Page 66 of Calavera Society

I throw his words back at him, and his eyes lower before he tilts his head to the side, our gazes locking through the tendrils of his hair over his brow.

“You’re not keeping anything from me?”

I do my very fucking best to keep my face straight and not show what a hypocritical cunt I’m being, but he knows me as well as I know him, so I turn my head and step around him.

“Yeah, that’s what I fucking thought. But that's okay,mi vida,just don’t throw rocks.” He calls to my back, my legs not carrying me fast enough to my new car. A car I couldn’t even tell Noah about because I’m a fucking asshole.

I climb into the driver seat and peek through my lashes only to snap my head up straight when I see Noah sliding behind the wheel of my a blacked-out BMW i8.

Seems like that’s our thing now, lying and keeping secrets.

My heart breaks when I watch him pull away.

THIRTY-ONE

* * *

‘YEAH RIGHT’ JOJI

I arriveat the campus after following the GPS directions and realize the party from ritual night was on the property of our education institution. I can’t really say I’m shocked. More likedisappointed.

I pass the area where the bar and crowd were, my eyes immediately finding the trail that led me to the old church. I feel my stomach clench with both anger and lust as memories I’ve tried to keep away come floating back. The way it felt to have Rey’s hands on me while some strange guy with the tongue of sin made out with my pussy flutters through me, making my heart tremble annoyingly.

Ugh, get over it, Val.

Still, I can’t. There was something about the guy, the way he touched me as though he knew my body and all the right ways to torture me. I don’t believe in love at first sight, but I’m a firm believer in love at first fuck. Not that I got fucked that night, but you get the picture.

Looking at the place now, you’d never know there was a party here a couple of weeks ago. Everything looks clean and tidy as I drive through the iron gates and past the giant water fountain.

My brows arch as I take in the depiction of a large breasted woman with a golden skull for a face. She wears a black robe with the hood pulled low over her brows and a staff in one bony hand. The top of the staff has a golden star that looks like it’s melting. Her other hand points down toward the dead man below her. In the middle of the dead man’s back is her left foot, the bones of each toe showing beneath the floor length robe. In the water around her are orange marigold flowers floating, giving the whole thing a sort of ethereal look.

La Muerte, I think to myself.

I circle the fountain, still following the street that leads me to the parking lot along the side. I can tell it goes all the way around the huge gothic-like building to give students and professors alike more parking space. Every car I see around me is just as expensive as the Rolls. Luxury slaps me in every direction and one thing is very clear to me–I’ve come a long way from the hood.

I follow the line of cars, including Noah’s, which is three ahead of me, toward the side of the building. There are more modern-looking buildings toward the back of the campus, and I can just make out the track and football fields just beyond the last building.

I pull into a parking spot a few slots down from Noah, making a note to tell him I’m sorry for how I acted this morning and how good he looks behind the wheel of that car. My dad had one exactly like it, but never suited him in my mind. He always gave off the mid-life-crisis energy when he’d drive it—wait,isthat my father’s car?

As if my thoughts conjured him, my father’s name pops up on the radio touchscreen. I decide I might as well answer and tell him to stay the fuck away from Noah. I don’t want him trying to worm his way into my best friend’s life. I don’t believe for a second Noah is shallow; he wouldn’t become best buddies with an asshole like my dad just because he gave him a nice car.

No, what I’m worried about is Noah being in Roberto’s debt.

I hit the button on my steering wheel as I put the car in park, my eyes on Noah as he looks down at his lap, probably reading his registration papers once more.

“What do you want, Roberto?” I ask without neither love nor hate. He gets nothing from me.

My father’s chuckle greets me. I just want to punch something. I squeeze my eyes closed when images of the past flash before me. The belt gripped in my father’s fist, the bruises on my back that matched my mother’s face.

“I just wanted to wish my star good luck on her first day of classes. Is that so wrong?”

I scoff, “Right. Stay away from Noah. He can handle himself just fine, but if you think for one second, he owes you for the fucking car, I’ll send it back to you as charred remains.”

Roberto stays quiet long enough that I have to look at the phone to see if the call dropped.

“Everyone is in debt to me,mija. If you haven’t learned it by now, let me spell it out for you carefully. I am Roberto Calavera.” He pronounces each syllable like I’m a fucking idiot. My teeth grind as I listen, “I am the king of this town. If someone owes, they pay. Luckily for Noah, I gave him that car out of the kindness of my heart. There is no debt where the car is concerned.”

My anger reaches a point that my vision wobbles with angry tears, but instead of hateful words or curses, manic laughter bubbles out of me. This cocksucker thinks he’s my father and my ruler? He’s got me motherfucking twisted if he thinks even for a moment that I’m the type who is gonna bend a bow to anyone. I’m not that little girl anymore.