Gods & Monsters(6)

His golden hair glints in the sunlight peeking through the polished brown door of the church. He has a silver cross around his neck, and there’s a golden dusting of hair on his tanned forearms. His fingers are long and tanned as well, and they’re wrapped around the strap of his backpack. His backpack? What’s he doing here with that? At church.

Oh my God, is he leaving already?

I whisk my gaze up at his face and realize his eyes are on me. His eyes. They are so warm and brown and syrupy, like thick honey or maple syrup. Oh darn. I need pancakes now, preferably with chocolate chips.

I press my hand to my stomach, feeling hungry, and then hot all over in my summery white dress, like I’ve been sitting outside under the sun for too long.

“Tell her what?” Mr. B prompts with a smile.

Blushing, I look away from Abel and focus on him. “Uh, nothing.”

Great. My voice sounds so unsure. For some reason, I’ve become too shy, and my cheeks feel flushed.

Sky chimes in, then. “You’re the new guy, right?”

I told her about Abel and everything I overheard last night as soon as I arrived at church. Now I’m regretting it. Sky is blunt and she doesn’t even realize that she has no filter. I hope she doesn’t offend him.

Mr. B is the one who answers her. “Yes, this fine young man is Abel Adams. He just moved into town and I found him wandering around the streets so I offered to point him in the right direction.” He turns to Abel. “Isn’t that right?”

Mr. Bernard is a rebel and he’s nice to everyone, no matter what. I’ve always liked him but today I like him so much more.

Abel nods once as a reply to Mr. B’s question, his face serious and made of sharp angles. He’s wearing a black t-shirt again and the cross around his neck seems so silver and shiny, as if it contains an inner light.

“We know. He’s from New York, right? I so wanna go there.” She addresses Abel, “Hey, is it any good? Like what they show on TV?”

Before Abel can answer, Mr. B speaks up, “Nice girls like you aren’t talking about the new boy behind his back, are you? You’d never do that.” He throws us a pointed stare. “Am I right?”

Gosh, I think my cheeks are on fire. Fire. I chance a glance at Abel and his gaze is honed in on me, his jaw that looks so hard and cut, is locked tight and his eyes are darker than they were a few seconds ago. I want to apologize and promise that I’ll never talk about him behind his back.

But Sky answers for the both of us, saying no, and then Mr. B is moving along, taking Abel with him, and they sit on the other side of the church. Though I still have a clear view of his profile.

“Monster baby,” Sky breathes from beside me.

“He’s not a monster,” I snap harshly.

Her black eyebrows are touching her hairline. “Are you kidding me?”

“What?” I look at her with irritation.

“You’re gonna talk to him, aren’t you? You like him.”

“I do not,” I say and fold my hands primly on my lap before turning back to the altar in the front. When will Father Knight get here?

“Oh please.” She rolls her eyes. “You were staring at him and you’ve never stared at a boy like that.”

“I wasn’t staring,” I lie.

“Stop it. I know you.” She gets serious then and shakes my shoulder to get my attention. “Your mom will kill you if you ever so much as look at him, you know that, right? But most importantly, they will burn him alive because you’re the town’s princess.”

“Am not.”

“Oh my God.” She throws her hands up. “Stop lying and listen to me for a second. You are. Your mom’s on the church committee. Your dad owns the largest, most profitable farm in all the three neighboring towns and you guys are friends with the Knight family.” Her face sours when she mentions the Knights — Sky does not like the rich, well-to-do Knights. “People like you, Evie. You do well in classes and you’re friendly with everyone. You are well known so yeah, your mom’s gonna run him out of town if you guys become friends. So do him a favor and stay away from him.”

My eyes feel grainy and strained and there’s a tingling in my nose. I’m going to cry and it’s all stupid because why the heck would I cry? I don’t even know Abel Adams.

Sky is right. My mom would kill me, and then she’d kill him or at the very least, run him out of town. He’s under enough scrutiny as it is. Everyone has noticed his arrival and they are staring at him, whispering about him, giving both him and Mr. B looks filled with judgment. I can’t imagine how that must feel, being picked apart and analyzed.

So yeah, I can’t be friends with David and Delilah’s son, the town’s monster.

But how come all I can think about is that he looks nothing like a monster?

No. Nothing at all.

He looks lonely, sitting there with his jaw all tight, as people stare at him, and all I want to do is go sit by him.





“You…” Sky points her finger, which is vibrating with her anger.

Her target is a boy named Duke. Duke Knight. He’s the reason Sky hates the most influential family of the town, with generations of priests and cops.

Duke and Sky are arch-enemies. They have been this way ever since they were born. In fact, the story goes that they were born on the same day and at the same hospital. When the nurse went to check on Duke a couple of days later, she found him staring at the baby to his right. And whaddya know? That baby was Sky and she was glaring at him. God only knows what a two-day-old Duke must have done to piss off my best friend. But he certainly did something and they’ve been enemies ever since.