Trapped (egobang trans)

Chapter 71 - Wrong About Him

Arin continued to nibble on her apple, trying to occupy her anxious self as she walked alongside Jon in the opposite direction of her house. Despite her fears, she'd found herself awkwardly unable to refuse when Jon suggested they hang out right away. She'd expected to just exchange numbers or something and go home like she was in the process of doing when Jon collared her, but now. Apparently Jon lived nearby, and now they were heading to his house. To hang out and "make things right". Arin wasn't so sure how Jon was going to do that, but she was far too spineless to refuse him a second chance, no matter how terrified she still was of him and how much she really didn't want to reconnect with him.

As they walked, Jon jabbered on about his new school he'd been moved to, telling Arin how much he hated it compared to his previous one. Arin gulped, fearfully remembering again that this was her doing. And the way Jon talked about it, this new school was known for taking rebellious students who needed disciplining, which made Arin think about Danny. His history with schools was nothing short of rebellious, so it was a wonder he hadn't ended up here. Well, maybe he had, and Arin smiled to herself at the thought that he might have been kicked out of the school meant to fix children like him.

But unlike Danny, Jon had no such past. As far as Arin knew he was a decent student. His only issues were his obvious sexism and attitude towards girls, and they didn't hinder his schoolwork. Risking a glance up at the tall, muscular boy, Arin didn't think he belonged in a place like that. Sure, he needed to move schools for his behaviour, but not to somewhere like that.

"What do you think?"

Arin blinked as Jon looked down at her, and she realised with a sinking heart that he'd asked her a question. She spluttered on a mouthful of apple, her face a bright red of embarrassment. To her surprise, Jon laughed.

"I missed seeing your anxiousness. Don't worry, I didn't actually ask you anything, I just thought it would be funny to see the look on your face since I realised you weren't actually listening."

That only made Arin feel ten times worse. No one had ever teased her like that for her anxiety, and if she was being honest... it hurt. Not to mention the fact that he blatantly called her out for being off in her own world and used it to taunt her.

"I-I don't wa-want to do this anymore..." she muttered, slowing her pace to a stop.

"Oh come on, we're not that far now." Jon rolled his eyes as he turned around and approached her.

Without another word he grabbed Arin's wrist, practically pulling her along despite her wishes. She yelped out but could do little to stop him. Like he said, they were close to his house; it would be ungrateful to back out now. His grip was a bit rough, Arin thought, but maybe she was just being too sensitive. As always. She sucked it up and followed Jon without any more protests.

Jon lead her up the empty drive to his house. He took a key out of his pocket and it clicked with Arin that no one else was in. They would be alone. More freedom to hang out, she convinced herself, but the sickening pit forming in her stomach was getting harder to ignore.

The house was nice enough, though Jon didn't give her much time to admire it as he lead her upstairs to his room. It was a reasonable size, nicely furnished with a perfectly made bed and a desk tucked into the corner under the window. A wardrobe stood against the bare wall and there was even a chest of drawers too. Simple but it did its job. It was a nice room.

Jon ushered Arin to take a seat on his bed, snatching the finished apple from her hand without asking and tossing it into his bin. Then, he closed the door behind him, and Arin's throat closed up in apprehension. She didn't know what was going on.

"Y-Your room is nice," she forced out.

Jon slowly gave a smile, not directly looking at her but instead turned towards the window and side eyeing her. Even from this angle Arin could see a particular glint in his eyes.