Thanks to Music [complete]

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

I saw him from my table in the canteen, thoroughly disgusted as he openly flirted with a few chicks with his arms casually slung around two of them. Trying not to look desperate as I glanced at him a few times, satisfaction flooded through me when I caught him looking more than once. It was all Matt, Mackenzie and Josh could do not to smirk.

Josh had his arm around my shoulders, and the four of us were more plotting Julien's downfall than chatting about useless things. I was honestly enjoying myself, leading my ex-boyfriend on, and I was curious to know how far it would go.

So far, I'd made sure to glance at him several times, do simple things like laugh a bit louder than usual, toss my hair when he was around, turn my head to look at him like the hard to get chick I was, and more. He hadn't made any move or reaction since, and it irritated me, but my friends urged me to be patient for the sake of revenge.

The only thing I didn't share with them were my feelings in the elevator, how they practically poured out of me when he cornered me against the wall and kissed me so innocently. I felt his feelings in that kiss, and it both scared and confused me. I thought I was over him, but I think those two years we spent apart, I was just used to it.

It scared me to no end that I might not be over him, that I might really still love him. I didn't want to, but sometimes you just couldn't control your feelings, as was me. The plan at the moment was to egg him on, play hard to get, give up trying to act like I wasn't affected by his advances, get together, then dump his ass. I was absolutely certain I could do that last bit, but I didn't know whether I could pretend that I wasn't affected when I was. And I could be a bad liar when I was nervous.

After that kiss, I was so shaken, I refused to even look at him. In fact, every time he was around, I really just wanted to hit him in the balls. Then I began to lighten up, and that's when Operation Fight Fire With Fire kicked in. Unfortunately, that was also when I began to realize I might still have feelings for him.

The question was, what would I do if I did?

My thoughts were interrupted when he came to our table. Whether or not it'd been in the plan, I ignored him, slurping up my Coke instead as he said, "Hey, guys."

"Hey..." came the meek, echoed reply from my friends.

Then he turned to me. "Hey, Jamie, umm..." he stuttered, running a hand through his hair the way he always did when he was nervous and unsure. Some things just don't change, I thought, picking at the ice in my paper cup with my straw.

"Done flirting around, Julien?" I asked mildly, picking up an ice tube with the straw and putting it in my mouth. As I crunched down on it, Matt and Mackenzie began a private conversation while Josh glared at Julien, but I think that was genuine.

Julien blinked at me, and I waited for the sharp coldness of the ice to fill my mouth before speaking again. "None of the juniors interested in your one week flings anymore? Shame."

A vein prominently pulsed in his neck, and I secretly delighted in it. Maybe that was uncalled for, I thought with no hint of regret as I saw Matt raise an eyebrow at me as if to say, what are you doing? I may still have feelings for him, but that didn't mean I wasn't still mad.

"Apparently," he said finally, a cold edge to his voice. "Listen, I was wondering if..."

"You know when I said 'juniors', I included myself," I added, dropping another piece of ice into my mouth, relishing the effect it had, while I fixed Julien with a neutral expression.

He was staring at me, wide-eyed, jaw slightly open, obviously shocked at my answer. I was never like this with him before, so clearly this was a new side to him, but then again, I never knew he could be this much of a dick, so we were even.