Decadent

Chapter Nine: Kiss on the Cheek

     “Did you get sick?” Dante asks me quietly but with concern as she quietly moves into the kitchen.
    I try not to gag too much since I don't want to wake anyone up. My knees give out in front of the trashcan, and Dante is right by my side with a napkin to wipe my mouth with.
    “Thanks,” I mutter after wiping my mouth with the rough napkin.
    “Are you...sick? You shouldn't go to school if you're not feeling well,” Dante tells me.
    Well...I don't feel well every day...but I can't miss every day of school, unfortunately. But I'm not going to explain all that to Dante. That's just too much.
    “No...this happens all the time,” I mutter, adding the sarcasm so she won't think I'm serious when I am.
    Dante sighs as she rubs my back slowly up and down my spine. Some people find back rubs nauseating after throwing up...but I happen to like them. They actually make me feel better depending on the person.
    “I bet you're enjoying this, Perv-Boy,” Dante mutters.
    “Mm-hm,” I mumble, but I feel too much like shit to make a dirty joke out of it. Honestly, I don't want to go to school today.
    A body was just found near the school. Not just any school. The school I go to.
    Not only that...but I saw the picture of the boy when he was alive...I've never seen him before...I don't think I've ever seen him at my school...
    But I know that he looks a lot like me.
    That's what scared me, and that's what made me so sick to my stomach.
    “Do you feel like going to school?” Dante asks me. “Tell me. Be honest.”
    I shake my head. “No...not really.”
    “Well...you've just thrown up in a trashcan...it won't be considered skipping if you don't go to school today,” Dante reasons.
    “Ha...my mom won't let me stay here,” I mutter. It's Tuesday...my birthday is in three days. How exciting.
    “Well, your mom can suck balls,” Dante says with a smile. “If you're not feeling well then you're not feeling well. If she don't like it, then throw up on her bed. That'll show her that you're not feeling well.”
    “My God,” I say with a smile as I shake my head. “Yeah, she can just suck my balls for all I care.”
    “You're into some freaky stuff.”
    “It was a joke.”
    “Really? This whole time I thought you really wanted your mother to suck your balls,” Dante says nonchalantly.
    “No, but I know who I want to suck my-”
    “Hell no. Put some peanut butter on that and let a dog lick it or something, but I'm not gonna. Not now. Not ever. Never. Never. Never,” Dante says as she shakes her head.
    “Never say never,” I tell her with a smile.
    “Yeah, well, some people think that a foot could never go up someone's ass, but I'll show them that would be wrong 'cause you're the biggest ass I know,” Dante snaps as she rubs my back a bit too hard.
    “Ouch! Hey! You want breakfast or not? If you're going to abuse me then...no...come on, baby. Hit me. Slap me then call me your whore. Tell me how I've been a bad boy in a really sexy voice. Tell me-”
    Dante slaps her hand against my back so hard that it makes me cough. “You happy now?” she asks.
    “More,” is all I whisper even though the pain doesn't give me pleasure at all. I'm not a masochist. I have no idea how anyone could love the feeling of pain.
    “You want more?” Dante asks in confusion. She sighs and stands up when I nod. “Get up on your feet, you dirty slut. We're skipping school today.”

    I tell my dad that I'm not feeling well today. I guess he kinda figured out that I threw up because I was brushing my teeth when I told him. He knows how often I brush my teeth...
    “So are you leaving? That will just make it seem like you're faking it, Rem,” Dad tells me.
    “It'll be fine. Just tell Mom that I'll be helping Dante find a place or plan the future or something...give her some bullshit reason, okay? I don't feel feel like dealing with her ass,” I say with a shrug.
    “Hell, I don't feel like dealing with her ass either,” Dad complains as we stand in the bathroom.
    Dante watches us from the bathroom doorway as she shakes her head. “How 'bout we just go? Who cares what the bitch says. 'Cause I sure don't. I don't care what Octavius says either,” Dante mutters bitterly as her arms fold across her chest. She's still angry at my mom and Octavius obviously...not that I can blame her. My mom basically called her old, and Octavius said that she was ugly.
    Who does that?
    “You think that's bad? You should see how they are when you're not here,” I mutter. Dad nods in agreement.
    “You mean they are worse than how they are now?” Dante asks in disgust.
    “Oh yeah,” Dad says with a nod. “They're like a nightmare tag-team match from Hell when people aren't here. This is their 'good' behavior.”
    Dante's eyes widen in horror. “Uh...how the hell am I going to survive crashing here?”
    “Who cares? It's like you just said...let's just go already. I don't want to be here when they wake up,” I say to Dante before looking over at Dad. “Dad, you might as well just get dressed and leave, too. Before Demon One and Demon Two wake up,” I tell him.
    “Yeah...that's a good idea,” Dad says with a nod.
    “Dante, we need to talk,” I tell her.
    Once we were outside by my car, she gives me a suspicious look. “What?”
    I tell her about what Octavius did to my sheets...I don't mention anything about my bed. I just tell her how he let his freaking DNA all over my sheets.
    Dante's eyes widen in disgust. “That is horrible!” she yells as her nose crinkles and her lip curls. “That's really nasty...but why are you telling me this?”
    “Because I need a way to get back at him. You're going to help me...if you want to, at least,” I tell her.
    “Yeah. I'll definitely help. There's no doubt about it,” she tells me with a nod. “You just need help ruining something of his, right? Why don't you leave your DNA on his face?”
    “That's nasty!” I yell. “That means I'd be stooping lower than him with my sheets. Sheets is one thing...but the face? That's just...no. I wouldn't mind if it were someone else...but not me. Hell no.”
    “All right. Get Garry to put his...semen in a jar and pour it on Octavius' face. No problem. Case closed. Problem solved,” Dante tells me straightforward. “What he did to you was pretty bad...that's why you gotta do something worse. I don't care how 'low' it is. Sometimes 'low' is best.”
    “Gosh...what would you do if I did you wrong?” I ask her curiously.
    She glares at me darkly with cold eyes. “Don't do me wrong, and you won't have to worry.”