Young Writers Society

Okay, so, here we go again. Rosethorn and I have decided to write another story together. This one will not be in the same category as the other, and like the other story it is mostly a collaboration between the two of us. If you'd like to join the story, please send a message to either Rosethorn or me telling us about your character and your plans for them.

Thanks.



And here it is...


Chasing Sirens

Trent clocked himself out, and stepped outside. He reached in his coat pocket to find his cigarettes.

“Hey,” a car pulled up beside him. Claire leaned over the passenger seat. “You want a ride home?”

Without answering, he got in the car.

“Missed you at school today.”

“Uh, yeah, I had another shift to cover. What did I miss?”

“Like you care,” she smirked. Then her eyebrows knitted together as she got a better look at him. “Trent, you look awful.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“I’m serious. Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just a little tired. I worked two shifts today, Claire.”

“You don’t have to get so defensive.”

Trent sighed. “I told you I was tired. I’ve been kind of on edge all day.” He leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes.

Claire wasn’t convinced but didn’t dare take the conversation further. Trent was real testy these days. “Get some sleep when you get home, okay? It’s really not good for you to skip out on it so much and soon it’s going to catch up to you. And show up to school every now and then, will you? You’ll be working here at Jim’s for the rest of your life if you drop out.”

Trent nodded in acknowledgement, not agreement. Claire could be such a nag, and he was sure she knew it. No use pointing it out; she’d only nag more.

Claire was the only person Trent did not ask to drop him off a few blocks away from the mobile park. Not only because she would have refused to do so, but because she was one of the only people Trent felt he could trust.

The car pulled to a stop. “Here we are.”

“Thanks. I’ll give you some money for gas when I get my check at the end of the week.”

“Don’t start that. I don’t want your money.”

“I don’t care what you want. I’m giving you a little bit of cash for doing me these favors.”

Claire turned off the car and turned to face Trent. “Look, these aren’t favors. I’m your friend. Is it so bad to want to help a friend out?”

“You drive me to work and back every other day, Claire. You give me lunch money, you do half my homework, hell, you’ve even bought Alec’s formula before—“

“Trent Nathaniel Taylor, I refuse to hear another word of this, just as I’ll refuse any money you think you owe me.”

“Fine,” Trent threw his hands up in defeat. “I actually don’t have time to argue. Mom is getting ready for work right now and I need to watch Alec.”
“I’m going to ignore that, since I specifically told you to sleep when you get home.”

Trent shrugged. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and Alec will just watch cartoons the whole time.”

“I’d stay and help out, but mom wants me to go over some college crap with me.”

“You’ve done enough Claire.”

Claire started up the car as Trent got out. “Believe me, you’d be doing me a favor if I could get out of it. But I can’t. See you at school tomorrow?”

“Sure. I’ll be there.”

Trent walked into the house, the aroma of cigarettes was strong. It made him crave one, but he tried not to add to the smoke Alec already inhaled on a daily basis. His mother walked out of the kitchen.

"You're late." She scolded.

"I got here as quick as I could." He snapped back.

"Well, I'm about to be late now."

Trent rolled his eyes. He never did anything quite to her liking. She began to complain about only God knows what when he decided to ignore her. He walked over to the couch where Alec was sitting and sat next to him. Alec looked over at his brother and smile before he went back to watching Spongebob.

"Did you hear me?" His mom suddenly came close to shouting.

"What?"

"Geez, Trent, listen to me, will you?" She started "I'm going out after work, so you'll have Alec longer."

"I have school."

"I won't be out that long." She replied rudely.

"Sure." He said, rolling his eyes.

She slammed the door and left.


Trent sat and watched television with his brother, dozing off every now and then. By the middle of the fourth show he heard a knock at the door.

"Damn it, Claire." He muttered under his breath.

He opened the door, surprised to see Nich. Nich's lanky frame stood awkwardly while holding a baby. His baby.

"Hey," Trent started, "Come in."

"Thanks, man." Nich said.

"What's the story this time?"

"Ahh," Nich began, "Cory's on one of her kicks again. She kicked me out."

"Wait. She kicked you out of your own place?"

"Yeah, I didn't feel like fighting her. She's out of it this time, man. So, I grabbed Adrie and got outa there."

"Still into that shit, is she?"

"Never stopped. Lucky the kid's alright."

"Is she hungry, or does she still take the tit?"

"I made Cory stop that. Didn't need her and the kid hooked. I had just fed her before Cory kicked me out."

"Oh," Trent looked at him a minute, "You can stay here for a little bit if you need to, nothing special here, and the couch isn't too comfortable, but it's open."

"Nah, just give her a couple hours. She'll let me back in, I just needed to get my kid out of the cold."

Trent looked over at the couch. Alec was asleep. He carried him to the back bedroom and talked with Nich for a while, but he knew he needed to get sleep, and soon.