Broken

Chapter 8

The car ride was painfully long, probably because of the silence. Seth wasn't going to be starting any conversations any time soon, and Charles was deep in thought. I was just sitting there, bored to tears. I was trapped in a hot car going who knows where. Seth prodded me with his shotgun. I turned around.

"Yeah?"

I gave him an annoyed look. He said nothing.

"Yes? I'm listening."

He smirked. I'm pretty sure he was doing this on purpose. Charles glanced at us.

"Good luck with him. He won't talk to anyone."

"That's what he wants you to believe. You just gotta suck it out of him, like a vacuum."

Seth leaned back and stared back at me. We were having a stare down, and I was losing.

"Alright, you can sit there like that or you can talk to me. Your choice."

Seth raised an eyebrow. "I have a choice?"

Charles almost crashed us into a tree. He swerved back onto the road. He swore under his breath and looked down at me.

"You got some sort of superpower?"

I laughed, and so did Seth. "No, Charles. He talked to me earlier today."

Charles scoffed at Seth. "Dude, what am I? Chopped liver?"

Seth said softly, "I like chopped liver."

"Ew, man. That's gross!"

I laughed again. "At least he talked to you."

"True, Beth. But he didn't have to gross me out."

Seth ran his fingers through his hair. "Your fault."

"SINCE WHEN DID YOU START TALKING SO MUCH?!"

I patted Charles's shoulder reassuringly. "He just talks when he feels the need to. Otherwise, he's a silent man."

"*, man."

"No, silent man."

Charles huffed. "I swear to-"

Seth interrupted. "No need to swear, you do that enough."

I contained my laughter as Charles sighed, exasperated.

"Sure, make fun of me."

"Lighten up, Charles," I said jokingly.

Charles rolled his eyes and slouched.

"Unbelievable. I'm getting hammered by two teenagers. At least, I assume you're a teenager, Mr. Talkative."

"I am. I'm sixteen."

"I don't know your name."

Seth nodded. "I know. And it will stay that way until I can trust you."

"You trust Beth, and you've only known her for a day. You've known me for way longer than that."

"I trust her. I don't know about you yet. You swear too much."

"*, man! Ah, *. I swore again."

We pulled up to a large house in an upscale neighborhood. We hopped out of the car and strolled up to the house like we owned the place. Charles checked the front door. It was unlocked. He pushed it open. The windows had been boarded, but no signs of life were visible.

Charles called out, "Hello? Anyone here?"

Seth cocked his shotgun and followed us inside, watching our backs. Charles called out again.