Tell Me What You Hate About Me

43: Tell Me What You Want To Hear

The silence that followed was an uncomfortable one, and before anyone could make another comment about what Dominic said about me, I changed the subject. "Well, if we're going to die here, I might as well say some stuff I never thought I would too."

Jack and Sierra had been looking at Dominic, but they turned their attention to me. Of course that did the trick. Who didn't want to hear me say something semi-serious for once?

"I'm never gonna be what my mom wants me to be. And I don't even care. I have plenty of time to worry about that. Right now, I just want to care about the talisman." I glanced over at the door to make sure Harvey didn't burst into the room, and when he didn't, I sat down next to Jack. "Isn't that what college is for anyway? Figuring yourself out?"

"I mean, not exactly in the sense that you're—"

I shushed Jack. "Don't lecture me right now. It's very possible that we're all about to die a slow, painful death because no one outside of this room would notice if we're gone."

"What? I have other friends besides you," Jack said.

Then where the hell were they?

"That's not true. If you could do better than Lindsay, you wouldn't be here," Dominic said.

Jack didn't reply to that. I definitely didn't want him to, either.

"Well, if you're gonna be a jerk, why don't we circle back to the fact that you can't do better than Lindsay? Weren't you just saying that you caught the feels so badly that it looked like what we all thought 2012 was gonna be like outside?" Sierra glanced over at me and nodded. "I got you, girl."

Did she though? Did she really got me?

"2012? You thought the world was actually going to end in 2012?" Dominic asked.

Sierra nodded. "Everyone did."

"Everyone with an IQ less than fifty did—" Dominic began, but Sierra cut him off.

"Quit deflecting and answer the real question."

Dominic didn't answer the real question. Instead, he sat down next to me and crossed his arms.

Because pouting about a situation that we caused was very helpful. I shook my head. Maybe my mother was right about exactly one thing.

Maybe that conversation was better left alone until we were in a better situation, but before I could open my mouth to tell him that he didn't have to answer, he began to talk.

"It was the weirdest thing. You'd think I would be used to weird at this point after stalking Lindsay every single time she was about to get herself into trouble with the talisman, but it's still not normal. But when I sat down with her that day, everything felt normal and peaceful and calm until suddenly it didn't, and it was disgusting."

Disgusting? Rude.

"You know, ever since my parents' marriage was ruined by Tiffany, it's like I don't have any reason to believe in any of this shit, and that's what makes everything so difficult," Dominic continued.

I sat up straight at the mention of her name. Tiffany, the homewrecking bitch, as Dominic so affectionately caller her, was finally being added into the equation.

"What shit? And what everything?" I asked.

Dominic shook his head. "Don't make me say it."

"I said it. Are you really not as brave and tough as me?"

Jack laughed, and I tried to hold back a small smile. Everyone thought they were so tough with knives and talismans in their pockets, but wasn't everyday brave much more useful?