You can't own up to it. You might as well tell her you cheated on her. You'd be the padding for her next boyfriend to fuck if she found out. You shudder at the thought, and stick to the facade.
"Millie, I-I just went to the game, that's it!" you say, hoping you sound sincere. You hate lying to her, but you'd hate dying even more.
"Uh-huh. And before that?" she prods, tilting her head.
"Just... j-just home, I swear! You can ask my friends!"
"So, just to be clear, you say you didn't go anywhere after school?" she asks.
"That's right, st-straight home..."
"You didn't happen to go to, say, a strip club? Or something like that?" Your head throbs and your blood seems to get colder with every second. How does she know?? Too late to stop now, you shake your head vehemently. Millie's lips twist into a scowl and she yanks out her phone, showing you a picture. "And you're also saying that this isn't you?"
Your heart sinks into the pit of your stomach as you stare at the picture. It's a selfie of Dez, taken with some girl from the club. And in then background, against the wall, is you. Your mouth works, but no words come out.
"....I thought so." Millie says bitterly, after a long pause. She sounds disappointed, almost crushed.
"M-m-millie..." you begin, but she's not having it.
"Why don't you trust me?" she asks hotly. "Why don't you have the slightest bit of faith in me?" You stare, unsure of what to say. She presses onwards. "Why are you so afraid of me? Did you really think I would eat you for this? That I would KILL you?" Her breath is coming hard and fast, her cheeks are red and her eyes are wet with angry tears. "Did you hear nothing I said last night? About telling me things?"
"I... I just thought..." you try, but she rolls over you, gesturing at the phone.
"You're clearly uncomfortable there, and it's obvious that you didn't want to go. I know you wouldn't cheat on me. Earlier I would have called that faith, now I can see that it's just fear. I wouldn't have liked it, I would have been mad, but if you'd just told the truth I'd have forgiven you. You didn't tell the truth. You lied. You lied because you think I'm a fucking monster, a cruel predator just waiting for an excuse to humiliate, destroy and dispose of you. Well if that's what you think I am, maybe that's what you'll get!"
"Do it!" you hear from behind you. "Eat that lying fuck!" You turn to see Millie's best friend, Darla, behind you, listening to the exchange. "Eat him... He's had it coming for forever! You don't need him, you have me! Trust me, it's better when you just cut boys out of your life entirely. They're only crops! We try to tell you this all the time. Tell you what, if you eat him, I'll lick you while he digests. You ever been pleasured while a boy dies? Oh, it's heaven, I'll-"
Millie reels on her and points a finger at her. "Shut the fuck up, Darla. I told you to stay out of this. I can handle my own boy, thank you, go find your own." Darla only smirks and rolls her eyes as she turns away.
"Smell you later, dickshit." You watch her walk away, then turn back to Millie. She's glaring at you with her hands on her hips. You can only think of one thing to do.
"I'm sorry," you say, but you know it isn't enough. You get down on your knees. "Please, please forgive me. I'm... I'm an idiot. I'm weak and stupid, and I don't deserve you. I'm sorry I lied, and I'm sorry I'm scared of you. Please give me another chance... Please."
You look up at her. She has a pained expression on her face, a look of hurt and anger. Her nostrils flare as she considers what to do with you. At length she grabs you by the throat and pulls your face up to hers.
"I wouldn't let anyone else treat me like you have. I'd have pooped their worthless remains out ages ago. You are lucky, because I think you're special, but you've been doing your best to prove me wrong lately. So if you want to dirty my asscrack, just keep doing what you're doing. If not, straighten the fuck up. I'll talk to you later. Don't die." With that, she releases you and walks away, leaving you alone. You stare down at the dirt, feeling a bit like dirt yourself. You enter the cafeteria and sit down by yourself, but you find you've quite lost your appetite. You stare down at the food on your plate, unease filling you head to toe. You hardly notice App when he sits down next to you. He doesn't say anything for a long while, you realize he hasn't touched his food either. At length, he sighs.
"Dez is dead," he says flatly, and you blink in surprise.
"...eaten?" you ask after few seconds of silence. He nods.
"How else? Damn idiot fell for one of Darla's tricks. She's a real monster, that bitch. Likes playing with her food." He swallows, and you realize he's trying not to cry. "I always thought... I just knew I'd be the first, you know? I... was never worried for my brothers. I just assumed I'd be dead before I had to see them get eaten. God..." He blinks back the tears in his eyes and takes a few deep breaths. "He was a good kid."
You put your arm around your friend and give him a squeeze. "It's not your fault, App. There's nothing you could have done. We all feed them eventually."
"Not you." App counters, not angrily, but somewhat bitterly. "You got that girl to keep you out of the shitter. The rest of us gotta get by or get ate on our own. Must be nice." You open your mouth to protest, but decide it's not the time.
Then you realize it. Darla ate Dez, and somehow got into his phone. That's how Millie found out. Of course Darla would take the first chance she got to make you look bad to Millie. You can't help the twinge of anger towards the late Dez and his carelessness. You give App a final pat on the shoulder and leave him to his lunch.
You go through the rest of the day in a depressed haze, feeling both angry and guilty. You absolutely bomb the quiz in chemistry, and you only barely hear Miss Norma's grim promises and grimy threats. You aren't surprised to see that Millie fails to meet you after school. You sigh and head home. As you pass the bar, you almost consider going in and seeing how long it would take for someone to eat you. Might as well. Without Millie, you have nothing.
You put the idea from your mind. If you are going to die, you don't want to do it in an beer filled pot belly. You go home and enter the front door, just in time to see your mother stoop over to put someone in the oven.
It's a boy a year or two younger than you, and you frown as you realize you recognize him. Elliot Miles is his name. Your history teacher's son.
And Sasha's brother.
He's sobbing pitifully, and wriggling weakly. You wince as you see the carrot rammed up is backside and the apple wedged between his teeth. Your mother slides him in and slams the door closed. "This'll teach your skank mother to eat my food..."
You start to head up to your room, leaving him to his truly horrible fate, but something stops you. This is Sasha's brother. You had all but forgotten your childhood friend. You'd grown up together, played together. You'd once hoped to marry her, but as your respective roles in society became clear-she to eat, you to be eaten- the two of you drifted apart. You hardly see her anymore, but you feel wrong letting her brother cook. Maybe she doesn't care about him, most sister's don't, but you should at least tell her, right?
