Chapter Six
The Doc was smiling like an idiot when she found him walking home alone. "Harper!" she shouted from down the street. "Harper, hold up!"
It was getting dark, and a little chilly. The last of the late November light scarcely touched on his face, but Sabrina could tell that he was beaming as she ran to catch up with him. When he turned to her, she caught the evidently permanent erection in his pants once again, and a brief memory of how it looked in the open popped into her head. Pushing that away, she planted her feet in front of him and got to the point.
"Are you serious?"
"I'm not really known for my humor," he said, his expression calming into a polite grin.
"What you said about Henning. You think he's fucked up, right?"
Harper shrugged. "I barely know the guy but he seems like a total phony to me."
"It's a lot worse than that," she said. "Trust me. What are you doing this Thanksgiving?"
"Same as anyone else, I suppose. Why?"
"Come to my house," she said. "I want your help with something."
Harper raised a patronizing hand and started to turn, walking away before even finishing his thought. "No offense, you're chill and stuff. I just don't want to get wrapped up in a prank war. The wall was fun and all but -"
"Dude, I will literally suck your dick if you help me get revenge on that asshole."
He stopped on the sidewalk, chuckling as he turned back to her. "What?"
Sabrina caught up and stood even closer, craning her neck up to look at him. She had to give the attitude like it was a favor for him... but under a lie detector she'd fail to hide her attraction. Standing beneath him felt a lot like when she met Zack. Only this time, the guy was
already
a square. Brandon Harper wore green slacks and button up shirts. He had a well groomed haircut and a smooth shaven face. He didn't have the expressive look that Zack did, or the stage presence or the musings of a rebellious young man.
But Zack didn't either. He was wearing all that like a costume.
Brandon Harper didn't need to dress that way to tell the world to go fuck itself, it seemed.
"I said that if you help me, I will get on my knees and blow you."
Brandon pointed a finger, pressed it lightly against her forehead, and pushed her back. She whipped a hand at his wrist, knocking his touch away, and stepped back. Harper chuckled and said, "That's all it takes for most guys, huh? I'll pass."
"He deserves it!" Sabrina shouted. "He's evil! He-"
"Deserves what, exactly?" Sabrina was chasing him now, her stubby legs plodding on to keep up with his long strides.
"To get cucked in front of the whole town. To have his dignity shattered into pieces."
"So your plan is to have me fuck his wife in front of the whole town? And how would I do that exactly?"
He had to stop when she jumped in front of him. "I know what you are," she said. "You're just like him."
"Ah, so I
also
deserve to have my wife fucked in front of the whole town?"
She gritted her teeth and nearly growled at him. He looked like a kiss-ass nice guy but he was talking to her like she was beneath him. "You're a... whatever! You fuck with peoples' heads! You get that cunt Lana Moore to stroke your dick whenever you want because you can make her believe anything you say!"
That killed his smile at last. He looked around, hoping no one heard, and motioned his head for her to walk beside him. "Okay. I was planning on easing into this topic but this is probably just as good."
"So will you do it?"
"Listen, Sabrina. I want to make something abundantly clear. I'm not like Henning. I'll admit something really fucked up is going on, but I am not
like
him, okay? And if you ever say that again I will cut you out."
She stepped in closer to his arm and lowered her voice to an inquisitive murmur. "Cut me out of what?"
"The plan," he said. "The one you've now stumbled your way into."
"Well I was thinking -"
"Not out here, genius," he barked. "I know you've never worked with an accomplice before, but you should know you don't go spouting schemes out in the open."
"Sorry," she heard herself say, instantly regretting it.
"You're all right. We'll go to my house and talk there. Less risk of any zombies hearing us."
Zombies...
the term almost made her laugh. It was an apt way to describe how Henning's spell had taken over the whole town. "Okay. But you get what I mean, right? He's evil."
"He's evil," he echoed. "Let's think of something small but effective. And after that we'll have a nice long talk about whatever the fuck is going on here."
**********
The truth was that he had no plan. The truth was that Sabrina Keary terrified him.
Something just came naturally to Brandon when speaking to her. He'd never really spent much time around a woman of her type before. The brooding all-in-black counter culture type. There were stereotypes he knew, but meeting one in the flesh was of course different. He did not know how to talk to her. But somehow, he
did.
He'd been with Melanie just moments before, articulating clearly and feeling perfectly relaxed. Yet the moment Sabrina caught his attention, his mood shifted. Not to distaste, but rather to disinterest. And he
knew
that would draw her in. He just didn't know how he knew.
When he invited her into his home, he let her march directly upstairs to his bedroom, where a brand new bed frame was finally assembled. He'd lingered for a moment to talk to his mother, saying, "She's a little upset about something and I offered to listen. Could you get me a glass of water to bring to her?"
"Of course, dear."
He could imagine how odd it might look for him, a fresh faced doctor, to bring home a Sabrina Keary. Then again, Mr. and Mrs. Harper seemed to notice fewer and fewer things as odd.
When he joined Sabrina in his bedroom, she was inspecting what little there was to see. The color of the sheets, the shirts hung in his closet, the signed Aaron Judge baseball in a plastic cube, sitting unplaced on the windowsill. She did not look impressed. While her eyes were off him, an idea came over him and he quietly downed much of the small glass in his hand to make the water look properly portioned.
