Wicked Hungry Read Free Page A

understand what’s going on.”
    Still she moves toward me, and then she’s in my arms. She smells sweet, like roses. Red roses. I hold her, and she holds me tight. After a moment I feel the tension drain from her.
    “You smell good,” I say.
    “It’s called taking a shower, Stanley. You should try it.”
    Taking a shower makes you smell like roses? I can almost taste them. But I let her go and she backs up. There’s a tear in one eye, and I want to reach up and touch it with my finger.
    But she reaches out first and touches my neck.
    For a moment I forget the moon up above me. There is nothing but Karen’s cold fingers on my neck and her lips there in front of me.
    Are we going to kiss?
    “Shit,” Karen says. “Here comes Zach.”
    “Where?” I ask.
    But then she’s kissing me.
    And there’s nothing else. Just her lips. On mine.
    I pull away. Her lips were cold, but my face is hot.
    “You are not using me to make Zach jealous.”
    She smirks. “No, I was just using you.”
    “What do you mean, ‘using me?’”
    “You’re a comfort,” she says. “Like comfort food, you know?”
    “What am I, a hamburger and fries?”
    “I was thinking more, a Whopper and a Coke. What’s the matter, you didn’t like it?”
    “Yeah,” I say. “As long as I’m not rebound boy.”
    “Not at all,” she says. “Anyway, he was too far away to see... I think.”
    “You think?”
    “You can never be sure with Zach. He always comes along when you least expect it. I bet he has those stupid vitamin supplements with him, too.”
    “Vitamins?”
    “You’ll see,” she says with a sigh.
    How did she spot him so far away? But I can see him now, too, walking up to us. His golden blond hair and toothy leer are unmistakable.
    “Stanley.”
    “Uh, hi, Zach. How’s it going?”
    “It’s been a while.”
    “You’ve been busy.”
    “Yeah,” he says. “I have. The cross-country team misses you, you know that?”
    “Don’t start, Zach,” Karen says.
    “No, it’s okay,” I say. “I mean, I miss the team, too, I guess. I just have some issues to take care of.”
    “Issues? That’s just what I wanted to talk to you about.”
    “What could he know about it?” Karen says. “Don’t listen to him.”
    “I’ve got some stuff I need to tell you, Stanley.” He glances at Karen. “But keep the meat eater away from me, okay?”
    “I won’t touch you again, Zach,” Karen says. “Even if you beg me.”
    Zach looks at me. “You should stay away from her, too.”
    “Why?” I ask him. “What’s it to you, anyway?”
    “Something’s the matter with her, and she won’t let anyone help.”
    “Don’t you have somewhere to go?” Karen says.
    “Obviously you can see she’s in denial.”
    “Zach,” I say. “Enough already.”
    “No, seriously, she needs help.”
    “Look, Zach, we were going to get something to eat,” I say.
    “You can’t just give me a minute? I wanted to tell you about the supplements.”
    “The vitamins?” I say.
    “Supplements, not vitamins,” he says. “You have to take them several times a day, but man, they are great.”
    “I still don’t get it,” Karen says. “Are they even FDA approved?”
    “You know what, Karen? Screw the FDA. You think the FDA will protect you? They’ll just fill you full of chemicals.”
    “Then how do we know they’re safe?” Karen asks.
    Zach ignores her this time: he’s already holding out a bottle for me to see. “ETERNAL CLEANSE,” it says.
    “It’s good for everything,” he says. “For your health. For your hunger. And it will help in school. Help you concentrate. Even help with the moon.” He winks at me.
    “What are you implying?”
    “Stanley, we both know you’ve been having trouble with the moon since, like, forever.”
    My teeth ache and I taste blood. My palms itch. Is my body agreeing with him? Calling out for these pills? I fight the urge to look up, because I can feel it: the clouds are gone. And even though it was