The Devil Wants Me

kidnappings & pizza

"Sooooo." I laughed nervously, toying with my hands. Jackson stayed quiet, which only made me more nervous. I don't know if I was nervous because of the way I spoke to him or because of the fact that he saw me with Austin. Perhaps a bit of both.

"Yes? What do you want?" He asked impatiently. My jaw dropped. He was the one who practically kidnapped me and forced me into his car. Shouldn't I be the one who was asking that? He saw me staring at him shocked and smiled. "I'm kidding."

"Good." I smiled back and then realized that I had yelled at him less than 5 hours ago and shut up. I felt very guilty sitting in the back of the car seat. I didn't even deserve to be here. I had completely totaled his car, and he was still treating me like a civilized person. "Listen, about the call-" I started but he interrupted me with the raise of his hand.

"It's alright. I've taken care of it." He replied curtly. 

"I'm sorry, what? I don't understand." I looked up, confused. He stopped looking out the window and stared right into my eyes. I wavered a little bit, trying to hold the eye contact but eventually giving in and staring at my hands. 

"Well considering that the detention would go on your permanent record, I came to an agreement with your teacher and we both decided that you would serve the detention," Jackson explained. I stared at him.

"Yes, but how would that help me in any way?" I asked, a little bit annoyed. He smiled patiently, and held up his finger as if to say "I'm getting to the good part". 

"Just hurry up please," I replied, leaning against the window as I felt Jackson shift a little closer.

"The best part is..." He whispered, leaning closer. I felt my heart start to beat a little from the tension. I tried to back up a little, but there was nowhere else to go. For a brief moment, I considered jumping out of the moving car. "It doesn't go on your permanent record." I couldn't possibly register what he was saying when he was so close. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in.  Jackson looked surprised, and then his eyes widened as if he just realized our close proximity. He coughed a little and backed away, just as the car stopped moving. 

I looked towards Jackson's window side and noticed that we had pulled up to my house. I unconsciously noticed that his ears were red, and I blushed too. I got out, and without looking at him, I said thank you to the driver and left. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As soon as I got home, I decided that there was no way I was going to sleep home tonight. Will's car wasn't in the driveway, so he had left. I knew my mom's no good boyfriend would be coming tonight and I didn't want to be there to witness their unhealthy relationship. Besides, even though my mom's relationship with me wasn't so bad right now, I would rather go see my best friend who I hadn't seen for two weeks. I sighed, picking up the phone and pressing the call button next to Angelica's name. The phone rang twice before she picked up.

"Hey, Angie." I smiled into the phone.

"What's up, mi amor?" She replied, loudly chewing on what I assumed was gum.

"Sleepover at yours?" I asked, examining my nails. There was a pause at the other line. "So what do you say, Angie?" I asked again.

"Yea, sure. But why all of a sudden? We haven't seen each other in weeks, Brianna." Angie told me. I sighed.

"Yea, I know but my schedule was really busy. And my mom's boy toy is coming over." I caught a glimpse of my hair in the mirror and took out an elastic. I swiftly placed the cell phone between my ear and shoulder and focused on fixing my hair.

"Ew. He smells like dank weed," I could pretty much feel Angie's face crumbling in disgust. I smiled.

"So does my mom," I reminded her. 

"Not as bad as Richard," Brianna said. 

"True. Can we also order pizza? I need it." She laughed and said goodbye before hanging up. I quickly grabbed my handbag, packed a fresh set of clothes and my makeup bag. I slept over at Angelica's so much that I had my toothbrush there. I called an Uber and was at her house at the same time the pizza delivery guy did. I stepped out of the car, keeping my head down on my phone and ringing the bell. 

After waiting a minute or so, I didn't hear any footsteps to the door. I heard the shut off the car door, and turned around to see the pizza guy in his large baseball hat looking down and carrying 5 boxes of pizzas. I mentally prayed for Angelica to open up as I pressed the bell several times. The pizza guy was being suspicious and I didn't like the fact that he kept looking down. He could be a serial killer for all I knew. 

I didn't want to die, especially without telling Angelica about the weird encounter with Austin I had at the coffee shop or about how I was the girl that completely wrecked Jackson's car and had to find a way to pay him back. Or even about my mother's problems and how she refused to admit them. And the way she looked at Will as if he was something she wanted and didn't deserve. And how Will looked at her, with a longing in his eyes. And how they seemed perfect for each other and how I wanted to kind of break up Richard and my mom so I could set her up with Will. My thoughts continued to race as the pizza guy came near me. I frantically pushed the bell harder until I felt him stop behind me.

"Door not opening up?" A voice asked. I drew in my breath shakily and turned to face a familiar face. This night was full of surprises, the kind that you don't expect.

"I didn't know you were a delivery boy, Austin." I casually tossed, trying to keep a smile on my face.