About a Boy

'Notice: This is the second entry in an R/Nosleep collaboration. The first entry can be read here.'

I’d like to preface this all by saying that Kevin is a fucking psychopath.

I loved Skye from the moment I met her. It was like my life had no color, none at all, until she walked in, and then suddenly everything felt fresh and bright and happy. My home life definitely wasn’t. Whenever my parents decided to actually be home, they were too busy screaming at each other or going over bills to bother with me. I didn’t care, though. I had Skye. We’d been best friends since seventh grade. She was my everything.

And then along came fucking Kevin. I didn’t like him, even before he weaseled his way into Skye’s life. There was always something… off about him. He couldn’t stand the fact that Skye had friends, people she was close with, people she trusted, besides him. I tried to convince Skye to break up with him, multiple times, but she would always brush it off, or waffle on it. Maybe I was being a bit nosy, but it was in her best interests! I was always the more mature one of the two of us, the more responsible one. Skye had a more… innocent outlook on life. She chose to believe the best in everyone. I knew better. I knew Kevin would hurt her, eventually.

Of course, I hadn’t counted on him hurting her physically. At most I thought he’d cheat, or cut her down with words, and then I’d have to resist the urge to say ‘I told you he was scum’ or worse, the urge to kiss her. I knew Skye knew I had feelings for her, but I think she thought it was just a cute phase, like I suddenly grow out of liking girls. Although, really, it was less ‘girls’ and more ‘just her’. I never so much as thought about anyone else. It was always Skye.

Anyways, it was a normal day during our sophomore year. Skye and Kevin were a couple, much to my disgust, but I at least tried to act polite, if distant, around him. Skye and I always came to school together on the bus, and every morning I had to look at Kevin’s smug fucking face during home room, pretending that I didn’t want to spit at him. He didn’t deserve her. We came up to the classroom door, Skye lit up like she always did at the sight of her asshole boyfriend, and I steeled myself for the usual bullshit.

And then a bucket full of water fell on her head. I don’t mean it soaked her, although that was clearly the intention. I mean the bucket didn’t flip, and all the weight of came slamming down onto her scalp. It was awful. She immediately crumpled to the ground, unconscious, gushing blood all over the wet floor. My ratty sneakers were completely ruined, but I didn’t care- all I cared about was helping her. I thought she was dead. I thought her psychotic boyfriend might have accidentally killed her right then and there, and for what? A stupid prank to humiliate me? What kind of nutjob even thought that way?

As I screamed at a passing student to call an ambulance and tried to staunch the flow of blood with one of my notebooks, Kevin came over, like he hadn’t just inadvertently assaulted his girlfriend, and tried to grab her hand or arm, crying and snotting like a baby. “What the fuck were you thinking, Kevin?” I demanded angrily.

All he could do was stutter and sob, about how he’d thought I’d be the one to come in the room first. What a pathetic piece of shit. He was only sorry he was going to get in trouble for this. He didn’t care about Skye. His only concern was his own skin. I saw Kevin for the monster he was right then and there. Furious, I shoved him away from her unconscious form and screamed for someone to come help us. Who knew what he’d try to pull next.

Luckily, the school security officer was nearby and came running in to help, almost slipping on the bloody floor, looking wildly between all of us. “He dropped a bucket full of water on her head!” I shrieked, pointing at Kevin, and he was led out still crying and sniffling and cursing me out. And that was the last I saw of him for the rest of the year, and for I hoped, the rest of my life.

Unfortunately, sometimes shit comes back up, even after you flush.

Kevin showed back up again junior year, after a suspension, probation, and a stint in juvie. Everyone knew what he’d done, and with the exception of some little scumbags who thought he was a martyr for shitty boyfriends everywhere, he was a social pariah, which, as far as I was concerned, he completely deserved. Skye had been permanently scarred from the ‘accident’, and while I thought she was as beautiful as ever, maybe even more so now due to all she’d overcome, she was still self-conscious about her scar.

Of course, as soon as he was back in school Kevin paid some freshman to hand Skye an obsessive note about how ‘sorry’ he was and how he hoped she could forgive him someday, or some shit like that. Nevermind that he probably would have thrown a block party if I’d been the one to get permanent brain damage from his dumbass prank. Skye was completely thrown off by the note, and I could just see all the emotions from the accident rushing back across her face. I was so incensed I tracked Kevin down during lunch, where he was eating alone like some school shooter, probably planning my murder.

I crumpled up the note in my hand and tossed it as his tray. “Skye doesn’t want to talk to you,” I snapped at him. “Leave her alone, creep.”

He just gave me a smug little look, like he knew he’d succeeded in worming his way back into our lives. “She’s more than capable of telling me that herself, so why don’t you fuck off, Amanda?” He even smiled at me!

I wanted to bash his head into his tray, but instead I steeled myself and calmly stated, “Okay, I will. But it’d be a shame if you violated your probation… psycho,” I muttered under my breath as I stalked away. He looked like he wanted to strangle me, when I glanced back at him, but I didn’t care. I just cared about keeping Skye safe, and away from him.

I was actually really worried when he showed up at our Fall Formal- all offense intended, he seemed like the type who’d consider smuggling a gun in and taking a few people (mainly me) out with him. Still, he at least looked somewhat stable, and spent most of the night lurking in a corner, probably drinking spiked punch to take the edge off, and who knew what else he’d taken beforehand.

Skye was my ‘unofficial’ date- my parents probably would have kicked me out if I seriously told them I was going to a dance with another girl. She didn’t want us to really ‘define it’, but she was certainly okay with slow-dancing with me. We wore matching blue dresses, and it was one of the best nights of my life, hands down. When I was with her, it was impossible to worry about anything else, even Kevin.

But when she decided to go talk to Kevin, the night came crashing down around me. I reluctantly agreed- it seemed like she just wanted some closure on her own terms, and warily accompanied over to where he was dancing. Of course he quickly roped her into dancing a few slow songs with him ‘as friends’, and while Skye looked a bit uncomfortable, I knew she probably didn’t want me making a scene, so I hung off to the side and kept a close eye on them, making sure he didn’t try anything, and ignoring the looks I got.

I even got drinks for when Kevin finally released her, and reluctantly handed him one as Skye made awkward small talk and sidled ever closer over to me. He seemed a bit out of it, like he really was drunk or high on something, and we made our escape then. Approximately three minutes later he got up, stumbling around like an idiot, and was met by the scowling security officer. He was fucking high, alright, on ketamine, and he had a shit ton of it in his locker as well. He even put it in the punch! Thank God Skye and I had stuck to water.

Kevin got arrested, obviously, and that was the last we heard of him… for a while. Skye and I got into our dream college, on scholarship, and for once everything seemed to be falling into place. We worked at the little cafe in the school bookstore in the winter of 2007, and one night while I was locking up I heard a scream from the alley next door.

Skye had just walked out there with the safe deposit bag, so I assumed she was getting mugged, or worse. I grabbed my pepper spray out of my purse and bolted outside, and I’d already kicked the guy in the groin before I realized it was Kevin. He looked like shit, and he smelled like beer, lots of it. He was drunk and ranting about how we’d ‘set him up’ and ‘ruined his life’. Honestly, I’m a tall woman, and fairly athletic, but Kevin wasn’t a small guy, and if he wanted to, could probably serious hurt both me and Skye, so I emptied the can into his face with no guilt whatsoever. He was completely shit-faced, and who knew what he would have done to Skye if I hadn’t been there. As he went down (like a bitch) I pulled Skye away from him, and we ran and locked ourselves into the shop to call the police.

Kevin went to ‘real jail’ this time, and while Skye and I recovered from the trauma of being, you know, stalked by her insane ex, I stewed. Kevin had almost ruined our lives multiple times now. We lived in fear of him some day popping back up again. I wasn’t going to stand for this shit. It was time for some payback.

So when we received word that he’d got out, three years later, I was waiting. And yeah, I catfished him. It was stupid of me, beyond stupid, but I wasn’t thinking straight. I just wanted him to suffer. I pretended to be Skye and reconnected with him on Facebook, let it develop into a bit of flirting, and then asked him to meet up at the park on a day where we’d be there. And of course, we happened to be there that day, and yeah, he freaked. But we were perfectly safe! It was a sunny afternoon, and plenty of witnesses to watch his meltdown and jump in before he could do anything.

Skye… wasn’t happy. Which, she had a right to be pissed. I was an idiot. But I didn’t… I didn’t think she’d declare what we had ‘over’ after that. She just… she just shut me out.

Several years went by, and Skye and I managed to work our way back into being at least friends, which I considered better than nothing. I knew I’d broken her trust, but it was nothing compared to what Kevin put us through! I just wished she could see that, that I’d done it out of misguided love for her, not because I ever wanted to see her hurt. But I knew better than to push her on it. Word around town was that Kevin was ‘on the straight and narrow’ and had made something of himself other than a criminal and stalker. He even had a girlfriend, some girl named Charlotte, who Skye was actually sort of friendly with.

I wanted nothing to do with any of it, of course… and then I started seeing Kevin everywhere. And I mean, everywhere. Post office, library, grocery store, parking lots, you name it, he was either there when I got there, or showed up just as I was leaving. To me, at least, it seemed obvious. It was all an act. He was psychotic and putting on a normal face to avert suspicion of his next move, which was probably, I figured, to kill me. I carried for self defense, so I was almost… I don’t know, welcoming of it. Let him break into my apartment some night and see what happened. I’d be doing everyone a favor, and Skye would finally see exactly how dangerous he really was.

But he didn’t go for me. He went for Skye. I got a call from her roommate that she was missing, that she’d never come home after going out with Charlotte, and I immediately knew what had happened. I got over to his and Charlotte’s place and jumped out of the car gun drawn as I warily stepped through the wide-open front door.

Skye was sobbing and screaming, a knife at her neck held by a manic looking Kevin. He was pale and covered in blood, presumably from Charlotte, who was on the floor, freshly dead. I looked to her to him to Skye in growing horror, gun still drawn on him. “Kevin,” I swallowed hard, trying to reason with this lunatic, “I’m the one who tricked you into meeting us at the park, I’m the one you should hurt… you- you always said you loved Skye more than anything, just let her go-,”

“You fucking bitch,” he snarled at me. “You thought you could take her from me, didn’t you? But I’m not letting you win. Not this time.”

“Don’t do this,” I pleaded with him, terrified any sudden move would send his knife right through Skye’s throat. “Skye, I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry-,”

She tried to mouth something at me, maybe ‘it’s okay’ or ‘Amanda’, but I couldn’t make it out before Kevin’s knife was rammed into her neck. She made a choking sound as he let go of her with a triumphant, dazed look, like this wasn’t all quite real for him, and walked towards me, knife still raised.

I screamed in rage and fired off one shot as he charged, missing him, and his fist collided with my jaw, knocking me off my feet. I rolled over as soon as I hit the ground, dodging the knife, and dashed outside as the distant sound of sirens grew louder, the neighbors having obviously heard the screaming and gunshot. Staggering back onto the gravel driveway, I fired again at Kevin as he ran out of the house after me, just as the police pulled up.

Kevin claimed I shot Charlotte and stabbed Skye, and we’re both on house arrest while the police look for evidence, but the truth will out. Kevin is going away for a long, long time. And I’m going to be there at every parole meeting, just to remind myself that if not for him, Skye wouldn’t be in critical condition, Charlotte wouldn’t be dead, and I wouldn’t have had to write this whole thing just to prove my innocence. Kevin is and was the monster here. Not me. He deserves whatever hell he gets.

in baseball