The New Kid by Temple Mathews

Author:Temple Mathews [Mathews, Temple]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Benbella Books
Published: 2010-09-06T20:00:00+00:00

Rudy pouted and sulked the whole way home. Will didn’t need to say another word; the look on his face spoke volumes. Rudy was in deep doo-doo. Any other time he might have tried to joke his way out of it but tonight was different. It wasn’t just the beer he’d sipped, it was more. He felt stronger, like instead of crushing his shoulders like it usually did, the world held out wild promise for his young life. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel bad about not listening to Will, he just wasn’t sure what the big deal was. Natalie was fine. Nothing had happened. What was Will’s problem? Maybe Will wasn’t as different from the rest of the meatheads at school as Rudy had thought.

He put in his iPod and listened to some Blood Eyes, a metal band whose lyrics Will would clearly disapprove of. Well, tough beans, thought Rudy, Will can’t hear it. Besides, I can listen to whatever I want to. The night rushed by in a dark haze as Rudy stared out the window. When Will pulled up to his house he got out and slammed the door.

“Later, Will. See ya, Natalie.”

“Rudy,” Will called out.

Rudy turned around.

“Sorry I got on your case. Everybody makes mistakes,” said Will.

“Yeah, sure. No worries, Will.”

“I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that,” said Will.

“Hey, I screwed up. I would have done the same thing if I were you. It’s cool.”

Rudy smiled and did his little signature dance to placate Will and Natalie, then headed for the side door of his house. Will waited for Rudy to reach the door, then made a U-turn and drove toward Natalie’s house.

Rudy’s hand was on the doorknob and he kept it there, standing frozen like a statue, until he heard Will’s car fading in the distance. Then he removed his hand, backed up, and waited in the shadows. He closed his eyes and heard a ringing in his ears. Then the voice said his name. Rudy. And again. Rudy. And again. Rudy. Then Rudy thought about his uncle Walter and how he’d been so angry at him for teasing him when he was younger. He imagined killing Walter with a five iron, splitting his head open like a cantaloupe. And as Rudy’s heart rate increased, he reached over and wrapped his hand around the stem of one of his mother’s Gold Medal roses, and a thorn sank into his thumb. He withdrew his hand. A tiny drop of ruby blood glistened. In a few moments a dark van pulled up and the Goth girl from the party stepped out and gave Rudy the finger. He was shocked, unsure what he was supposed to do. But then she smiled, revealing a huge gap between her front teeth that she’d bridged with a silver skull spacer with diamond eyes. Rudy returned the smile, ran over, and got in the van, squeezing his thumb, smiling at his drop of blood.

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