Falter Kingdom by Michael J Seidlinger

contact with people. I find it kind of strange that I’m overwhelmed by this kind of reaction, but at the same time, it’s still very flattering.
    I am flattered.
    This is all fake flattery but it still hits. It still sticks.
    And I want that attention like anyone else.
    A guy named Jeff sits next to me. He has a drink for me. Now this really does feel like some kind of prostitution thing.
    I’m getting really nervous.
    â€œBe cool,” Jeff says, “figured you wanted a drink.”
    â€œThanks,” I say, and then, “So what’s this party all about?”
    Jeff takes a sip from his cup and I sip from mine. The beer is kind of lukewarm and tastes watered down—bottom-of-the-keg beer.
    â€œThe guy that’s hosting it is being all Great Gatsby about it.”
    â€œHuh?”
    â€œNever read that book?”
    I shake my head. “I guess not.”
    â€œHe’s into a girl that he can’t get. They have a history. That’s what this party’s about.”
    â€œOh,” I reply. I’m really not doing well at this. I think it’s because I’m being forced to hang out with people.
    â€œAnyway,” Jeff starts, “how’s the demon thing going?”
    â€œIt’s... going,” I say in a surprisingly monotone way.
    â€œYeah”—he nods—“I had one too.”
    â€œYou did?”
    â€œYup.” Jeff takes another sip, which sends the signal for me to drink too. “But I didn’t do that Falter thing. That’s crazy. It’s a cool legend, but no, I’m too claustrophobic for that.”
    â€œHow’d you get it?”
    Jeff shrugs. “I just got it one day. Woke up and everything had changed.”
    â€œDamn.” I take a gulp of beer.
    â€œYeah, but I didn’t wait around for symptoms to really kick in. I had the exorcism two days after I started being haunted.”
    Shit, makes me think about how long I’ve been holding that off.
    â€œBut I guess you’re planning on going through with it?”
    Through with what? Do I play dumb? Do I actually know what he means?
    Jeff’s like, “If you do, be ready, man. People do it but it’s basically like saying, ‘Yeah, I’m ready to die.’ Some people think it’ll make them transcendent. That there’s life beyond the body.”
    â€œAnd what do you think?” I said that not because I want to know but because by asking that question, it’ll cause Jeff to carry the conversation, and I don’t have to say anything.
    â€œMe? Well—”
    But Jon-Jon interrupts us. Someone else, a girl named Melanie, wants to say hi to me.
    Jeff shakes my hand. “Good luck with it. With all of it.”
    â€œYeah, thanks,” and then he’s gone, back into the crowd of the party.
    Melanie smiles a lot and giggles. She asks me more about running than the demon. She says it’s really, really hot, a big turn-on, dangerous situations like that.
    â€œDo you go to Meadows?” I ask her, just to change the conversation.
    â€œI’m going next year.”
    Her hand is on my leg. Oh, man...
    â€œNext... year?”
    â€œI’m almost done with eighth grade,” and then a giggle.
    Oh god, hand off crotch now. Now, now, now. “Oh, cool,” I say.
    She giggles, drinks more, and I want to ask her how she got into the party, but there are always ways. It’s not like there’s anyone paying much attention.
    Thankfully this train wreck doesn’t last long.
    Another group shows up and starts lecturing me on the ins and outs of demon hauntings. All sorts of stories about how demons can travel through time from one “unclean” place to the next. They talk about religious stuff, the fact that demons are from hell.
    I don’t know much about it, but they are talking and I don’t have to really do anything but occasionally nod my head and say “Yeah.”
    So