I Knew You Were Trouble

Chapter Fourteen

"Where do you want me to start?" I asked, dropping onto the floor in the living room. My stomach was flipping nervously and I knew I just had to stick through it. Sarah would understand, I knew that. She's probably been through worse.

"Well, the beginning would be a good place." She said, sitting on the floor across from me and pulling off her shoes before folding her legs gently under herself.

I chuckled humorlessly.

"Okay, well, I was camping with my friends near a beach, and he drove up and struck up a conversation with us. I was sixteen, almost seventeen and he was a few years older. I was a real flirt then, but at the same time I was really innocent, now that I think about it. We flirted a lot, he spent some time with my friends and I. They were all really wary of him, waiting for him to do something wrong that would leave them to believe he was dangerous. I, on the other hand, was too caught up in the stories of travel and adventure. It was just something I couldn't figure. You hear these things and the only you can think is, I want that. I want to see the world in a different light. And he dangled that snippet of excitement and wonder in front of me." I frowned and Sarah remained quiet.

"He invited me to travel with him, of course I said yes, even though my friends told me it wasn't a good idea. What if he was a rapist, what if he was a drug dealer, all these different possibilities, but I didn't listen. Maybe if I had, I would have realized just how close they were in their accusations. He hadn't told me, but he was a drug dealer, selling coke and other hazardous things that could be the death of someone. That was how he got his money. I was stupid for not figuring it out sooner. One night, we stayed in a hotel, he hadn't told me where he got the money from, just told me it was better than sleeping in his car." I looked down, playing with my fingers.

"Anyway, He got a headache. I wanted to help him and I came closer, wondering if there was anything I could do. He snapped, shouting at me that he wasn't interested and to stop making a move on him. I denied it, saying I just wanted to help. He shoved me around a bit, I grabbed his jacket and ran out. I had to get away. He came and found me, apologizing profusely and telling me he loved me. He kissed me, then hugged me and told me he would never do anything like that ever again. I believed him." I shook my head to clear it from the negative thoughts.

"I really shouldn't have, he never gave me a reason to believe him. So I don't know what possessed me to go back to the hotel with him. Maybe it was because I had no where to go, or maybe he was that much of a smooth talker. He fell asleep, and I was awake most of the night, knowing things were about to get so much worse. About two hundred fights, twice as many drug deals, and gas station showers later, after another year, he said we should go to this party in the middle of the desert in Arizona, or Nevada, I barely remember anymore. It was Burning Man, the biggest party in the nation and he wanted to go. There were no age laws and drugs were rampid. We got there, and I was so frustrated and angry because he had been constantly flirting and making out with other girls for the past year. I gave him everything, but that wasn't enough. Even though we were kind of together, he still fooled around with other girls. It always tore my heart out. At Burning Man, he went off with some brunette and I was drunk. I started dancing with this guy, and nearly had an aneurism when I ran into him here, in Foster's Corner." Sarah was about to ask a question but I made a motion that told her to wait.

"I passed out, and when I woke up the next morning, nobody was there. I was dehydrated, hungry, and stuck there. I had to walk over ten miles to the nearest gas station and hitch a ride from a trucker. He wasn't even there when I woke up. I never heard anything from him for months. So I went to a place I knew he wouldn't ever visit, Foster's Corner. But now, he's here, just as I'm getting my life back together. I don't know how I should react. I'm sad, angry and feel like a love sick puppy. I don't even know anymore." I dropped my head into my hands and Sarah rubbed my back comfortingly.