Trainwreck

by Heather C. Myers

  "I... uh, I don't think we're allowed to be texting right now, Paulina. What if Stewey came in and-"

  "Why are you talking to me? Who are you, my parents? At least here, I can finally feel like I control my life, so do everyone a favor and shut the hell up."

  "God Paulina," came Asher's voice from behind Sadie, "were you always such a bitch?"

  "Shut up, Asher," Paulina replied, swiveling around to face him. "Just because you live here doesn't make you the boss."

  Sadie was staring intently at Anthony, and before she knew it, she pushed her seat back, stood up, and walked over to him. "Hi," she said and stuck out her hand while shoving her free one awkwardly in her pocket. "I'm Sadie. I think we had Algebra 2 together last year, right?"

  Anthony looked up at her suspiciously. "Uh, yeah, yeah we did," he said and gave her a little smile. He placed his hand in hers, and the two shook. His hand was sort of clammy while hers was cool, and she gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm Anthony."

  "The only reason you're being nice to him, Sadie," Roxy said from over her script, "is because you feel sorry for him."

  "If I felt sorry for anyone," Sadie said, narrowing her eyes in the other girls' direction and releasing her hand from Anthony's, "it would be the two of you. You and Paulina think you're better than everyone else and treat people like shit, but if you asked anyone in this school, I highly doubt anyone would save you over themselves."

  "It's not my fault the whole school looks up to me," Paulina said, narrowing her eyes.

  "Yeah, and it's not my fault everyone wants to be me," Roxy put in.

  "Trust me Roxy, I don't want to be you," Sadie said. "I am actually quite pleased with the fact that I'm not in every single school play. And I would never want to be Paulina. I would never want to be as fake as her hair."

  "Now I know why Sadie doesn't have any friends," Roxy stated, her eyes turning even darker than before. "It's because she is such a bitch."

  "Well, it's not like she has no friends, you know?" Anthony stumbled nervously over his words, causing everyone to look at him. "I mean, I... I would be her friend, I mean. Well, I guess I'm her friend."

  "Who would want you as their friend?" Paulina pointed out skeptically.

  "Better than being friends with you," Sadie said, meeting the girl's eyes with her own. She fixated her gaze back down towards Anthony and nodded. "I'd be your friend too," she told him and gave him a small smile before heading back to her seat and sitting down.

  The minutes continued to tick away. The room was once again silent, save for the obnoxious noises Asher continued to make, as well as sniffs, coughs, and stomachs rumbling. When it was 11:30am sharp, Stewey walked in.

  "You have an hour for lunch," he told the group.

  "Excuse me, sir?" Paulina asked with a raised hand. "Would it be possible if I get something to drink from the vending machine?"

  "Yeah, I didn't bring any lunch," Roxy said. "Maybe I could get some food...?"

  "Why wouldn't you bring any lunch?" Asher asked, leaning back in his chair, balancing it on two legs once again.

  Roxy turned around to glare at him. "I thought it would be provided," she replied.

  Asher let a smile of disbelief cross his features before he started laughing. Sadie bit her lip and looked away, but even she couldn't keep the smile off of her face.

  Chapter 5

  "All right, all right," Stewey intervened, giving Asher a glare. "You." He pointed to Edward and then gestured for him to stand next to him. "And... you." He pointed at Paulina and did the same thing. "Collect money from the others."

  Sadie handed Edward a couple of bucks, requesting a water rather than any other sort of food and drink. Once Roxy and Anthony handed the two their money, Stewey took Paulina and Edward out the library.

  "You wanna go somewhere?" Asher asked Sadie when the door shut, tossing his head back and surveying the girl in front of him studiously.

  "Where would we go?" she asked him dryly, arching a brow.

  "To my locker," he said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. He stood then and looked at her expectantly.

  Sadie glanced at Anthony and Roxy, who were both watching the exchange rather curiously. Anthony shook his head no, but Sadie was still unsure, chewing her bottom lip. She then looked back at Asher, who was grinning mischievously as though he knew the answer even before she did.

  "Fine," came her curt reply.

  He nodded, causing his hair to fall back into his face, and led Sadie out the back entrance of the library rather than the main entrance.

  "How long do you think they'll be away?" Sadie asked, crossing her arms over her chest, following Asher as her eyes darted back and forth.

  Asher shrugged nonchalantly. "I dunno," he replied, and then glanced down at her with that grin of his. "You've never really broken the rules, have you princess?" he asked her, his brows perked with the knowledge but wanting to hear her say it anyways. She opened her mouth to refute his claim, but decided against it, and looked away. Asher's grin deepened, knowing that he was right. "In fact, I bet you've never been here before. This is your first detention, isn't it?" Sadie just gave him a look, and he nodded. "So, what'd you do to get one?"

  "Why do you care?" she asked him, her eyes focused on the tips of her shoes.

  Again came the shrug of nonchalance. "Just trying to make conversation, I guess," he said, making a left and heading into the three hundred building. "I started a small fire in my physics class."

  "That was you?" Sadie asked him, lifting her head to look at his profile. "I was writing an essay when the alarm went off, and we had to leave." She paused for a moment before asking, "Why'd you do that?"

  "I was bored," was his reply. He stopped at a locker before looking over at Sadie expectantly. When he had opened the door and she still hadn't commented on anything, he gave a sigh of impatience. "Well?"

  "Well, what?" she asked, watching him rummaging with a bunch of random and useless knick knacks that resided in his locker.

  "What'd you do to get in here?" he asked again. His brown eyes lit up when he found what he was looking for. Sadie raised her brown skeptically and frowned; he dragged her out here just for a crumpled brown paper bag?

  "Me and a bunch of other kids were really pissed that there isn't a Gay-Straight Alliance club at the school even though there's a Christian club," Sadie said, raking her fingers through her hair. "We kept pestering Stewey but he was adamant that it would upset more people than it would benefit, so we decided to do a petition. When Tony found out, he spray painted something-"

  "I know what he spray painted," Asher told her, staring at her intently.

  "Right, well, when I heard about it, I kind of got pissed off, and for whatever reason, I doused him with a fire extinguisher during break," she finished, her cheeks turning red. "I didn't even care that I was caught. I just... Anyway, because I had never really gotten in trouble before, they only gave me a detention."

  "That was you?" Asher asked with an amused smile. "He told us some fag used it to get back at him; he never said it was actually you. Is that why he broke up with you?"

  Sadie furrowed her brow. "Wait, what?" she asked. "I broke up with him."

  "Well, he said that he broke up with you," Asher told her, pushing himself off the locker. The two began to head back in the library's direction.

  "Yeah, Tony says a lot of things," Sadie murmured quietly.

  The two were silent for the rest of the way. When the two returned, Stewey, Paulina, and Edward were already there.

  "Where were the two of you?" Stewey asked once the two entered the back entrance.

  "Do they really have to answer?" Paulina asked with disgust. "I don't want to hear about Asher and Sadie's sexual exploits."

  "Screw you, Paulina," Asher called.

  "Language," Stewey said. "Well?" He looked from between the two until his eyes finally rested on Sadie. It was as though he expected the truth from her because Stewey knew he couldn't
intimidate Asher to give it to him.

  "Asher forgot to grab his lunch from his locker," Sadie finally managed to say. She nodded at the paper bag. "I decided to go with him to make sure he'd stay out of trouble."

  Stewey glanced over at Roxy and then Anthony, since those two had stayed back. Anthony pressed his lips together and nodded, while Roxy just raised her brow, indicating that what Sadie had said was the truth.

  "Yeah, well next time, the both of you had better stay put," Stewey replied after a moment. "Now sit down, the both of you. I'll be back within the next couple of hours to check up on you. Remember, not... one... peep." With that, he turned and walked out the door.

  "That is not his lunch," Edward said, tossing Sadie her water bottle. She caught it with ease and took her seat next to him. Edward's interest was still on the paper bag. "What's in there anyway?"

  Instead of actually responding, Asher reached into the bag and pulled out another one, this time plastic. Sadie immediately recognized it, as did everybody else. It was marijuana. She rolled her eyes and turned back around, not caring to dignify that with a response. Instead, she decided to remain at her desk and drink her water, eat her sandwich, and read her book. She didn't even move when she heard a scrape of chair on tile, nor did she move when Paulina, and then Roxy, and then Edward, and then even Anthony followed Asher up to the workroom. She heard a match being struck, and then could smell the very strong, rich smell of the drug. Scrunching her nose, she shook her head and tried to focus on what she was reading while simultaneously eating her sandwich. God, she hated the smell of weed. She just didn't get the whole being high thing.

  After an hour, she heard somebody stomp down the stairs and walk around the back row before arriving in hers. He pulled his chair out and flipped it, so he was sitting on it backward and staring at Sadie expectantly. She didn't need to turn to face him to know who it was.

  "What?" she asked finally, looking over at him.

  "I saved you some," Asher said, tossing what was left in the plastic bag on the table.

  "I don't smoke," she told him.

  "That's not what Tony said," Asher said.

  "God, do believe everything that asshole says?" Sadie asked with frustration.

  "You know," Asher began, regarding her with a quizzical brow and staring at her pointedly, "Tony says a lot of stuff about you, and most of it's not good. If it's not true, like you say, why don't you say anything?"

  "I dated Tony for a year and a half," she replied, locking eyes with him. "I don't need to fight anymore with him. My real friends know who I really am, I know who I really am, and that's all that matters. If the only way that Tony can feel good about himself is to talk shit about me, then whatever. I don't need to dignify that with a response; it's nobody's business."

  "So why'd you break up with him, then?" Asher asked her. His brow was perked, and he didn't seem to be condescending, at least not yet. "He said he couldn't keep waiting for you to put out, so he just got tired of it and got rid of you."

  Sadie rolled her eyes. "I broke up with him because I just didn't feel anything for him anymore," she replied, carefully avoiding any mention of her sex life. "We were constantly fighting about the stupidest things, and I was getting tired of fighting for him when... when he wasn't really fighting for me."

  "So... did you do it?" Asher asked.

  "Do what?"

  "Screw him."

  "Like that's any of your business!" she exclaimed, standing up.

  "Of course she screwed him!" Paulina said, leaning over the banister with a smirk. Edward and Roxy were on either side of her, and Anthony was next to Roxy; everyone seemed to be interested in the conversation all of a sudden.

  "Just answer the question!" Roxy exclaimed.

  "What's the big deal? Just answer the question."

  "Say something."

  She needed to get out of there. Sadie abruptly stood up, nearly taking the chair down. Avoiding everybody's expectant faces carefully, she began to walk towards the back entrance, hoping nobody would notice that she was shaking and that her eyes were watering. When she pushed the door open, she managed to knock the edge of the door into Stewey's face, causing him to give a sharp howl of pain. She froze. How could this possibly happen to her? Why was her timing today just so incredibly horrible?

  "What do you think you're doing, missy, and no more excuses!" Stewey exclaimed, holding his nose in agony. Though his long fingers managed to shield the majority of it, Sadie could tell it was bleeding. But even though she wanted to, she couldn't quite open her mouth and respond. She had never been more embarrassed in her entire life. "That's it; I've had enough of you. Grab your stuff, let's go."

  Chapter 6

  Sadie could feel everyone's eyes on her as she made her way back to her seat. Surprisingly, everybody had made it back to theirs, and the air smelled of lavender vanilla, much like a new body spray. She bent down and grabbed her things before turning back around and heading over to follow Stewey out the door. When the door closed, Stewey looked her directly in the eyes.

  "You know what I don't understand, Brown?" he asked as he began to lead her across the way, where the main office was. "You're a good student. You're a good kid. But ever since that whole break-up nonsense between you and that delinquent Tony McAllister, you're whole view of right and wrong seems to have shifted. And then I see you hanging out with Asher - Asher out of all people. You're heading down a path, Brown. You're going to have to choose which way to go." He stopped in front of a small storage closet. "Go on. You'll be there for the rest of the day. This way, you won't be able to leave without me seeing you." He paused, waiting for her to enter. "Well?" he asked impatiently. "Go on then."

  Sadie sighed, and opened the door, surveying her surroundings for the next three hours. It was actually relatively empty, save for a couple of file cabinets pressed against the back wall, a couple of chairs, and a long table that took up the majority of the room. Another sigh escaped from her lips before she set her bag down against the closest wall and hopped up on the table. She quickly removed her jacket and bundled it so it resembled a very sloppy ball, before setting it down. With that, she placed her head on the material, and surprising herself, she found it easy to slip into a deep doze.

  ---

  It had been an hour and twelve minutes since Stewey had pulled Sadie out of the room, and for whatever reason, Asher found himself much more bored than usual. Normally, he would have annoyed everyone here; Lord knew he wanted to piss off Roxy and Paulina more than anything, especially if it would get them to shut up about their nonsensical gossip about homecoming and shit of the like. Edward seemed to be drawing different soccer plays on lined paper, frowning or nodding, and sometimes even mumbling to himself. Anthony was now reading a very thick book he took from a random library shelf. Asher had run out of matches and even if he hadn't, he had no more cigarettes and didn't feel like setting his combat boot on fire again though the look on Paulina's face was totally worth it. After another ten minutes, he got up, and without another word, headed out the back entrance of the library.

  Asher knew exactly where Stewey had taken her. In fact, he was quite accustomed to the office's storage closet, having been acquainted with it nearly every detention he had received since his freshman year. Normally, it was reserved for him solely, but now... Well, to be honest, he never figured that Sadie Brown out of all people would wind up there.

  Sadie Brown... he wasn't exactly sure what to make of her. He had seen her around, and because she dated Tony, he had known her name and a few things about her. Now that he talked to her, interacted with her, however, he was uncertain if everything Tony said was true. She was a very different sort of girl. Every different social group seemed to know her in some way, and besides Paulina, she seemed to get along with people. Asher thought she could definitely be one of the popular girls if she put more time and effort into her appearance such as makeup and name brand clothing; it wasn't as though she was ugly. In fact, she was actua
lly quite pretty, in a natural way. More than anything, she was alluring, mysterious... He could admit, at least to himself, that he was curious about her. Which is why he found himself standing in front of the storage room door.

  Stewey always had his office door closed, and though he usually locked the closet when Asher was stationed in there, he was hoping the vice principal would trust Sadie enough to know she wouldn't try and escape. His fingers clutched the doorknob, and after turning it, he pushed the door opened softly. It was dim in the closet, and he quickly slipped inside and closed the door behind him. When he turned, he found Sadie, sprawled out on the table in the fetal position, asleep. She was actually quite bearable with her mouth shut and her face relaxed. In fact, she looked better now than before. Maybe it was because she was vulnerable now, or maybe it was because she wasn't talking.

  "Why are you staring at me?" she mumbled suddenly, though her eyes were still closed.

  Yup, it definitely the latter.

  "I'm tryin' to figure out why Tony would date a girl like you," Asher replied quickly, packing more bite in his words than he originally intended to.

  This time, Sadie's brow furrowed and she finally opened her eyes and looked right at him. They were a color Asher had never seen before, and he stood for a moment, transfixed.

  "God, why do you do that?" she asked in agitation, slowly forcing herself to sit up.

  "Do what?" he retorted though he knew exactly what she was referring to.

  "Be such an ass."

  "That's what everyone thinks I am," he said, sitting down on the floor and leaning his back against the door. "I try to live up to everyone's expectations."

  Sadie rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that bullshit," she said. "I just don't get it. I mean, it has to be some obnoxious defense mechanism, but why are you getting so defensive? There's nothing to be afraid of, is there?"

  "I don't know what the hell you mean," Asher said. "Do you?"

  "Oh, screw you," Sadie said, and then proceeded to flip him off.