Hidden in Sheridan (Tainted Series: Book 1)
Part 1: Chapter 4: The Horses, the Girls, the Burger

Moon: YOUNG

Levi - I had so much energy this morning, enough to joke with my mom while running out the door. Now my eyes glaze over as I watch the horses fidget in the arena. Fresh dirt puffs into the air with every step of the animals.

I remember this being more fun.

Every year, the instant spring weather manages to break through Sheridan’s continuous winter, the state ranked high school rodeo girls would get together at the fairgrounds to practice. This year we have five and I don’t even know their names. I do know the two red heads were labeled the Weasley twins. Not sure if they’re related. They might be cousins, either way, they are inseparable. Even in rankings they’re always side by side.

Finally dry enough to come out, several groups of high schoolers are using this as an excuse to hang. Across the dirt arena the bleachers are spotted with various large groups; Girls holding umbrellas to keep the sun off them, girls rubbing suntan lotion on to soak up the sun, a co-ed group in black wearing blank expressions. Others are standing along the wooden fence parameter and I am pretty sure it’s the drama club laughing while playing with the small calves in an adjacent corral. I even spot the auto-club off in the background checking out some broken down rusting tractor.

The horses move continually as they itch to perform while my eyelids struggle to reopen every time I blink. Technically I haven’t slept well in two nights but I only feel the tiredness in the middle of the day.

I use the fence to keep myself upright. My chin rests on the splintered wood as I yawn. One highlight to being unable to sleep, I did manage to read my entire history assignment. True I had done it with the underlining hope the monotonous text book would lull me to sleep but instead I got a perfect score on today’s pop quiz.

About to lose my eyelid battle, a tray of cheese fries suddenly appears in front of me and my eyes pop right open.

“You look starving.” Sterling says.

Completely aware of my dreamily dopy expression, I take the cheesy fries shoving several into my eager mouth. The heat from the cheese burns the roof of my mouth; however, the combination of salt and melted creamy cheese over my tastes buds, allows a wave of satisfaction to run through my whole body.

“This will help.” I mumble.

“Maybe I should take you home.” Sterling suggests while unwrapping his own snack. The moment his burger left its wrapper, the smell fills my nostrils and I wish I had held out for something more than just cheesy fries.

“Has your burger always smelled like that?” I ask, mouth salivating uncontrollably.

Sterling looks down at his dripping piece of meat surrounded by a bun and very little veggies. “It’s the same as always,” he says.

“It looks really good,” I say unable to pry my eyes away from it.

“What’s up with you? You always joke about becoming a vegetarian when you see my family special burger.” He waves the burger in his hand, my eyes follow as if they are magnetically attached to it.

At the Cowboy Cafe, the Wolfe Ranch Hand Deluxe Burger was an off the menu burger for the Wolfe family only. It’s a perk to being a hometown legacy, or so Sterling tells me every time he gets something special. The burger came with an extra patty, both extra juicy and pink. I usually speculate about the hazards of eating undercooked meat but at this moment, I wonder how it tastes.

It smells amazing.

I force my eyes away from it, and proceeded to put more fries into my hungry stomach. They taste like mush. “I’m really tired. But it really does smell good.”

“It really does,” Rhydian says. He appears on the other side of Sterling.

Rhydian is a unique kid. To start off his first name isn’t even Rhydian. It’s Thomas, but no one calls him that. He introduced himself as Rhydian, and that’s what stuck. His shaggy caramel hair looks like he just rolled out of bed. His eyes are brown each streaked with a different gold pattern. His square jaw is specked acne scaring, except one peculiar scar right below his ear. I haven’t bothered to ask him about it yet, but I sure am curious about what made it. Perhaps a bad first shaving incident, though I suspect not.

Rhydian is relatively new to the area, and sometimes stops to chat with us. We are a very convenient group of two. We’re easy to talk to and too lazy to care what click you belong to this week. Which means today, no other click wanted Rhydian. So here he is.

“Is that at the Cowboy Cafe?” He asks rolling an odd clear marble around his fingers. Sterling and I can’t keep the smirks from our reactions. “What?”

“You know how the Wolfe family is kind of popular around here?” I say, turning my eyes back to the girls on horses.

“Yeah, so?” Rhydian replies, obliviously.

Sterling doesn’t wait for further explanation, “For me only.” He gloats, taking another bite off his burger.

“So this legacy rumor is true, huh?” Rhydian asks lightly.

Sterling beams. He loves being a legacy. The fact his family has been in the area since Sheridan had been settled was a fun little detail Sterling didn’t mind everyone knowing. Whereas, the rest of the teenagers in town, couldn’t wait to get out. Sterling openly appreciates all the perks that came with being a part of a local family and I admit, Sterling wears it well. Considering the perks that come with him, my friend manages to maintain minimal outside peer pressure. Family pressure is different, but school peers, he laughs in the faces of any bully or click that try to take advantage of him. Even me, he laughs in my face all the time.

The aroma reaches for me again. Oh, the juice from that tender cut ground beef dripping, soaking into the thick bun which is also covered in bits of bacon. No other sauces are needed because the balance of moisture to carbs is already perfect. Only a few crisp veggies to give it a crunch. The same crunch a handful of potato chips might give it as well.

I file away that recipe improvement for another time.

“Has that always smelled that good?” I ask.

“To me, yes,” Sterling smirks. He takes a big bite, letting the juice drip down his chin, my jaw clenches. “You see Rhydian. Levi believes in moderation.”

“In everything accept for bacon.” I correct him.

“Obviously,” Rhydian agrees.

Sterling places the burger to his mouth again, but I can’t fight it anymore. I need to know if something that smells that good, actually tastes good.

My hand reaches out before I realize it and wraps around Sterling wrist stopping him from taking his bite. In one smooth motion I set my cheesy fries down, swipe the burger out of Sterlings hands, take the biggest bite possible and the flavor explodes in my mouth.

Meat!

Not just any meat, the most flavorful meaty taste possible on Planet Earth. It sends my tastebuds into a happiness conga line, as I slowly chew.

Somewhere through my euphoria, I hear Sterling wince. I look down to see I am still holding Sterlings wrist tightly in my grip.

I release him.

“Sorry,” I say apologetically shoving his burger back into his frozen hands. He quickly takes it with his opposite hand, favoring the one I had twisted.

“How did it taste?” Rhydian asks through a laugh.

“I know why he doesn’t share it.” I state still licking the juice from my lips and teeth.

Sterling opens and closes his hand, “I don’t think you’re feeling okay.” He says, eyes trailing down to my side.

“I’m fine. I actually have more energy now.” I say, which isn’t a lie. The food may have woken me up. For the first time all day I am able to focus on what was going on around me and it was exciting again.

The racers with their horses were trotting around the perimeter of the arena. While two men in boots, college age, set up the three barrels previously knocked down. The horses tails playfully flick as the riders approach the bleacher side of the fence. That’s where my eyes stop to linger. Currently focused on the boys in the arena, a group of girls fluff their hair while whisper-giggling to each other. All except one.

Right in the middle.

One specific girl sits quietly.

Her long dark brown hair hangs loose over her shoulders, often requiring it to be tucked behind her ears. Her dark features contrast against her pale complexion. She wears a different hoodie almost every time I see her. This one is still the same rich red but it has a zipper up the front. It’s unzipped and left hanging open, revealing an abstract green T-shirt beneath. I assume it’s tucked into her light washed jeans, but she’s sitting down, so I can’t be sure. She also has a notebook on her lap and an obscure textbook on top of that.

The sleeves of her sweatshirt hang extra long, barely revealing her long slender fingertips. They trace the side of the books thick cover as she reads. A brief breeze whisks by, trying to ruffle through its pages but her fingers move undisrupted.

It’s the fingers I watch. Her nails are never outrageously long, nor are they chipped at the ends. Those nails pause, tapping the page carefully for a moment before continuing on. The words on the pages are strange, not English. More like pictures than words, and still she follows them line by line until she turns the page.

Unaware of how long I am watching my eyes follow as her index finger moves slowly up to softly scratch the bridge of her smooth nose. That’s when my eyes finally connect with hers. Crisp, clear, green eyes surrounded by thick dark lashes and angled eyebrows as she stares back at me.

An electric ripple runs through my body at her gaze, but I have to own it.

I rub my eyes like I’m trying to wake myself up, slap my face several times, then to sell it, I yawn. At the end of the yawn I turn my back completely to her and look at my feet. Hopefully the rubbing can cover up the red that flushed into my face. Though my dark skin usually hides it, my mom reminds me often it is impossible for my blushing face to go unnoticed.

I glance back at my friends to see them both looking at me wearing similar blank expressions.

“What?” I say, still trying to play it cool … if ‘cool’ is what that was.

“You got caught.” Rhydian says practically snorting.

“He was staring at her long before you got here Rhydian. It would be a miracle if this was the first time she noticed.” Sterling adds, apparently not on my side.

“I don’t know,” Rhydian sighs. “Her nose is always in a book. I would be surprised if she notices anything. Like now. Why did she even come if she is only going to study her English book?”

“It looks Chinese, maybe.” I say, glancing back over my shoulder but only enough to see the horses lining up for another charge at the barrels. Dust rolls with every step, the breeze sends clouds of it towards the bleachers. I refuse to let my eyes follow it.

“You can see the words? What kind of binoculars are you using?” Rhydian laughs.

“Better to see her with.” Sterling adds laughing along with Rhydian, and leaving me to roll my eyes.

“So what happened to you the other night? My house still smells like bleach this morning.” Rhydian says, he takes a sip of water from the plastic bottle I hadn’t noticed he’d been carrying.

“He got bit by a dog,” Sterling discloses without a second thought.

“Big dog,” I correct.

“But not a wolf,” Sterlings adds.

“Or so he says.” I glare at Sterling who avoids eye contact with me, by looking at Rhydian.

“My mother is a vet,” he explains, “I should know.”

I bite down hard on another soggy fry, “Should!” I mutter.

“So you got bit and then came and bled all over my foster parents brand new tiled floor?” Rhydian questions.

My jaw dropped, “It’s new?!”

“Mrs. Allen insists I wear clean socks every time I go into the kitchen.” My face flushes again. I promptly turned back to the fence to bury my face in my arms. “But you seem fine. I thought you’d still be in the hospital.”

“The ER doc said the first aid was good.” I explain, my voice muffled by my arms. “The wound was clean, she gave me a rabies shot and said to come back if it gets infected.”

“He’s fine, it’s Wendy that might not survive.” Sterling tacks on.

“No, Not your bronco!” Rhydian says. He hasn’t been around for long but he did pick up on details quickly. “I saw her being hooked up to an old truck last night. She didn’t look beat up.”

“That’s my mom’s friend,” I say turning my head to glance at the clock on my phone. “He runs the shop here in town. In fact, can you drop me off over there? See the damage on my girl.”

“She’s always been damaged.” Sterling adds.

“Shut up.” I say and Sterling laughs.

“Where did she go?” Rhydian asks but he wasn’t referring to Wendy. His eyes were back on the bleachers where Trinity had previously been sitting.

She’s gone.

CHAPTER END