Playing The Player

Chapter 4

Welcome back ^~^ How were your M&Ms? And Skittles? Just an FYI, Skittles tie to this chapter and you're going to see why..
Enjoy!

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~*CHAPTER 4*~

At first, Adelaide thought she could handle the car ride if she stayed silent, trying to forget the fact that Julian was sitting right next to her, with nothing but the console between them to separate their seats.

She thought that if she busied herself with other things, like poring over the car's interior- noting the slightly greasy dashboard, the crumbs caught on the frizzy floor mat, the fact that the speedometer wasn't working (it really wasn't)- she could distract herself enough to forget his rather obnoxious presence.

It was, however, a lot more difficult than Adelaide had expected.

If only her mother wasn't too overprotective and had bought her a phone before her condition- she would busy herself with that. She could have plugged in her earphones and scrolled through an electronic copy of a book she liked. Of course she wouldn't be texting her best friends; it's not like she had any anyway. She wasn't even sure which group she fitted in most- jocks, nerds, bullies, the bullied, the popular kids- in school. She loved reading, and naturally, graduating high school with a high GPA was her top priority. She was organized, and mostly a perfectionist- she even made lists about making lists!

Did that make her a nerd? She's clueless, and no one can blame her- who is she to judge? She doesn't keep close tabs on the social circle, much rather tabs at all.

Either way, she would have found some sort of entertainment.

Even better (or worst), Julian was singing along to a Paramore album- and his singing was horrid.

Five minutes in and he was already driving her insane. "Dick, please stop singing."

He sent her a sideways glance before grinning a maniac grin and belting out the lyrics of For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic even louder than before.

Adelaide never thought that she could feel so much hatred for one person at that moment. She glared at him, wondering if her ears would bleed to death just by hearing his tone-deaf screeching. And even if they didn't, Adelaide wouldn't be surprised if her auditory sense had been permanently impaired.

When it became clear that there was no way Adelaide could force Julian to stop singing as long as she showed the slightest bit of annoyance, she pursed her lips together and looked out the window instead.

There was something nagging at both of them since the start of the insanely crazy day, although they refused to acknowledge it completely. They could feel it, though, as the events of the ride played back in their heads. It was like they had so much in common- and they identified them already- their short tempers and mutual hatred for each other. They could see why they would clash like two cars colliding with each other, casualties be damned.

But if they were even the slightest bit similar, did that mean that Adelaide was just as insufferable?

Well, at least I'm not a terrible singer, Adelaide thought.

"Turn left here." Her voice had lost the fight in it. Ignoring Julian's singing (if one could even call it that) had sucked all the energy out of her.

Julian owed her big-time, even if Adelaide had a benefit from this experience.

It seemed like they had been together for hours, although it had only been about fifteen minutes.

Just the thought of having to stay with Julian one more hour made Adelaide want to moan pitifully to herself. It was that bad, and possibly worse. It was hard enough to keep fighting the terrible hallucinations brought about by his singing, which she was sure would haunt her long after they've parted ways- hopefully, forever.