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“It’s complicated,” he said. “Forget I asked.”

“Then at least tell me what happened that day in school with Seth.”

“I’ll tell you during the drive.”

“Fine,” I said as I grabbed my keys. “Where are we going?”

“Just drive downtown, I’ll let you know when we get there.”

As I started the engine, I couldn’t help thinking wow! Shane Ventana is in my car! It made me feel like an idiot. I tried to act calm and cool, like it wasn’t a big deal, but deep inside I was a nervous wreck. Any minute now I’d do something stupid like when I choked at dinner. That was my luck.

“So what happened at school?” I asked.

“I’m sure you heard. I was arrested. They sent me to juvie.”

“But you didn’t do anything.”

“Didn’t matter,” he said. “I had enough priors. The judge thought he could threaten me with juvie and I’d tell them everything they wanted to know.”

“Then why didn’t you? Why would you protect Seth?”

“It wasn’t Seth I was protecting,” he said. “What happened to me wasn’t about Seth’s deals. They got him so they were happy. Unfortunately, my priors came up and that caused some problems.”

“What did you do?”

“That’s none of your business.”

Shane turned towards the window and was quiet for a moment. I didn't know what to think anymore. Was it my fault he ended up in jail? Or would he have ended up there eventually anyway?

“Turn up here,” he said. “Make this right.”

“There? Are you crazy?”

“Just do it.”

We were in a part of town I only drove through before, usually with my windows up and the doors locked. The old brick buildings were worn and several were boarded up. The turn Shane wanted me to make looked more like an alley than a street.

He’s going to buy drugs,I thought.

The alley led to a small parking lot. I stopped the car and Shane got out then popped his head back into the car.

“You coming?” he asked.

“No, I think it’s better if I stay right here.”

“All alone in your big ass boat? I don’t think your dad would like that.”

He closed the car door and started walking towards a peeling white door with a faded sign I couldn’t read. Shane turned back to me and grinned before disappearing inside.

The minutes dragged by slowly. Every sound made me jump. A large van entered the parking lot and parked close to my car, and every serial killer I had heard about flashed across my mind. I'd had enough of my overactive imagination and turned the car off and rushed over to the door Shane had entered.

A musty smell hit me as I entered and I fought the urge to sneeze. When I looked around, I realized I was in an art supply store. Aisles of paints, paper, canvas, pencils, everything imaginable was in front of me.

I started walking past the aisles wondering where Shane was and found him filling a basket with oil and acrylic paints.

“Why couldn’t you tell me this was where you wanted to go?” I asked.

“Because I wanted to see if you trusted me enough to just take me.”

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