I Hate You . . . I Think

Sobs and Blame

Vi hugs me and cries even harder.

“Thanks for backup dude,” Seth says and gives him a man hug thing. “Do you mind getting a ride home with someone else? I’m going to take the girls home.”

“Yeah, see you later Seth.” Tuckett disappears into the crowd of people. 

“Let’s go,” Seth mumbles. He helps me lead a hysterical Vi through the crowds. When we get to the car I crawl into the middle of the truck and pull Vi in with me. She grips onto my arm and slowly starts to calm down. I her Seth’s door open and the sparks return when the whole right side of his body pushes up against mine. 

The car rumbles to life and it is completely silent except for the sound of Vi’s sniffling and awkward post sob hiccups. Seth is obviously pissed off because his knuckles are completely white where he is gripping the steering wheel. Within ten minutes Vi is passed out in my arms.

“What the hell were you thinking?”Seth whispers angrily.

“Excuse me?” I ask, shocked that he is angry at me.

“Do you know some of the people who show up at some of Parker’s parties? They are sketchy people! You shouldn’t have been there and you should have known better!”

“Are you seriously blaming me for what happened with those assholes?!” I practically screech. Vi shifts in my arms and we stay silent for a couple seconds before arguing again.

“If you had not gone to Parker’s party, then it never would have happened!” he whispers.

“Are you always such an idiot? I have gone to some of his parties and I have every right to be at Parker’s as you do! Where do you get off on telling me what to do?!” Seth doesn’t answer me, but just sits in his seat and sulks. The sparks are still flowing throughout my arm, but I ignore them. I don’t care if he was the hottest guy in the world . . . which I’m not saying he is. The guy is acting like a complete ass. I can feel the start of tears in the corners of my eyes, but I take some gulps of air and am able to push them back. I hate crying in front of other people and rarely do it. Crying in front of Seth is not an option.

We pull up to Vi’s house and we all get out. Seth raises his eyebrows at me but I just ignore him. It’s non of his business what I am doing. Seth carries Vi up the sidewalk and hands his key to me. I unlock the door and we all slip inside. We sneak up the stairs and into Vi’s room. He lies her down on the queen sized bed and I move to sit down on the other side of it. I pull off my converse and toss them down onto the floor before letting out a sigh. I run my hands over my face and want nothing more than to fall asleep right now.

When I look up Seth is standing by the door with his arms crossed over his chest and one eyebrow raised. Man, if I had a camera . . . oh for the love of god. The guy is a complete jackass who loves to blame everything that he can on me.

“Am I driving you home?” he asks.

“No, I’ll stay here with Vi tonight. See if I have to do any best friend stuff in the morning when she wakes up and possibly freaks out.” 

He nods, but does not make a move to leave. I make a shooing motion with me hands, but he still doesn’t leave. I sigh and move over to Vi’s dresser to find some pajamas that I can borrow. Before I reach the dresser, a large hand encloses my wrist. My skin jolts and I whip my head around to look into mint green eyes . . . that belong to my enemy . . . who is less than two feet away. 

“I’m sorry for blaming you. I wasn’t trying to be an ass.”

What is it with him and apologizing lately. I’m actually sort of impressed that he is mature enough to even admit that he is wrong. First about his stripper comment and now for yelling at me. My heart can’t help but flutter a tiny bit at his apology. 

“Well I know that it is hard for you because it’s in your nature.” I shrug my shoulders. I swear that I see a hint of a smile around his mouth at my comment.

“Yeah, well . . .” he rubs the back of his neck and then runs his fingers through his hair. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that he is nervous, but he never has been that way around me before. I internally scoff at myself. Of course he’s not nervous. The guy hates me . . . but then why is acting sweet all of the sudden.

“I’ll go then.” He turns around and is about to head out the door when he moves back around with a smirk on his lips. “Oh, and if you’re nice and don’t turn any kids into toads this week, I’ll try to have Betty done as early as possible and not push it off. You know, because that is how much I like you.”

And the jerk is back.

I grab Vi’s pillow at his head, but he ducks just in time before running out of the room and down the hallway. I hurry over to the window and open it before leaning out. He comes out of the door and heads for his truck.

“Her name is Betsy!” I shout loud enough to hear, but not enough to wake up Vi’s parents. I can hear his laugh all the way up to her room and I can’t help but smile. 

I love the sound of that guy’s laugh.

Help me, someone.