Part 14 (1/2)

Corey nodded.

”I know her, she's hot. And she hit on you?”

”Yeah, but I'm not into emo chicks...” Corey smiled. ”Or any chick.”

”Ha, ha, funny, girl-boy.”

Corey flicked Naf the finger then jumped into the car, hoping Kirstin's cousin was going to be there. He remembered the way the bloke had hit on him a few months back. It was kind of cool that Tyler had liked him even when he'd been fat. Yeah, the guy was nice, and it would be even cooler to talk with Tyler openly without having to worry about being treated like a freak. His family couldn't give him that, and there was no way Sledge could either-no matter how much he wanted him to.

Naf got out of the car. ”You sure this is the right place, bro?” he said, looking over the hood at Corey.

Corey closed the pa.s.senger door and glanced at the slip of paper. ”Yeah, it's the correct address.” He lifted his head and took in Kirstin's road. Until today, he'd thought Pleasant Parade was the worst street in South Auckland, but man, he was wrong, way wrong, because Kirstin's road was dive central, along with her property. There was an old wreck out front, the gra.s.s was overgrown, the graffitied fence was falling apart, and the exterior was flaking paint.

Naf shook his head. ”Well, I wouldn't have picked a hot babe like Kirstin to live in this dump, but guess we can't choose our family.”

Corey glared at his brother. ”Is that a rib at me?”

”Talk about sensitive, but then again, you were always overly emotional.” He sn.i.g.g.e.red. ”And now I know why, girl-boy.”

”Stop calling me that!” Corey flicked Naf the finger, then stomped towards the front door. He thumped on it, wis.h.i.+ng it was Naf's face.

Seconds later it pulled open. ”You came,” Kirstin Jones squealed, sounding like an overexcited kid, although she looked anything but. The sixteen-year-old was dressed in a short black skirt and a matching sleeveless top, the latter covered in safety pins. Her ears had multiple piercings and her makeup was black lipstick, eyeliner and some powder to lighten her complexion. She was an emo boy's wet dream.

Her smile dropped. ”What happened to your face?”

”Said the wrong name while having s.e.x.” Corey grinned. s.h.i.+t, he had cancer, so he might as well make light of the situation-or slit his wrists, and he was too squeamish for that.

”Seriously?”

”Yeah, she smacked me about, but I don't hit chicks back.”

”Oh, you poor sweetheart.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek, then gently wiped it. ”Sorry, got my lippy on you.”

Naf mumbled behind him. ”Poor sweetheart, my fat a.r.s.e.”

Corey stepped to the side. ”This is my brother. Can he come in too?”

Kirstin gave Naf a once over, her little nose s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up like she'd smelled something rotten. Corey bit his lip to stop from laughing. Naf always inspired chicks to drop their knickers. Not!

”Yeah, of course,” she said, her smile returning as she refocused on Corey. ”Come in, cutie-pie.”

”Come in, cutie-pie,” Naf mimicked behind him.

Ignoring his brother, Corey stepped into the room, AGAIN unimpressed. What a b.l.o.o.d.y slack party. No wonder it had been far too quiet. He'd thought Kirstin was supposed to be cool; her group of friends anything but sweetsie, but all he could see was a bunch of guys playing video games, while a short, podgy girl glared at the back of their heads. No music, no drugs, no alcohol, just a smelly room crammed full of boxes. Man, he'd stepped into grunge-ville. He hoped there were no parents hanging around, because if there were, he was so out of here.

Corey's gaze wandered over the guys on the couch. One had dreadlocks just below his shoulders, the boy next to him had more tyres around his waist than the Michelin Man, and the third one had his hair dyed black like Kirstin's, his blond roots also noticeable. Corey's attention s.h.i.+fted back to the dreadlocked boy, thinking he was smoking hot ... and vaguely familiar. Where had he seen him before?

”What's there to drink?” Naf asked, snapping Corey's fixation away from the boy.

Kirstin pointed to the divider between the lounge and kitchen. ”We've got c.o.ke, Sprite...”

Naf screwed up his face as though she'd offered him sewage. ”Unless it's c.o.ke as in cocaine, I don't want it. Now, where's the booze?”

”Nah, sorry, can't give ya any of my dad's beer, he'd kill me.”

The dreadlocked guy looked up from the game. ”Which is why I brought my own supply.” He chucked Naf a can, hitting him in the chest. Naf swore and scooped it up off the floor.

Corey sn.i.g.g.e.red. His brother was such a klutz, hence his nickname, non-athletic f.u.c.kwit, Naf for short. Only the olds called him Samuel.

”Sorry, dude,” the dreadlocked guy said to Naf. His gaze s.h.i.+fted to Corey. ”You want one?”

”Yup,” Corey answered before Naf could veto it. He didn't give a s.h.i.+t that he wasn't supposed to be drinking. He wanted to enjoy himself tonight, and was willing to put up with the consequences.

The guy chucked him a beer. Corey fumbled it slightly, but managed not to drop it. He wasn't exactly Mr. Co-ordinated either, but at least he wasn't a total klutz like his bro.

The fat boy jumped up from the couch, and threw the remote down on the floor. ”f.u.c.k you, Jos.h.!.+”

Emo boy laughed. ”Sore loser.” He picked up the remote and held it out for Corey. ”You wanna play?”

Corey went to take it, but got pulled back by Kirstin. ”Nah, let your brother play, I wanna introduce you to my BF, Farrah,” she said.

”Yeah, Corey loves being with girls, since he's a...” Naf made a slurping sound as he walked past, the same way Tama did when referring to p.u.s.s.y. Corey glared at the back of Naf's head, wanting to punch him.

”Cool,” Kirstin said, yanking him over to her friend.

Kirstin's BF smiled at him. Man, she was short, barely five-foot. In heels! ”What happened to your face?” Farrah asked.

”He called out someone else's name while having s.e.x,” Kirstin said.

Farrah laughed. ”You got beaten up by a girl?”

Corey could hear the boys sn.i.g.g.e.ring on the couch. ”I don't hit chicks,” he replied, feeling like a loser.

Kirstin tugged on his arm. ”You wanna go to my room and talk? These guys are boring.”

”Yeah, we can smoke some weed,” Farrah whispered.

”No, we can't.” Kirstin's eyes darted to the boys. ”My dad will kill me if he smells it. He only lemme have this party cos he was going to my mum's.”

”Your dad won't know,” Farrah said. ”And whenever he visits your mum he doesn't return until well after lunch the next day. The smell would've gone by then.”

”But, what about my uncle? I can't remember whether he's back today or tomorrow.”

”If you don't let us, we'll take off.” Farrah smiled at Corey. ”You wanna come with me?”

”If you're giving me freebies, h.e.l.l yeah.”

Kirstin muttered, ”b.i.t.c.h,” under her breath. ”Okay. We'll do it in my room, but if we get caught you hafta take the fall.” She looked back at the boys on the couch as they yelled at each other over the game. ”And they aren't allowed in, cos Tag and Josh always cause trouble when they get high.”