The Devil's Pawn

Trenton left me alone the rest of the period. I ended up getting the work done right as the bell rang, turning it into the teacher. I noticed how Trenton walked out quickly. He didn’t turn in his work.

He would surely get scolded for that tomorrow.

I brushed a strand of hair behind my ear and left the room. My eyes scanned the flood of
students in search of Elizabeth’s familiar face.

I sighed at the realization that she wasn’t here.

My locker was close to the exit door, which meant that I was constantly being shoved
aside by the flow of students. I pressed my body tightly against the locker, twisting the knob
open.

Grabbing the books I needed for homework, I made my way out of the building. The
fresh air felt nice against my skin, reminding me that the end of the year was quickly
approaching.

So were exams.

I would need to begun studying soon if I had any hope of passing all of my exams.

An arm wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me into a body. I stumbled, surprised,
my left half squished uncomfortably into his side.

I pulled away quickly, my face heating up.

“Hey, Tay.” Trenton smirked.

I frowned, “It’s Taylor…”

“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To the bus…?” I began walking towards it.

“Nah, come on. I need directions again.” He grabbed the strap of my backpack, pulling
me with him towards his car.

I struggled out of his grasp, “Trenton, stop!”

“Whoa” He chuckled, releasing me.

I straightened up, trying to fix my appearance “You can’t just drag me wherever you want.
Especially not after what a jerk you’ve been to me lately!”

He rolled his eyes “You’ll learn to live with it.”

“No! I don’t have to!” I jerked away when he reached for my strap again “Don’t touch me!”

Trenton raised an eyebrow “Chill out, sweet cheeks.”

“Do not call me sweet cheeks.” I said harshly. My eyes widened as soon as the words
left my mouth as I realized how harsh they truly had been.

I didn’t take it back. I wouldn’t tolerate the nickname.

Trenton laughed at my face, causing me to flush with embarrassment. “Cut the shit.
Let’s go, I don’t know how to get home.”

I bit my lip, realizing that the buses had already begun to clear out. Once again, I had no
choice but to accept his ride home.

Mother was going to kill me if she ever found out.

Nonetheless, I got into the passenger seat of his car. Trenton pulled out recklessly
before I had buckled my seatbelt. I shot him a worried glance, to which he ignored.

As he drove, I found my eyes steadily drawn towards him. He didn’t seem to notice at
first. I took in his focused expression. He had his window rolled down, his elbow resting on
the ledge. The air blew his hair roughly. One hand gripped the wheel.

Though his body was relaxed, his face wasn’t.

No matter how hard I tried, I could keep my eyes from straying towards his ears. A
disgusting hole poked through his ear lobe ringed with a purple edge. It filled up his entire
lobe, thankfully not pushing it down at all. The hole looked big enough to fit a pencil in
though.

Disgusting.

“What are you looking at?” Trenton asked, stopping at a red light.

My eyes widened with the realization that I had been caught staring. I took notice at the
defensive tone he used “N-nothing! Sorry!”

“Liar, what was with the face?” He interrogated

“I…I…” Was it rude to say I thought the holes in his ears were weird?

“Just spit it out.” He sounded irritated

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but why are their holes in your ears?” I said, unable to
hold back the disgust in my voice.

He rolled his eyes, “First off, they’re called gauges.”

“You mean like, for a car?” I frowned, confused.

“No, there’s another kind of gauge.” He sighed, “You basically stretch your ear lobe.”

I shuddered. “That sounds painful.”

“Oh it can be.”

“Why do it then?”

He shrugged, “It’s addicting after a while.”

I sighed, looking away.

Suddenly the most putrid smell filled my nostrils. It smelled worse than anything I had
ever smelled before. I gagged at the first sniff, pushing Trenton’s hand away.

“What the heck?!” I screamed, pushing myself as far away as possible.

Trenton messed with his ear, forcing the gauge back inside of it. He laughed at my
response, rolling his eyes, “They don’t smell very good, huh?”

“Why would you make me smell it?” I asked, appalled

“Because it stinks.”

“That’s disgusting, Trenton.”

He smirked, “I know. But your reaction? Priceless.”

“You’re such a jerk.”

He only shrugged, “Do you want dropped off at the corner again?”

“Yes”

He nodded, pulling over to the side.

I opened the door, grabbing my bag. I hesitated, unsure whether to thank him or not. He
didn’t exactly give me a choice as to whether or not I wanted the ride, though he still gave me
it nonetheless.

“Errr… thanks?” I settled for an awkward thank you.

He shrugged, “Just shut the damned door.”

I bit my lip, obeying him. Trenton pulled away quickly, driving fast down the street. He
turned into his driveway before I made it past the first house.

He didn’t turn around to see me, walking directly into his house. I sighed, running a
hand through my curls.

I didn’t know what to think of him. One minute he absolutely hated my guts, the next he
was forcing me to ride home with him. In my gut, I had a feeling I was being used to get
close to Sam. I wasn’t going to let that happen; she was my girlfriend.

I arrived at my house a few minutes later, heading straight for my room. I ignored my
parents, my mind too busy to care about whatever they had to say.

~*~

Trenton didn’t go to school the next two days. I was surprisingly quite content with that. It
felt nice to know that I could talk, sit, and ride the bus home with my normal friends without
the constant worry of being harassed by him.

Elizabeth and I took advantage of his absence the first day, turning our lunch period into
a study period. We ended up getting most of the homework done for our morning classes. I
gave Elizabeth the usual warning that I might not make it through the entire study group on
Thursday. I left out the fact that I would be hopefully meeting up with Sam.

She wouldn’t have been too happy with me if I had told her that was my reason why.

Naturally, Elizabeth didn’t question why I would leave early. She simply didn’t care for my
reason, and for that, I was thankful.

It was now Thursday, the second day of Trenton’s absence.

I was currently enjoying my wonderful Calc class, my brain in over load. We had begun a
new topic. The words the teacher spoke went in one ear, out the other. From the looks of the
kids around me, they were feeling the same thing.

I knew that eventually something would click for me, but until that date, I would have a
massive headache every time I attempted work.

The bell rang, finally freeing us of our torture chamber.

I packed my things up slowly. I wasn’t in any rush.

I made my way to lunch, stopping by my locker to switch out books that I didn’t need any
more for ones that I did.

I made my way to the cafeteria, meeting with Elizabeth to get in line.

I grabbed a salad, setting it on my tray along with a cup of jelly.

“Hey Elizabeth.” I said cheerily.

She bit her lip, looking at me with guilt in her eyes, “Hey Taylor.”

I frowned, “What’s with the face?”

“I know you’re going to hate me for this…” She trailed off, cringing slightly

“Continue…” I prompted.

“I’m sitting with Brett today for lunch.” She smiled apologetically, awaiting my reaction.

I sighed, “So I have to sit alone?”

“There are… other people at the table.” She said, trying to make seem not as bad as it
really was. I sighed again, rolling my eyes at her comment.

“Alright, go have fun.” I forced a smile.

She was actually making real progress with Brett. This was more than I had ever
thought would happen with those two. Maybe he genuinely liked her. Maybe he wasn’t just
using her.

And maybe the moon landing was a hoax.

I brushed my hair over my shoulder, trying to blow off the fact that she was leaving me
for a boy.

Elizabeth gave me an awkward hug before paying for her food and hurrying off to sit with
Brett. I sighed and paid for my own, walking alone to my normal table.

I felt a hand grab the back of my shirt, pulling me back before I could sit down.

I turned around, confused, “Can I help you?”

Erica smiled at me, annoyance still clear through the grin, “Hello, Taylor.”

“Hey Erica” I said kindly, “Can I help you?”

“You’re sitting with us today.”

“Why?”

“Because.” She shrugged, not letting go of the back of my shirt. She proceeded to drag
me towards their table.

“But… I have friends at another table…” I trailed off hopefully, not even believing my own
excuse.

She snorted, “No you don’t. That girl’s sitting with Brett.”

“Her name’s Elizabeth…” I mumbled quietly, more to myself.

Erica must’ve heard though, “Whatever.”

She pulled us over to the table that I had been kicked out of only a few days before. I set
my tray down hesitantly, feeling weird.

Trenton wasn’t here, why was she doing this?

Erica sat down across from me, reaching over and stealing a tomato off of my salad. I
frowned, watching her plop it in her mouth.

I noticed how she didn’t have any of her own food, “Where’s your food?”

“Fits is getting it.” She shrugged as if this was normal.

“Why’s he buying your lunch?”

“Cause I told him to.” She rolled her eyes as if it was the most obvious as in the world.

“Oh.” I shut up. Erica took another tomato, looking around.

“Damn, where is that kid? I’m starving.”

I forced a smile, “I noticed.”

She laughed slightly. “You’re funny.” The sarcasm dripped off of her words.

“Yeah.” I said, not really sure what else to put. It was a lot harder than it should be to
keep a conversation with Erica.

“So tell me.” Erica said, running a hand through her hair, “Why do you hang out with that
chick?”

“Elizabeth?”

She nodded.

I bit my lip, “She’s my friend. Why wouldn’t I?”

“She’s a loser.”

“She’s more popular than I am…”

“How?”

“Well she’s becoming rather friendly with Brett Jackson.”

“Define ‘friendly’” Erica’s eyes focused on me, suddenly interested in what I had to say. I
knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t control what I said next.

“I don’t know, she says they’ve kissed a few times, and he invited her to sit with him at
lunch, but I really don’t think she’s in his league.” I took a bite of my salad. “I mean, he goes
for the less-nerdy type. And Elizabeth and I… we’re not that type.”

Erica raised an eyebrow, “He’s definitely playing her for something.”

“That’s what I’m thinking.”

“You want to know a secret?” She grinned deviously. I didn’t think it would be that big of
a secret considering she was telling someone she barely knew, but nonetheless, I nodded.

Erica leaned forward across the table. I met her half way, her lips near my ear, “Brett has
this list of 20 girls in our grade. The bet is that Brett has to fuck all of them by the end of
school.”

I pulled away, eyebrows raised, “Elizabeth’s on the list?”

Erica nodded.

“How do you know?”

“I saw it. How else would I know?” She rolled her eyes at me.

I hesitated before asking, “Am I?”

She snorted, “No, you don’t have to worry about being on Brett Jackson’s list. I think that
chick’s one of the last girls on it anyways.”

“Don’t any of the girls know this?” I frowned. It seemed like if someone was sleeping
with 20 different girls throughout the course of one school year that it would be something
everyone knew about. Clearly they wouldn’t be so stupid to fall in his trap.

Erica shook her head no surprisingly, “He’s keeping it incredibly confidential.”

“But… you just told me. And I barely know you.”

She shrugged, examining her finger nails, “I said Brett was keeping it confidential. I’m
not.”

“Wow.” I mumbled. That was incredibly rude of her to go around flaunting his secret to
people, but I wasn’t going to stop her. These girls should know that he was just using them.
Hopefully, I would get to Elizabeth before anything happened.

“About damned time!” Erica said, looking up behind me.

I turned my head to see the two familiar boys walking towards our table. Tanner sat to
the left of Erica, Fits to the right. He pushed his tray in between Erica and himself, taking a
bite of the pizza.

I felt like this was an interrogation. All three of them watched me as I ate in silence. I
could feel my heart picking up with discomfort. I avoided meeting their eyes.

“Who’s she?” Tanner finally asked. I felt a pang go through me at the realization that he
didn’t know who I was, yet I knew him.

“That’s Taylor.” Erica introduced. “Tay, this is Tanner and Fits. But I’m sure you already
know this.”

“I do.” I mumbled into my lap.

“Not much of a talker, are you?” Tanner teased.

I forced a smile, “No, sorry.”

“Bullshit you’re not.” Erica rolled her eyes. She seemed to love doing that. “We were just
having a damn fine conversation before these two idiots showed up.”

“Hey!” Fits nudged her side.

“You know it’s true.” Erica grinned harmlessly at him.

Fits only shrugged, taking another bite.