Secondary Characters

In one of my excerpts, featuring Tyler, I introduce a secondary character that I don't introduce properly. I wanted to take a moment now and explain. Lacey is the catalyst that causes Jessie to finally leave Tyler, and she becomes Tyler's next girlfriend. Though he is very abusive to her, and her relationship with Tyler ends very tragically, Lacy is only a secondary character. When writing her into the story, I wanted to add a little about her past so that you would understand her better. For instance, why would anybody in their right mind choose to date a guy that has plead guilty to assault to avoid domestic violence charges? I wanted to make sure that everybody understood how she was abused and the way that affected her choices. Hopefully I haven't confused anybody with an unaccounted for character.

An Excerpt From "Cross Roads" By Christie Chambless

Tyler was getting impatient again, May had come, and still he hadn’t had a chance to carry out his plans. Jessie was still breathing, and he was still stuck with Lacey. That was not how he’d planned for his life to go, he was supposed to be the popular guy with the hot head cheerleader at his beck and call. Things were screwed up bad now, but maybe they could still improve enough for him to get his life back. He had just finished submitting roughly two dozen applications for scholarships through different schools and government programs across the country. He was almost positive that there were at least three schools that wanted him, maybe he could shake the hick dust off his shoes and have a chance to be the star he always knew he could be.

His hopes were the only thing keeping him from running Jessie Stanton off the road and down the steep hill on Olympic Highway. She was often down town at the library late, and he had fantasized about seeing her heavy steel framed car going through the flimsy barrier and soaring down into a fiery inferno at the bottom of the steep hillside. He wondered idly if he would have time to roast a marshmallow over her burning hulk before the stupid cops got there. The police station was only a few blocks from the bottom of the hill, but they were so incompetent that they’d probably get lost on the way.

He spent most of his time glued to the spy cams that he’d hidden in Jessie’s room, making hundreds of D.V.D.’s, he had her in every stage of undress, form as many angles as his limited cameras allowed, all the times she got undressed or showered were all cut together in different ways, ways that pleased him. He wasn’t completely satisfied with the amount of time she spent there anymore. She was always out with that stupid prick Toby, he knew she was giving it up to him, probably two or three times a day, the stupid little slut. Every time his thoughts turned down this path, he turned them right back around with thoughts of Jessie begging for mercy. That always put a smile on his face, that and picturing her bruised and battered body burning merrily in a dumpster.

On this day, in early May, Tyler was with Lacey. He didn’t really want to be here with her, but all the other girls looked at him funny now. Jessie had apparently spread her infuriating lies around the entire town, and he’d get her for that. Lacey was whining about something again, and he knew that she wanted him to ask her what was wrong, but he just didn’t care.

“Did you hear me honey?” She asked timidly. He turned and looked her directly in the face, and she cringed. He pulled his fist back and punched her in the chest. She recoiled, but she knew better then to scream anymore, he had taught her well so far.

“No, and I don’t care either. Shut up and get your clothes off whore.” He ordered cruelly. She cringed again, but started to strip hastily. She knew that he would hit her again if she didn’t move when he told her to.

He might think her servile attitude was the result of his good training, but in truth, it was the work of all the men that came in and out of her mother’s life. None of them had ever been nice to her, and most had been cruel. Deliberately withholding the love that she so desperately craved, grooming her to be the substitute girlfriend when her mother was unable or unwilling to give them what they wanted.

The first time, she had only been eleven, and her mother’s boyfriend Lenny had started by “educating” her about her new role. Telling her exactly what would be required of her, if she wanted him to love her. He told her that this was how daddies taught their daughters to be women. The way that he explained it, it actually sounded like something that every good dad did for his daughter, if he loved her. He had talked to her about it again and again for almost three months, until she’d practically begged him to help her learn.

After the shocking reality of what had happened to her had sunk in, she’d tried to tell her mom, but he had talked his way out of trouble. He had convinced her mom that she had been the one that had seduced him, and her mom believed him. Part of the reason it had worked so well for Lenny, was the fact that she knew she had begged him to do it. That, and the fact that her mom a hundred dollar a day methamphetamine monkey on her back, and just didn’t have the presence of mind to protect her vulnerable young daughter.

Excerpts From "Cross Roads" By Christie Chambless

Caleb reached down and swept her up into his arms. He carried her easily across his room to the bed and laid her head gently on the pillow. He gazed down at her, and he could see the hunger in her eyes. Katie reached up and yanked Caleb’s shirt off, she ran her fingers greedily over his bare chest lingering on his nipples. Her lips found his and they kissed urgently.

She pulled away and her lips found their way to his neck and on down to his shoulder and then his chest. Caleb moaned low, and pulled her lips back to his. He reached down and pulled experimentally at the hem of her shirt.

He was trying desperately to remember what he told her before they got out of his car… a million years ago(about stopping if she wasn't ready). She was still right there with him though, pulling her shirt off impatiently for him.

Caleb stared at her beautiful creamy skin for a half a second before he let his lips find their way to the hollow at the base of her throat, then down to her fair chest. Her body almost vibrated with the current that coursed through it.

Always giving her the opportunity to say no, he sat her up and reached slowly around her to unclasp her bra. Her breath was ragged as he caressed her naked breasts, her heart pounded furiously in her chest. She gasped and then groaned as his lips found her nipples. She couldn’t bear it any more, she reached down and fumbled with the button on his jeans.

He saw what she was after and gently pushed her hands out of the way. His hands were shaking slightly as he unbuttoned his jeans and slid out of them.

“This is very new for me,” he told her shyly, looking at a spot on the floor to avoid her eyes. “I’ve never done this before.”

She waited until he looked up at her again before she said, “Neither have I… and I’m glad that it’s going to be with you, Caleb.”

She seemed genuinely confident, not nervous or frightened at all. Caleb envied her that, he himself felt very anxious. He worried briefly that he might hurt her. He had heard that the first time for a girl could be painful.

He didn’t have the chance to worry long. Her lips found his again and as her hands roamed over his chest and down his stomach, he was completely involved. Her fingers trembled slightly as they followed the soft thatch of hair down the center of his stomach, but she never hesitated.

Caleb had never dreamed that something could feel so good without making him explode. The way it felt when she touched him, skin to skin, so intimately, so sure of herself, no stress or fear.

She was definitely fearless tonight. His lips found her nipple again and she moaned. She pulled his lips back to hers and he caressed her bare back. She pulled him closer for a moment, then abruptly pushed him away.

He sat back startled, “Did I do something wrong?” She stared at him appraisingly, then smiled as she stood up and slid out of her skirt.

“No… You’re doing everything very right.” She said breathlessly. She pushed him back on the bed and straddled him with her beautifully long dancers legs. Legs he had admired every time he had seen her dance ballet.

Caleb gasped and pulled her face down to his. “Are you sure about this?” He asked, his breathing ragged and fast. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop once they started, and he needed to know that she was positive.