The Devil's Pawn

Chapter 6

The rest of the lunch period passed slowly. Erica and Fits ended up taking most of the conversation. I sat in front of the three friends, eating my food slowly. I didn’t contribute to anything after that. Every now and then I caught Tanner’s eyes. He gave me a gentle smile. I returned a forced one.

                I wasn’t comfortable there, but I had to admit, it was better than sitting alone at the other table.

                Nonetheless, as soon as the bell rang, I was quick to leave the table. I was slow enough not to be rude, but quick enough not to get stuck with them anymore.

                I was thankful that I had no more classes with them.

                The classes passed in a blur. I didn’t pay much attention in them, which meant that I would definitely be screwed over for tomorrow. For whatever reason, I had only minor embarrassment from teachers calling on me when I wasn’t paying attention. Most seemed to have ignored the fact that I wasn’t answering as many questions as normal.                

                I ended up sitting alone on the bus today. My normal seat buddy, Jamie, was sick today. Jamie was a sophomore that I used to tutor in her freshman year. She was as close to a mini me as you could get. Her classes were as hard as mine had been when I was in tenth grade and her parents were as strict as mine were. We even found ourselves wearing the same shirt every once in a while.

                She was such a sweetheart.

                I sat in my seat, my bag propped in the empty space. I stared out the window, not focusing on anything but the blur of the moving objects as we moved.

                It was nice to be alone.

                The bus dropped me off at the corner where Trenton had been dropping me off. I was the only person to get off in the entire neighborhood, which reminded me of the loneliness I felt. Even though Trenton was someone my age, he wasn’t someone I was allowed to be friends with.

                As I walked into my house, I could feel the thick tension in the room. I walked into the living room.

                Dad was sitting on the chair, forearms resting on his thighs. His head had fallen forward, buried in his hands. His body was tense.

                Mom stood in front of him, her thin arms crossed over her chest awkwardly. Her lips were pursed in annoyance, beady eyes glaring at my father.

                I stood behind Mom, biting my lip slightly.

                Do I interrupt whatever discussion they had been having?

                “Hey Mom, Dad.” I said sweetly.

                Mom turned around to face me, her eyes still enraged. Dad looked up from his hands with a small smile.

                “Hey Taylor.” Dad said, sounding exhausted.

                “Taylor, you should get started on your homework.” Mom suggested. Though, we both knew it wasn’t a suggestion at all.

                “Uh….” I hesitated, “Alright, Mother.”

                I turned around, heading up the stairs.

                I wasn’t even on the second floor before I could hear Mom’s voice rising in anger. Dad’s low mumble was hard to make out, but it was evident that he was the victim in this.