movie?â
âOkay, but Iâm not seeing one of your crappy horror movies again. That last one gave me nightmares for a week. I mean, Jesus, Pet Sematary ? I still have to cross the street every time I see the neighborâs cat.â
I laughed. âClassic.â
âCanât you get into something else like romantic comedies or something?â
âGod, no. Anyways, horror movies rule. I donât judge you on your choices.â
She grinned at me. âThatâs because all of my choices are good ones. If you recall, I was the one to suggest your hair color.â
I nodded. âYou are a paragon of good taste.â I eyed her striped tights and plaid skirt.
âShut up. My clothes are perfect. Youâre just prickly because youâre too short to wear any of them.â
I looked at Aliâs long legs and shrugged. Short legs were sort of the least of my problems.
âOkay,â she said. âI have an idea. Letâs go buy a bunch of GQ s and cut all the heads off the male models. Youâve been crabby all week and I know that makes you feel better.â
I grinned. âYeah. It does. Okay. Iâll buy.â
She clapped her hands and then reached out to squeeze my shoulder. I pulled back after a second, not wanting Ali to know how much one little squeeze meant to me. Her face broke into a smile, and it occurred to me maybe she knew anyway.
â¢Â  â¢Â  â¢
I heard Brooks before I saw him when he showed up at Standard on Friday afternoon. His heavy boots and loud voice carried through the alley.
âYou ignoring me?â he said, leaning against the side of the garage.
âYou had things to take care of.â I flipped the power switch on the circular saw and drowned out his next few words. He strode across the garage and yanked the cord from the wall.
âWhat the hell?â I snapped. âPlug that back in.â
He pulled me up and pressed in to me. His nipple ring rubbed against my chest and his eyes bored through me. âThatâs not how we play.â
I pushed him off. âOh really? How do we play? With you telling me weâll be good together and then disappearing? I donât think so. I donât need that shit. Iâm invisible enough, thank you very much.â
I bit the inside of my cheek. Why had I said that? His face softened for a second and I hated his pity so much I kicked him.
âKnock it off,â he said through his teeth, stepping so close I smelled his cigarettes and soap mixed together. âNow.â His hands clapped along the side of my face. âLetâs get this straight: Youâre not invisible to me. We will be good together. I had some shit to take care of, but Iâm not pulling you into the crap salad thatâs my life if I donât have to. Got me?â
I swallowed and searched his face, looking for the trick. The lie. The evidence that he didnât care. But I found only truth in his words, so I finally nodded.
âAnd next time I text you, you better frickinâ text me back, because I know Iâm not invisible to you either.â
His mouth dove onto mine so fast I couldnât take a breath. His hands held me too hard and I clawed at him. He scratched me back and I moaned as I banged into the side of the garage wall. Brooks dragged his mouth away from mine and gave me a cocky smile.
âWhat the hell was that?â I said, breathing hard.
âI missed you.â
âFunny way of showing it.â
His hands slid down my back. âYou liked it.â
My breath hitched when he pinched the skin along my spine.
He chuckled. âYeah. You liked it. Like I said, weâll be good together.â
â¢Â  â¢Â  â¢
The movie theater in my town does âCreature Featuresâ every Saturday night. Itâs how I first got into horror movies. I rarely missed one. I used to be able to talk Ali into going with me, but now
Learning to Kill: Stories