Bitter

twenty - lydia

   The new boy's car smelled exactly how I thought it would. Like dirty socks and smoke. Trash littered the floor and my shoes crunched down on cans of soda and empty chip bags. Thankfully, all of the windows were rolled down, the setting sun's tangerine light reaching my skin as we cruised along the highway to nowhere. The wind was whipping my blonde hair away from my face and for one moment, I felt like maybe it wasn't so bad being there, in the passenger seat of some stranger's car. I wasn't alone of course. Cal's friends, Zach and Jason, were both in the seats behind me and in the very back were Marco and Meg.

"Hey, you can pass the stuff back now," Marco's voice filled the car. I saw out of the corner of my eye Zach and Jason leaning forward in their seats, eagerly waiting for a black backpack (belonging to the new guy) to be passed to them, and eventually, to Marco and Meg. I wasn't entirely sure what was in it, but there were a couple things I could already imagine it contained.

"No," was all the new boy said. The car went dead silent. I glanced over at him, his left hand on the steering wheel, and his line for a mouth cracked into a smirk. "We have a guest, Marco. Let's treat her like one," he insisted, all while staring straight ahead at the road. With his free hand, he picked up the black bag sitting on his lap and tossed it at me. "Pick something from it."

I didn't open it. Not right away at least. I just stared down at it for a solid ten seconds, speechless. "I...I don't need anything," I mumbled as politely as I could. The new boy didn't say anything. "Thank you for offering though," I made sure to add, just before trying to hand the bag back to Zach or Jason as quick as I could, like it was a ticking time bomb.

The new boy's right hand shot out and grabbed my arm. I was so close to getting that bag away from me.

"It wasn't an offer," he warned, his fingers closing tight around my skin. I grimaced. "Take something from it," he ordered more forcefully this time, all while his eyes were trained on the road.

I felt my heart rise up into my throat and instantly wanted to just jump out of the car onto the speeding pavement. At least I'd be far away from the psycho in the driver's seat. Though, instead of leaping to freedom, I remained in the claustrophobic car. I knew he was waiting for me to open the bag and wouldn't let anything happen until I did, so I ended up unzipping it, rifling through the contents. There was a small, dark bag within the backpack, sitting there among some unidentified food wrapped in plastic along with a lighter or two. I hesitated before the new guy repeated himself firmly. "Take something," he demanded.

I took a single lighter and hoped that would suffice, that that would be the end of it. But no. I stole a glance at the new guy, to see if he was watching me. He was, which wasn't a surprise. "Not the lighter," he snapped.

You said something, I thought to myself, but I definitely didn't say that to him. Who knew what would happen if I had. I'd probably be tossed out the passenger side door, left alone with broken bones and all while the sun sank below the horizon. I decided I wanted to live and get home as fast as possible and that was not the way to do it. I just had to sit back and endure this a little longer.

I ended up trading the lighter for the mysterious food and I was eventually allowed to pass the bag back to Jason and Zach. The new guy's mouth twisted into a smile and I looked away, out the window. He'd gotten what he wanted. Unfortunately.

The new guy's voice filled the car as the backpack was handed to Marco. "Alright, payday," he said, "pass it up." At that moment, Jason and Zach tossed up stacks of bills, as if they'd done this all before and was a weekly or even daily occurrence.

Marco was already smoking something, laughing, when the new guy looked at him in the rearview mirror. "You too," he ordered, voice low.

The laughter died in the backseat of the new boy's car and the smoke surrounding Marco parted a bit, revealing his expression. He was looking everywhere but in the direction of the new boy, and I could see why. The guy was gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white.

"Well?" The new guy's eyebrows raised.

   Silence. Marco looked to Meg, then to Zach and Jason as if they held any answers to get him out of the current situation. They didn't.

   The new guy pressed down on the gas and swerved into the right lane, taking an exit off the highway. He wasn't slowing down and this made Marco's eyes widen and finally speak up. "I don't have any money, West," he admitted. I thought I heard Marco's voice shaking, but I couldn't be sure.

   Wait. That name. West? I'd known a West back in elementary school and he'd been just as insane as this stranger in the driver's seat. And now that I thought about it, he resembled the kid I'd known at Landon Elementary in a way. He had the same gray eyes that always looked angry, like he was constantly planning on doing something that would have him end up on the news, and not for a good reason.

"West Haley?" I practically whispered. The new boy glanced at me for a second and it was like Marco completely disappeared from his mind in that moment. He steered the car into the parking lot of a small strip mall and when we jerked to a stop, a grin spread on his face.

"Nice to see you again, Lydia," he said. I never wanted him to say my name ever again.