Page 39 of Silent Damage

A hydra eating Doug.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHA!”

He cackles too, and the two of us keel over, nearly knocking the fort over. Our laughter dies down, and he passes me the drawing. “Impressed?” he asks.

“It’s fucking awesome.” I can’t even pretend it’s not. The hydra is perfect, and Doug is spot on—like a comic book version with his bald head and constipated look on his face.

“Keep it. Look at it when he says shit to you.”

My head cocks to the side as I examine Gabe’s handiwork. “Become a wizard, Gabe. Make the picture come true.”

I sigh and set the picture on my lap as I rest against the fort.

But then my stomach flips because Gabe threads his fingers with mine and whispers. “I wish I could.”

And knowing that makes some of the pain go away. “Thanks,” I reply in a hushed tone.

He nods.

I hate other guys, but Gabe is different.

“You’re the only dude in the world I like, Gabe.”

A look flashes across his face, but then it fades.

He scoots closer, and I fall into his brown eyes.

His lips are the perfect shade of pink, and he has the cutest scattering of freckles on the bridge of his nose.

I don’t know why, but…

I want to kiss him.

That’s weird, right?

“Gabe.”

“Yeah?”

I want to do it.

He’s so close—

“Sleep outside tonight?” I ask.

Gabe smiles. “Definitely.”

I push myself off the ground and stumble toward the neon sign that’s calling to me. It’s a bar, and it couldn’t have appeared at a better time.

I need to get fucked up. Now.

Chapter 11

Gabe

It’s nearly 9 PM, and Jason’s been gone for hours. I sit with Mom on Doug’s deck, watching kids play kickball on the gravel road that snakes through the park.

“I’m sorry,” Mom says. I look at her with a raised brow, wondering why she’s apologizing. “I shouldn’t have asked you to lie for me,” she adds. “That was wrong.”