The first rule of friendship is to always back your friend up on a date. The second rule is not to botch it for her. Something easier said than done once you tossed boys into the equation.

Maria massaged her temples and checked her phone for the thirty-seven thousandth time in the last minute. Like each time before, there was nothing. Agitated, she chewed her lip. If she stepped out looking for him only to find him waiting she’d appear desperate, but with him not answering her calls and Liz not answering her texts, what was she to do?

Skipping wasn’t an option. Escorting Liz on her date was how she’d gotten out of helping her dad with his silly church events. Even then it hadn’t been for Liz or Maria’s sake. Her dad adored football types like Chad. Maria suspected he wanted him to be the son he never had. He’d ground her for skipping church duties if she blew this. Walking though? Who wanted to walk that far. It was like thirty minutes away by foot. To hell with that. She unlocked her phone and pulled up Chad’s number. If he was going to get her in trouble by blowing her off, then she’d blow up his phone until she got an answer.

As her thumb slammed down toward the call button it vibrated and a messenger bubble with Liz’s face appeared. “Chad said he’s running late and can’t pick you up.”

Maria fumed. “Oh, so he can tell you he’s running late but he can’t answer my calls?”

“I don’t know what to tell you. We just got our food when he texted.”

Maria’s stomach growled. She wanted to yell at Liz for eating without her. “Think you can give me a ride after you eat? I don’t want to walk that far.”

“Sorry, you’re on your own. I’ll see you soon. Shoot me a message when you get there.”

Her mouth hung open as she read the message over, and over again. This wasn’t the first time Liz had set them up on a double date, but it was the first time she’d pulled something like this. Maria seethed. There had to be an explanation for this. There was no way Liz would just abandon her without a reason. Just like Maria had wanted to skip church work and help a friend, Liz had to have some motivation, and that motivation had better be worth more than she was. Liz had always been a hopeless romantic. The kind of girl who wanted to meet her high school sweetheart then live happily ever after. Maybe she thought this was the one.

Ugh. Gag me with a spoon, Maria thought. There wasn’t time for this. She needed to grab a snack and start walking. If no one else would keep her from getting in trouble, then she’d have to do it herself. She made a hasty sandwich from leftover roast, mashed potatoes, and carrots and jetted to the theater.

Small towns like Drywell were easy to navigate by foot. You just needed to pick a direction and walk through the vast swaths of nothingness until a fence or building made you change directions. The vast swaths of nothingness were a problem though. Oklahoma towns sprawled like the rolling hills they sat upon. The hills were by far the worst of it. If she lived in a fancy city like they had in the north, she could have just taken a bus, but that wouldn’t have been nearly as safe as walking was here. No one did anything sketchy in broad daylight in small towns because there was nothing to block anyone from seeing them do it.

She arrived at the theater with every intention of biting Chad’s head off and chucking it onto the theater roof. What she saw when she arrived threw her off. Chad had beaten her there and was leaning against his car talking to his polar opposite, a scrawny nerd. Chad pulled him in for a hug. Was she seeing this right? Alpha male, jock stereotype incarnate, being tender with someone he could use as lunch meat? The anger abruptly left her. She could at least give him a chance to explain himself. Just not without giving him a hard time. She couldn’t let the muscle-bound oaf think he was free to walk all over her.

“Hey, ass hat,” she said as she approached, “Nice job with the whole not answering your phone thing.”

The two turned to look at her, and her stomach dropped. The smaller boy’s face was red. Parts were beginning to purple and swell. He looked like he’d been through a football hazing, or worse.

She swallowed and met Chad’s eyes. He looked pissed. “Oh, this is private, isn’t it? I’ll just back away and pretend I didn’t barge in on you like that.” She backed away, visibly cringing about everything that had just transpired. They say you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, but it felt more like she was throwing the eggs out the window to cook the carton.

Chad looked down at his friend. “You’d better get out of here unless you want to see something else get pounded tonight.” Chad raised his fist, laughing at his own joke, and his friend sheepishly pounded it.

Sexual innuendos already? Maria hated those. Something wild in her heart flared at the comment and she spoke without thinking. “Looks like something already pounded your uke today. No one needs seconds of that.” She eyed him up and down, smiling like an idiot.

What the hell was that, Maria? She thought. You can’t just say things like that. Just don’t cringe at yourself and play it cool. Maybe they’ll take it as a joke.

For a brief moment it looked like the friend blushed. He turned and starting running away. “I’ll talk to you later, Chad. Call me after the show.”

Chad watched him go with a frown. When he returned his attention to Maria, he cracked a huge grin and charged her. Before she knew what was going on, he had tossed her over his shoulders like a rag doll and had shaken her around. The assault instantly dizzied her. Between the swaying of cars and concrete, the surprise of it, and the fatigue of walking so far, she thought she might vomit. She closed her eyes and tried to get her mind under control.

“Stop,” she said through clenched teeth, “this isn’t funny Chad.”

He laughed, “I thought you liked surprises.”

Chad grabbed her thighs, sending panicked chills through her body, and gave several rough heaves until he was holding her by the ass with her legs around his waist. She looked at him in shock. She couldn’t think with her heart pounding in her ears, or over the sound of her panicked breath. He looked into her eyes. His were feral now. His smile seemed wicked, almost hungry. When his head began inching toward her face she froze. She wanted to slap him or to buck wildly, but she couldn’t move. Fresh chills broke her surface tension, causing her to shiver wildly as his nose traced from her ear down to her collarbone. He let out a small laugh and said, “We’re supposed to be on a date, right?” He nibbled back up her neck. Each bite sent a cold sensation of fear down her spine that made her want to vomit. “Let’s start things off with a bang then.” Wet lips encased a section of her neck and snapped her back to life.

Without conscious effort her hand shot up, pushing Chad’s head away. “Let me down, you creep. Stop. Just stop.”

He whispered toward her ear, “As you wish, princess,” and gave her a hard shove away from him.