Ecstasy

Alex...

"Maybe all the schemes of the devil were nothing compared to what man can think of."

- Excerpt from Horns by Joe Hill

It's the end of my work shift and throughout the entire day, I have to contain myself from laughing every time I see Ryleigh.

If only she knew.

"I miss Lorenzo," Ryleigh groans and that perks my ears. I want to hear what she is talking about.

"He didn't come tonight?" Rochelle asks her.

"No," she whines, "I know I'm not supposed to be falling in love with him but he's so hot and really rich."

She fell in love with him?

I snort without thinking and then I realize I really should shut my mouth.

"Brielle, what the fuck is so funny?" she asks and I close my locker door looking at her in confusion.

"Huh?" I ask.

"What is so funny that you're snorting like a fat pig over there?" Ryleigh sneers. I try to calm down before giving her a fake answer but I begin laughing because of her stupidity. Well, I mean it also isn't her fault but why would a man like him even consider her?

You know what, I'm going to tell her the truth before I leave.

"Ryleigh," I begin, "Lorenzo's not interested in you."

"Huh? You're lying. Why else would he pay so much money for me?" she asks and I shrug, pretending to think.

"I have no idea. He's interested in me though," I say, but I whisper the last sentence under my breath with a huge smile on my face. It's nice being right.

"Excuse me?" Ryleigh asks and I'm confused. Did she overhear or something? Did I speak too loud?

I mean I honestly can care less because frankly, she needs to know the truth.

"You're lying. Why would he like you?"

"I have no idea. However, I took the day off yesterday because he invited me to a party for his sister and guess what? He was all over me," I say, making motions with my hands, dragging them up and down my body.

"Good-night," I say, trying to leave quickly before this bitch gets mad.

"You fucking bitch!" she swears and I turn around. Ryleigh is fuming. If this is a cartoon, smoke would be coming out of her ears and she's red in the face.

She's obviously embarrassed in front of her friends, well fake friends because they probably, Hannah hears a lot of stuff, don't like her either.

"Enough is enough. You need some respect smacked into you!" she says. In a second, Ryleigh grabs my hair, which pulls me straight to the ground, and swings on me.

Absolutely the fuck not.

I've been in a ton of fights and by tons, I mean tons. Especially in my late middle school to early high school era before I ran away and even then, sometimes I fought with homeless guys on the Los Angeles streets.

It's not ladylike but who gives a fuck. I'm not one to let my ass get beat up.

I need an entrance before I begin fighting.

I swing a right hook in her face and it causes her face to go sharply to the side.

Backlash.

I take that opportunity to hit my foot hard in the back of her knee, a weak spot, and it knocks her right off balance. She ends up toppling over on the floor and I get up from the ground.