“Do you want a ride? It’s not going to let up any time soon.”
I looked past his car to the sidewalk covered in puddles and the rain hammering down around me. Truthfully, I'd never been so relieved to have a ride home in my life. I pulled open his passenger-side door and slid onto the seat. He reached over to shove aside a few CDs and crumpled receipts. His hand brushed my thigh and his eyes flew to mine.
“Sorry, I wasn't expecting passengers,” he said with a boyish smile that wasn't something I was used to seeing on him. His black hair was cropped shorter than I'd seen, making his handsome features far easier to discern. I fidgeted in my seat, placed the backpacks between my legs, and reached over to grab my seatbelt.
“Thanks for picking me up,” I said, surprised by the vulnerability in my tone.
“No problem. I usually hang out after school but I left today to beat the rain,” he gestured through the front windshield. “As you can see, I didn't do a very good job of that.”
I laughed, surprised by the lightness in my chest. This feels right. Easy.
“Do you want to go grab something to eat?” I asked.
The question was out before I'd decided whether or not it was a good idea, but I figured eating an early dinner with Trent beat sitting at home and wondering what Chase was doing with Kimberly.
Trent's eyebrows shot up and then he nodded once, slowly, processing my question. “Yes. Yeah, okay. I know a good place we can go.”
I sighed and looked out the window, soaking in the musty scent that clung to his car's upholstery. There was a small part of me that felt at home in Trent's car. Trent didn’t shine the way Chase did. No one would judge me for hanging out with him. We were on the same playing field: two misfits in a small town.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Lilah
Trent took me to a pizza joint off Main Street that was connected to an old arcade. It was the perfect place to wait out the storm as we filled our stomachs with warm cheese pizza and played Pac-Man until our thumbs were sore. The restaurant was empty save for a burly man behind the counter whose beard reached the top of his beer gut. I didn't mind him though; he flipped a switch on a few of the arcade games so that after Trent had spent twenty dollars, we could both keep playing for free.
I hadn't realized how much time we’d spent there until Trent pulled his phone out of his back pocket and offered a change of venue.
“There's a get-together over at Blake's house. Do you remember him?” he asked. I racked my brain until I recalled a guy that had graduated from our high school a few years earlier. He'd stayed in Blackwater even after graduation and I'd heard rumors that he was one of the guys supplying Trent and his friends with drugs. I chewed on my lip, trying to decide if it'd be a better idea if I just went home. It was fun hanging out with Trent for a little while, but we weren't really friends and I didn't want to regret getting stuck at a party with him.
He pocketed his phone and then gave me an innocent smile. “How about we just go check it out and if you're bored or if you want to leave, we'll head out.”
I crossed my arms and took a deep breath. I was probably overthinking things. I'd go with Trent for a little bit since he'd saved me from walking home in the rain, and then I'd go back to my life and figure out how I could possibly move on from Chase. My stomach clenched at the thought and then before I could stop it, images of him and Kimberly sprang free in my mind. I could see them walking to class hand in hand. I could see her in the stands watching him play baseball with his last name on the back of her shirt. I could see him sitting down for dinner with her family, a perfect group of four.
I let Trent lead me out to his car, but I didn't pay much attention as he drove toward the outskirts of Blackwater. The roads were a muddy mess from the storm and as we pulled off in front of a doublewide trailer, I feared Trent wouldn't be able to get his car back out of the mud when it was time for us to leave.
“Ready to go in?” he asked with a cheerful tone.
I swung my door open and tried to step around most of the big piles of mud on the way to the front door. Trent went ahead of me and mapped out a safe route, but it was no use. By the time we reached the front door, my shoes were covered in mud. I tried to kick some of it off when the trailer’s door swung open and two drunk girls giggled past us.