Sugar

Part Four - Trouble

Warning: this is a steamy/erotic romance that contains descriptions of sexual activity.

It was the calm before the storm, the final hour before the end of the school day. Brit slipped out a little used door to the backside of the school. The only people who came through here were kids skipping class.

Earlier in the office, the counselor had stopped by, then Ms. Boward, then the cops, then CPS. Whatever her mom and her mom's boyfriend had gotten caught up in, it didn't look like they were going to be back for a while. Sarah was caught in the system, getting passed around from caretaker to caretaker. Brit was caught in the middle of two bad options. She needed a job, but she also couldn't drop out of school. And, in order to be able to do anything about Sarah, she had to have both of those things quickly.

Brit had spent her life outsmarting people, taking care of Sarah when she came along. She hated, absolutely hated being forced to play by the rules. She didn't see any other way... and, frustratingly, didn't even see a way to win now that she had to. Brit sobbed into her sleeve, quietly.

"F-fuck!" She cried.

The smell of a cigarette wafted on the breeze. Brit sensed someone next to her, but didn't feel like looking up.

"Brit...." a woman's voice began.

Shit. It was Ms. Boward.

"... I think I can get you a job waiting tables," Ms. Boward finished.

Brit locked eyes with her.

"I know... I know it won't be enough," Ms. Boward paused. Brit wiped a stray tear away.

"Listen... just go to Giovanni's tonight. I'll arrange an interview."

"It's not enough, Miss Boward. You said it yourself. You know damned well I'm fucked."

"I know. But... you can only solve this problem one step at a time."

"Alright... I get the job, spend all of my money on a crappy apartment and a junker of a car... there's no way I can...."

"Brit, the restaurant will give you the story you need, but there is another way to get what you want... someone that might be able to help you... " Ms. Boward looked at her first with sympathy, then harder, "... it really just depends on you... what are your priorities?"

Ms. Boward wrote something on a small piece of paper and folded it over.

"Take this, but don't read it unless you are ready to do whatever it takes."

That sounds cryptic, Brit thought. But, it seemed as if Ms. Boward was sincere, which piqued her interest.

"One last tip... ignore all the bullshit you learned here about job interviews. Wear something short... something unprofessional, and flirt," Ms. Boward inspected her, "maybe pigtails," she sighed, "welcome to the real world," then drew one last time on the cigarette before stamping it out, "Do you have any heels?"

Brit stared at her blankly.

"No, of course you don't."

Ms. Boward slipped out of her heels and handed them to her, "put these in your bag. They'll go with anything," then she abruptly turned and walked back into the school.

"Hey, there sweet thing!" a boy called.

Brit flipped him the bird without really thinking about it. Her mind was still spinning down the trail of thoughts begun by Ms. Boward. Her body language said, "Fuck off," while her eyes continued to stare into the distance.

"Hey, my bro just paid you a compliment," another boy said, more sharply.

"Whatever..." Brit responded dryly.

"Get up!"

Brit sighed, then looked around, letting her thoughts evaporate. There were four boys. She had seen them before. They weren't the jocks who sometimes gave her a hard time. These were the boys that lived more on the fringes. She was almost certain the big guy she had flipped off was nearly 21.

"Can't speak? That's fine with me," the boys laughed, the circle tightening around her.

"Something wrong with your hearing, too?" one of the boys edged closer.

Brit put her hands down on the sidewalk, about to stand.

"On second thought, no, don't stand," the big guy growled. His eyes darted around the circle. Brit's eyes followed him, trying to make sense of the communication happening between them, when two suddenly knelt down, pinning her arms to the sidewalk.

Brit sat up in the darkness. Where were her clothes? Where was everyone? Before she could think about it, her head seemed to burst into fire and her body heaved as she rolled over and heaved the contents of her stomach onto the dirt.

At first, she was self conscious about the fact that she was older than most of the other girls in her grade. While the rest of the girls wore cute little outfits the height of tween fashion, she had to shop in the young adult or teen section. For the first time, her age seemed to be a plus when her friends older brother and his buddies crashed their slumber party. She had her first kiss. Then, things became blurry. She felt so good, but she also felt uncomfortable. 

Brit ached from her core. She heaved again, but there was nothing left to throw up. She found her clothes by the pool and slipped back into the house and crashed.

"Open up, bitch!" The boy growled.

Brit's eyes flitted open. Her cheek stung and she felt something against her lips.

Screech.

"Shit! Get up!" A boy mumbled.

"What's going on here, boys?" a man asked.

"Nothing that's your business - turn around and leave," the big boy warned.

Rrrrumph.

Slam.

Crrrrrack.

"Oh, shit," someone mumbled, "this guy's crazy."

"He's got a ... baseball bat? Who even does that?"

"Let's go!"

"You don't know who you're messing with, man. But, this is your lucky day - everyone gets one free pass to make a mistake," the big boy held his ground as his buddies slowly retreated.

"Get out of here," the man warned, low.

The big boy sucked his teeth, then waddled off like an angry duck.

Brit touched her cheek and winced. She must have blacked out for a moment. Did one of the boys hit her? The fuckers.

"Brit?"

"Shit... Tom!"

"What the fuck is going on here, Brit?" Tom asked, "never mind... can I give you a ride?" 

The next thing Brit knew, she was riding in Tom's car... again.

To be continued...

Thank you for reading "Sugar" by Sally Skye.

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Kisses and Love - Sally Skye ;)