thirteen. the demon king
Reggie had been tormented by worry ever since the camping trip. Despite knowing that Quinni was safe, as her fathers had reassured him and Darren, the images of her paralyzed body, her ashen complexion, and the unnerving fact that she was left unattended for an unknown length of time continued to haunt him. The scene of her discovery played over and over in his mind, leaving him deeply troubled and anxious about her well-being. He could still hear the ambulance sirens from that day.
"Hey, you okay?" Amerie questioned the boy who sat in the backseat through the rearview mirror. Her voice snapped him out of the recollection of that day. He cleared his throat before nodding his head in retort. "Well, stop being useless and bring your ass. Quinni's waiting for us."
Reggie hummed before opening the door and getting out along with Amerie and Darren. After hearing that they could visit Quinni, they immediately jumped at the chance.
After a hop, skip, and jump, the three found themselves inside the Gallagher-Jones residence, knocking on the girl's door. Hearing movement from inside the room, Darren opened the door and peeked their head in. "Hello," they greeted Quinni before fully entering the room, allowing for Amerie and Reggie to do the same. "How you feeling?"
"Better now that I've been home a few days," Quinni replied. She sat up in her bed after seeing her friends entering her room. Darren took a seat on the other end of her bed and looked at the Wadia girl.
"We have something for you," Amerie declared. She revealed the large blue envelope that had the handmade "Get Well" card in it. "Me and Reggie got the whole year group to sign it at school yesterday."
"Oh, my God. This is genius," Quinni stated, now looking at the inside of the card. She got up and walked toward the wall that possessed numerous red strings, orange sticky notes, some handwriting samples, and pictures of students. "This is such an obvious way to cross-check handwriting samples."
The three were bewildered, least to say, as they investigated the wall. The Wilson boy's eyes skimmed over the sticky notes and the different messages written on them. "Whoa, okay, that is a lot of string," Amerie let out. Quinni glanced at the wall and the items on it.
"How long have you been doing this for, babe?" Darren asked.
"Since the first attack," Quinni informed. Darren muttered an, "Oh,", in response, examining at the wall just as much as the Wilson boy had.
"Okay. Well, you know, there haven't been any more Bird Psycho attacks since camp, so I think we might be in the clear, Quinn," Amerie explained. She sat down on the girl's bed as the Gallagher-Jones girl added things to the wall.
"Hang on," Darren flagged the girl's attempt to get Quinni to take down the wall. "It probably takes a lot of... time to plan all those attacks." Amerie cleared her throat, drawing Reggie and Darren's focus back onto the task at hand. "Right," Darren let out, sitting beside Amerie on the bed before loudly declaring, "I think it's over. They probably freaked out when they nearly killed you, so..." they chuckled nervously and made a noise that made Reggie raise a brow.
"Or they realized I was closing in on them," Quinni proposed.
"Okay, well, either way, you don't need to investigate anymore, babe," Amerie tried. Quinni let out a pssh and turned to look at her friends, "The case hasn't been solved yet."
After a quick glance at Darren and Reggie, Amerie tried again, "I know, and I really appreciate all the work that you put in, but I think we just want you to focus on getting better now. Hey, we'll help you pack it down."
"No, I'm fine," Quinni declared sternly. The tone in her voice made Amerie and Darren instantly sit down after they got up trying to take down her wall of suspects. "If you guys really want to help me, you can start by asking Jojo if she knows where my phone is. You can also get me some more red string and Post-it notes." she turned back to the wall, eyes scanning it quickly. "I really wish these crime shows were more honest about their production resources."
Darren and Reggie let out a hum of agreement, both still in a daze by the large display of suspects.
As Reggie was leaving the bathroom, he felt someone bump into his shoulder, the things in his hands falling to the ground from the impact. "Hey!" he let out after collecting his stuff. He turned to curse and yell at the person before realizing it was a rather sad Malakai storming off. "Malakai, wait up, man!"
"Not now, Reggie," he dismissed the boy's calls, not even bothering to look at the Wilson boy. Reggie stopped amidst his request and watched as the boy left the school without much thought to it. He withdrew his phone from his pocket and instantly began to text Missy.
Something's up with Mal
"Hey," Ant's voice called out, followed by the sound of footsteps approaching the Wilson boy. Reggie's eyes shot wide as he began to speed away the boy who wanted to talk with him. As soon as Reggie was assured that Ant wasn't following him, he let out a breath of relief. His back met the brick wall behind him.
"Did you try calling her?" Darren asked Harper, who sat bored and played with the straw of her drink. She opened her mouth to answer before someone hit their hands against the window next to their booth, startling Darren and Reggie. "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Amerie called out before running to the entrance of the restaurant.
"Jesus, Map Bitch," Darren let out, placing their hand over their face. Amerie apologized many times and ran toward the free space that Darren left for her beside them, moving Reggie closer to the window.
"Where have you been?" Harper questioned.
"Oh, I was editing my campaign video with Rowan," Amerie answered, her breath heavy with each one she took. After a few shared glances between the group, Darren asked the girl, "Does Malakai know you were spending the afternoon with his boyfriend?"
"I'll have you know they broke up actually," Amerie responded. Ca$h stifled a chuckle and looked down at his arms crossed over his chest. Reggie let out an "Oh", after realizing that was why the Mitchell boy was so upset earlier.
"What did you do?" Darren asked.
"Oh, my God, nothing!" Amerie answered with slight offense to her tone while eating some of the fries from the plate in front of Reggie. "Jesus."
"Wait, are you gonna get back with Malakai?" Harper inquired.
"No! Oh, my-" Amerie hesitated, growing frustrated from the constant questioning. "Can we please just get off this topic? I thought we were here to talk about Quinni."
"Okay, so... Tomorrow I'm thinking we get her out of her room and do something super fun," Darren told the group about the plan they had come up with. "Remind her there's more to life than Bird Psycho. So, suggestions for activities... there are no bad ideas. Go."
"Uh, there's a day rave in Marrickville," Ca$h proposed. His cell phone vibrated against the table.
"No, we should go axe throwing," Harper declared. Darren let out a wince. "Guys, I said no bad ideas."
"Um, my mum wants me to help clean out the fridge. Maybe we could all make it like a fun team-building type thing," the Wadia girl suggested. Reggie shook his head with narrowed eyes staring at Amerie.
"Uh, it's, like, Nan. I gotta... take this," Ca$h said before he got up from his seat and headed out of the restaurant.
"Okay, you guys, let's think of activities Quinni actually enjoys," Darren stated.
"Hip-hop dance class," Amerie proposed.
"She'd rather clean your fridge," Darren remarked. Harper got up and walked out of the restaurant after saying, "I'll be right back."
"Ooh, how about the zoo?" Darren suggested. "Quinni loves frogs and lizards and all that other shit, maybe we could like... dress up like frogs or something."
"Yeah, I don't mind," Reggie declared. After his words, his gaze set onto Harper and Ca$h talking outside. Suddenly, he heard and felt movement beside him but he didn't pay much attention to it until Darren shouted outside, "How quickly can you two whip up amphibian costumes?"
Reggie grinned thankfully at Malaki's mom after letting him and Missy into Malakai's room. Before that, she had announced to Malakai that he had visitors, causing him to sit up in a confused manner. As soon as the two entered the boy's room, their noses were hit with an absurd smell.
"Ugh!" Missy let out with a disgusted expression. "Jesus, you tryna gas yourself?" Reggie strolled to the radio in the room and pushed the button to make the sad song stop. Missy walked over to the blinds and pulled them up to let more sunlight in. She exhaled deeply before meeting Reggie at the end of the Mitchell boy's bed. She grimaced as she grazed the empty boxes that belonged to a fast-food restaurant that were scattered around the bed. "Taking the breakup well then?"
The Beckett girl then sat down and looked at Malakai, who hid under his sheets. "You just gonna sit in here for the rest of the term?" she asked, pulling at the blankets he held to cover his saddened face.
"I don't know," Malakai murmured. He sat up from his reclined position with a groan. "How do I keep getting this shit so wrong? I figured going with a guy would be easier. Less of a... head-fuck, you know?"
"I hate to break it to you, but you fellas are worse," Missy said. Reggie hummed in agreement, rocking on his heels as his eyes scanned the Mitchell boy's bedroom. "It's all shrugs and grunts. You know, I have no idea if my brothers are gonna have a full-blown meltdown or they're just hungry."
"In fairness, we are usually just hungry, so..." Malakai trailed off, scratching the back of his neck. Missy chuckled lightly at him.
"Oi..." Missy called out. Malakai and Reggie hummed at her, waiting for her to continue. "Do you guys think it's weird if a guy only wants to go down on you?"
Reggie and Malakai's eyes met, surprised at Missy's words. The latter scoffed before remarking, "Oi, you got a boy toy all of a sudden, eh? Come on. Who is it, you big hole?"
"Yeah, tell us, Miss," Reggie nudged her slightly with a large smile on his lips.
"Oh, no one you know," she answered back. "But yeah, no. He only wants to eat at the downstairs restaurant and nothing in return."
"Eh. Pretty sus," Malakai responded. "Maybe he's got another woman." Missy smacked her teeth. "No, that's not it."
"Well, then, I don't know," Malakai declared. "Maybe he's got a bent budoo. Or an infection or... I don't know, like, he's just..."
"He's what?" Missy asked.
"I dunno... he's just not that sure about you," Malakai stated.
"Well, maybe Rowan's not sure about you," Missy snapped.
"Missy!" Reggie seethed at the girl. Her eyes drifted toward the Wilson boy before snapping back to Malakai, noticing the sad expression that formed on his face.
"No, you know what? Fuck that. Fuck that. We're not the problem. We're bloody bisexual icons," Missy declared. Her sights then fell onto Reggie before her lips pursed forward. "And Reggie, but still..."
"Yeah. Well, yeah, yeah," Malakai agreed. "I mean, our old people didn't fight for us to sit here and talk about people that are just blessed to have our attention."
"You know what? From now on, we cut," Missy proclaimed. "No questions asked."
"No answers needed," Malakai added.
"If it disturbs my peace, jog on, cunt," Missy remarked.
"Oh, fucking oath, sis," Malakai retorted. "Self-improvement, who needs it?"
"Okay, before you get mad at me, just know what's about to happen was not my fault," Reggie said as soon as Amerie opened the door with her frog ensemble on. She narrowed her eyes in confusion before noticing someone standing behind him. The boy moved aside, revealing Malakai standing behind him.
"I need you to tell me why I'm a shit boyfriend," Malakai stated. Amerie smiled at him before responding with, "Got a pen?"
The sounds of young children screaming and people talking from inside the zoo flowed through the air. Reggie watched as Quinni turned back to the group with confusion on her face as she asked, "What are we doing here?"
"We just thought after everything you might need a day filled with your favorite things. So..." Darren explained to the girl. "Today is everything cute and fluffy. Nothing else. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Quinni responded with a slight nod of her head.
"And you wanted to take her to a hip-hop class," Darren teased Amerie, resulting in the Wadia girl replying with, "We're brainstorming."
"I'm gonna get the tickets," Reggie declared, walking toward the ticket-purchasing booth. Darren called out that they were going as well and followed the Wilson boy. After a couple of minutes, the lady behind the booth gave the two teenagers six tickets.
"Let's go, bitches!" Darren exclaimed, holding up the tickets. The others cheered as they jogged up to where Reggie and Darren stood.
As the teenagers walked through the zoo, Reggie's eyes followed the movements of the animals in the exhibits, but his thoughts were elsewhere. He found himself lost in contemplation, questioning the possibility of rekindling his relationship with Ant. What would happen if they decided to give it another try? Would it be a good idea? These were the questions that plagued his mind, leaving him unsure of what to do.
"You okay?" Quinni asked, slightly nudging his arm with hers. His eyes shifted toward and his brain snapped back into the current reality. "Sorry, you just seemed... conflicted?"
"Just thinking... nothing I can't handle," Reggie tried to dismiss her concerns as a way to make her not worry about him, even adding a light chuckle to punctuate his sentence. But no matter what he did, he could still see the worry on the Gallagher-Jones girl's face. "Hey, don't worry about me. We should be more worried about you, Birthday Girl."
Quinni let out a light giggle. Though her saddened expression still appeared on her face. Reggie's eyes glanced around their surroundings before noticing that the rest of the group walked away. "How about we catch up with the others, eh?"
Reggie smiled as he, Harper, Amerie, Darren, and Ca$h snuck up to the Gallagher-Jones girl, who appeared to be meditating in a quiet place with her headphones over her ears. Darren held the frog cake in their hands before counting down quietly.
"Happy birthday!" they all yelled.
Quinni peeled her headphones from her ears and turned to the group. She stood up from the quilt she sat on. "You guys didn't have to do all this."
"We wanted to. Um..." Darren trailed off as they held out the gift they prepared for her. "Here."
"What is it?" she asked before looking inside of the bag. Her eyes fell on her friends and she jumped up of excitement. "Oh, my God! Oh, my God! You found it. I can't believe-"
"That's not-" "I don't deserve friends like you. My God! Who had it? Where was it?" Quinni asked before turning the phone on. Her excitement deflated immediately. "That's not my cover photo."
"It's a new phone," Reggie declared. "We couldn't find the one, so..."
"We think whoever stole it ditched it somewhere," Harper said. "But it's nearly exactly the same as your old phone."
"It took some..." the Rivers teen cleared their throat, "not-so-legal shit to get that. And making that replica of your cover was not easy."
"But it wasn't about the phone," Quinni announced. "I just wanted it 'cause it would show us who Bird Psycho is."
"We said you didn't need to do that anymore," Amerie tried.
"But I wanted to," Quinni responded.
"Okay, but why?" Amerie questioned.
"Because everything's changing! You're making campaign videos with Rowan. Darren and Harper are moving out together. There's too many conversations with too many people, happening too fast," she stopped herself as her breath began to leave her at a faster rate. "I don't want to be a burden, but I'm never given any time or warning to prepare. And then I find this thing, this one thing that I can control, that I can share with you all and participate in, that I'd be useful for, and I'm told that I'm doing that wrong too. It's just not fair!" Quinni ranted before storming off. Reggie was left astonished at the girl's sudden discharge of emotions.
"Quinni," Darren called for the girl, handing the cake to their boyfriend before chasing after her.
"You're moving out?" Amerie asked Harper.
Reggie stood in front of the door, his fist trembling as he raised it to knock. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to calm his racing heart. As he waited for a response, his gaze flicked upwards, drawn to the vivid pink hues of the sky. He listened to the gentle chirping of birds overhead, their melodic tunes providing a soothing background to his anxious thoughts. Despite the peaceful surroundings, Reggie's nerves continued to flutter inside him, making him feel uneasy and uncertain.
As the door slowly creaked open, Reggie's eyes darted towards the entrance, only to find Ant standing there. His hair was tousled and unkempt, and he rubbed his sleepy eyes, letting out a soft yawn. Reggie could tell that Ant had just woken up and was still trying to shake off the drowsiness from his body. Ant's gaze landed on the shorter boy standing in front of him. With surprise in his voice, he blurted out, "Reggie? What are you doing here?"
Reggie gaped at Ant, his face full of anticipation. "How about that talk, eh?" he asked, his shoulder shrugging up and down in a nervous gesture. His lips pursed to the side as he waited for Ant to respond, but moments went by without any reaction. Finally, the Vaughn boy shifted his weight from his position next to the door and extended his hand, an unspoken invitation to continue the conversation. "Come on in."