I kissed a girl wearing a cross around her neck. Her
lips didn't taste like church but her hips felt like God. I wonder what her pastor would have thought. I wonder if that cross around her neck meant more to me than it does to her.

AN ATHEIST ON A DATE / JESSE FEINMAN

EVERYONE KNEW EVERYONE IN COAL CREEK, WEST VIRGINIA. Granted, it was a small town so it made sense, but when new people came and went, everyone heard about it. It happened when Arvin Russell's daddy shot himself after his wife's funeral and the kid moved in with his grandma, it happened when the Berkeleys wanted to "downsize" and live a "simple" life in the countryside and moved from their previously affluent life in Alexandria to Coal Creek ("nowheresville" as Betty would call it), West Virginia, and it happened when a new preacher came to town a few months later.

     Each family in Coal Creek had a "name" more or less; for example, the Russells were "the Orphans" and the Berkeleys were "Those Rich Ones." Except, they weren't rich anymore. Actually, they were now demoted to the middle class along with the rest of their peers, something that made their skin crawl. Of course they kept up appearances—they couldn't possibly let anyone know!—but within the walls of the Berkeley household was a life anything other than luxurious.

     The previously spoilt child, Adaline, was—if she dare say it aloud—almost happy for her snobby parents to be knocked down a peg, hoping they'd gain a sense of humility after being raised wealthy ever since they were younger, and then losing the majority of their families' wealth through their horrendous spending habits. Her mother married her father primarily for money (if it wasn't obvious) but then she proceeded to spend all of their (his) money on unnecessary things that served no purpose except making them bankrupt.

     The rest of Desmond's family wasn't the smartest with their financials either, so asking them for monetary help was out of the question, and Betty's family was stingier and more selfish than anything (the apple doesn't fall far from the tree...) so they didn't even bother. Desmond managed to be able to transfer offices to...Coal Creek...West Virginia—just the name gave Betty chills—and would be able to work a second (secret!) job on the side.

     But, of course, even if their physical materials were being sold or pawned, the rich attitude still stuck, their arrogance automatically putting themselves above everyone else.

     Oh, and did they also mention just how good of Christians they are? And how everyone else wants to be like them? No? Oh, it must've slipped their minds! They don't like talking about themselves...

     ...anyway, Adaline just, for once in her life, would like to be a normal teenage girl without all the pressure her parents (see: mother) put on her to be their perfect, little, better-than-everyone-else daughter who would be seen as a literal angel, sent from God above and all, and maybe, just maybe, she could marry into another rich family so the Berkeleys could reattain what they rightfully deserve.

     Too bad Adaline will get exactly the opposite of a normal time in good ol' unholy and bloody West Virginia.

heather langenkamp as ADALINE BERKELEY

tom holland as ARVIN RUSSELL

AND

bernadette berkeley, ronee blakley

desmond berkeley, jerry orbach

elijah taylor, johnny depp

DISCLAIMERS: i do not own the devil all the time, i only own my original characters and plot lines. this book will include references to and/or depictions of: violence, gore, swearing, domestic abuse, alcoholism, self-induced abortion, suicide, sexual references, sexual assault, and death

i'm well aware that as much as we all adore our little arvin, he does have some violent tendencies. i do not condone violence and am not in any way trying to romanticize it. violence isn't cool ever

DEDICATIONS: to parkvrs for inspiring me to write my own arvin fic 🤪🤪 i honestly would never have even thought about doing this if she hadn't mentioned doing one in the first place, to tom holland's (!!!!!), robert pattinson's (even though it was a little sus), bill skarsgård's & seb stan's southern accents. no further explanation necessary. & ofc to jack the poor doggy 🥺

NOTE: so this is VERY different from what i usually write & that summary was ass ... but i'm just so excited for this i wanted to publish it!!! buckle in it's gonna be one hell of a ride yee to the haw 🤠

september 18, 2020 ━━ march 12, 2021
[edited: may 3, 2021]

© clinquaant