Taylor couldn’t take his eyes off the girl. She was beautiful. She walked slowly, reading some old book. She was wearing loose black clothing, and army boots.
“Earth to Taylor…” Zac was hitting Taylor on the arm. He looked at his younger brother.
“What?” He said crossly.
“What are you staring at? That weird looking trip over there?”
“Shut up, Zac.” Taylor rolled his and eyes and looked for the girl again, but she was out of sight. He cursed under his breath. He wondered where she went. He looked up to see what his father was saying. It was time to move on. They all piled into the van. Taylor leaned on the window, hoping he would catch a glimpse of the girl, but he couldn’t see her anywhere.
Taylor walked through the hall nervously. He knew he could smell smoke. He didn’t see smoke from anywhere. There was a small window open near the back of the building. He stepped out the back door. He saw a girl with long dark hair and black clothes kneeling over a small fire. She didn’t look up when he stepped out, concentrating on her fire. Taylor recognized her as the beautiful girl from earlier. He watched her for a moment. He was startled when she looked up at him. She had smoky blue-gray eyes framed in heavy black eye makeup. She cast him a glare, and looked back down at her fire.
“What do you want?” She asked in a soft voice.
“Nothing. I just smelled smoke.”
“That’s not surprising.”
“Sarcasm is always an attractive quality.”
“I have to agree with you there.”
“What’s your name?”
“I don’t recall asking you to stay.”
“I don’t recall you asking me to leave.”
“Don’t mess with me, prick.” Taylor tried not to laugh. He liked her already.
Taylor continued to stand and pester the girl in black. She would look up periodically and glare at him. He just figured it was a quiet way of flirting. After a while, she finally put out her fire.
“What were you burning?” Taylor asked, following her down an alley.
“That’s none of your damn business. And why are you following me?”
“Because you’re cute and interesting?”
“That’s disgusting, I don’t want to be cute.” Taylor grinned.
“I see how you’re doing this.”
“Doing what?” The girl asked, stopping in her tracks.
“The whole thing where you make me want you even worse.”
“What the fuck?”
“Don’t pretend you aren’t!”
“Get the hell away from me!” The girl began to storm down the alley. There was a voice calling.
“Mary! Where are you, girl? Get down here now!” A woman said. The girl Taylor was following looked up.
“So that’s your name, Mary?” He said, catching up. She gave him another glare and ran up to the backdoor of a house.
“Sit. Stay,” She said, with heavy sarcasm in her voice. Taylor watched her depart. He just knew she wanted him.
The next morning, Taylor snuck out of the house they were renting, and ran down the alley. He knocked on Mary’s backdoor. A little boy came to the door. He looked up at Taylor with the same blue-gray eyes his sister had.
“Can I see Mary please?” Taylor said, leaning over to be at eye level with the boy. He stared at Taylor, then turned around and went back into the house. Taylor waited about five minutes, and was about to leave, when the backdoor flew open.
“What are you doing here?” Mary said, outraged. Taylor smiled at her.
“I wanted to see you.”
“You came to my house? You’re psycho!” She exclaimed.
“Do you want to go somewhere?” Taylor persisted. Mary looked as though she was about to protest, when a smile came over her face. Taylor though he had struck gold.
“Hey, can I show you something?” She said, coyly.
“Sure!” Taylor said happily. Mary stuck her head in the door, and told her mother she was leaving. Then she took off further down the alley. They walked about ten minutes, and came to an old fence. There weren’t any people living in the run-down houses for blocks. Taylor’s heart began to pound. They were isolated. Mary stepped through a loose flap in the fence. She motioned for Taylor to follow. There was a small, dilapidated, shack, in the middle of the small area. Mary struggled with the rusty door, yanking it open. She smiled at Taylor, flirtatiously. Taylor looked at her, puzzled. “Go in,” She said.
“Why?” Taylor said, looking at her. She just smiled in the best reassuring smile she had.
“Trust me, Taylor.” She said. Taylor shrugged and stepped into the shed. It was dark, and his eyes tried to adjust to the lack of light. He turned around with a start, as the shed door was slammed shut. He heard the lock being clicked into place on the outside.
“Mary! This isn’t funny! Let me out, please!” Taylor banged on the door. There was nothing heard from outside. Taylor stood still for a minute, maybe she was just playing some weird game with him. Then he began to smell smoke. He looked in horror as flames began to creep under the edge of the shed. He screamed and pounded on the door. He kicked it with all his might, but it wouldn’t open. Tears begin to form, combining his fear with the smoke.
“Please, someone let me out!” Taylor’s lungs began to fill with smoke, and he coughed. His eyes stung and he couldn’t see. And no one noticed the smile on a girl’s face as she thought to herself, burn, baby, burn.