We Are Broken (Tayley)

The Dealer

I was walking to my car once school had ended when Sarah-Beth all but tackled me.

"So, Hayley, I know I said today or tomorrow, but I've been sitting in classes all day today, I didn't even skip so I haven't smoked or anything, and I'm kind of going crazy so we're leaving now." She spoke quickly. She usually talked a good bit faster than me, but this was like taking her normal speed and pushing a fast forward button.

"I don't know if I can go now," I said, "I have shit to do at home."

Sarah-Beth laughed. "Please, your parents love me. Just stay the night." It sounded cocky, but it was true. I sighed but texted my parents nonetheless. When I dropped my phone back into my purse, my friend was already in driver's seat of my car. "Hurry up!"

I slid into the passenger seat. "Are you sure you should be driving?"

She grinned, taking my keys out of my hand and starting my car. "I drove home Friday and I was stoned then. I'll be fine now. Besides, if I let you drive you might decide last minute to take me somewhere that isn't the maker's house."

I frowned at that. She knew I valued her friendship far too much to do that. "The maker? I thought we were going to see your dealer."

She shrugged. "I heard its better fresh so I made Jay cough up his source's address."

Again, I didn't know shit about meth so I didn't know if it was actually better fresh. It might've been, but Sarah-Beth was always coming up with shit facts about her drugs from sources that had no credibility.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she tossed it in my lap, telling me to read whatever text she had just gotten.

Looking at it, I read, "It's from Nicki and it says, 'Do you have more? We'll pay you this time.'" That was the thing about Sarah-Beth. She had this way of becoming friends with rich kids. It was somewhat shocking because we didn't live in a particularly 'rich' kind of town, but she found plenty of people who had full access to their parent's fortune. My parents were pretty highly paid but I had to go through them to get money unlike Sarah-Beth or Jeanette and Nicki so Sarah-Beth usually just paid for me.

She smiled harder, swerving into another lane with a car not two feet behind her. No one had gotten hurt, though, so she wouldn't let me complain. "Text them back asking how much they want."

I did so, and got an 'As much as possible!' in response as we pulled into a driveway. We weren't that far away from recognizable civilization but it still seemed like the middle of nowhere. The driveway was pretty long. I guess the maker person lived well into the woods. We finally slowed to a stop in front of an enormous house and Sarah-Beth all but ran to the door, me following behind. Knocking on the door-there didn't appear to be a doorbell-she eagerly rocked back and forth as she waited. It was a little bit later, but the door was pulled open by the epitome of my existence.

I was shocked when he opened the door. I was expecting some half-crazy whack job in ten-year old clothes covered with holes, or someone in the least bit scary. He wasn't like that, though. He was the most attractive person I'd ever seen, ever seen to this day, but not in your average Abercrombie model type way. It was an unconventional, almost subtle beauty that I saw in him. His hair was long enough to curl out, but still short and his eyes were this gorgeous brown accented with green that just completely caught me off guard.

"Good evening ladies. How can I help you?" He asked in a civilized manor that also surprised me.

"Jay gave me this address. He didn't tell me anything other than Yorkie, so is that you?" Sarah-Beth said snappily.

"Jay? Is that what he goes by now? Well, next time you see the little bitch you can tell him that I'll castrate him if he calls me Yorkie one more time. Do come in, though." The man who doesn't like to be called Yorkie said, stepping out of the doorway so we could enter. His words fell so smoothly off of his tongue, it was almost frightening that he could say something like that with such little thought and such a monotone voice.

The two of us walked into his house and I was greeted with yet another shock. It just looked like a house. There was even a vase of flowers inside the foyer, even if they were fake.

"What are you here for?" He asked, leading us into a living room and sitting on a chair across from a couch that my best friend pulled me onto next to her.

"Meth," She said shortly. I could tell how impatient she was.

"First, what happened to her nose?" He pointed at me and I frowned. I had taken off the bandage because coach wouldn't let me cheer if she knew I was injured. The only noticeable difference to me was the slight bump in the bridge. I kind of liked it, so it didn't bother me, but I didn't know how he knew. He must have seen my confusion because he said, "It tilts to the left and it's still red. It just looks broken anyhow."

"Oh," I had to force the sound out of my throat. "My friend ran into me."

He shrugged. "Good enough. I was just curious." I nodded slowly before completely phasing out. He and Sarah-Beth were talking business that I didn't understand so I didn't try. I just looked at a display of photos on his walls. They were the photos you would see in an average household. Pictures from when he was younger, pictures of him with family members and friends. I was brought back to attention when my friend yelled, "Shit!"

Sarah-Beth had taken everything out of her wallet, which apparently wasn't enough for what she wanted. "I'll drop top." She offered, hopefully.

He shrugged. "You're pretty but not my type. What about your friend?"

"Of course. Go on, Hayley," She answered for me, looking expectantly at me. I shook my head quickly. She knew I didn't do things like that.

"I'll make you a deal, but this time only. You pay me the rest of what you owe through Jay-or whatever he told you his name was, later but now, for security, I want her address and phone number. If you don't pay me back, I'll get it from her." He pointed at me again. I shook my head again, more rapidly than before.

"Deal."

I couldn't believe my best friend would do this to me. I didn't know him and he didn't need to know anything about me. I just watched, eyes wide and mouth gaping as she scribbled my information on a piece of paper, tearing it out of the mini-notebook it was in and handing it to him. Looking at the paper, he pulled out his phone and sending a text which I got seconds later.

Pulling out my phone, I told them, "It's just the letter 'Q'."

He nodded. "I needed to make sure this wasn't a fake number."

I glared at Sarah-Beth, but she just rolled her eyes. "Relax, I'll pay him back."

He left then, walking back into the foyer and through a door that led into a basement. After that, I lost sight of him.

"He never said his name," I noted.

"I'll just call him Yorkie. He can't castrate me. Or at least, I don't think he could. Do you think that would work, trying to-"

"Look it up," I interrupted her before she could provide me with some very disturbing visuals.

Neither of us tried to restart conversation until the maker got back, handing Sarah-Beth a sort of container that she dropped into her purse before handing him her money. They didn't say much after that, but when Sarah-Beth and I were walking to the door, he spoke.

"Hayley, right? Come back here for a second. You can go," He motioned at my best friend who basically betrayed me again by leaving. "You should come by again, sometime. Alone, though. Your friend seems like a pain in the ass."

I opened my mouth to object, but a lot of people would agree with that statement. I couldn't help it, though, but to ask, "What's your name?"

"Taylor," He smiled almost kindly. "Text me back sometime."

I could only nod once more before walking out of the house and back into the passenger seat of my car. When we were driving back to her house, Sarah-Beth began, "So, he was way into you. Pretty sure you would've busted his pants open if you'd dropped top like I told you to." My jaw dropped in a mix of horror and embarrassment. "What did he say to you after I left?" She continued, and when I didn't answer, she moved on. "Did you ever catch his name?"

I looked down, now, unable to help the upward curve that tugged at the corners of my mouth. "Yeah, I did."

So there you go! He's finally here! I just kind of went with it with his personality, so I hope it's not too bad. Anyway, thank you so much for reading! I hope you like it so far! I love you all!