The Devil's Pawn

I slammed the car door shut, angrily buckling my seatbelt. Trenton took his time walking to the car, not bothering with a seatbelt.

I crossed my arms, glaring out the window as he pulled out of the parking lot, resting on
hand on the back of my seat. My fingers dug into my skin with fury as I tried not to lash out at
him.

I was furious, to say the least.

It was silent in the car as Trenton drove off of school grounds. The suddenly beautiful
day turned into an ugly afternoon. I could almost feel my blood bubbling in anger. The fact
that Sam seemed almost unfazed by my pain and anger didn’t help in the least.

She was supposed to be my girlfriend. We were supposed to be for each other. She’s
not supposed to go after every guy that walks by.

I took a deep breath, releasing it slowly.

Maybe I was making a big deal. They had only been talking. Maybe she was honestly
interested in only becoming friends with Trenton. Maybe she had no intention of leaving me
for him.

And maybe pigs do fly.

A wave of anger swept back over me. ‘Maybe’ wasn’t enough. From my eyes, I had
clearly seen the flirtation between my girlfriend and my neighbor right. ‘Maybe’ wouldn’t
settle. ‘Maybe’ was too small of a chance for it to be real.

‘Maybe’ wouldn’t do.

Trenton pulled to a stop in the Wal-Mart parking lot. I blinked once, confused. Had I been
that into my thoughts not to realize that he’d taken a different turn?

He pulled the key out of the ignition, getting out. “You coming?”

The tone of his voice annoyed me, but nonetheless, I follow out, “I guess so.”

Trenton led the way into the store, stuffing his keys in his pants. I crossed my arms,
following with an angry expression.

We walked down the aisles, going into the food section. Trenton grabbed a jug of milk
and two bags of chips. We walked back to the cashiers.

“This is seriously all you came here for?” I snapped.

He shrugged, “I needed milk. This was on the way.”

I bit my tongue to hold back an angry response.

Trenton threw in a pack of gum as he paid, leaving the store quickly. We walked back to
the car in silence.

I slammed the door once again.

Trenton didn’t start the car, staring forward.

“Are you going to go or do I have to walk home?” I hissed.

“What got shoved up your ass?” He asked in a voice far to calm for the situation.

“You did when you started flirting with my girlfriend.”

Trenton raised an eyebrow, looking at me from the side. I kept my eyes forward, only
noticing his movements from my peripheral vision.

“Is someone jealous?”

“I shouldn’t have to be.” I said defensively. “She’s my girlfriend. Why would she even let
you flirt with her to begin with? Especially when I’m standing right there!”

Trenton raised his hands innocently, “Whoa, calm down, Sweet Cheeks.”

I took a deep breath, trying to control my anger. “I am trying to calm down. Stop calling
me those stupid nicknames, my name is Taylor.”

Trenton rolled his eyes, turning to face me. “Whatever.”

“Don’t you ‘Whatever’ me!” I hissed, “This is just as much your fault as it is hers! I can’t
believe you would instigate flirting with my girlfriend while I was right there! This is ridiculous!
If you want a girl so bad, why don’t you just fuck Erica or something?”

Trenton opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. I couldn’t stop now.

“Since we’re on the topic,” Even though I was the only one talking, “Did it occur to you at
all that you forced me to cheat on my girlfriend? The same girlfriend you were flirting with
less than an hour ago? Never crossed your mind, huh? Because you’re an inconsiderate
asshole, that’s why!”

Trenton raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t give me that look!” I was nearly shouting now.

Trenton pressed a hand over my lips. He leaned over, resting his elbow on my arm rest.
His eyes met mine, holding them. I narrowed my eyes at him, crossing my arms.

“You just cursed twice.” He commented, pulling his eyebrows together.

I blinked, unable to respond because of his hand. I hadn’t even noticed that I had cursed
in my little explosion of anger.

Trenton shook his head, as if clearing his thoughts, “If I take my hand away, will you
promise to shut up and listen?”

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at him, but nodded nonetheless.

His hand slowly pulled away from mine.

“You’re such a j—”

His hand clamped over my mouth again.

Trenton smirked, chuckling to himself, “Should’ve known not to believe you.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Look, I’m sorry I was flirting with Sam.” He said, all hint of amusement gone from his
face. “I didn’t realize you thought of her as your girlfriend. From what you told me, she was
your fuck-buddy.”

I averted my eyes from his face, not wanting to meet his.

“And I apologize for making you curse. Can I take my hand away now?”

I hesitated before nodding.

He took his hand away briefly, tensing up for my outburst. He relaxes slightly when I
remained quiet.

“I forgive you.” I muttered.

Trenton gave me a half smile, leaning back in his seat. “Good. Now, want to give me
Sam’s number?”

“Trenton!”

“I’m kidding!” He laughed.

I shot him a look.

He started the car up, pulling out of the parking lot. I glanced at the dash board, reading
the time. 4:02.

“Crap.” I mumbled.

“What?”

“It’s four.”

“So?”

“School ends at three.”

“So?”

I gave him a look, “My mother’s going to kill me!”

“Make something up.”

“I can’t lie to her again!”

Trenton rolled his eyes. “Well, I can’t help you anymore.”

I groaned, burying my face in my hands. “She’s going to kill me when I get home.”

“Just tell her I gave you a ride home.” He advised.

“I’m going to have to considering the bus would’ve gone by already and we’re going to
be arriving home at the same time.”

“So what’s the big deal then?” He asked.

“It’s my mother.”

“Right.” He understood now.

It was silent in the car as we drove. I struggled to think up of something to tell my mother
so that she wouldn’t be as angry when I arrived home.

Trenton turned the radio on, letting the classic rock station play in the background as he
drove. I tried to keep my mind focused enough on his driving to know if he took any exits that
he wasn’t supposed to again.

The tension was still thick between us.

He drove into our neighborhood a few minutes later, pulling over on his curb. I didn’t
comment as to why he didn’t park in his empty driveway as we both got out.

“Thanks for the ride.” I mumbled, not wanting to converse with him anymore than
necessary now.

“Anytime.”

I took a deep breath, beginning to cross the street.

“Good luck with your mom.” He said.

“Thanks.” I gave a weak smile, “I’m going to need it.”

I could make out her figure in the window, boney arms crossed over a thin chest.

“You want me to help convince her at all?”

“No, no. I need to handle this on my own.” I called back, giving a final wave goodbye. I
didn’t say that he would make it worse if he spoke.

He nodded, walking into his house.

I walked up to mine, nervously.

Opening the door, I came face to face with my mother. She stood there, annoyance
seething off of her. I bit my lip nervously, giving her a weak smile.

“Hello Mother.” I said politely, waiting for her to move so I could walk in. Her eyes
flickered behind me before finding my own.

“It’s four o’clock.” She said, her voice tight.

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“Care to explain why you’re so late, Taylor?” She asked

“I…” I trailed off. There was no way I could tell her about Sam. Trenton was right; I
needed to lie to her. “I needed help with my Calculus, and I thought that I would ask my
teacher for help after school. I lost track of time and missed the bus. Trenton offered me a
ride home… when he was done with his… club.”

“What club does Trenton do?” Mom asked skeptically.

“He’s in… photography club.”

It didn’t seem believable even to my ears.

Her face softened slightly. Just slightly. “Oh.”

“I’m so sorry, Mother. I didn’t mean to come home so late.” I apologized truthfully.

“You should have at least called. I could’ve come and got you.” Her voice had softened
up more as she spoke.

“It didn’t occur to me…”

Her eyes flickered behind me to Trenton’s house once more before she backed up,
allowing me to walk inside. “I didn’t realize that Trenton was the kind of boy to be interested
in photography.”

“Neither did I.” Neither did he.

She nodded curtly. “Don’t let this happen again.”

“I won’t.” I hoped not.

We stood there in the threshold, the silence consuming us. I bit my lip, hesitant to ask
the question that I’d been wondering.

“Is Dad here?”

“No.”

“Oh.” I sighed. It was going to be a tense evening. “I’m going to go do homework now.”

She watched as I walked up the stairs, turning the corner for my room. I paused,
listening to her soft footsteps walk away.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

She’d bought it.

Back in my room, I remembered that I had very little homework to do. I would be trapped
in here with nothing for the rest of the evening.

Wonderful.

I sit at my desk, pulling up a notebook to get started on the little homework that I do have
to do. My eyes drifted over to the crumpled up piece of paper with the ten digits written on it.

Trenton’s number.

I could feel my phone in my pocket.

Temptation pulsed through me.

My eyes flickered over to his window. The curtains were closed, leaving me blind to the
inside of his room.

Though, I already knew what it looked like.

The white piece of paper poked out at the edge of my vision, trying to deliver the not-so-
subtle message.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, setting it on the desk before me.

I felt a rush go through me at the fact that I had lied to my mother twice in the past few
days.

I knew that was bad but…

The need to tell him about it surprised me.

The ten digits taunted me, my phone, his window, the silence of the room. All of it
pushed me towards gloating that I did.

“This is ridiculous.” I muttered to myself, opening my history textbook.

Today, I couldn’t get lost in the words designed to improve my education. My mind was
distracted and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t focus.

I bit my lip, reaching for the phone.

I typed in his digits, pressing it gently to my ear.

The curtain moved slightly in the window opposite mine.

It rang once.

“Hello?” Trenton asked.

He pulled back the curtain, staring at me across the street curiously.

“I lied to her.”