The Rising Dead (14 page)

“Hey,” said Parker lamely.

“Perfect,” Max said, barely able to contain herself. “Target acquired.”

“Set lasers to stun?” Her friend turned and waited for a reply. Max shook her head and sneered.

“Shoot to kill,” she said.

“Ouch,” her friend replied. “Too bad. He's cute, for his type.”

“I'll take that as a compliment,” Parker said, looking for a way into their conversation. He wasn't used to feeling this vulnerable around a girl. He didn't like it. Why was she making everything so difficult? Most girls were happy if he just paid attention to them, no matter what they talked about. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder and saw Holt giving him the thumbs up. That made him feel better. His buddy would definitely have his back.

“Not taking any chances with this one,” Max said. “He broke into my house earlier and tried to have his way with me. Luckily I was taping or he might have tried to rape me into submission.”

“You might have liked it,” her friend shot back.

“Come on,” Parker protested. “You know that's not true. I was a total gentleman.”

“Yeah?” Max leered at him in disgust. “Then why were you pitching a tent the whole time you were watching?”

“I wasn't,” he spit back. He was losing control again.

So she did notice,
he thought, the embarrassment nearly overwhelming him. W
hy hadn't she said something at the time? Why did she wait? Was this her plan all along? To show up in front of his friends and belittle him?

It made him angry to even consider. She smirked, watching him closely, like she was waiting for him to lose his cool, like it was all a part of the game she was playing.

Chill out
, he told himself.
Don't let her see you freak over this. That's what she wants. Show her you can take a joke.

“You okay big guy?” The girl with the Mohawk had a voice like a play doll with a pull string. “Very funny,” Parker said. “Yeah, you got me. I broke into your crash pad at Thunderdome today so I could sexually assault you and then invite you to this party. What can I say? I'm
that
neighbor.”

“Did you take Viagra first?” The pink haired girl cooed. “Or are you such an alpha male that you're constantly hard and drooling precum, in search of your next victim?”

“You should have seen it,” Max continued, turning to her. “You could practically see the veins popping out even through his denim. That thing was thick! I could see the justifications running through his mind. He was building himself up the whole time, psyching himself to do it.”

“How can you tell?” Her friend laughed.

“He was panting and drooling like he'd gone full retard,” Max said. “Plus he completely stopped responding to me. It's like he was just staring at my tits.”

“Can't blame him for that,” the friend teased. “Your rack is pretty magnificent.”

“Oh you,” Max playfully chastised her. “Go on.”

“You know,” Parker said, trying to act slick. “I was going to invite you both to take a tour of Slaughterhouse. As a member of this fraternity I have full access, even upstairs.”

“The rape chamber awaits,” the friend chimed in.

“Oh that's real tempting and all,” Max laughed. “But I'm gonna pass. Maybe Jess here might be interested. She's into the kinky stuff, much more than I am. Chips, dips, chains, whips, and candle wax on the nipples, all right up her alley.”

Max turned to her friend Jess.

“It really did look like a good piece of meat,” she chuckled. “Let's hope he doesn't stuff his jock. You're not a stuffer are you? Because that would be truly sad.”

“He's a grower not a shower,” Jess giggled into the back of her hand.

Parker wasn't going to be dismissed again, not that easily, not at his own party. He stared down at her t-shirt trying to think of something to say. It read “L33T” and he wondered what it meant. Maybe it was some cool new brand she'd brought back from the Coast?

“There's no reason to be a cunt,” Parker said. “All I've ever done is try to be nice to you. You know, this right here is why people think you're stuck up. You act like you're better than everyone, so high and mighty with your little internet show. You never make an effort, never show up to anything, and the one time you do you put on this disgusting show for your cool friend. It's kinda pathetic.”

“What?” Max flashed him an icy stare that pierced down to the core. Playtime was officially over.

“You think I'm cool huh?” Jess blushed.

Max was no longer in the mood for games. She ignored her friends tease and went straight for the jugular.

“You can go fuck yourself asshole. Why don't you find some pathetic washed up Vegas skank trash party girl to go play with and leave me the fuck alone? You can go tanning together and shop at the fashion outlets for Ed Hardy. Just leave me the fuck out of it.”

“That's what I'm talking about right there. You don't know me. Where do you get off talking like that to me?”

“Oh I can't talk like that to the big baseball star, is that it?” Her eyes burned with a feral shimmer. She got up in his face. “You can break into my apartment and interrupt my show, but I can't hold up the mirror and give it back to you? Is your little ego too fucking fragile to handle that? You really are just full of yourself, aren't you, slugger?”

Parker didn't flinch, but he did soften his tone. He wasn't looking for a fight. He just wasn't going to let her make him feel like a complete idiot again. So far it wasn't working out like he’d planned, as usual. The girl with the pink Mohawk looked more upset at Max's overreaction than she did at his interruption. She mumbled something about them getting a room under her breath and then stormed off.

“It's like you get off on treating other people like shit,” Parker said with a pretentious laugh. “I wish your legion of fan boys could see you now, how you really act when the cameras are off. You wouldn't be half as popular.”

He took a beer from a frat brother passing by and slammed it. He'd gotten to her. She was starting to change colors.

I'll bet no one has ever talked like that to her
, he thought.
She looks confused. Good. At least I got her attention
.

“Why don't you stick to your own kind,” she hissed.

She pointed over to the group of girls who’d been following Parker around all night. All of the freshmen girls withered under the unexpected attention except the pretty blonde, who stepped expectantly forward as if she was being summoned.

“You're not ready for a girl like me.”

“Whatever the hell that means,” he said.

“It means that after all the mindless lithium Barbies you've run through,” Max said, her eyes cold and unblinking, “you wouldn't know what to do with a real woman like me. I'd chew you up and spit you out. Why don't you save us both the trouble and just stick to what you know best? There's a perfect girl for you. She's practically begging for your junk in her mouth.”

Parker didn't give the girls more than a cursory glance and a nod. It felt crazy, but a small part of him began to suspect that Max was actually starting to give a little. He felt torn with anxiety, wishing he knew what to do next. The truth was she was right; he'd never really had to work for a girl’s attention before. Admitting that would make him look like an arrogant jock, which is exactly what she wanted. That didn't mean he was one. He'd just never found a girl that was worth fighting for until he met her.

Tell her that, you idiot!
the tiny voice in his head screamed. He thought of their previous exchange and decided against it. He wasn't ready to bare his chest to her in front of all his friends and have her rip his beating heart out just for fun. Parker could feel the eyes of everyone at the party on his back. He'd made a mistake talking to her. What was it he saw in her? At that moment, with the heat of her glare boring holes through him, it was hard to remember. He wanted to run away but he was too proud--too many people were paying attention to them now.

“You don't know shit about me,” he said. “If you'd let your defenses down for a moment maybe you'd see that I'm more than a two dimensional caricature you've painted into some kind of sociopath.”

Malice danced in her eyes and a smile crossed her face. She was getting off on humiliating him in front of all these people, he thought.

“Where'd you learn that? Psych 101? Please.”

“This is getting old fast,” he said, turning away. It was all he had left at this point. He wished there was a way to reboot things with her, but if there was he couldn't see it. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be. He was starting to wish he'd never laid eyes on her. No one had ever treated him like this before, especially for no good reason.

“Good,” she said. “Then get this through your thick skull rape boy - I wouldn't let you put your cock in me if you were the last fucking man on earth. You hear me? It's never gonna happen so you can just forget it! Tuck your useless flap of meat between your legs like a scared dog and run back to the slut pool you're used to breeding in because that's all your good for sport, especially with that thrown out arm!”

There was a gasp from somewhere behind him. He didn't turn. He couldn't. He didn't want anyone else to see the look on his face. He let out a nervous laugh, hoping to conceal his anger at being reduced to a blubbering idiot by her again.

“Screw her,” Holt yelled in a drunken slur as Parker turned and walked past him. “She doesn't deserve to . . . hey! Where are you going?”

Parker just kept walking. He got to the parking lot and punched the side of his truck as hard as he could. His fist stung but he didn't care. Rage pumped through his veins. He wanted to rip someone apart after that exchange.

Travis slowly opened the driver's side door and climbed out, book still in hand. The sudden violence had left him trembling, knocking him from his daydream of Gemma. He looked slack jawed from Parker to the truck.

“What is that all about? Did Max show up?”

“Can you think of anything else that would make me this crazy?” Travis couldn't tell if Parker was being sarcastic or not. He decided it wasn't worth risking his wrath with a joke.

“I don't get it.”

“I don't either,” Parker said, slamming his fist into the truck again then marching off down the driveway into the darkness. Travis hurried after him. In the distance he could see the spotlight of the Luxor pyramid and the glow of the Strip. He had to hurry to keep up with Parker who wasn't slowing down for him and genuinely seemed to want to be left alone. They walked alone in silence for a while as Parker cooled down a little, coming to stop near a drainage ditch. Parker picked up a rock and threw it over the ledge.

“How the hell did this chick get so far up under my skin?”

“It happens man,” Travis said soothingly. “Take it easy on yourself. This is what she does to guys. I've seen it before. It's just how she is. She's different, you know?”

Parker turned on him with angry, red eyes.

“You think I'm not good enough for her? Is that it?”

“What? No,” Travis corrected him. “That's not it at all. I mean, you can have nearly any chick you want and yet you continue to chase after her. She's not even your type.”

Parker glared at Travis with red angry eyes. For a minute, Travis thought this time he'd gone too far and that Parker was about to pound him. Instead, he let out a loud sigh and turned to face Travis.

“You know what it is?”

“Tell me bro,” Travis replied.

“It's like she's the only thing that is real here,” Parker said. “Other girls seem dull and boring compared to her, like they are all trying too hard. She doesn't even have to try at all. You know the weirdest part about it is that I feel like I can see something in her, something underneath the surface, like all the makeup and attitude is a front and the real Max is down in there and that's what I'm seeing. Does that make any sense?”

“I wish I could tell you yes,” Travis said. “But I'd be telling you what you want to hear. I wanna believe it too, but it sounds like you're just projecting what you want to see. It's classic Freudian stuff man. Kill your father fuck your mother stuff.”

“What? No. I didn't say that. She's not like my mother at all. Don't put words in my mouth.”

“I'm not trying to freak you out man,” Travis said defensively, holding up his hands. “I can totally relate. That's all. Look at what I keep doing with Gemma. I am completely obsessed with her but I can't get the balls up to start a conversation with her. At least you tried, man. At least you took a shot. That counts for something in my eyes. It's part of what I respect about you. For real.”

Parker smiled at him sympathetically. He just saw so much of himself in this kid.

“You know your only problem is your total lack of sack,” he said. “Chicks like a guy who can stand up for himself, who looks like he's got his act together.”

“Yeah?”

“Fucking eh right they do. You just need to shut off your brain for a while and let your animal nature take over. You know what to do, down in your DNA. Trust me. It's science. You think too much. Your stepping all over your own dick. You need to relax and just let things happen.”

“What the fuck do you know about science?”

“Plenty,” he said. “And even more about hooking up. You'll be fine if you just let it happen and don't spaz out on her. Gemma is waiting for a guy like you, someone who will appreciate it when she finally spreads her legs again.”

“You really think I'm over-analyzing things? That's my problem. It's so simple.”

It looked like a light had gone off over his head. Parker couldn't help but think how priceless and naive his expression was at that moment.

“Well, maybe that and the fact that you won't stop reading all these faggy psychology books and talking about zombies and the end of the world and teenagers hunting and killing each other while turning into vampires and werewolves and shit.”

“Very funny,” Travis said, shaking his head. “What would I even say to her? Hey why don't you come to my zombie walk tomorrow?”

“Yeah that would be a good start,” Parker said in earnest. “Why the hell not? Just do it like you mean it, and tell me you don't see a difference - no matter what the outcome.”