Tasting, Finding, Keeping: The Story of Never Read Online Free

indifference, the disdain, it's all a front. Wish I could admit that to myself outside of a crisis. Guy Two points his gun at my face. “Stand up.”
    “You're pathetic,” I say, but I follow his instructions, at least for the moment. Standing can only help my situation. It's hard to feel powerful when you're on your knees.
    “Take off your coat,” he instructs as he waves the gun around like it's a toy and not a deadly weapon. I shrug my jacket down my shoulders and let it fall to the floor. Guy Two gives me a rictus smile and then brushes his fingers down my arm. I smack his hand away and he snarls, thrusting the barrel of the gun into my forehead.
    “You must feel pretty fucking powerful,” I bait as I catch a glimpse of movement reflected in one of the glass doors to the coolers. The image is blurry, but I think I see someone moving down the back aisle towards Gun Girl. “So in control of your life. Does hurting people make you feel good? Do you get off on it?”
    Guy Two stares at me for a long moment, but he doesn't react to my words. Instead, he pulls back and steps away, turning his attention to Lacey who's groaning and rolling around on the floor. Shit.
    “Mm, mm, mm,” he says as he steps over to her. He keeps the gun locked on my face, but he kicks my roommate over with his boot. “What a hot, little piece of ass. Do you think she'd wake up if I started fucking her?” My hands curl into fists, and the pulse of blood inside my head switches to deafening.
    “Mel,” Guy One snaps as he hops the counter again and attacks a cooler full of beer. “We don't have all goddamn day. Get their wallets and let's go.” Guy Two sneers and reaches down for the brown belt around his waist. Obviously, he doesn't give a shit about what Guy One says.
    “Come on, Mel, ” I tease, hoping to draw his attention away from Lacey and back to me. “The master calls.” Guy Two ignores me, proving that he's the worst kind of monster there is: an apathetic one. There's a moment there where I wonder what the hell happened to make him that way. His hair is still shiny and well kempt, like he hasn't been at this as long as his friends have. His clothes are newer, nicer than even my own. On the outside, he looks like any of the thousand frat boys that I go to school with. On the inside, he's been damaged beyond repair.
    “It'll only take me a minute,” he says as he lets his belt hang open and starts to unbutton his pants. Poor Lacey is just waking up, just realizing that she's still in hell.
    “Don't hurt me,” she whimpers as her eyes take in the man towering above her, staring down at her like she's something to be crushed, to be dominated. Lacey, who doesn't like men, who's blonde and petite and dressed in a yellow sweater and a white skirt, who's not the kind of girl that gets into trouble. “I'll give you whatever you want, just please … don't.”
    “They're coming for us,” shouts the girl with the gun. She's shaking worse than Lacey now and she can't keep her eyes still. Her massive pupils are moving too fast for me to keep track. “I don't want to go to jail. Let's just get out of here.”
    Nobody is paying attention to me at the moment, at least not overtly. I step out of my heels, careful to keep my movements slow and innocent because I think if the girl sees me move, she's going to pull the trigger whether I'm a threat or not. I watch the tenseness of her shoulders beneath her leather jacket and the twitches in her face. Careful, Never, I think as I switch my attention to Guy Two. Wait till he drops to his knees. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to have to be quick.
    I look up, trying to catch that bit of movement in the cooler doors again. If Ty or one his friends is back there, maybe they can help me. If they can get Gun Girl, I can get Guy Two, and maybe, just maybe we'll all get out of here alive and intact.
    “Roll over,” Guy Two commands Lacey as he switches his gaze to my eyes and smiles, slow and