In front of Dante's trailer, I start kicking small rocks out of boredom while she's putting her dog back inside the trailer. When she comes out, she has a small package of pop-tarts.
“You hungry?” she asks me as she walks down her steps.
“Nah. I'm not,” I say. But now that she mentions food, my stomach rebels against my words and the hunger pains start coming.
Well, actually, I've been having hunger pains the whole times. It's just gotten easier to ignore them, but when someone brings up “food” or “hunger” it makes it harder to ignore the pain.
“Are you sure? Your stomach just growled,” Dante tells me with a frown.
With a forced smile, I just shrug. “I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't notice...I ate before I got here,” I lie smoothly as I shove my hands into my pockets. My fingers dig through the clothing and into my stomach so I'll focus on something else besides the hunger pains.
Dante looks up at me suspiciously before opening her Cookies n' Cream pop-tarts. “Well...if you want one, you better speak up before I eat it all 'cause this is my last pop-tart. Do you want something to drink at least?”
“Um...no it's fine,” I say quietly as I look down at the ground.
Dante goes back into her trailer, and when she comes out, she has a water bottles that's filled with what looks like cherry Kool-Aid. “Here,” she says as she hands the bottle to me.
“I don't need this though,” I say quietly as I look down at the bottle.
“Just take it and accept my damn kindness already. You're acting like the thing is going to bite you. Trust me, it's not. Just drink it.”
I sigh as I take the bottle from Dante, but I don't drink it. “So...what do you think about that stuff on the news?” I ask her quietly as we walk up the gravel road.
“What do you mean?” she asks me in confusion.
“I mean...the kids going missing. You know, there's kids around my age going missing. Just guys.”
“Oh! Yeah, I've heard about that...but I haven't really put much thought into it,” Dante says with a frown. “I know that's wrong, but I really just...I feel sorry for the family...there's just nothing I can do to help it.”
“Yeah...well, they discovered a body,” I tell her in a cold voice.
Dante's eyes eye widen as she looks up at me. Other than that, she has a lack of emotion for the people that have went missing... “They found a body? Where?”
“It was at the place where we had that party at...” I tell her. “It was a guy. I think they said that he was tortured...raped and then killed. I'm not sure if it came in that order, but I know that's what they said...”
“Oh...damn that's terrible...” Dante mumbles.
“You're not really showing much compassion,” I say with a frown as I look down at her.
“Sorry, I'm not much of an emotional person when it comes to bad things. I mean, I laugh and stuff...but I just can't do much on sadness. I mean, I didn't even cry at my own grandma's funeral...and I was really close to her.”
“Oh...well...okay,” I say quietly.
“See? You're more expressive to negative emotions. I'm more expressive to positive emotions. I think there's always a set of emotions that are easier for us to express than others. To me, happiness is easier. To be sad and feel grief...it's just kinda harder for me. Name the one emotion that you're best at expressing.”
YOU ARE READING
Decadent
Teen FictionMy hand slaps against my mouth as I try to shut myself up. Don't make too much noise...or he'll hear you. A vehicle's door opens then slams shut. I don't hear footsteps...but as the minutes go by I begin to hear them; the footsteps get louder and...
