Page 19 of Buried Beneath Sin

“I’ll pray for your soul, darling!”

I keep my face a mask of polite indifference. There’s no point in telling her that if there is a god up there listening to prayers, he’s abandoned me. As I push my cart out into the parking lot, I can feel the stares of people entering and leaving the grocery store. So used to being the town’s pariah, I hardly even notice them anymore. It’s easy enough to slip away into my own head and pretend I’m far away from here.

“Look who’s left her cave,” I hear someone murmur as I pass a parked car.

Someone else whispers loudly as I move close, “She’s such a freak.”

“Why does she always wear black? It’s so morbid.”

I make it to my car, parked in the furthest reaches of the grocery store’s parking lot, with my dignity still intact—if not a bit frayed. As quickly as I can, I load the groceries into the trunk. Just as I slam it shut, someone calls out to me.

“Hey, Trix or Treats, looking good today.”

My stomach drops. Oh god, there’s only a handful of people who call methat,and it’s no one I like. My limbs lock up as I brace myself for trouble. Slowly, my head swivels to look over my shoulder.

There, leaning against his car with his arms crossed over his chest, is Trevor Michaels. Dressed in a crew neck sweater, khakis, and donning his typical charming smile, there’s nothing overtly menacing about him. In fact, with his mouse brown hair that he keeps a little messy and his soft jawline, he looks a lot like his father, minus a few decades. But I suppose evil doesn’t always take the shape of a menacing being.

The blood drains from my face quickly, leaving me lightheaded. My stomach twists, and despite it being early February, sweat gathers on the back of my neck.

“Been thinking about you a lot lately,” he says and pushes off his bright red sports car.

Immediately, I turn all the way around, not trusting Trevor at my back. My teeth snap together as I watch him saunter over to me. Around us, there are a few people in the parking lot. Usually I can’t stand an audience, but Trevor gets attention wherever he goes—the hardship of being Chasm’s perfect guy, I guess. And me? Well, the attention I receive isn’t great, but right now, I’m thankful the few people out here are being nosy and watching us closely.

Trevor stops right in front of me, and his smile grows a little wider. I force myself to not show him fear. With a steadying breath, I lower my shoulders and glare up at his towering figure.

“What do you want, Trevor?” I am proud of myself for keeping my voice even despite the frantic rioting of my heart.

“All I want is to say hi. What’s wrong with that, Trix?” His smile shifts ever so slightly, turning coy.

My stomach twists tighter. The toast I had this morning threatens to make a return as he steps subtly into my personal space. I don’t back up. I won’t let him intimidate me. But I want to. I want to cringe away from this washed-out quarterback who went nowhere after high school.

“You know, I find it rude that you haven’t stopped by the house lately. You’ve been home for months, and you haven’t taken my dad up on his offer for dinner once. It’s like you don’t like us or something.” Trevor places a hand over his heart as if the thought pains him.

“I’m glad you’ve caught on.” My cool words only make his smile grow larger. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have groceries that need to be refrigerated.”

I don’t make a move to turn around. I don’t trust Trevor, even with an audience.

“Of course, I don’t want to spoil your food. It’s just, I’d love to catch up sometime. I want to hear about your time away at college. Did you think of me while you were gone, Trix?”

He was the star of my nightmares the first year I was away. Given what he’d done a week before I’d left Chasm, those wretched dreams were unavoidable.

“Nope, not once.”

Trevor chuckles, as if he can sense my lie. He opens his mouth to say more but then someone calls out to him.

“Hey, Trevor, you coming?”

I look past him as Trevor turns halfway around. Waiting by the entrance to the grocery store is his friend Sebastian Heins. Sebastian’s long red hair that he keeps in a curly ponytail is always greasy, and he doesn’t seem to care that his pale, hairygut also peeks out from beneath his shirt. I swallow hard. He’s just as bad as Trevor. I hate both of them.

“You should go, your friend is waiting,” I point out. “Tell your dad I say hi.”

Before he can turn back around, I’m moving. I open the driver’s door and slide into the van Bright Starr uses to pick up bodies with. I don’t have my own car, so I use this old thing to get around. It’s an eye sore and people know it’s me inside, but at least I don’t have a car payment to worry about. Just as I shut the door, Trevor appears by the window.

“I’m sure we’ll see each other again real soon, Trix,” Trevor promises through the window as he shoves his hands into his pants pockets. “You might not have thought about me, but I can’tnotthink about you.”

“Fuck you, Trevor,” I snap, feeling bolder with a barrier between us.

Trevor laughs as I turn the car on and throw it into reverse.

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