A Wild Thing - Troy Otto

sixteen

Troy wound up staying the night, despite all of Evelyn's protests. For a while she laid awake, wondering how she'd gotten to this point. Troy Otto, Jeremiah Otto's son, was sleeping right beside her in her very own bed. Out of everybody on the ranch, he was spending his time with her. The thought of it only made her angry. She had yet to trust the boy even a little bit.

That morning, Troy left fairly early. He complained to Evelyn about all the chores he had to do that day, and told her to come visit because he was going to be "bored out of his mind." Evelyn didn't really respond to him, but she knew she wasn't going to spend her Saturday with him.

By the early afternoon, Evelyn was bored as well. She decided she would take a walk to see her precious Susie. "Where are you headed?" her father questioned as she pulled on her shoes.

"Just going to see Susie," she tried to avoid any more questions.

"Who's Susie?" Katie asked from the kitchen table. Michelle was sitting right beside her.

"A horse," Evelyn shrugged.

"Why do you make it sound like you're friends with it?" Carson judged from his usual spot on the couch. Evelyn huffed.

     "Because I am. She happens to be my best friend, for your information."

     "I thought your best friend was Troy," Katie stared at her older sister, tilting her head. Evelyn fought the urge to make a face of pure disgust at the mention of that wicked boy's name.

    "He's my other best friend," Evelyn was sure this sentence was the most painful thing she'd ever had to say, but this pain was quickly washed away with guilt as her mother beamed at her from the table. She hurriedly said her goodbyes and turned away to leave before her family could ask her anything else.

     Evelyn wiped her clammy hands on her shorts as she made her way to Susie's stable. She muttered a quick prayer as she approached her destination. evelyn realized that there was no way to tell if anybody would be there before her, all she could really do was hope she'd be alone.

     Thankfully, the odds were in her favor. Nobody was there.

     "Hey, Susie," she grinned. Evelyn stood there for a few minutes, watching the horse do whatever horses do in their free time and just thinking about life.

    "Ouch. you visit Susie before you visit me. That hurts," Evelyn turned to see her least favorite person walking towards her. Her mood immediately turned sour.

     "That's because I actually like Susie."

     "Wow. That's real cold, Ev. If I didn't know you were joking, I'd be pretty upset," Troy smirked. He knew exactly which of Evelyn's buttons to push.

     Evelyn rolled her eyes before giving her attention back to her horse companion. "Anyways," Troy tilted his head, "How's your Saturday goin' so far?"

     "Fine," the girl mumbled. She noticed Troy went strangely silent. She thought that maybe he decided to leave her alone for the day, but that would be way too good to be true.

     "You're not gonna ask me how mine's going?" Evelyn shook her head. "Well I'm not gonna leave you alone until you do," Troy began poking at her side. She tried to just ignore him, but her short temper didn't allow it. She grabbed his rough hand and placed it back at his own side.

     "How is your saturday going, Troy?" she gritted through her clenched teeth.

     "Better now that I'm with you," he leaned closer to her. Evelyn let out a sarcastic laugh in annoyance.