3 Simple Steps

FOUR: She Was the Plague Itself

Lunch was a sad thing for me. My friends didn’t have it with me, and I was stuck all alone. And not to mention, Genesus and her Piranhas were in my lunch: they didn't make my life any easier.

Sighing, I unwrapped my burger and took a bite out of the stale thing. I chewed it silently, watching as people filed into the commons and sat with their friends. As they walked by my table, I heard Castel's name in at least every conversation. News of his "return from Missouri after three years" was spreading quickly. It seemed that everyone loved him since before he had “left”.

"Hey, Sugar Cube, anyone sitting here?" Asked a smooth, throaty voice, interrupting my thoughts.

I almost choked on my burger, and my face went all red. Sure, I had created him, but my God could he make me blush like an idiot. Just as I was about to reply that he could get lost, he sat across from me. The boy grinned easily at me, sitting as if he were a spoiled prince with his back straight, eyes focused on me. His caramel hair was tousled as if he had been running his fingers through it—though I highly doubted it had been his fingers. And he had rolled up the sleeves of my hoodie, showing his bare arms. The veins there were rivers cutting through the land of his skin.

"What do you want, Castel?” I hissed. “Come to tell me that you're officially moving out? That you got a sweet babe, and you don't want to ruin your reputation by being seen with me?"

Castel furrowed his eyebrows and leaned forward on his elbows, his green-blue eyes dark with mischief.

"Sugar Cube, I'm so not moving out,” he drawled. “I bet you already found out that I have parents? Well, they're from the book as well, but I'm not allowed to live with them. They're just fillers to make me seem normal and as real as possible. Booktopians have to stick with their creators, or else some pretty nasty stuff happens—Ooh, you gonna eat that?" He eyed my untouched brownie.

I slid my tray--bit burger and all--towards him and told him he could have it. He shoveled food item after food item into his mouth, and I laughed at the picture in front of me: a hot, teenage boy eating like a five-year-old with a crazy fast metabolism. Suddenly, I was aware of people whispering and looking at me evilly, as if I had started a cold war. But of course. Why was Castel talking to Alexis? News was going to spread fast, and I was already cringing at the confrontation that I was bound to have with Genesus. If she let me hang out with Adriana and Maribel in semi-peace was because she couldn’t care less about them. But Castel? Surely she had her eyes set on him and was going to send her loyal Piranhas after me.

"Cas, I think you should go back to hanging out with your popular buddies," I said, scowling.

Cas raised his eyebrows and pointed his half-eaten brownie at me.

"Sugar Cube, they're a bunch of morons. I mean, sure, it was fun for a couple of hours, but I prefer spending time with my creator."

I gave him a pointed look and stood up, almost knocking Cas’ carton of milk over.

"You idiot, Genesus hates my guts. She's probably going to dump Joel and try to date you. That means if I, Freak of Nature Alexis, talks to you, my head will be on a silver plate by tomorrow. Got it? Bye. See you at home." I made sure to put a lot of emphasis on my words so that his stupid little mind would understand perfectly.

Castel's face darkened and he stopped chewing, swallowing hard, his Adam’s apple moving up and down as he did so.

"Wait. What? I'm already dating her. She seems like a nice girl. Is she really being mean to you?"

My heart felt like bowling pins. Cas’ words had been the bowling bowl that hit a strike. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach, the contents inside of it wanting out. Of course she was already dating him! That Princess Bullshit!

"No. That's fine. You keep dating her. She'll act royalty around you."

With tears stinging my eyes, I whirled around and stormed off. I had managed to create something—and by gods, that something was gorgeous and beautiful—and Genesus had taken it away as fast as I had made it.

No. Not it. Him.

Castel Simons was human. And even though I wasn't attached to Cas in any way, I still felt betrayal because he was dating her. I thought maybe he wouldn't fall for her dirty tricks. That he'd know better. Apparently he didn't, and he was now in the clutches of Genesus Hayes Gem.

Tears blurred my vision as I made my way to the bathroom, my stomach still doing little flips every which way. Cas didn’t even try to go after me. He just sat there, unfinished brownie dangling in his hand, staring after me with a baffled expression.

I bet Genesus had known that Castel was attached to me, and had started dating him to make her point about me being lonely clear. I brushed my eyes furiously and turned into the bathroom, hoping no one had seen me crying. Otherwise that would be another reason people avoided me: Alexis cries like a fucking baby at the most random times.

As I cut the corner to enter a stall, I bumped into someone on my way in and mumbled a quickly apology before moving around them.

        "Not so fast, de la Cruz. I need to talk to you."

My blood turned to ice and my vision turned red. Genesus had received the news faster than I had anticipated. But of course, her little virus of friends had to be quick. After all, that's what viruses did. They spread fast. If they didn’t act quickly, the victim would get away. And Genesus was worse than a simple virus, she was the plague itself, and I was about to become her next dead victim.