Wicked Confessions (Excerpt Only)

chapter seven (confessed by Katrina)

Occasionally, first period study hall served its purpose as a last-minute chance to finish homework, but for the other eighty-five days of the semester, it was a morning check-in of chatter!

"So, I was thinking of going to Decadence," Persephone randomly admitted to me on Wednesday morning.

Somehow, I doubted that her mom and dad were suddenly okay with her hanging out at the city's teen dance club. "Um, why?"

"Because everybody goes."

Yeah, no, that wasn't something Persephone would say. See, part of what made her awesome was that she lived her life without ever caring about being "popular," "cool," or doing what the in-crowd did. Just because she was quiet this year didn't mean that her brain had stopped working. She was still Persephone, and her zinging, sarcastic comments and perfectly timed humor were merely encapsulated inside of her for a while. "Since when do you want to do what everyone else does?" I pressed.

"Since they did cool stuff."

I shook my head. I wouldn't deny her rebellious streak. The girl's best friend was Harley Stevens, for Pete's sake, and he was currently suspended from school. Yeah, Persephone Smith had a natural aptitude to gravitate towards trouble.

"I don't really have time for Decadence," I confessed. I didn't. Geoff and I always had plans for Friday and Saturday nights, and the sketchy, teen, dance club was never among them. We usually went to the movies. It was so romantic - holding hands, sharing popcorn, cuddling, and then, going to Stella's afterwards for long conversations over ice cream sundaes with two spoons. Geoff was the best. But there was no space in my social calendar for Decadence!

"It just sounds like a fun place," she absentmindedly argued.

"Yeah, no, I don't really think so," I countered. Hmm. Maybe this nutty notion was just her way of hinting that she wanted to hang out more. I liked to hang out with her, but when she hadn't replied to my emails over the summer, I assumed she was just busy. "Hey, how about you and Harley and Geoff and I go to the movies Friday?"

"Naah, I'm good," she dismissed.

Yeah, I didn't really care that she had said no to my offer. I suspected I was on the right track, and sooner or later, I'd think of the perfect plan to get her out and about among the living again. And not to Decadence. Everyone knew that place crawled with drugs and bad people. Even if I had parental permission, I'd never go there.

Yep, during tomorrow's study hall I'd invite Persephone and Harley to go to Double Drip with Geoff and me. The quintessential coffee shop had local bands every Friday and Saturday night, so it'd be fun for all of us. But if I pushed her with a second invitation today, she'd never agree to go do anything with us ever.

So, with no further discussion, at the conclusion of study hall, we walked together, but in silence, to English.

"Katrina, I don't feel so good," she suddenly muttered, stopping in the hall.

She was extremely pale, but maybe it was the optical illusion of her fair skin contrasted against her black attire and raven, cropped tresses. "You're going to be fine," I bluffed.

"No, I think I'm going to throw up!" she clarified. She coughed one time, brought her hand towards her mouth, and vomited! Right there in the hall! It splattered all over me, but I lacked time to react to the putrid vileness, as Persephone needed to get to the nurse.

"Come on, let's get you to the nurse," I calmly suggested, thankful that she was able to walk there herself, as we were in the junior hallway, and I didn't see anyone I recognized.

Obviously, the nurse sent Persephone home. Me? Not so lucky. No, instead, they found me some clothes in the lost and found, had me clean up, and expected me to continue my day.

Nobody made any comments about the way I smelled, so I assumed the prolific bitterness was simply burned into my nostrils' memories and wasn't a legitimate concern. But nevertheless, I had never desired getting home and taking a nice, hot shower to wash everything away more than I did each and every minute of the rest of that school day. Yuck.

In fact, when I got home, I took two showers. Because clean was a very, very good feeling.