The Long Game, Lucas Sinclair

a loser and an empath walk into a bar

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August Santos was sort-of a loser.

Correction.

Okay, he was a major loser.

August Santos was a major loser, and he was well-aware of it, because there were many attributes in his life that directed towards this fact. For two years, he was the only person in the AV Club, because after sophomore year the two seniors who did it with him graduated; he was obsessed with movies to an unhealthy degree; but, he steered away from renting them at familyVideo because he refused to have a repeat of last summer (it's too embarrassing to even repeat for the readers); he's lived in the trailer park off Roane County since his dad up and booked it when Auggie was four; his only friend was a freshman with the soul of a fifty-year-old women who's lived through ten wars; and his favorite t-shirt of his favorite band — The Smiths — was stolen from a dumpster.

Going back to the freshman with the soul of a fifty-year-old woman who's lived through ten wars — Auggie had been nervous all night. He'd barely gotten any sleep last night because of her.

You see, the thing was, Sam left a drawing on her desk in the AV room. Her own drawing, to be specific.

And it was a picture of Eddie Munson and Chrissy Cunningham going into Eddie's trailer at night.

And last night Auggie saw Eddie Munson and Chrissy Cunningham going into Eddie's trailer.

And this morning there was a multitude of cops interrogating Wayne Munson (Eddie's uncle) outside their trailer.

Did Auggie ever see Chrissy leave?

"Corazón, entra en la casa," his mom said in her thick Latin accent. "No quiero que estos cerdos nos metan en problemas."

Auggie turned his head down to see his oh-so short mother out of the trailer now, too. He was trying to inspect what was really going on, but it was hard, because his trailer was to the left of Eddie's but still a good bit away.

"Un segundo, mamá, te lo prometo," Auggie promised. His mom squeezed his hand before she entered back inside.

Right across from Eddie's trailer, Auggie saw that Maxine (Max) Mayfield was outside, too, trying to do the same thing as Auggie. Auggie new enough about Max — he knew Sam and Max used to be best friends, he knew Max's stepbrother died in the mall fire, he knew Max and her mother had to move into the trailer park since, and he knew Sam and Max are no longer best friends.

Going against his mother's wishes, Auggie took a few steps closer to the Munson trailer. It was all just way too suspicious. Sam's drawing, seeing it come to life last night, and the cops outside the trailer now. Auggie had to know.

His footsteps grew closer and closer. Auggie got just the right angle to be able to see it.

Chrissy Cunningham, dead, on the trailer floor.

"Hey!" a hand clamped on Auggie's shoulder, and the boy wheeled around with a terrified gasp. A cop stared down at him with stern eyes. "You can't be out here. Get back inside."

Auggie couldn't help his head from whipping back towards the trailer, though. Chrissy's body face down, limbs broken and bent all the way backwards.

"Back inside," the cop repeated, having no care for Auggie's panic.

Auggie jogged away, and unsettling feeling in his chest. He tried to calm his breathing as he ran towards his neighbor's trailer on the other side. Auggie didn't get back inside, he didn't listen to the cop.