Demonica by Preston Norton Page A

Zoey cocked her head slightly. “Girl, what scary movie have you been watching?”
    “You don’t want to know,” I said. The truth was that my life was currently a John Carpenter/Wes Craven Frappuccino. Screw movies. I was living it. “So? Whaddaya think?”
    “Shush, I’m thinking,” said Zoey. Her eyes rolled up in the deepest of thought, and then her face lit up. “Ooh, I know! Bubba!”
    “Bubba?” I said. I knew it was too much to expect a serious answer from her. Not that such a question deserved a serious answer. Oh well. There was no turning back now. “Who the hell is Bubba?”
    “Bubba the janitor, duh,” said Zoey. She had a gift for making obscure information seem like it should be common knowledge. “Come on. You don’t know Bubba?”
    “Uh…sorry, I didn’t know the janitor’s closet was the new thing.”
    “But it’s Bubba!” said Zoey. As she did so, her eyes flicked to the side. “There! Bubba!” Boosting herself up, she pointed a black fingernail across the cafeteria. I followed her finger and immediately spotted the accused.
    He was impossible to miss.
    Pushing a yellow mop bucket across the cafeteria was the largest human being in the history of ever. Not only was he taller than everyone else, but he was also obscenely obese. I don’t think it would be exaggerating to assume this man weighed well over three hundred pounds. His curly dark hair extended to thick mutton-chop sideburns across his round face. It certainly didn’t help his image that he was eating a Twinkie with his free hand.
    I actually had seen him around the school on occasion, pushing his cleaning cart around. But I guess I had never taken the time to compare him in size to everyone else. The sight was just a little disconcerting. I could definitely see how Zoey jumped to her monster conclusion so quickly. Not that I automatically assumed Bubba was a Demon. But hell if he wasn’t the strangest thing I’d seen all morning.
    “What do you know about him?” I asked.
    Despite my ingenuous tone, Zoey shot me a weird look. My tone had obviously not softened such a brash question. “You’re acting really weird today, you know that?”
    My face flushed, most likely matching my hair. Way to step out of character, Monica. I opened my mouth for some sort of recovery. Um. Uh. Er. Nope. Nothing.
    Zoey’s expression softened. “I’m sorry, that was mean. I know you had bad night. I don’t know why I said that.”
    “It’s okay,” I said. I took the moment to take a big fat breath and pull myself the fuck back together. “I am acting weird. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”
    “Well, I think everyone’s allowed to act a little crazy after a bear attack,” said Zoey. She smiled and cast a casual glance across the cafeteria at Bubba. He finished his Twinkie and was now unwrapping another one. “All I know about Bubba is what I see. The dude is the size of a baby whale, and he never stops eating. I mean never. It’s like the guy can’t function if he’s not shoving shit in his mouth.”
    Sounded suspicious enough for me.
    “How long has he worked here?” I asked.
    Zoey shrugged. “No clue. He’s been janitor as long as I’ve been here.”
    “Interesting,” said a male voice.
    Both Zoey and I turned with a slight start. Our gazes refocused to a handsome boy with long midnight hair stepping beside me. His gaze met mine with piercing golden eyes, inhumanly vibrant and animal-like.
    “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said. He offered a sly grin. “I just think it’s amusing to see two beautiful girls checking out the school janitor.”
    If it hadn’t been for my class spying, I never would have recognized him. But as it was, I made two instant mental connections. In Chemistry, Lillith Hartley had been flirting with some guy that I hadn’t recognized before.
    This guy.
    And then Kelly…she had been gushing about some new boy in geometry with dreamy eyes and long black hair. Her