𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝐿𝑂𝑉𝐸 𝐶𝐿𝑈𝐵 || 𝐿𝑈𝐶𝐴𝑆 𝑆𝐼𝑁𝐶𝐿𝐴𝐼R

6

"is there a number we can call for your parents?" mike asks. "where's your hair? do you have cancer?" dustin asks. "did you run away?" i ask. "are you in some kind of trouble?" mike asks. "is that blood?" lucas asks and leans in to touch the girl. mike slaps his hand. "stop it! you're freaking her out!" i say. "she's freaking me out!" lucas argues. "i bet she's deaf." dustin says. he claps in her face and she flinches. "not deaf." dustin says defeated. "all right that's enough all right? she's scared and cold." mike says and walks off. he comes back with clothes and hangs them to me. "here these are clean okay?" i say walking closer to her. she grabs the clothes and looks at them. she stand up and takes mikes jacket off. she starts to take her shirt off. "no, no, no!" all the boys yell. mike holds her hands down and the other boys turn away. "oh my god. oh my god." dustin says. "see. over there." mike points to a room, "that's the bathroom. privacy, get it?" mike says. the girl looks confused. she grabs the clothes and walks to the bathroom. "that was.." i say. "insane." lucas says. mike walks over to us. "this is mental." dustin says. "at least she can talk." i say. "she said "no" and "yes" mikes three year old sister says more." lucas says. "she tried to get naked." dustin says. "there's something seriously wrong with her." lucas says. "like wrong in the head." he adds. "she just went like." dustin acts like he's taking his shirt off but he ends up knocking his hat off. "i bet she escaped from pennhurst." lucas says. "from where?" i ask. "from the nuthouse in kerley county." lucas explains to me. "you got a lot of family there?" dustin asks smiling. "bite me. seriously though, think about it. that would explain her shaved hair and why she's so crazy." lucas says. "why she went like.." dustin says and mimicks her again. "she's an escapee is the point. she's probably a psycho." lucas says.  "like michael myers." dustin says. "exactly!" lucas says. "so you just want to leave her out in that storm?" mike asks. "yes! we went out to find will not another problem." lucas says. "i think we should tell your mom." i say. "i second that." dustin says. "who's crazy now!" mike says. i shrink back. "how's that crazy?" lucas asks. "cause, we weren't supposed to be oht tonight, remember?" mike says. "so?" lucas says. "so if i tell my mom, and she tells your mom, and your mom, and your dad." mike says. "oh man." dustin says. "our houses become alcatraz." i say. "exactly we'll never find will." mike says. dustin mimicks the girl again. "all right, here's the plan. she sleeps here tonight." mike says. "you're letting a girl." dustin says. "just listen! in the morning she sneaks around my house, goes to the front door and rings my doorbell. my mom will answer and know exactly what to do. she'll send her back to pennhurst or wherever she comes from. we'll be totally in the clear. and tomorrow night, we go back out. and this time, we find will." mike says. we all look at eachother.

dustin lucas and i walk up the stairs. "you really think she's psycho?" dustin asks. "wouldn't want her in my house." lucas says and continues up the stairs. dustin says. "mental." he says and walks up the stairs. i follow after him. "hey dustin do you think you could ride home with me. our houses are only a few blocks away." i say. "sure." he says.

——

an announcement goes over the loud speaker saying that there will be an assembly for will. lucas dustin and i walk into science and set out books down. "oh this is weird." dustin says seeing that mikes gone. "he's never this late." dustin says. "i'm telling you his stupid plan failed." lucas says. "i thought you liked his plan." i say. "yeah but obviously it dead stupid or he'd be here." lucas says. "if his mom found out a girl spent the night." dustin says. "he's in deep shit right now." i say continuing dustins sentence. "hey, what if she slept naked." dustin says and hits lucas's arm. "oh my god she didn't." lucas says. "oh if mrs wheeler tells my parents." dustin says and puts his head in his hands. "no way. mike would never rat us out." lucas says. "i don't know." dustin says. "all gay matter is after school the freak will be back in the loony bin, and we can focus on what really matters, finding will." lucas says. mr clarke begins teaching and we open our textbooks.