The Devil's Pawn

She didn’t show up.

I waited and waited and she never came.

I waited until all the buses had cleared out.

I waited in our usual spot behind the school where no one could see us. The
temperature had to be in the upper nineties.

Ten minutes after the buses had left, I walked around the school, looking for any sign of
her blonde hair.

Nothing.

Groaning with frustration, I pulled out my phone, my fingers typing in the familiar seven
digits I had come to memorize.

Anger bubbled up inside me.

How could Sam do that?

We were still technically dating.

If she had said she needed to talk to me about something important, I would’ve rushed
over. Why couldn’t she do the same for me?

Maybe she knew I was going to break up with her.

I shook my head; that was a stupid thought.

The only person that I had told was Trenton. And that was after I had texted Sam.

It was impossible that she had known before hand unless she had an uncanny ability to
predict the future.

That was unlikely.

After what felt like eternity, a voice finally answered my call.

“Hello?”

“Hi.” I said gruffly.

“Taylor?”

“Yeah.”

“How’re you?”

“How do you think?” I snapped, furious, “She’s not even here. I’ve been here for forty-five
minutes waiting for her to show up.”

“Who?”

“Sam!”

A muffled cough sounded from the other line, “Aghh, sorry. Wait, are you still at school?
It’s almost four-thirty.”

“I’m aware of that. And yes, I still am.” I couldn’t hold back the anger in my voice. My
fingers were curled tightly around the cell phone pressed against my ear.

Trenton whistled softly, “That’s a long time to wait.”

“I know.”

“So why are you calling me?”

I sighed, wishing he had just offered instead of making me ask, “Look, I’m sorry to be
bothering you with this, but you’re really the only person I can call. Can you please give me a
ride home from school?”

There was silence on the other end for a moment.

“Uh… yeah, sure.” He sounded distracted.

“Are you sure?” I bit my lip, suddenly feeling a little guilty. I had implied that without him, I
would be stuck at the school.

He was the only person who would understand why I was here, but he wasn’t my only
ride. I simply didn’t want to have to explain everything to anyone else.

“Yeah, it’s fine Sweet Cheeks.” Noise sounded in the background. Trenton ignored it
and kept talking, “I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Meet me at the front of the school.”

“Alright.” I knelt down, picking up my backpack. I slung it over my shoulder, beginning my
trek to the other side. “Thanks, Trenton.”

“No problem. See you soon.”

He hung up the phone.

I parked myself on the steps outside of the school, leaning against the side. Exhaustion
flooded through my body. I had to fight to keep myself conscious as I waited for Trenton to
arrive. It was silent outside, the sun beating down painfully hot on my skin.

I fanned myself with my hand pathetically, looking around to see if there was anyone
else.

Not a person in sight.

The heat was killing me as I waited.

Hesitantly, I lifted my over shirt up and over my head, tossing it in a bundle into my lap. I
straightened the camisole I had worn underneath, pulling the front up enough to hide some
of my cleavage.

I knew that wearing spaghetti straps was against school rules, but it was after school
hours. What could they really do?

Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I checked the time.

Mom was going to give me so much crap when I got home about how late I had stayed. I
needed to think of an excuse to give her that she’d believe.

I flipped open the screen, reading my messages. Anger rushed through my veins at the
sight of Sam’s name.

I found my fingers typing into the phone of their own free will in a message addressed to
the one and only.

I wanted to do it in person, but that didn’t work. We’re done.

~*~

“Thanks.” I mumbled, getting into the passenger seat of Trenton’s car.

He grunted a response, pulling out of the school’s parking lot sharply as soon as my
seat buckle had clicked into place.

Trenton’s hands gripped the wheel tightly. He leaned forward slightly, eyes wide on the
road. He seemed to be concentrating more than normal today.

“Are you ok?” I asked hesitantly.

“Yeah, yeah.” Trenton mumbled.

He didn’t sound very believable.

Trenton jerked the car sharply to the side of the road quickly.

I let out a scream, gripping the edge of my seat. “Trenton!”

“Yeah?” He asked, glancing quickly at me.

“What the hell was that for?!”

“Had to dodge them damn dragons.”

“What dragons?”

“That purple little fucker that keeps following us!” He glanced in the rearview mirror. I bit
my lip, giving him a strange look.

“Trenton…?”

“Yeah?”

“What’s going on?”

“I… nothing.” He shook his head. “I’m just seeing stuff, I think. You don’t see any
dragons behind us, right?”

I shook my head hesitantly. “Are you high?”

He shot me a sly look. No words needed.

I made a face, subtly moving away from Trenton, “Maybe you should just pull over and let
me drive us home.”

“I can drive, Tay.”

“Seriously, Trenton. Pull over.”

“Why? Think we’ll crash?” He sent me a quick smirk, before turning back to the road, his
eyes wide again.

“Yes!” I said louder than I intended to.

Trenton laughed, shaking his head, “Relax, Sweet Cheeks, I’m a good driver. Even if I’m
a little—SHIT.”

I screamed as Trenton jerked the car off to the side of the road. My hands clamped on
the dashboard as the car jerked to the side.

Trenton pulled the car back onto the road. His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly,
eyes wide, chest rising and falling quickly.

It was silent in the car as Trenton drove again. I could feel myself shaking as I struggled
to steady my breathing.

All these surprise jerks were really getting to me.

“Ok, this is going to sound kind of weird, but…” Trenton glanced at me quickly, “Did you
see the fucking huge-ass spider in the middle of the road?”

“Pull over.” I hissed.

“What? Taylor, we’re fine—”

“Pull. Over.”

Trenton hesitated before flicking on the blinker, pulling off to the side of the road. I
opened my car door, storming out.

I didn’t know whether I wanted to walk home and get away from that lunatic driver or
drive the car home myself.

“What are you—”

“Get out.” I hissed, standing next to his window. I moved out of the way for the car door to
open, letting a hesitant Trenton step out.

I crossed my arms, facing him. Cars rushed past us as we stood off to the side of the
highway, just barely out of harm’s way.

Trenton refused to meet my eyes, looking everywhere else. He bit his lip as if he already
knew he was in trouble.

“What the hell is going on?” I snapped.

Trenton raised an eyebrow, “Whoa.”

“Answer me.”

“You said ‘hell’.”

“So?”

“I’ve never heard you curse before, Taylor.” He smirked slightly, leaning forward, “It was
pretty hot.”

“Shut up. What’s going on with you?” I wasn’t in the mood to deal with his flirting. I was
angry, worried, and shaky.

“Nothing…”

“Tell me. Now.”

“I’m just… tired.”

“Trenton.”

He sighed, glancing around, “Fine. But don’t bitch at me or anything ok?”

“Fine.”

“I know you will.”

“Then why bother telling me not to?”

He ignored that, “I’m a little… high…”

I sighed, “I knew that. But weed doesn’t make you do what you did in the car.”

“How would you know?”

“I did a report on it in ninth grade for Guidance glass. I’d consider myself fairly familiar
with it regardless of the fact I’ve never done it.”

“Want to try?”

“Trenton!” I yelled

He shrugged, laughing, “You’re cute.”

I felt my face heat up considerably. I wasn’t sure whether it was from embarrassment or
from angry. I assumed a mixture of both, “What are you on?”

“Acid…I think.”

“You think?”

How did you not know what you were on?

“Yeah, I don’t know. Probably a few pills too. It was a fun day today.” He grinned wildly at
the memory.

My eyes widened, “Are you suicidal?!”

“No, why?”

“You don’t mix pills with drugs!” I hissed, slapping his arm. It left a stinging in the palm
of my hand. Trenton flinched, covering his recently abused arm with his free hand.

“Damn, that hurt—”

“I don’t care, why the hell would you do that?!” I was beyond angry now. How could he
have been so stupid? He could’ve died. He still could!

“Fits dared me too…”

“If Fits dared you to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, would you?”

Trenton shrugged, looking away.

“Trenton, you better be kidding!” I warned, “You’re on my last nerve. I can’t believe you.
You’re stoned, you mixed drugs, hell, you don’t even know what drugs you mixed, and you
have the audacity to drive a car?!”

“I told you it wasn’t a good idea!”

I clenched and unclenched my fist repeatedly, “You didn’t tell me you were high!”

“Didn’t really give me a chance there.”

“Yes I did! I said I could call someone else to get me a ride if you couldn’t!”

Trenton sighed, “Let’s not fight. Haven’t you ever heard of the phrase ‘make love, not
war’? Let’s do that.”

“Not even in your dreams.”

Trenton grinned wickedly, “Hate to break it to you, Sweetie, but that happens a lot in my
dreams.”

I made a face, “Gross. Now that’s all I’m going to be thinking about when I go to sleep.
Thanks, Trent.”

“What? Our naked bodies against each other as I pound in and out of you?”

“Shut up!” I hissed.

Trenton laughed.

“Look, I’m driving us home.”

“My dad’s going to kill me when he finds out I’m tripping.”

“Maybe you’ll learn you lesson.”

Trenton snorted, rolling his eyes, “Yeah right. He’s not the boss of me. No one is. I’m a
free man, baby.”

“Hate to break it to you, Sweetie,” I mocked, “but he is the boss of you.”

“No one is.”

“Whatever. Get in the car. Buckle up. We’re going home.”

Trenton grew sober for a moment, “Seriously, Taylor, don’t take me home. I can’t go
back there just yet. I need an hour or so to sober up.”

“This will get you real sober real quick.” I mumbled, climbing into the driver’s seat.
Trenton moved around the car to the other side, getting in.

“Please.” He said, looking at me.

I tried to look away, but failed. “Fine.”

“Thank you.” Trenton leaned over, pressing a kiss to my cheek.

Ignoring my blazing face, I pulled back onto the road, driving back in silence.

~*~

“Where are we?” Trenton asked as I parked the car, getting out.

“The local library.” I said, locking the car and tucking the keys into my pocket. I texted my
mother telling her I was at the library and would be back in an hour and a half.

“Why?”

“We’re sobering you up.”

“At the library?” He made a face.

“Yes. What better way to get you sober than to force you to learn.”

“I think I’ll burn up if I walk in there.” He said, stopping at the door, “Like how vampires
burn up if they’re in sunlight? Yeah, library’s are my sunlight.”

“You’re retarded,” I grabbed his wrist, pulling him forward, “Let’s go.”

Trenton made a face, but allowed me to lead him nonetheless. I pulled him over to a
spare table, forcing him into a seat.

I chased down the science section, figuring that he out to learn some physics. We were
seniors, after all, and that was the required science to take senior year.

While I knew he wouldn’t be in AP physics like I was, he would be in physics
nonetheless. I grabbed a book by Stephen Hawking that I had read earlier in the year,
figuring it was boring enough for Trenton to sober up to.

“Hey baby,” Trenton grinned up at me.

I dropped the book in front of him, opening up to the first page. I sat across from him,
crossing my arms.

“Read it.”

Trenton looked at the words, “How?”

“With your eyes.”

“But… it’s impossible to understand. Is this written in German? I don’t recognize half of
these words.” He whined.

“I understood it.”

“But you’re a super genius!”

“Look, Trenton, you need to get sober. And this is the perfect way to do so. So either you
read it, or I hunt down a Calculus book and make you do problems from that.”

“I don’t have a calculator.”

“You’ll have to do it in your head then.”

“You can’t even do that!”

I smirked, “But I know where I can get a calculator here. You don’t. So I suggest you start
absorbing Stephen Hawking.”

Trenton groaned, dropping his face forward onto the book, “I hate you so much, Taylor,
you really don’t understand.”

I smirked victoriously.

Fifteen minutes later, Trenton had barely made it past the third page. I sat with my arms
crossed, watching him. He continually made noises of discomfort. He was the one who
decided to risk his life by mixing drugs. He was the one who was going to pay the price.

“I need to pee.”

“Tough luck.”

“You’re a bitch.”

I shrugged.

“Please, Taylor, I really need to go.”

“Go.”

“I don’t know where to go.” He admitted, not the least bit ashamed to say so. “Can you
show me where it is?”

I narrowed my eyes, nodding to the left.

“That’s just a row of books.”

“Something you should be reading now instead of whining.”

“I’ll read more after I’ve peed.”

I sighed, standing up, “Let’s go.”

Trenton grinned, closing the book. He pushed his chair in, following after me as I led
him past the rows and rows of books to the back of the library. We walked to the edge where
the one person uni-sex bathroom sat, a hole in the wall.

“There.” I said, pointing to it. “Make it quick.”

Trenton grinned, pushing the door open, “Are you sure this is the right bathroom? It
looks a little feminine.”

“It’s a unisex bathroom…”

“So?”

“Trenton, just go.”

He took a hesitant step in, eyeing up the place. Trenton glanced back at me. I stood with
one hip cocked, arms crossed over my chest with a zero-tolerance look.

His hand grabbed my wrist, pulling me forward into the bathroom with him.

Trenton slammed the door shut, locking it.

“Trenton, what the heck?!” I snapped.

He grinned deviously, flicking off the light.

“Trenton!” I hissed.

“I love how you scream my name.” His chuckled darkly, resting his hands on his hips. I
couldn’t see a thing in the dark bathroom, but I could tell Trenton was standing right before
me.

He stepped forward, guiding my body back.

“Trenton, what are you doing?” I hissed at him.

“Relax, Tay.” He whispered, “You’re too stuck up sometimes. We’re just going to have a
little bit of fun.”

“What do you—”

Trenton pressed his lips roughly against my own.

I felt myself responding immediately.

****Guys, read the author's note. For reals.****