Wrong!

Jenny Walters opened the door, smiling, her hair pulled back in a blonde ponytail, making her glasses look even larger on her small face than they actually were. "Hey."

Mark looked down, his brow furrowing without him asking it to. "Um, I was looking for Mr. Cook's house-"

"This is it!"

Mark looked up, his eyebrows two sandy blonde arches just under his spiky hair. "Really?"

"Yep, come on in."

Mr. Cook's house was small just like his car but it was cleaner and contained less books. The man himself walked out of the kitchen as Mark settled himself in an armchair across from the love seat on which Jenny propped herself on her curled legs, her tight jeans stretching to the point of tearing as she wiggled to make herself comfortable.

"Hey, Mark, make yourself at home-"

"Thanks." Mark looked around the living room as Mr. Cook disappeared down the hallway. Besides the two pieces of occupied furniture, there was a flat screen television, under which sat a Wii console and about 10 indistinct video games; a book case stacked full of DVDs, CDS, and VHS tapes; and a low-sitting glass coffee table, chipped on its corners, decorated with old copies of Time magazine and the NEA Newsletter. And everywhere were pictures of the same chubby woman, a brunette with a dimple in her left cheek, next to her shit-eating grin, and a soft pair of gray eyes that either said 'I love you' or 'Help me.' "Who's that?"

"Oh, that's Irwin's girlfriend-"

"Really?"

Jenny giggled. "Did you think he was gay too?"

Mark shrugged his shoulders.

"He's not." Jenny giggled again. "Believe me, he's not-"

Mark looked up at her eyes, which were squeezed tight with giggling above her small turned-up nose. "Oh, really?"

Jenny shrugged, cocking her head to the side, and stared at Mark from under her bangs until he looked away. He stood up. "Where's the bathroom?"

He shut the door behind him and locked it. He leaned over the sink, supporting his weight on his skinny arms, and looked into the mirror, short breaths coming and going furiously in and out of his lungs. He put a finger to his neck to make sure his blood was still flowing through his slight body. Finally, a deep sigh, a splash of water on his flushed cheeks, and a good thorough drying and he walked back out into the living room.

"Can you believe it?" said Jenny. She pointed to the TV. "And here in Cedarville."

Mark sat down on the love seat next to Jenny, their thighs rubbing together. He looked at the TV and saw the boy. "Yeah, that's fucking sick."

"Tell me about it." Jenny shook her head. "They cut off his genitals, the police can't find them." She picked up the remote. "Or his eyes. I hope he didn't suffer too much-"

"I'm sure he did-"

"You think? Wouldn't you just go into shock and pass out-"

"No. You'd be surprised what the human body can endure before it shuts down. Or fights back."

Jenny shivered and changed the channel. She loosened, then re-secured her ponytail. "My hair's such a mess-"

"I like your hair-"

"Aww, you're so sweet." Jenny put her hand on Mark's knee-

"So what are you kids doing?" Mr. Cook's bony ass fell back into the armchair.

Mark leaned back and stretched his arms along the top of the loveseat, his left brushing the back of Jenny's neck where he let it rest. "Nothing, Irwin," he laughed.