Blinded by Limerence

49 | The Bad Guy

Addison

"Y'know, Han," I said, crossing my arms over my chest, "I've had this headache that comes and goes, and would ya look at that—" I narrowed my eyes at her as though to underline my statement "—here it is again!"

She flicked her pretty blonde hair back and rolled her eyes. "Nice to see you, too, Addison."

"What do you want?" I asked, apropos of nothing, irate for some reason. I didn't know why, but I had this strong urge that hounded me to succumb to violence and hit the girl—I choose to blame it on the alcohol.

I eyed her up and down—Hanna was dressed in a cream over-sized sweater that hung loosely around her neck, her tanned collarbones visible. Her ripped jeans went nicely with the sweater, and the ankle boots topped it all off.

I hated to admit it, but she looked really good.

...but there was something off about her—something odd. It was like something's changed her; something's changed within her. She was radiating a different aura, emitting a different vibe than usual. Something was up, but I just couldn't put my finger on it.

"I need to talk to your brother," she said urgently, and as if I didn't understand her at first, she added, "Archer."

I scoffed. "What makes you think I'll let you talk to Archer?"

Hanna's ice cold stare pierced right through me as she leaned in and raised an eyebrow. "Need I remind you that I'm not the bad guy here?" she said with contempt. "It was Morgan who betrayed me, you who exposed her, your brother who dumped me for her. If anything, I'm the victim here!"

I couldn't believe my ears. Well, yeah, okay—she had a point, but I still have the right to hate her guts, and she can't stop me. Free will and all that.

"Stop playing the victim, Han," I deadpanned. "He dumped you—the sooner you learn to accept that, the sooner you can move on."

"Look," said Hanna firmly, beginning to look desperate, "it's not like I'm asking you to set me up with him. I just want to talk to him. Please."

I rolled my eyes at her pleading ones before sighing in defeat. "Okay, fine," I gave in. 

I opened the door, and Archer immediately caught my stare, as though he was anticipating this. I beckoned for him to come out, and luckily, Morgan was too engrossed in her performance of 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies' to notice. Trevor and Chase, however, eyed me and Archer's retreating back weirdly as the latter stepped out.

"What's up—" Archer cut himself off the moment he spotted Hanna standing there fidgeting with her over-sized sleeves. "H-Hanna," he stammered.

"Hey," she said softly, avoiding eye contact.

"Alright, I'm gonna leave," I said before walking back into our karaoke room.

As soon as I stepped back in, Chase grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side. "What the heck was that?!" he whisper-yelled, his eyes wide with curiosity and disbelief. "Did I just see—Hanna?"

"Okay, lower your voice," I hissed, nervously eyeing Morgan, who was absentmindedly beginning to select a new song. "No need to alarm the other two." I nodded towards Trevor who seemed to be moving the tip of his finger down a certain page of the song book, Morgan giggling drunkenly next to him.

"Why did Hanna crash our party?" whispered Chase with a panicked expression on his face.

"She wanted to talk to Archer," I answered, surprisingly calm.