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The rough brick scratched Kayden’s scalp as he leaned his head back . He exhaled and watched the smoke drift lazily up, disappearing in the dim light of the trashed up alley. “I’d kill for an ice cream.”
Sat plucked the joint from his lax fingers and took a pull, humming the Klondike jingle softly. She blew the smoke out in a languid line. There was no reason to rush. Raina, Darby and Tanner would wait by the convenience store for as long as Sat and Kayden took to get high. The burn of marijuana smoke made for a nice contrast to the cool evening air. As the joint finally kicked in, it brought the odd cravings.
“What would you do for a Klondike Bar?” Sat asked airily.
Kayden shrugged and took the joint again. “What are my options?”
Sat scoffed and leaned against the wall. “I don’t know. Like would you…” Her red lips split into a grin as her dark eyes narrowed in mischief. “Would you kiss Tanner?”
He paused at the question, smoke held in his lungs for several long moments. He released the fumes without giving an answer.
“Come on. I’m your best friend. And,” she added with a sharp elbow to his arm, “your beard.”
That much was true. They game across the equitable arrangement during one of their deep, drug-fueled conversations. So long as everyone thought they were screwing each other, no one would wonder why they weren’t screwing anyone else. In Sat’s case, because she had no interest in screwing anybody. In Kayden’s…
“Well, what about drugs?” she asked. “I mean, you’d have to do more than kissing.”
Kayden coughed out a laugh. “I have never screwed a guy for drugs. Have you been watching Lifetime again?”
“Okay, but hypothetically,” she said, warming to the topic. “Like… what would you do to Tanner for Quaaludes?”
Kayden rolled his eyes and pinched the glowing tip of the joint until the embers faded, but refused to reveal the sad truth of the matter: he would do a lot more to Tanner for a lot less than a Klondike bar. The quaaludes were an interesting idea though. Sat had talked about setting up some camping trip in a few weeks. Plenty of time to acquire the pills and figure out how to slip them into Tanner’s food. Watch the uptight photographer relax as the drugs hit his system, going hazy and horny, unresistant if Kayden led him away from the girls, maybe behind some trees that Tanner could lean against, where the ground woudl be soft under Kayden’s knees…
“You ready?” Kayden asked. That line of thought would have to keep until much, much later.
The beat of two pairs of boots against the pavement pierced the dry night air as they walked towards the designated meeting spot. One abandoned shopping center after another surrounded the run-down convenience store. Raina sat sideways on the curb, eyes darting between her sketchbook and a filthy fire hydrant as her pencil flew over the page, line after line scratched into the paper. Darby sat beside her, legs stretched into the empty street, almost too close to the other girl, but not quite. Behind them, Tanner snapped a photo.
“He-ey!” Sat called as they approached. Raina stuck the pencil into her ponytail, sketchbook held open so Sat could comment on the drawing. Tanner watched Sat with that dumb, sappy smile until his long nose twitched against the smell of weed. Kayden felt his grin take a sharp edge as Tanner turned to glower at him. Kayden had no problem playing into whatever bullshit version of reality people had about him. If Tanner chose to believe Kayden had corrupted Sat, Kayden would let him believe it.
“So where’s this abandoned hospital?” Kayden asked. Sat said nothing, but stared at something over his shoulder with a wicked grin on her face. She brushed passed him without a word. The bell over the door to the convenience store jangled as she strode in. Darby and Tanner exchanged confused looks. Kayden watched through the window as Sat opened a freezer door and purcahsed something from the bored clerk. “Oh no,” he muttered as a combination of dread and amusement mixed in his gut.
She sauntered out, hands clasped behind her back and stopped near Tanner. “Kay-den,” she sang and dangled a wrapped Klondike bar over Tanner’s head. Kayden did not bother to hide his smirk while Tanner’s confused eyes darted from Sat to the ice cream novelty to Kayden to Sat agian.
Kayden hesitated only a moment, never one to back down from a challenge or miss a chance to mess with Tanner’s head. Without taking too close a look at his motivations or the potential consequences, Kayden stepped forward, curled one hand around the back of Tanner’s head, and pulled him into a kiss. He could not get too close given the bulky camera Tanner carried everywhere, but the strangled noise of protest and inevitable struggle to escape were not quite enough to satisfy his desire for chaos. He let his tongue dance over Tanner’s sealed lips while his other hand groped over their heads for Sat’s hand. His fingers brushed something solid and cold, and he snatched the ice cream only to toss it over his shoulder, mouth still firmly pressed against Tanner’s. He let his eyes slip open to take stock of the other boy’s reaction, and met Tanner’s furious gaze dead on.
He laughed at Tanner’s expression, lame excuse for a kiss abandoned, leaving a trail of saliva coating the angry line of Tanner’s thin lips. Sat stared at him slackjawed, like she did not expecting him to take the dare. Kayden stiffled a sudden wave of embarassment and turned to dig a half-smoked cigarette from his pocket. The brief flame of his lighter illuminated Raina, standing now, pencil back in hand and an eager glint in her eye. Beside her, Darby took an unfazed bite from the discarded Klondike bar.
Sat’s choked laughter drew his attention back. Tanner’s face burned red in the flashing light of the Open sign. He fiddled fruitlessly with the camera that dangled around his neck. Sat finally composed herself enough to gesture between the two boys and ask, “What?”
Kayden shrugged, the sting of rejection buried beneath a carefree attitude. “You know I’m lactose intolerant. So, about the hospital…”