Late Seven
By Systematic

Sandy wanted to get laid. I could tell from the looks he was giving me, his body language. It had only been a week since our sleepover, but he was getting impatient. He was giving me all the signals, and it was Friday, so it looked like it was time for another sleepover. Sandy was too polite to suggest it, so I did it for him. He almost hugged me right there in the classroom.

Edie had been watching. When Sandy had left, she looked at me, then after him.

“What?” I said.

“Nothing.”

“We’re going to play video games. You want to come?”

“No, no.” She shook her head. This was strange. Edie is shy and withdrawn and awkward, but right then I got the idea she knew something I didn’t. What it could be, I wasn’t sure. I eyed her thoughtfully, and she started turning red. Sandy came back into the room, and she moved away. I stared after her.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“What’s with you and Brett?”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s been acting funny around you,” Sandy said.

“So what? He wants me dead.”

“I’m not sure he does.”

When I got home, Red was waiting for me. And she had that look in her eye. I reminded her that I was injured, and she backed down, but only reluctantly. It felt like I barely had time for a nap before Sandy showed up. I pretended not to notice the way Red’s mouth watered when she took his coat. She was just full of kinks – a budding masochist, and now a thing for pretty boys.

We ate dinner and traded gossip. Sandy was asking me about the family the was staying in the house next door for the week, and he didn’t believe me when I told him that I didn’t know if there had been any erotic escapades over there. I didn’t know because I hadn’t looked. I hadn’t looked because I wasn’t interested. It’s one thing when these situations fall into your lap, but it’s different if you go looking for them. That’s creepy.

Soon we were in my room. I was at the desk, and Sandy was pacing around with the tablet, reading my latest.

“What country were they from?” he asked.

“I don’t know.”

“How can you not know?”

“I never heard them speak. Someone said they were foreign.”

“I wish I’d seen that.”

“It was kind of weird, because they were into each other too much for sisters.