Carver Pike - Scalp

She swore she saw him this morning during their wake-up crew meeting. She was sure of it. He’d gone upstairs with the rest of the guys. Bradley should have seen him, but the kid denied it. The goofy grin on his face told a different story though, and Nitsy was going to get to the bottom of it. Was he simply skipping out for the day? If so, where would he go?

It’s not like we can hop in a taxi and go to the local mall.

Nitsy was pretty sure there was no mall nearby. There probably wasn’t one for a hundred miles at least. It was probably a girl. The opposite sex was always the reason teenagers did stupid things. Speaking of opposite sexes, Robbie had been flirting with her all morning.

During breakfast, they’d sat together and sipped coffee while eating the least sugary items on the cafeteria menu. Hardboiled eggs with bacon. She really liked him. They talked about a lot of stuff, especially the kids back home. The entire time she sat with him, she expected Bianca to stroll over to their table and interrupt. She didn’t. The pretty blonde was nowhere in sight, and Nitsy thanked God for over sleepers and underachievers.

Now, she caught herself stealing glances at Robbie out of the corner of her eye. He was the one making her anxious. She could speak in front of the others. She’d be nervous, but she could get it done. But, for some reason, knowing she was going to have to do it in front of Robbie made her want to throw up.

He seemed too good to be true. How could he suddenly like her just because they were on a field trip together? Was there a trick up his sleeve? Was this the moment when his and Bianca’s dubious plan would be revealed? Was she going to become Stephen King’s Carrie and find herself doused with pig’s blood the moment she opened her mouth to speak?

Robbie’s too nice for that. You’re being a jerk thinking he’s going to do something wrong.

She looked at him again, and this time he had his head leaned back. Nitsy realized she wasn’t the only one who must have had a long night. But why was he so tired? Had he snuck out to go see Bianca?

Nitsy felt her heart pick up its pace. She opened and closed her fists over and over until she realized it was jealousy she was feeling. Why was she jealous? Robbie and she had made no promises to each other. He owed her nothing. If he wanted to talk to Bianca—

Over my dead body will he talk to that girl.

Nitsy’s eyes shot open and she grinned. It was a devilish smile, not because she had devious intentions but because she realized she was experiencing real, raw, teenage emotion. She was no longer worried about which pills to take at what time. She didn’t have to think about the appointment her mom scheduled that conflicted with the time she expected to hang out with a friend. She wasn’t nervously awaiting test results.

This was petty teenage drama, and she was finally feeling it. She couldn’t even count the times she heard her friends complain about boy drama or saw social media posts that made her eyes roll so hard she thought they might leave the house and travel the country. She’d always hated the ridiculous angst-ridden problems of her youth. Why? Because she wasn’t feeling them too.

But you are now.

It gave her an instant feeling of excitement and energy. She was ready to do this speech, and if Bianca thought she could dig her filthy talons into her man, she’d find out soon enough that Nitsy fought back, and she would not give up easily.

While Nitsy mentally conjured manipulative ways to strike down Bianca, Robbie sat back in his seat and closed his eyes. His head was pounding. This always happened when he didn’t get enough sleep, and it didn’t help that all those jerks came pounding on pots and pans down the hallway this morning. He’d opened the door ready to knock someone’s head off his body, but then he saw Nitsy, and his morning changed.

Even at first light, her hair burned fiery red. Her skin was so smooth, and her lips were so soft. Her eyes… those eyes… even thinking about her almost made his morning wood from earlier return.

Thank God she didn’t notice it.

He was pretty sure Nitsy’s friend did because her eyes kept dropping to his crotch.

It was a teenage problem that had plagued him since he was fourteen. It seemed to spring up around that time and had continued launching at early hours ever since. First, it was boners in class. They tended to always show up a few minutes before the bell rang to signal the end of the period. He’d had to cover himself with his backpack so many times.

Most of those hard-ons had stopped occurring. Now, it was mostly early morning. That and any time a girl touched his leg. His inner thigh was super sensitive.

Last night, he’d actually had a dream about Nitsy. They were alone together in class, back home, and they were discussing math. He remembered jotting down numbers that probably wouldn’t have made sense in real life, but Nitsy seemed to understand exactly what he was talking about. While they worked on whatever mathematical equation would save the world, Robbie felt Nitsy’s hand touch his thigh beneath the desk. Next thing he knew, her hand was in his zipper and she was rubbing him hard while whispering in his ear, “I want you to take me right here on this desk.”

He would have taken her right there on that desk too if it weren’t for the sound of pots and pans outside his room. It had taken him a second to understand what was going on. First, he’d woken to an empty room. Neither of his roommates was there with him.

Then, of course, there was that God-awful banging.

Once Nitsy was gone, with the promise to meet her for breakfast, Robbie had felt his erection die down as he thought about his roommates. Had they stayed the night in Bianca’s room? Had they gotten lucky? He couldn’t help imagining Steven fucking Bianca. It made him angry, mad enough to decide right then and there he didn’t need to talk to her again. She wasn’t the one he wanted anyway. He had his sights set on Nitsy.

His roommates were assholes. They’d stayed the night with the girls. He was sure of it, and the more he thought about it, the less he cared. Robbie was better than that. Even if they came back and told him about the wild orgy they experienced last night, he would know he’d made the right decision. They might have gotten away with it this time, but maybe not.

Maybe that’s why they’re missing. Maybe they got caught and were immediately escorted off campus.

He liked the idea but knew it wasn’t the case. If they’d been forced to leave, all of their belongings would be gone. Yet, all their stuff was still in his room.

“Cell phone, please,” a man holding a big, white bucket asked. He wore the jacket most of the team leaders had on, so Robbie didn’t argue with him.

The kid seated next to him did. “Why? I don’t trust anyone with my phone.”

“Orders of Mrs. Price,” the team leader replied. “Phones in the bucket. You can lock it or whatever, but we had a lot of issues with kids using their phones during the meeting yesterday, so we’ve been asked to collect them all. You can get it back at the end of the day.”

“At the end of the day?” the boy asked, shocked.

“I’m sure your phone will be fine,” Robbie said.

“Fine,” the kid replied, locking his phone and then gently placing it in the bucket. “If something happens to my phone—"

“Excuse me,” a young man said into the microphone, interrupting the kid’s idle threat. He, too, was part of the staff. “Excuse me, can I have everyone’s attention?”