The Skylar Experiment : The "X" in Apex

Chapter Thirty-Seven - Huntington

In the morning, Dad was thrilled to learn that I was going out with a girl for once, and he suggested she come inside for a quick hello and some crispy toast.

I doubted she'd ever allow herself back here after that traumatic first time. She had no interest in knowing my dad, not like Luc did, and I had a hunch that nobody else knew about his military ties.

But I could easily imagine all of them wanting as few of their faces as possible associated to me.

When Devin rolled up at eleven sharp, I was in the driveway with my father's eyes bearing down from the living room window. Her car had tinted windows, and she waited there until I opened the passenger door. It was the same black BMW Ben drove, and most days, they showed up to school together.

I didn't have the impression they were dating, so they must live close.

I was welcomed with a tremendous sigh.

"Good morning to you, too."

She made a smacking noise with the corner of her lips as she backed onto the road. "This ought to be fun. The meeting, I mean."

"Who's coming?"

"Well, I heard you met Jeremiah. He's supposed to be there. A few other adults, if they're free," she said, smoothly steering the wheel.

She took a number of streets I'd grown familiar with, leaving behind the foggy peaks surrounding my house. Soon after, we joined the sparse circulation on the interstate. Ben had strong-armed me into the corn field somewhere along here.

"Tell me something," she nudged after lowering the radio. "Have you been visiting Luc's house? Spending quality time together?"

Alarms immediately rang in my brain. I've slept there once and never returned so to speak—not inside. The last time was a stop in his driveway. If she was asking, then Luc kept that to himself.

"What do you mean, spending time together? You know what we're up to."

"Do I? It wouldn't be the first time he fools around with an outsider. We all do—it's the novelty. You know you can tell me and Ben, we're just trying to make sense of things. He hated Emma with every fiber of his being before they were good. But he's much easier on you."

Maybe I could admit to shenanigans, if it was the case.

"I don't know what you guys do, but it's not for me. Way out of my league," I said rather grouchily. He was a mutant for God's sake, why were we even discussing this? A perfect face and body didn't change that. "How about you screw each other?"

Devin cackled, and it wasn't even a disingenuous laugh. "We're cautious, you don't see us do boyfriends or girlfriends. Part of it is because, well, exposure. Some don't mind sleeping with others like ourselves, but they're long-time friends. It can get weird. I bet he thinks it's so attractive that you know about him, so he doesn't have to conceal stuff with you."

I turned in the seat, feeling myself blush out of rising anger—and because it was hard not to imagine certain things. "This is ridiculous. We haven't done anything, ever. Asking a dozen times won't give you a different answer and I'm really not interested in hearing his fuckboy factor."

She diverted her eyes from the road a little too long for comfort. "Fuckboy factor?"

I sighed.

"Some term Emma and I came up with. It's a rating, from a scale of one to ten. Ten being Colt that hits on everything that moves."

Huntington rolled in with its sunny horizon and gleaming bridges. This conversation would soon be over, and after that monotonous workshop, I'd had it with sex talk for the rest of the year.