Lyla wanted to confide in Darcy. She wanted to tell her best friend everything, every gruesome, incriminating detail. But that would make things so much worse. If Darcy understood what she had done, Lyla would never be able to face her again. She had betrayed their friendship pretending to be the person she used to be, and that was a lie. She had changed and for her transformation, she was paying a terrible price.

She heard Darcy snicker.

"What? What's so funny?"

"Nice Cheeto's mustache."

Lyla noticed her orange powder-coated fingertips. She flipped down the visor to check her mustache in the mirror, but instead of her reflection, Keenan's threatening face greeted her.

She screamed when she felt his cold hand at her throat.

The car swerved wildly. Darcy regained control. "Jesus Christ, girl!"

"Sorry." Lyla peeked into the mirror, relieved to find her own reflection.

"You trying to make me stab you?!" Darcy snarled.

"Sorry. I thought..."

"You do that again, you're gonna need to ride in the trunk."

They drove in silence for a mile or so until eventually, Darcy calmed down. "Ever since that party you crashed. That bonfire..."

"What?" Lyla kept her eyes on her Cheeto's.

"I mean I don't know. You've been so..."

Lyla didn't offer an ending to her friend's probing question.

"So... You guys met at Natalie's party last year? You and Keenan?"

Lyla shook her head. "No, it was at that kegger uptown. You weren't there. You were seeing Sean Bell—"

"What was I even thinking?" Darcy blushed.

"It was right after my mom died." Lyla cleared her throat. "Not long after, anyway."

Darcy blinked away tears during an awkward pause.

Lyla wiped her nose and continued. "I guess I was pretty vulnerable. Big surprise, I didn't have a boyfriend, so..."

"Anyway..." Darcy led her on.

"Keenan was so different from the boys at school, you know?"

"That's an understatement."

Lyla smiled. "The bad boy with all the tats."

Darcy nodded.

"I was always a good girl, you know? And look where that got me. So I thought what the hell? I'll have a few beers and maybe meet some new people... and there was Keenan showing me all this attention." She paused for a moment. "And he was kind of cute."

"Kind of," replied Darcy sarcastically.

"He was when I was drinking. He seemed almost charming," she reflected.

"I'm trying to hold my judgment."

"Another regrettable life choice. My dad hated him. From the first second he met the guy, my dad knew." She sighed. "At the beginning, it was nice to have a boyfriend. But then..."

A frightening memory surfaced of Keenan's mom's house. Cigarette butts floated at the bottoms of nearly-empty beer and liquor bottles on the kitchen counter. Styrofoam containers and fast-food wrappers overflowed the kitchen trash can.

Intertwined on the couch, Lyla and Keenan made out, his hand beneath her top trying to open her bra.

"Don't," she whispered.

"What's the matter, Kitten?" He grinned. She pushed his hand away, but he persisted.

"Stop it!" She twisted her shoulders away from his fingers.

"Stop it," he mocked her in a girlie voice. He yanked at her bra and it nearly popped open.

"I said stop it!" She slapped his hand.

He grabbed a fistful of her shirt and yanked her down hard onto the couch. She was scared. She struggled, but couldn't break free of his strong grip. She sunk her teeth into the blue snake tattooed on his neck. He yelped then grabbed her face in a tight grip.

Lyla heard the front door opening.

Thank God, someone's coming to my rescue.

"Who do we have here?" asked Keenan's witchy-looking mother, Rose. Wild salt and pepper hair grew from her scalp like cotton candy. She wore tattoos on the wrinkled skin of her chest, her arms, and hands. "Who did you bring into my house?" she growled at her son.

"Lyla."

An ugly grin spread across her face. "She ain't as pretty as that Mexican girl."

Lyla was aghast. Keenan had her pinned to the couch, and his mother had no intention of helping her or even chastising her son.

"Please," Lyla managed, her eyes wide. "Help me."

"Never met a girl that didn't like to play a little rough. Gets the juices flowing," Rose cackled then went into the kitchen.

In desperation, Lyla thumbed Keenan's eye. He howled and when he released his grip, she rolled off the couch and bolted out the door. While she ran she felt her phone buzzing. She kept running, her arms pumping, her feet hitting the ground in perfect rhythm.

When she arrived at the gas station on the corner out of breath she checked her messages.

Keenan – Your mine Kitten Always will be.