olds could be doing that would give them
full-time employment.

“Conner works at a garage, so he’s the one to go to
if you ever have any issues with that beat-up monster car of yours.
Gav’s been working construction lately, but he worked at a gas
station before that. He pretty much works where he wants until he
gets bored with it, then he moves on to something else random.”
Jynxx shrugged. “As long as he’s paying his part of the mortgage,
I’m sure the other guys don’t care.”

“Mortgage? What did they do, all buy a house
together?”

He nodded. “I’m in on it, too. We worked our asses
off to have it and fix it up, but it’s pretty nice.”

I was very careful with the phrasing of my next
question. “What about their parents? Did they get kicked out
because they chose to become productive members of society rather
than being babysat by the public school system and learning nothing
useful five days a week?”

He tilted his head to the side slightly, almost like
a dog does when you ask them a question and they’re trying to
process what you’ve said. “Gavin’s parents kicked him out because
he’s an asshole. Conner’s kicked him out because he got into a
really bad fight. Kenshin still stays at his family’s house
sometimes. And Teig… He’s kind of like the house mother. Go
figure,” he laughed, and I couldn’t help joining in, glad to be off
the touchy subject.

Then something struck me. Just a moment ago Jynxx had
said that Kenshin was going to Savage... "Wait a minute," I put in,
now that my brain seemed to have regained its normal level of
functionality. "Savage Academy? The place with the uniforms and all
that nonsense? If the four of them went there, why didn't you?"

Jynxx laughed. "Yes, Savage Academy. With the fancy
ass uniforms and the shiny shoes. We did all grow up together, but
my parents' house is right on the line between the two districts.
My parents didn't want me to be in a uniformed environment, and
they honestly couldn't afford for me to go to a prep school." He
shrugged. "Oberon Public High School was a much more financially
accessible option for me and Jimmy, my little brother."

I nodded my understanding. "My parents could have
sent me to Savage, but I begged them not to. I wasn't born into
money, so I've never really gotten along with the other well-to-do
kids in our area." I laughed as a memory resurfaced, and it was
hilarious enough that I decided to share it with the boys. "I
remember when I was younger, seven or eight, and Mom was trying to
get me to ‘socialize’ with this other ritzy family's son. The
little chubby pervert chased me down and tried to kiss me, so the
kick-boxing lessons Dad had insisted I take kicked in instinctively
and... I totally pummeled the little porker." I wiped a tear from
the corner of my eye and sighed, shaking my head. "Broke his nose
in two places and bent his wrist the wrong way. He learned not to
mess with me ever again."

"And your parents decided that a snobby prep school
wasn't a good idea?" Tarren put in, barely able to control his
snickering.

I shrugged. “Mom still wanted to push for it, but
she’s always been the status whore. Dad could’ve given a shit less
about which school I went to, as long as I showed up and got good
grades.”

“That’s really the way it should be,” Tarren put in.
“Mum and Dad moved us stateside because people aren’t very tolerant
of those who are different.” He ran fingers lightly through his
fashionably long and espresso dark Hispanic curls nonchalantly, his
honey colored eyes giving away how much it really bothered him.
“They learned rather quickly that even a fat checkbook doesn’t buy
the tolerance of the ignorant. A few of the prep schools here had
about the same result… An early reason for some brats to get a nose
job after I rearranged their faces for them.”

The three of us laughed and I couldn’t help smiling
in spite of my bad mood. Then I caught Tarren nodding at someone
behind me and a familiar smell assaulted my nose at the same second
an icy moisture was pressed to the back of my neck. A squeak
escaped me involuntarily and I reached backwards, grabbing the
chilly bottle of soda and hitting a set of abs I knew all too well
with a back fist. As the breath whooshed from his lungs I
simultaneously set the soda down and reached higher, grabbing a
fistful of hoody at chest level and tugging hard so his chin almost
slammed into my shoulder.

“I’ve killed people for less, Raul…” I half-growled,
earning nothing but his laughter in return. Tarren was only
slightly put off, but Jynxx seemed much more disturbed by my ninja
skills and Raul’s total disregard for my threats of permanent
damage to his body. Raul’s next move set both of the other boys
into hysterics as he slurped the entire side of my face with his
tongue, jumping back out of my grip as I made a disgusted noise and
swung for him again blindly. He sat down beside me with a grin on
his lightly freckled face and I narrowed my eyes at him icily,
wiping the slime from my face with the cuff of my own
sweatshirt.

“Mornin’, Kaysh!” the redhead gushed, and I couldn’t
help getting caught up in the infectious mirth in those emerald
green eyes of his.

“Douchebag…” I murmured affectionately, giving him a
bone crushing hug and not letting him squirm away when I licked his
face in return.

“Morning, Raul.” Tarren smirked, trying not to
laugh.

I let him go and we called a non-verbal truce. “I
could have destroyed your hair, ya know. But I didn’t do it. I was
nice.” I added the last with a grin.

“Pfffft,” he waved it off like it was nothing. He
leaned back in his chair slightly, folding his hands behind his
head. “Your tongue could have much better uses.”

“Perv!” I gasped, slapping his chest as he laughed
again. Raul and I had been friends since we were in diapers, so we
were creepily close and not close all at the same time.

“Whaaaat?” he held up his hands innocently. “We do
have anatomy class together and all.”

“Yeah, anatomy class. We’re not five and playing
doctor anymore, butthead.” I covered my mouth with my hands as heat
flooded my cheeks, surprised I’d let it slip.

Tarren smirked again, arching a perfectly waxed brow.
“…Anymore, eh?”

As I sputtered for a response that wouldn’t dig the
hole deeper, Taylea and Mia came to my rescue, the blonde giving
Jynxx a wary look that made me curious. Everyone engaged in casual
chitchat about potentially trying out for sports teams this year,
and clubs, and all that other trivial school nonsense until the
bell rang.

The rest of the day was washed away in a sea of
normal activity. So normal that it was almost boring. Little did I
know that before the school year was out, I’d be begging on hands
and knees for everything to be mundane and uneventful again.

Chapter 5

It was finally Friday, the last day of the week, and
also the day of the show Jynxx had invited me to. The school day
was going to drag. I could just feel it.

I’d dressed for school the way I’d planned on getting
fancied up for the show, not wanting to go through the hassle of
having to run home and change afterwards, and then driving all the
way back to Club Luna. Mom had tried to give me hell for it, but
Dad’s reaction vetoed any potential freak out she’d been about to
have. He’d looked me over once, taking in my short army green
skirt, black halter top and knee-high combat boots. Rolling his
eyes, he laughed while he said, “Nice legs, honey.”

I’d hugged him, kissed his cheek and replied,
“Thanks, Daddy! I did get them from you, after all.”

School administration tried to get me to change and I
challenged them to do their ridiculous dress code length checks.
They failed in their tyranny because I’m intelligent and do my
research. I’d made a point of wearing my hair down, the long ends
of the ebony tresses curled into fetching ringlets. All the better
to cover anything that might seem indecent with my almost
waist-length locks.

The morning melded together into a mass of whistles,
disapproving glances from some teachers, and being assigned a five
page report for Shakespearean Literature. Lunch was a blissful
reprieve from the hectic insanity of the morning.

Taylea, seeming to have returned to her usual peppy
self, waved me over as I entered the cafeteria, the whole gang
already waiting for me. She patted the bench next to her and I sat
warily. “What’s up, Taylea?”

She gave me a forced smile, waiting a moment while a
large chunk of the senior class flowed into the cafeteria and the
volume increased drastically. While everyone else was distracted,
she leaned in close. “I asked Mom to do a reading for you because
Jynxx gives me the creeps, and I don’t know why. He’s never done
anything wrong to me, but he sets my teeth on edge.” It was no
secret that Taylea’s entire family was pagan; her mother was also a
gifted tarot card reader. They wore their polytheism like a badge
of honor. With a trickle of fear entering my bloodstream, my pulse
sped as I waited for her to go on.

“The kid is bad news, Kaysh. He has an air of danger
around him, and not in a hot, bad boy way. Things -- people die
around him, Kacea. In droves.”

I turned to look at her in disbelief, a harsh bark of
laughter escaping me. “If that’s the case, why is he not in
jail?”

Her face was somber as she ended the conversation
with, “Ask him about his parents.”