Apprehension

by K. D Clark

  “That’s what I thought,” she said before getting out of the car and going inside.

  Jayce

  He used his shirt to wipe the sweat from his forehead before it could leak into his eyes. Despite the cold basement, the stove he had been leaning over for the past two hours was making him hot. It could also be the fact that he couldn’t get his mind off Sabrina and the possibility of her going out with that jock. That’s what he should be doing, taking her out on dates and trying to charm her. But instead all his sorry ass could do was drive her back and forth to school out of desperation just to see her for a few minutes each day. He shook his head—he was pathetic.

  “If you don’t pay attention you’re going to burn all your product up,” said Albert.

  “Ah shit!” Jayce grabbed the pot from the stove and placed it on the long table.

  Albert raised an eyebrow at him.

  “What?” he snapped.

  “You alright, man?”

  “I’m good.”

  “Girl trouble?”

  Jayce quickly turned around to look at Albert. “What?”

  “Men usually only get that distracted when it’s girl trouble.”

  Jayce didn’t say anything, instead deciding to get back to work. Albert sat down on a wooden chair at the table.

  “Tell me about her,” he said

  Jayce shrugged. “Nothing to tell. She’s beautiful and perfect but it doesn’t matter.”

  “Why not?”

  “Look at me, man. I’m down here cutting up coke. I won’t be doing this forever. I’ll get made and start making real money but at the end of day I choose Cosa Nostra. I’m not dragging her into this shit.”

  “Does she know?” he asked, leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms.

  “Know what?”

  “About Cosa Nostra.”

  Jayce shook his head and leaned back against the wall. “She knows something’s up but she doesn’t know.”

  “How about you tell her then. Let her make her own choice.”

  Jayce shook his head.

  “And why not?”

  “Because what if she chooses me?” he asked, voicing his deepest fear.

  Albert shook his head. “I don’t know you that well, Jayce, but you’re not a bad guy. Maybe you took an unconventional path but don’t assume people see you in the same light as you see yourself.”

  Jayce didn’t reply, instead trying to focus on the work at hand. Albert was right, he had taken an unconventional path but that was his choice not hers, and once he became made he knew the amount of work he would have to do. He’d be gone at odd hours, dealing with issues on a bigger level, not to mention the amount of money that would be rolling in. He couldn’t wait to be made but it wasn’t a life for Sabrina.

  Sabrina

  Sabrina waited outside her house on the green lawn feeling the cold morning dew seeping through her Converse. She tucked her hands in her pockets to keep them warm as she waited. Jayce was running late. He was usually outside by the time she got out there. She checked her phone. She had texted him 10 minutes ago but hadn’t got a reply. He’d been so mad yesterday she hoped he hadn’t done anything stupid. She knew he was involved in some bad stuff, and him not answering his text messages was starting to scare her. She dialed his number and pressed the phone to her ear. It range three times then went to voicemail. Finally giving up, she called Wendy—there was no way she would make it to school on time now if she walked.

  “Hey,” Wendy greeted.

  “Think you can pick me up on your way to school?” she asked, crossing her fingers that Wendy wasn’t already there. There was silence.

  “Where’s Jayce?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ve been out here waiting for him and he isn’t answering his phone.”

  “Oh shit, you think he’s ok?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Alright I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  They hung up and within a few minutes Wendy’s car pulled up in front of her.

  “Thanks for picking me it up, it’s freezing out there,” she said once she’d gotten into the car.

  “So he’s not picking up the phone?” Wendy asked, driving away from the curb.

  Sabrina shook her head. “He was mad yesterday when he dropped me off. I hope he didn’t go do something stupid.”

  “Why was he mad?”

  Sabrina let out a sigh. “Because Eric asked me on a date.”

  Wendy slammed on the brakes harder than necessary as they came to a stoplight.

  “Wait, what!” Wendy turned her body to face Sabrina.

  “It’s not a big deal. He asked me out and I said yes. We’re going to get food after the game tonight.”

  “And you didn’t think to tell?” Wendy asked, her mouth hanging open in shock.

  “I forgot and I wasn’t all excited about it anymore considering Jayce’s little tantrum.”

  “Isn’t he the one that told you you two couldn’t be together?”

  “Yes! Exactly! That is what I don’t understand.” At least someone was on the same page as her.

  Wendy shook her head. “Men.”

  They pulled into the parking lot, and Sabrina’s jaw dropped open as she spotted Jayce leaning against the Camaro with Alison huddled close to him. He had an arm wrapped around her shoulders as she tucked herself into his side. They were surrounded by other people. She recognized two of Alison’s minions from the football game.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Wendy said, pulling into a spot.

  Sabrina wrapped her arms around her waist. So this was what he was doing? They couldn’t even be friends anymore? Wendy shut the car off and turned in her seat to look at her.

  “Hey don’t cry,” she said.

  Sabrina rubbed at her eyes. She wasn’t going to cry over something as stupid as this but her eyes were betraying her.

  “I’m not going to cry. I don’t get it. Alison, out of all people?”

  Jayce had made it clear to everyone he didn’t want anything to do with Alison. Then the minute they’d had a disagreement he let her snake her way into his arms—literally.

  “He’s doing it to be a jerk. Don’t give him the time of day.”

  She nodded. Wendy was right. She wasn’t going to fall into whatever game he was playing. They got out of the car and headed inside, with it taking everything in her not to look back at Jayce and Alison. She managed to avoid Jayce all day at school. Wendy offered to give her a ride home from school and she took her up on the offer. Luckily Jayce hadn’t made it out to his car yet so she didn’t have to witness him dry humping Alison on the hood.

  Jayce

  He knew he was being an asshole. Luke even told him in Chemistry.

  “You’re being an asshole.”

  “Yea I know.”

  “No really. You told her you two couldn’t be together and then you rub Alison in her face?” he said face twisted up in disgust.

  “I said I know, man. Not my finest moment.”

  He scuffed. “You think?”

  He needed to apologize. He knew he was hurting her but she’d hurt him too. Saying yes to a date with Eric. What he wanted was to be taking her out on dates, instead he was giving Alison hope of a relationship that would never become anything. Stringing her along for no reason. He ran a hand through his hair—he needed to fix this but he didn’t know how. He had made his feelings clear to Sabrina, and from the date she’d accepted from Eric she had made her feelings pretty clear too.

  “You need to talk to her,” Luke whispered as the teacher walked in the room and started lecturing.

  “And what am I supposed to say?” he asked. He really screwed up this time. He wasn’t even sure if Sabrina would give him the time of day to apologize.

  “That you fucked up,” replied Luke.

  “And then what?”

  Luke didn’t say anything because he didn’t know and neither did Jayce.

  By the time the final bell r
ang he knew he needed to make things right with Sabrina. He was being jealous when he had no reason to be. He walked out to the parking lot ready to apologize only to realize she was probably already gone. Wendy’s car wasn’t in the spot it was in this morning and he didn’t see her anywhere in the parking lot. Instead the girl leaning against his car was the completely opposite of what he wanted.

  “Move, Alison, I got somewhere to be,” he said, throwing his bag in the back seat.

  “Let me go with you?” she asked, eager to ride along.

  He shook his head. “Maybe next time,” he said, knowing damn well there would not be a next time.

  Chapter Seven

  Sabrina

  Falcon Haven had won the football game and she was standing outside the locker room doors waiting for Eric. He had texted her earlier letting her know he would be out soon. She was excited for their date and had spent some extra time to apply a little bit of makeup to get ready for the night. Wendy had already wished her good luck before heading off with Chad to some party. It seemed like those two were on speaking terms again. She was still sad over Jayce and his public display of affection with Alison in the parking lot but she needed to get over it. If this was the way he wanted things to be then this was how they were going to be. The door to the locker room opened and Eric walked out with the other football players following close behind. He had a few water droplet in his hair and he was dressed in a plain white T-shirt and dark denim jeans. He had a blue gym bag slung over his shoulder with the Falcon Haven school logo printed on the side. He immediately spotted her and a grin spread across his face showing his pearly white teeth. He looked like the All-American football player, nothing like Jayce. He did a few handshakes with his buddies before walking over to her.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  She smiled. “Yep.”

  They walked across the parking lot before coming to a stop at a big blue truck. She looked up at it wondering how she was going to lift herself into the passenger seat. He noticed her hesitation.

  He opened the door for her and stuck out a hand. She used it to balance herself as she half-jumped, half-fell into the truck.

  “I feel like this is a test.” She laughed as she moved to sit upright in the seat.

  He chuckled. “Yea, if you can’t get in the truck you can’t go on the date.”

  He closed the passenger door, threw the gym bag into the bed of the truck then got in on the driver’s side as she smoothed her hair back down.

  “So, burgers?” he asked as he started the truck. It smelled strongly like cologne.

  “Sounds good to me.”

  He maneuvered the truck through the familiar streets. “You like the game?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “Yea it was fun. I’m not one for crowds.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Really? Why not?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve just never been a fan of being around a lot of people.”

  “Well good thing this isn’t a group date.”

  She smiled. “Yea.”

  They pulled up to the curb at the diner.

  “How do you know about this place?” she asked.

  “My parents go here pretty often. Said they had good food. You’ve been here before?” he asked.

  “Yea, actually I work here.”

  He slapped a hand to his forehead. “I’m such an idiot. I took you to your job as a date. We can go somewhere else,” he said quickly, starting the truck again.

  “No, no.” She shook her head. “It’s fine. They do have good food.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She nodded—she’d rather be at the diner then a fast-food joint anyways. Eric held the door open for her and they made their way inside. Jose waved at her as she walked in. George was taking an order but stopped once he spotted her.

  “Hey! You don’t work tonight,” he said.

  “I’m actually here for the food,” she replied.

  “Go ahead and take a seat,” he said, waving her off and focusing back on his table.

  Sabrina led Eric over to an empty booth.

  “That your boss?” Eric asked.

  “Yea he’s a pretty cool guy.”

  Eric nodded and grabbed a menu from the middle of the table. “Since you work here I’ll ask what you suggest after a winning game?” He smiled up at her over the menu.

  “Definitely the cheese fries with bacon, and the fresco melts are really good.”

  “I’ll take your word for it.” He smiled.

  George took their order and Eric stretched out, resting both of his arms across the booth.

  “So tell me about you. You just moved here right?”

  “Me and my mom. We moved once my grandpa passed away and he left us the house.”

  “I’m sorry, about your grandpa,” he said.

  “Thanks. I like it here so far. People are nice.” Besides the whirlwind of drama that was Jayce Taylor but she kept that part to herself.

  Eric’s phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and silenced it before returning it back to his pocket.

  “You miss your old school?” he asked.

  The question came as a surprise as no one had asked her that since she’d come to Falcon Haven.

  “A little bit,” she admitted. “I grew up there so I knew everyone and I had my group of friends. I guess I was just comfortable. It’s kind of hard to start over.”

  He nodded.

  “So what about you?” she asked. “Tell me about you.”

  Their food came out pretty fast. As they ate she learned that Eric was an only child. His father owned a construction company and his mom worked at a retail store. He had applied to a few schools but hadn’t heard anything back yet. He was hoping to get a football scholarship. She was scared he would ask the ‘what are you doing after graduation?’ question but he managed to avoid it. After they’d eaten, George told them it was on the house and they walked out to Eric’s truck. He opened the passenger door for her when his phone vibrated again. He sighed before pulling it out and silencing it again.

  “Do you need to get that?” she asked

  He shook his head. “No, just one of the guys trying to get me to go to this party.”

  “Well let’s go,” she said, her words betraying her. She never felt up for a party but it was better than going home and thinking about Jayce all night.

  He lifted an eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t like crowds.”

  “It’s better than being at home.”

  “Alright, let’s go.”

  Jayce

  The party wasn’t as crowded as he’d expected but he was still able to sell a good amount of stuff. He sat on the stoop of the back porch handing out drugs and collecting money trying his best not to be obvious but it wasn’t like everyone didn’t already know. He’d been by himself until Alison had decided to join him a while ago. She was sat beside him rubbing a hand up and down his arm and whispering promises in his ear. He was slightly annoyed because she wasn’t what he wanted anymore but he let her stay and keep him company while he did his business.

  He paused as he saw Sabrina walk from around the house and into the backyard. Her hair was down and flowed across her shoulder. She was wearing a tight shirt that showed off her curves and she looked as beautiful as always. His eyes narrowed when he saw who had a hand on her lower back and was navigating her through the crowd. She hated parties and he was mad at this jerk who’d probably dragged her here. She looked uncomfortable and seemed to be scanning the crowd when their eyes locked. A hurt expression crossed her face before she whispered something in Eric’s ear and then walked into the house. He watched as the douchebag slapped hands with his football buddies, probably talking about Sabrina in ways she couldn’t even imagine. He knew how guys were, especially the football players. It was all about seeing how many girls they could bang and it made Jayce even more pissed off. He barely noticed that one of his classmates had walked up and asked him something. Alison nudged him with
her shoulder.

  “Huh?”

  “I said, you sell dime bags?”

  He sighed before reaching in his pocket and pulling out a dime bag of weed and exchanging it with the guy. He sold weed because people asked for it a lot but he wasn’t making any money for Cosa Nostra with weed.

  “You wanna go upstairs?” Alison asked in a sultry tone.

  Before Sabrina had come back into town, he would have taken her up on that offer, used Alison to scratch an itch. But now all he wanted was the girl he couldn’t have and who probably now hated him.

  He shrugged her off. “Nah, I’m good.”

  Alison crossed her arms, pushing her boobs to the top of her tank top.

  “You’re an ass, Jayce.”

  “But yet you’re still going to sit here next to me so all your friends think we’re together.”

  She didn’t say anything and he pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one up. Alison didn’t care about him, not really. It was all for show—she wanted the infamous bad boy not Jayce. A few minutes later, Sabrina came out of the house with two red cups in her hand and a smile on her face as she walked over to Eric and his football friends. Great, so now she’s going to get drunk with a guy she barely knows. Good idea, Sabrina. Eric took the cup from her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder and locked eyes with him again and he realized she was doing this on purpose. Payback for the way he had dangled Alison in front of her at school earlier, and damn did it hurt. He crushed out his cigarette, threw his arm around Alison and crushed his lips to hers. She yelped in surprise before giving in and straddling his lap. Her hands went to either side of his face as she grinded her hips against him. He opened one eye to see Sabrina’s arms wrapped around Eric’s shoulder and their lips smashed together. His blood boiled. That’s enough. He picked Alison up, placing her on the step beside him.

  “What the hell?” she complained but he was focused on the girl a few feet in front of him. He marched over and grabbed Sabrina by the arms, ripping her from Eric.

  “Dude, what the fuck!” Eric yelled and the party got very quiet as everyone focused in on the scene unfolding in the middle of the yard.

  “Don’t fucking touch her,” Jayce snarled, his chest heaving. He clenched and unclenched his fists, ready for a fight.