"We can't just ignore it."
"Yes, you can. Don't participate in the bullshit, Trevor." Before walking away, he said "Your friends start telling stories, be the better man and put them in their place."
Alone, Trevor glanced about the dimly lit kitchen. He focused on a shadowy shape in the far dark corner of the room. He shuddered as he thought of his encounter with the dark-eyed Jared. Then he recalled the words Jared had spoken. The words Trevor hadn't shared with Adam and Conner.
During the seconds that Jared had gripped Trevor with ice-cold hands, he'd spoken a phrase that Trevor later translated online after several attempts at spelling the words. Me creó Dios Todopoderoso. Spanish for All powerful God created me.
Since then, the creepy experience had more to do with his altered perception of Jared than their dissolving friendship. Later, to his dismay, learning of Jared's death had provoked more relief than grief.
Now, he admitted to himself that while he might not be scared, he was definitely spooked.
FOUR
The boys purposely arrived at school later than usual. They sat in Trevor's car, talking about anything other than Jared and the devil.
In the back seat, Adam's phone dinged, and he exhaled a long grunt of frustration.
Conner reached for the backpack between his feet. "What? Is someone asking about you-know-what?"
"No. Someone from Lancaster, I guess."
"You don't know who it is?"
"Nope."
Trevor peered over his shoulder at Adam. "What did they say?"
"Told me I'm a shitty basketball player and Newman's gonna lose the game tonight."
"The idiot is trying to psych you out."
"Yeah, but I don't wanna deal with any of the crap from last year."
During the previous basketball season, Adam's skills on the court garnered a lot of attention from his teammates and rival schools. He'd bulked up his lean frame over the summer, and he'd developed fierce athleticism, pull-up shooting with range, and assertive ball handling that catapulted him to star-player status. As a result, kids from the neighboring schools routinely harassed Adam with taunts, nasty text messages and phone calls, egging his house, and on one occasion, they'd spray-painted LOSER and his jersey number, 8, onto the Wheelers' garage door.
"We got your back," Conner said. "UConn, Penn State, Ohio, and Syracuse are fighting over you. Don't worry about stupid, jealous people and their crap."
"I'm gonna stay focused on winning the game."
"Good call," Trevor said. "It's our opener of the early season. Let's show them how brutal we're going to be this year."
The first school bell rang out.
Before getting out of the car, Conner asked, "So, we're just going to get through the day without talking about the Jared rumors, right?"
Adam and Trevor agreed.
"All right," he said. "Don't get caught up in the BS on game day."
"We don't know anything," Trevor said. "So, it's not like we want to tell anyone anything anyway."
Outside, Adam slung his backpack onto his shoulder and leaned against the car. "It's just gonna be really annoying to be asked, like, two hundred times."
Conner shivered in the chilly air. "Just stay focused on kicking Lancaster's ass tonight."
The three strolled toward the building without concern for the possibility of being tardy for class.
Following English, they headed to the gym as a united trio, expecting the boys in PE to bombard them with questions and absurd remarks. Yet it didn't happen. Then they were on their own during the next two classes until lunch.
In the cafeteria, they situated themselves at their usual table.
Adam shoved french fries into his mouth and then talked with his mouth full. "I told Devon that it was a stupid rumor, and I didn't know anything about how Jared died."
"Me too," Conner said. "I told Bray and all the other guys that I didn't want to discuss any BS stories."
Trevor simply nodded as he took a big bite of a cheeseburger.
Conner watched Hailey and Jasmine strut across the cafeteria like two models walking side by side on a New York designer's runway. All smiles, they said hello and waved their fingers at friends they passed along the way. Arriving at the table, Hailey sat gracefully and set her tray of food to the side.
"I'm surprised you haven't called me," she said to Conner with a faint lilt to her voice. "All these awful, horrible stories going around about Jared. It's terrible."
"You told me not to call," he replied.
"This is different. If you need to talk, then of course you can call me. Or send a text."
He gazed at her light brown eyes and full pink lips as he recalled the night of their carnal indiscretion. You shouldn't call me for a while, she'd said as she jumped out of his mother's car.
"Well, now I know," he said. "But I'm fine. Don't worry."
Trevor interjected, "We don't believe the stories anyway."
"You don't?" she asked.
"No."
"He never acted weird? Or, I don't know . . . scary?"
"You're a church-girl," Trevor said. "So, you believe in that stuff, don't you?"
"Jesus exorcised the demons from a man and sent them into a herd of swine. Then they all drowned in the sea. Returned to hell by the Son of God."
Adam scoffed. "Really?"
"I guess only Jared's family and the church know for sure if he was possessed by a demon. But it's a horrible, scary story. If it's true, then Jared was saved by God, and I'm thankful that his soul was rescued from the devil."
"Wait," Trevor mumbled as he chewed his burger. "The devil or a demon? Which one?"
She eyed Trevor and shook her head in disbelief. Piercing her salad with a fork, she said, "Does it matter?"
Seated between Adam and Trevor, Jasmine folded her arms on the table and leaned forward like she was about to reveal a secret. "You know, his sister has already changed her phone
