Lucian Divine(18)

Evey got out of range once when she was fifteen. I had been bored to death, sitting outside her childhood home in Oakland when she snuck out the back door and climbed her neighbor’s fence to meet her boyfriend a couple of blocks away. He was sixteen and had just gotten his driver’s license. T.J., that little shit. I was frantic, searching for her. I found them about three miles away in a Burger King parking lot, making out in his dad’s Buick.

There was nothing I could do to stop that relationship. It was innocent and pure, and T.J. was actually a good kid until Evey told him she wanted to wait until she was eighteen to have sex. Good girl. He broke up with her.

Then there was Byron, her real first everything. He was nice—good parents, good grades. They had sex in his parents’ garage when Evey was seventeen. I took off the moment they started kissing, but I got to hear every word of their conversation about protection. I almost stepped in front of a bus that night.

Mona had sat me down afterward and asked what was wrong with me. I told her I was worried about Evey’s heart getting broken. Mona had said, “It’s not your job to protect her heart, just her body and soul.”

What’s the difference when you love someone?

I was walking down the street, mindlessly following Brooklyn, Evey, and the two dumbshits along with the bitchy Scottish angel and the other one.

Evey said to Brooklyn, “Where are we going? I have to get up early for work.”

“Tomorrow’s Sunday, you don’t have to work, and we’re going to Oakland. Joel got tickets to the Chainsmokers. Like you’d miss that.”

Evey beamed. “I was going to work on some sketches, but who cares? You’re right! This will be awesome. Tracey can sketch her own stupid jeans.”

I got a sinking feeling whenever I heard Evey talk about being irresponsible. I wanted to jump inside of Keith’s body, make him do something really stupid, and end the whole double date right there.

The Scot was skipping down the middle of the street, humming some stupid old folk tune. I ran up next to her. “Listen, I need to ask you for a favor.” She ignored me and took flight. I tried to catch up to her in the air, but I couldn’t. I was drunk and dizzy. I hit the ground a little too hard and fell over. I could hear her laughing.

“What’s your name?” I yelled.

She popped up beside me. “Greer’s the name. What the fuck do ye want?”

“Will you let me borrow Keith for a minute?”

“Ye are crazy, aren’t ye?”

We were following the group onto the BART subway to head to Oakland. It was crammed with people, so we sat on top of the train with a bunch of other angels as we zipped along through the tunnels.

I had to yell at her over the noise of the train. “Please! I won’t hurt him. I just know Evey is going to make some terrible mistake tonight. I’m just looking out for her and him. She’s reckless right now. Been going through a lot.” I was sobering up, and Greer looked as though she was buying it.

I popped down into the subway car. Evey was laughing hysterically at something Keith had said. Keith’s blond shaggy hair was sprouting out everywhere below his low red beanie, which matched his red T-shirt. His jeans were hanging off of his ass, revealing his plaid boxers. So unoriginal, really not Evey’s type at all.

Greer was standing behind me. “What’s in it for me?”

“Take the night off. I won’t tell anyone.”

She glanced over at Joel’s angel, who shrugged, and then whispered something in her ear.

“You gonna watch Joel as well?” Greer asked.

“Fine,” I told her. A moment later they were gone.

As I stared at Evey, Brooklyn, Joel, and Keith, it hit me that I was now responsible for all of them. No more drinking tonight, I chanted over and over in my head.

When we got to the Fox Theater, I saw Keith hand something to Brooklyn. She popped it into her mouth. The crowd was thick inside, and I was trying to stay as close to all of them as possible, hoping they wouldn’t separate. Evey and Keith made it to the bar and did shots while Joel and Brooklyn watched the beginning of the show.

As a tipsy Evey made her way into the crowd, I decided I had had enough hovering for one night, so I popped into Keith’s body.

I heaved audibly at his sick odor and weak body. Evey was the only human who smelled pleasant to me. I felt sluggish in his baby boy chest.

“What’s wrong?” Evey’s musical voice came at me. Her big brown eyes were wide and her smile timid.

“Nothing,” I said. His voice was high, raspy, and super fucking annoying.

Evey and I, disguised as Keith, approached Brooklyn and Joel. Brooklyn immediately grabbed Evey and started dancing. She had Evey’s hands up over her head and was running her fingers down the undersides of Evey’s arms, and Evey was giggling.

She broke away from Brooklyn and came up to me and said, “I want one too!”

“One what? And why is Brooklyn acting so weird?”

Evey threw her arms over my (Keith’s) shoulders and leaned into my ear. “Uh, duh, because she’s rolling. Aren’t you the one who gave her the X?”

I pulled back. “Me?” I put my hand over my chest.

She reached into my pocket and brushed my (Keith’s) semi-hard dick in the process. “Oh.” She smiled.

I wanted to throw up.