Trouble

Trouble

Taylor
Jamie Beckett

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Taylor Jamie Beckett

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Chapter 1: Natalie, Russ and Quentin

Natalie,
a sophomore at Tracey High was in high spirits as she came home
after school. As she walked, she shook her shoulders gently to the
tunes of Taylor Swift’s “I knew you were trouble.” She liked the
singer for being open about her dating issues. It helped her to
process her own romantic challenges in a healthy way.

With her
ear phones attached to her Galaxy, it gave her a carefree demeanor
although inwardly she wondered if her friendship with Russ was
appropriate given his aggressive and bullying nature. Was love so
blind that she couldn’t seem to see that he was trouble? Although
Russ was handsome, he was rude, antagonized other teens and could
be really cruel when he wanted to. His dad was a high flying
corporate lawyer. Russ had everything that money could buy. He
however had a huge problem. His parents were hardly ever there for
him and he was starved for attention. In spite of everything he
owned, he was usually bored to death. It was a destructive mix,
especially as he tried to gain attention in the most outrageous
ways possible. The kindest thing about Russ was that he was calm
and nice when he was playing his war games. It was only after he
left his virtual world that he tried putting some of the situations
into action. That would probably not have been so bad if Russ had
not imagined himself a gamer who could come out a winner in all the
tense situations he created.

It was a
mystery even to her why she hung out with him for so long. Was it
because her own life seemed to be in a clutter with her parents
constantly arguing? Recently her dad had threatened to leave them.
Was friendship with Russ a kind of inferiority complex on her part
or a subtle sign that she needed help? These thoughts whirled
around her as Swift’s song reverberated in her head. She knew she
was also an idealist and sincerely felt that Russ could mellow down
in her company. She had to concede that this was becoming a painful
thought. She was more like a showpiece for Russ. He did not care
for her as a person.

She was
also thinking about Byron who was always trying to help her out.
Byron was like a brother and she could not see their friendship
developing into a relationship if things didn’t work out with Russ.
Was Byron also aware that Quentin was curious about him? Byron had
an innocent and sensuous kind of face that he was not aware of
partly because he didn’t like the way he looked. That was why he
was always doing workouts and weights. He felt that his face did
not appropriately reflect the storms that churned inside him. Teens
sometimes reacted to him like he was an altar boy in a choir who
sang in an angelic voice. He had confided that he had once dreamt
that he sang a solo hymn in soprano and the whole school had come
to him as a body until he screamed and everyone scattered like
dazed zombies. Some felt protective over him, like something
delicate one hugged and kept close to one’s heart. Byron hated
being angelic and sounding innocent. He had wet dreams, swore
sometimes and dreamt of French kissing Natalie. He hated being
cherubic. He just wanted to be normal and to be treated just like
everyone else.

“
Packing to go on a trip?” he asked his dad breezily. Although
their relationship was not very intimate, it was still warm enough
for her to miss him whenever he went on one of his business trips.
She always had a stable feeling seeing her dad around.

“
I was meaning to talk to you,” he said kindly.

Natalie
froze.

Whenever
his dad spoke like that, it could only mean trouble. Although he
tried to look relaxed, he seemed very tense.

“
Things haven’t been working out and I need a small break to
think things over, Nat. I’ve discussed this with mum.”

“
You’re divorcing!”

“
Let’s just say a separation to try and work things out. I care
for you, Nat. We’re really trying our best to be together because
we love you,” he shrugged.”But sometimes things don’t work out with
adults. No dad ever wants to hurt his daughter.” He spoke
soothingly.

Natalie
cried as she hugged him. She wanted so desperately to tell him not
to leave but conceded that things hadn’t been working out and he
needed some space. “It’ll be great if you can work out something
with mum,” she said bravely.

“
It hasn’t worked Nat but we’ll really try hard. Just for you,”
he promised as he made his way to his SUV.

She sat
on the couch in a daze. She found it strange that she was the last
one to be considered in her parents’ separation. She knew that they
loved her deeply. She also appreciated that it would have been
unreasonable for them to be together, unhappy in between the cold
spaces of people who no longer loved each other.

She
suddenly realized why she was close to Russ and Byron. They were
also teens of divorced parents and the clichéd expression that
birds of a feather stuck together seemed apt for their situations.
She knew that Byron was waiting patiently to befriend her should
she leave Russ. She was worried about the emotional fallout of
befriending him since he was going through his own trauma regarding
his parents’ separation. This could be a volatile mix that might be
too hot for her to handle. She’d have to think through these plans
thoroughly. Oh the trials of being a 16 year old sophomore, she
sighed.

She
walked out of the house feeling listless. Her mind seemed like a
tank of water almost overflowing. She jogged as she tried to have
pleasant thoughts.

She sat
on a bench oblivious to other joggers or people rushing by or being
aimless like her.

The world
continued moving but her world seemed to stand still.

Her
Galaxy phone made a squawky sound. It was Russ with a txt msg.
“Where r u?”

She gave
her location. She had an intuitive feeling that Russ had spiffy
software and could tell where she was. He seemed to go through the
motion of pretending not to know. But why?

“
Need to see yu. Urgent. I miss yu,” Russ texted. Everything
seemed to be urgent or a ‘need to do this or that’ request. Life
rotated around him and he expected Natalie and his gaggle of
friends to be at his beck and call at a moment’s notice. She really
had to be assertive, she reminded herself. She continued to act
like a slave in a harem. They hadn’t French kissed or petted yet.
Russ had begun putting pressure on having a relationship.
“Everyone’s doing it. What’s the big deal?”

“
I’m not everyone else,” she had told him firmly.

“
We could use condoms. They’re clean and safe. Don’t say
anything now. Let me know later.” He was always trying to get her
to use their Jacuzzi and the huge king size water bed. She found
his home to be sinfully sleazy the first time he invited her and
avoided going there. It had the feel and look of a brothel
disguised as a respectable home. She had to be firm once when they
were swimming in the family pool. He had insisted that she put on a
slinky looking bikini while he pranced around in thigh hugging
Lycra that had a design of a tiger that bared its sharp hungry
teeth. She felt violated just looking at it.

She
looked again at the message and suppressed a cynical laugh. She had
just met Russ at Tracey High and she found it odd that he was
missing her so soon after. He was probably trying to get her to
tour his palatial home and open up in the Jacuzzi. That was
certainly not going to happen.

His calls
seemed to have become more frequent lately especially after she
refused yet another demand for a relationship at the back of his
Ford Ranger, one of his many vehicles. She had made it very clear
that she wasn’t ready for petting of the ‘extra Lite’ (to use his
phrase) or the heavy kind. He had bristled with anger and his
suppressed passions seemed like it was going to erupt at a moment’s
notice. From his way of thinking, a hard to get girl was more
satisfying than an easy prey. It would certainly give him greater
boasting rights and prestige amongst his likeminded peers if he
could bed her and post his experiences on YouTube. It made him feel
like Casanova on a very warm pleasant day.

Russ gave
her the GPS coordinates to his location.

It was
the secluded jogging area around the park near the reservoir. He
recalled that Quentin usually jogged home after school crossing
through this area. He had chosen a spot that was closer to a
thicket of forest.

‘
That’s just rich,” she sighed. ‘He probably thinks this is a
‘Breaking Dawn” area and he’s Robert Pattison. I hope I don’t get
my first bite there,’ she chuckled. Her instincts were telling her
not to go but she’d had a terrible afternoon and wanted to unwind.
The jog would help her have more positive thoughts.

Russ had
a gaggle of friends who were loud and obscene and she wouldn’t be
surprised if they were also in tow. They all seemed to adore
Natalie like she was the latest cool tech viewed in a nice digital
photo. ‘Oh stop feeling sorry for yourself.’ she
thought.

+++++

It was a
fine day with the azure sky giving off pleasant emotions for
Quentin as he jogged from Tracey High with his school knapsack
firmly behind him. He jogged every alternate day as a way of
keeping fit.

He
thought he saw Russ by the roadside looking into the jogging area.
Russ was always hassling him because his parents were a gay couple
working in the area of finance. They had recently moved into the
Hollywood area and he had hoped that people would be more tolerant.
The majority was tolerant except for the bigots who existed
everywhere, he shrugged.

He
noticed two of Russ’s friends cutting through the wooded area. That
was odd. He didn’t realize that Russ and his gang were nature
lovers or liked jogging too. They were quickening their pace. It
looked like they had come in by car.

Now he
had a sense of danger. He felt he had been too casual and the
premonition of trouble came with the realization that they were
there to waylay him. He had seen the hatred in Russ’s eyes whenever
he looked at him or made contemptuous remarks. He felt he was too
naïve not to realize that Russ wanted to hurt him emotionally and
physically. He wanted to see the pain and fear in his eyes. His
parents had always told him to see the good in people. This was
going to be a shock because Russ wanted him to see the prejudices
that existed in him!

Quentin
realized that they had planned this in advance.

“
I can’t stand fag parents,” Russ had said to him in a biting
tone just before he left school. “They get on my nerves and make me
sick.” He had spat out the words with such intense
venom.

“
What do you hate about my parents?”

“
They’re both male and are fake parents pretending to be your
mum and dad. I’ll want to send them a signal that we don’t approve
of this.”

“
They are loving parents and have not done anything to hurt
you.”

“
They are different from us.”

“
You hate them because you’re seeing them through the eyes of
prejudice.”

“
That’s just rich. You’re giving me a lecture!”

Quentin
had thought that by talking things over with Russ, his phobia would
subside. But he had underestimated Russ’s hatred and obsession to
hurt him.

“
And I don’t want you talking to Nat.”

“
Be reasonable Russ, we’re all in the same home room. It’ll be
odd if I don’t say anything to her at all.”

“
Keep away from her at all times. You’re spreading tales about
me.”

Quentin
sensed that the other main reason for this meeting was to
discourage him from socializing with Natalie. He wished Byron was
here. He’d know how to deal with these kinds of difficult
situations. But that wish was futile as Byron was in recent times
becoming uneasy with him. Quentin resolved to iron out his issues
with him but at this moment he needed to come out of this tense
situation without getting hurt.