The Cult of Devin

06

The pizza parlor was bright with energy. Three teens sat around a table, laughing and drinking sodas and chocolate milk.

Emmit smiled as he looked at his two friends. They were amazing. More importantly though, Lacch was amazing. They sat at the table, a smile on their face as they sipped their chocolate milk out of the cheap plastic cups the parlor provided. How could someone make such a small action so perfect?

Emmit shook his head and smiled. Cody watched as he did this, a knowing look on his face.

Cody always knew that Emmit liked Lacch. Conveniently enough, Lacch liked Emmit back.. But Emmit was odd. It was almost like he was keeping things as painfully platonic as possible while still leading on the poor thing.

Emmit caught Cody’s staring eyes and his smile dropped slightly. After a second, his smile fully faded away. He roughly pushed the plate of pepperoni pizza away from himself and stood. “Let's go play at the arcade. I'm tired of eating.” He grabbed Lacch's wrist and started to drag them away from the table.

“Awe, but wait- I wanna finish my cheese pizza!” Complained Lacch. Much to Emmit's thanks, Lacch didn't struggle for long. They quickly sighed and followed along. He didn't care if Cody followed.

They pushed through the crowded parlor and eventually got to the other half where the various arcade games sat. Lacch smiled as they dug through their wallet, pulling out two one dollar bills. Their smile sunk slightly, but they kept a positive glint in their eyes. “I only have two bucks… but.. You guys can just play! I don't have to spend any of the quarters.”

Much to Emmit's dismay, he heard the slightly deeper and smooth voice of Cody pick up. “My boss gave me a raise. I have an extra twenty in my wallet.” He handed it to Lacch. “Go big or go home, kiddo.” Said Cody, a small smile on his face.

Emmit rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Don't call them kiddo. We are only two years younger than you. I'm nearly seventeen and Lacch just turned sixteen.”

Cody just shrugged. “So, Lacch. How's your brother?” He said, making small talk.

Lacch looked up inquisitively as they slid the money into the coin machine. “You know Euan?” They seemed shocked. “Oh well uh. They are good. The one bit of sanity in the house, as always. It sucked, cause for a while back, they acted as if I didn't exist. Almost as if I was dead!” They laughed. “Thankfully a few months ago, they started talking to me again. They have seemed a bit shaken up though. Since you know him, maybe you can ask. He hasn't given me any answers.”

Cody nodded. “Noted. I will get that done.”

Emmit could feel something twisting in his gut as he listened to the two talk. Why the hell would Lacch's brother be treating them like they were dead? When did this happen, how did Emmit not know? After all, they hung out with Euan quite a bit. Especially after the incident.

“When did your brother start ignoring you, Lacch?”

“Oh. After the truck hit me. He didn't even visit me in the hospital, which as you know is very out of character for him. He was always the one to take care of me when I was sick.”

Emmit nodded. “When did he start talking to you again?”

“Few months after Cody came along. Hey, you hung out with Euan for a while after the accident. Was he acting weird?”

Emmit was tense. His lips pursed. He shook his head. He didn't like this conversation. Didn't like how it was going. And more importantly, he could feel Cody's eyes on him, burning through him. Daring him to keep talking.