Free The Merciless by Danielle Vega

patches, making it easy to see she’s not wearing a bra.
    â€œWhat are they doing?” Charlie whispers. I shush him, lifting a finger to my mouth. There’s a boy in the hot tub, too, his brown hair slicked up in wet spikes. Thin lines of steam rise from the tub, mingling with the smoke from Brooklyn’s cigarette.
    â€œEver done it in a hot tub?” Brooklyn asks, her mouth curling. She’s wearing dark red lipstick that smudges across her cigarette. The boy stands, water dripping from his faded navy boxers. He grabs Brooklyn and spins her around.
    I immediately recognize the light brown eyes, the cleft chin. Josh. Riley’s Josh.
    I press my face closer to the fence. Josh sets Brooklyn back down and pulls her to his chest. She drops her cigarette into the water behind her, then lifts her face up to his. They kiss long and deep, and I blush even harder.
    Brooklyn looks up, and her eyes find the exact spot in the fence where I’m watching. It’s like someone has touched an icy finger to the lowest part of my back and runs it up the length of my spine. She wraps her arms around Josh’s neck and kisses him again, possessively, her red-painted mouth mashing against his teeth as she pulls him closer. The whole time, she never takes her eyes away from the fence. From me.
    It’s like a dare. A challenge. I pull away from the fence and turn back to Charlie, feeling as though I’ve had the wind knocked out of me.
    â€œSofia, what’s wrong?” Charlie asks. I shake my head.
    â€œI’ve got to go,” I say.
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    I make my way to Riley’s house, following a long, curved road that dead-ends onto Riley’s street. Gnarly trees line the sidewalks. The houses sit back far from the street, their windows dark. Overhanging branches send skeletal shadows over their yards.
    A bird squawks above me, rustling the tree branches as it flies away.
    â€œCrap,” I mutter, trying to still my rapidly beating heart. I ran most of the way here, not because I wanted to get to Riley, but because I didn’t want to spend any more time in Brooklyn’s neighborhood. In fact, now that I’m here I wish the trip had taken longer.
    I pass a few more towering houses before I locate Riley’s. Her house is a mini-mansion. A wide white porch wraps around front, and Greek-style pillars stand on either side of the double doors. I ring the bell, and a tinny ding-dong echoes inside.
    A tiny green garden snake slivers across the wooden porch, its body undulating over the concrete. I cringe and cross my arms over my chest. A second later it disappears behind a heavy clay flowerpot.
    Footsteps sound just inside the house, then the door swings open.
    â€œSofia?” Riley leans a cheek against the edge of the door, considering me. “Are you okay?”
    â€œI’m sorry, I tried to call.” I try to catch my breath. “Can I come in?”
    The corner of Riley’s mouth twitches upward, and her face grows several degrees warmer. “Of course. You want something to drink?”
    â€œUm, sure.”
    Riley steps back, opening the door into a foyer with high ceilings and real marble floors. I step inside, momentarily distracted. Beautifully posed photographs of Riley sandwiched between her parents cover the walls, all three wearing matching preppy-chic. I gape at them, amazed at how perfect everyone looks, like they’re posing for a catalog.
    â€œYour parents look nice.” I stop in front of one of the photographs. Riley’s family is dressed entirely in white and they’re sitting on a bench in front their lake house. Despite what I saw at Brooklyn’s party, I find myself wishing I could step into Riley’s life for a day or two, just to see what it’s like. It must be nice to have the perfect family, the perfect house, the perfect friends.
    Riley stops next to me, staring at the photographs without blinking.