Up ’til now, Jules hadn’t been absolutely clear which of the boys from Ottersfield was Trent, but Jimmy ended that mystery by grabbing the kid and pulling him over to where Sadie was continuing to slap at Rod.
Like all of the Ottersfield boys, Trent’s clothes screamed money via the expensive brand icons on his shirt and jeans. Sneakers that definitely weren’t from Payless adorned hisfeet. His dark blonde hair was styled with yuppie finesse, and his face was... a face. He wasn’t particularly handsome, but he wasn’t not. He looked like... a boy from a town with money. Not at all monstrous, although, God, if he’d raped all those girls and drugged Jules the way he had, he truly was.
“Is that him?” Meg whispered, her voice very small.
“That’s him,” Shel confirmed.
As Jules watched, Trent and Jimmy each grabbed one of Sadie’s arms and hauled her up and off of Rod, although she did continue to kick at him—one booted foot coming dangerously close to nailing him in the balls.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” Rod said, scooting back before curling into a protective ball, because getting kicked in the thigh couldn’t have been much fun either. “What is wrong with you?” he asked Sadie, before ordering Trent and Jimmy, “Keep her the fuck away from me!”
“I hate you!” she said, struggling to get free, but just a little. Just enough so that both boys kept their hold on her.
Rod was silent as he pushed himself back up to his feet. “Yeah, I know you do,” he finally said.
“Ugh,” Hobbit breathed. “He can’t bring himself to say it back even though he knows thatsheknows it’s all just an act.” He exhaled his disgust. “God, he’s going to marry her, I just know it. And then in, like, five years, after you go off to college and become the head of the CIA, I’ll wake up and realize that,Shit, I haven’t seen Jules in three years, and thenHoly shit, Rodney Burke’s my best friend now.”
“I’m pretty sure it takes more than a single year after graduating from college to become the head of the CIA,” Jules pointed out. “Also, CIA? I don’t think so.”
“Out of everything I just said,that’sthe point you contest?” Hobbit said as out in the yard, Sadie dissolved into tears. “Whoa. Go, Sade.”
It was brilliant. She was brilliant. She started to cry at the exact same moment she stopped fighting to get free from Jimmy and Trent. And as she surrendered, she sagged. She caved in on herself a little—shoulders and head sinking down. She turned away from Rod—and directly toward Trent.
That was not an accident.
Just like that, she was crying on Trent’s shoulder.
Now the look on Rod’s face was something else entirely as Trent put his arm around her, lowering his head to speak to her—no doubt dispensing comforting words. And yeah, that was definitely a flash of murderousness in Rod’s blue eyes.
“Okay, Bestie,” Hobbit murmured. “Remember that we’re all right here. She’s safe. We’re watching. Just walk away. Let Sadie work. Go to the keg. Refill your cup. Don’t be staring straight at her like that. Remember that old theater trick we taught you...”
As if Rod heard him, he did just that. He refilled his cup and then stood near the keg staring angrily down into his beer—and surely watching Sadie and Trent with his peripheral vision as the blood-thirsty crowd of partygoers realized that the show was over and went back inside.
“Ewuch,” Belle whispered. “How can she stand letting him touch her like that?” Because yeah, Trent pulled Sadie in for a hug. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her much too close.
“She loves me,” Shelly whispered back. “And she loves Meg. That’s how. I know you’d do the same.”
“Yeah,” Belle agreed, “but I’d need to bleach myself after. Ewuch!”
Out in the yard, Trent had pulled back a bit from Sadie. He still held onto her shoulders as he leaned in and spoke toher. She nodded her head from time to time, but then shook her headno.
“I bet he was asking if she wanted to go inside because it’s getting cold and her shirt’s wet,” Jules guessed because hernowas so emphatic.
She said something to Trent that again, they couldn’t hear because of both distance and low volume, but then pointed over to the keg—which currently didn’t have a line—and then the empty picnic table.
He nodded now and after another quick hug, he dashed back toward the house, while Sadie went to fill a cup with beer.
Sure enough, she had just sat down on top of the table, feet on the connected bench, red cup of beer on the table beside her, when Trent came back from the house, carrying his jacket. He put it around her shoulders, so chivalrous, and as she slipped her arms into the sleeves, she smiled, almost shyly, to thank him.
As they watched, Trent sat down next to her, reaching behind her for the cup that she’d put on the table, and pushing it back away from the edge.
“He’s telling her he doesn’t want it to spill and get her jeans wet, too,” Shelly reported. From her angle, she could see his face a little more clearly.
“He can reach it easier, too,” Tom pointed out. “In case he wants to put anything in it like, oh, let’s just sayflunitrazepam.”
“Camera on, Shel,” Jules whispered.
“Ten-four,” she whispered.
