“Goddammit,” he growled in a low voice.

How Lerner always knew when Damon was about to smoke, I had no idea. His aggravation, though, didn’t stop Will from breaking out in Mötley Crüe’s Smoking in the Boys Room, teasing him.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Michael called out, shutting them up. “It’s time.”

I pulled on my jeans, glancing at the clock behind me and seeing it was nearly two in the afternoon.

Time to round up the party.

We quickly finished dressing, pulled on our black hoodies, and grabbed our phones, wallets, and keys, leaving everything else behind. The bell rang, signaling the start of the final period of the day, and the four of us stepped out into the empty hallway, hearing the faint chatter of teachers carrying on with their final lessons on this Friday afternoon.

I wish you made better choices. That’s all.

I looked left to right, seeing the dim afternoon light barely igniting a glow on the blue and green lockers. The dark corners lurked beyond, and we all stood quiet for a rare moment, enjoying the calm before the storm.

“Let’s do this,” I said, still staring down the hallway and seeing the branches with red and orange leaves outside the front doors going wild in the wind.

I heard the shuffle of the bag, and knew Will was pulling out our masks one by one. Damon pulled on his black skull, the teeth in the mouth looking like claws. Will handed Michael his red one with deep black gashes across the face that were just as vicious as the gnawed lips. Will tossed me my metallic silver mask with slits for the eyes that were small and dark, and the gouges in the skin mean and hard. Then he slipped on the white one with a red stripe down the side of the face. All of us looked like some post-apocalyptic death squad, which suited the egos of a bunch of spoiled, rich boys who never really knew danger.

Will tossed the duffel back into the locker room, and I pulled my mask on like a helmet. I closed my eyes, savoring it. In here, I was invisible. I could be whomever I wanted.

In here, I wasn’t hiding.

Pulling out my phone, I texted Kylie Halpern in the front office, cueing her to play the music. Within ten seconds, Sister Machine Gun started beating out of the speakers down the halls and all around, and I slipped my phone in my back pocket, taking a deep breath.

Michael stepped forward, looking left then right. “Now,” he said.

“Go, go, go!” Max Cason shouted into the wind, his head sticking out my passenger side window.

A half hour later, fourteen cars, trucks, and motorcycles were on their way, packed to the breaking point with every player on our team, some of their girlfriends, and a few just along for the fun. The school didn’t stop us or anyone from leaving for what had quickly become a Devil’s Night tradition to boost team camaraderie and morale.

Storming the school at two in the afternoon to kick it all off had turned into one of my favorite parts of the night. Barging into classrooms, grabbing my fellow basketball players—and whomever else we wanted—and dragging everyone out of school was like an amphetamine to the brain. We had everyone’s attention, their awe, and sometimes, their fear. It was power, and for one night a year, we enjoyed a limitless supply of it. Teachers didn’t stop us, cops stood aside, and for a while, I really loved being me.

Everyone wanted to be us.

Will’s black Ford Raptor drove in front of me, and all the guys in the bed of his truck laughed and shouted out with beers in their hands already. Some of them had water bottles filled with a clear liquor, which was an interesting tactic to drink in class. As long as it looked like water, teachers never knew the difference.

With my mask tucked on the console beside me, I shifted into sixth, racing ahead and following Will. Damon led the motorcade, and I glanced to my left, seeing Gavin Ellison speed past on his motorcycle with his girlfriend sitting behind him and her arms wrapped around him.

Damon must’ve seen him coming out of his rearview mirror, because just as Gavin sped up to overtake Damon’s BMW, Damon swerved left, blocking his path. I laughed to myself, but then I spotted a kid on a bike, inches from Damon’s car, swerve and fall to the side of the road, and my face fell.

“What the hell?” I barked, pressing my foot lightly on the brake to slow down.

The kid tumbled to the ground, spilling down the small incline, and his bike crashed into the grass.

And Damon and the motorcycle just fucking kept going.

Goddamn him.

I broke harder, slowing the Jeep to a stop and seeing Will’s brake lights glow red ahead of me. I shifted into neutral and yanked up the parking brake, hopping out of the car.

I glared at the road ahead, seeing Damon and the motorcycle still racing in the distance. Did it even occur to him to fucking stop?

“Damon’s such an asshole.” Will looked back at me, jumping down from his cab and taking a bite of the beef jerky in his hand.

A few of the guys from the bed of his truck hopped out, too, and Will walked up to where the kid fell, bending down to help him up.

“You okay?”

The kid sat on his hands and knees, and I approached, catching glimpses of him through the guys’ legs as he moved around, grabbing books that laid strewn on the side of the road. I didn’t hear him answer, and I couldn’t see his face.

Will scooped up two books that had fallen, and I caught sight of a basket on the front of the bike.

“I said I’m fine,” the kid spat out, and I stopped, seeing a baseball cap fall to the ground.

Long, dark hair suddenly went wild, blowing in the high winds, and I made out a slender face and full lips.

It was a girl.

Dressed kind of like us, though, wearing jeans and a navy blue hoodie.

She reached over, keeping her head down and her eyes shielded by her hair as she grabbed the books out of Will’s hands.

She seemed fine. We could go.

“I’ve seen you around before, haven’t I?” Will asked, bending over to pick up her bike. “You live around here? We can take you home. Get in.”

“No.” She shot out her hands, stopping him from touching her bike. “I said I was fine. Just leave. Please.”

I narrowed my eyes on her, stepping closer.

Just then a couple guys picked up some of her books and showed them to each other, laughing. She stilled, staring at the ground. Her jeans were filthy. Dark smudges covered the knees, but I didn’t see any blood. I didn’t think she was hurt.

“We should just bring her with us, man,” someone joked.

“Yeah, can we give her a bath first?”

“Enough,” I barked, cutting them off. “Get back in the truck. Your beers are getting warm.”

They dispersed, and Will walked back to his cab, casting one more look at the girl, who was quietly and quickly gathering up her books, ignoring us.

She had to be about our age, but she certainly didn’t like any attention. Especially judging by the ratty clothes she wore and the old Vans shoe that laid on the ground. It must’ve fallen off her foot in the fall. Why wasn’t she wearing socks? It was cold.

I squatted down, picking up a pedal from her bike, which had broken off.

“You can’t ride this bike, kid,” I told her. “The pedal is broken.”

I held it under her face, showing her.

“I’ll manage.” She stood up, her arms wrapped tightly around all of her books, avoiding my gaze.

She was a curt little thing, wasn’t she?

I didn’t know if she was afraid of us or pissed off about what happened, but she definitely didn’t want to engage.

“Will said you live close?” I asked. “I can toss the bike in the back of my Jeep and take you—”

“I said I’ll manage,” she spat out, still keeping her head down. “Just leave.”

I couldn’t help but smile a little. She seemed so desperate to have us gone. Like she was afraid something bad would happen. What did she think we were going to do to her?

I turned around to leave but spotted a paperback on the ground, nearly stepping on it. I leaned down and picked it up, doing a double-take at the redhead in an emerald gown on the cover. Her tits were busting at the seams as some hard-muscled guy in a blouse held her to him dramatically, rivers of his hair and her dress both blowing in the wind.