Pieces- First Bonus Chapter

This chapter takes place pretty early in the book and gives a little insight into Trevor's state of mind when it comes to Sadie at this time. This scene occurs while Ryan and Sadie are staying at Trevor and Corey's apartment because their furnace if broken and they don't have the money to fix it. 

There were several good things about being the manager at Fit World, but Trevor Dixon recently realized the best of them all. He made the schedule. The task used to be daunting and a hassle, but now he looked forward to it.

Ryan Gallagher, his friend, employee, and band mate, had stopped taking classes at Joliet Junior College. He and his girlfriend, Sadie, were having money problems since she lost her job and Ryan requested to work as many hours as possible.

This was advantageous to Trevor because if Ryan was at work, then Sadie was sitting in his apartment. Ryan trusted Trevor; he’d told him as much. That meant he had no clue that Trevor was trying to make Sadie see that the grass was greener on the other side.

It wasn’t that he wanted Sadie as his girlfriend. He merely wanted her away from Ryan. He was controlling, mean, and abusive. Trevor had lost count of how many times he’d seen bruises on Sadie’s frail little body.

He looked at her sitting on the other couch. Her eyes were glued to the TV, watching a movie on the Lifetime channel about, of all things, a woman in an abusive relationship. Most people would say things like ‘she needs to get out of there,’ or ‘why does she put up with that?’, but Sadie had said nothing for the last ninety minutes, not even on commercials. Twice she had gotten up and refilled her glass with cheap vodka and Sprite.

She must’ve felt him staring at her because she looked his way. Her lips formed a loose smile, one that held nothing behind it.

Trevor seized the moment. “I wonder why she stays.”

Sadie stared back at him, but never responded. During the final commercial break she didn’t even look at him. When the movie ended, with the woman escaping her abusive husband, Sadie spoke. “Life’s not like the movies.”

“But it can be,” Trevor told her.

Their eyes held; two tears escaped one of her blue eyes. “What time does Ryan get off?”

“Four.”

“When are you off again?”

Trevor fought the urge to smile. Ryan made Sadie sit at Fit World if he and Trevor were both at work. Trevor had made a point in the last few weeks to schedule them opposite shifts so Sadie wouldn’t have to endure that boredom. “Wednesday.”

Her eyes grew dark; she fiddled with her toenail. “Can you make something up to tell Ryan? Something that you and I could be doing together all day?”

Trevor furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”

She sighed. “I can get the money to fix the furnace, but I need to go to Missouri.” She met his eyes. “I was hoping you’d take me.”

Of course he would. But how would he pull this off without Ryan knowing? “How long is the drive?”

“Five hours or so.”

That would make ten to twelve hours round trip. “Where do you need to go? I mean, who’s gonna give you the money?”

“Don’t worry about it. It’ll only take about a half hour once were there.”

Trevor knew that Sadie’s ex-boyfriend had lived in St. Louis, but he had died in a car accident in September. “What do you think we should say we’re doing all day?” he asked her.

She shrugged, staring blankly at the TV.

Trevor weighed his options. He’d do anything for Sadie. Even walk a tightrope laced with glass above an inferno. If he scheduled Ryan at five in the morning until three…that would be ten hours. He could call Ryan in the afternoon and say he and Sadie were going to see a movie. That would be believable, wouldn’t it?

He told Sadie the idea. “He’ll ask questions about the movie,” she said.

Trevor shrugged.

“He’ll ask for the movie stubs.”

“So we’ll go see a matinee on Monday before I go to work and then buy more tickets for Wednesday afternoon.”

Sadie smiled for the first time all day. “You’re awesome.”

Trevor smiled back. “I know.”