Love to Hate You

Chapter Sixteen

“Reese!”

I sigh heavily and look back up Justin’s driveway at Sean who’s waving his hand to get my attention. Stopping, I drop my skateboard to the ground and wait for him to catch up with me.

“Hey,” he says. The greeting is unnecessary but I repeat it back to him all the same, looking down at my board and rocking it with my feet when I do, “I’m really sorry about bringing up Laney. I tried really hard to keep it under wraps, but you saw how well that worked,” he gives me a lopsided smile and then continues, “He had the biggest crush on her before you, but she wouldn’t give him the time of day. She’s real shy—blushed a lot when she came to talk to me.”

I nod, and shrug my shoulders indifferently, “Yeah, I get it. You don’t have to apologize to me every second you have a chance. It wasn’t your fault, it was mine,” I frown, “I just get jealous easy, you know? I’m afraid he’ll get bored of me and dump me.”

Sean rubs the back of his neck and looks down, his glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose as he does so.

“You don’t understand. I do have to apologize. I told you he’d leave you, I made that fear. I’m really sorry about it. I don’t want you worrying about that all of the time.” He explains and then kneels down to set his board on the ground beside mine. When he stands up he’s fidgeting with the notebook that has all of the lyrics the boys came up with this morning. I glance back up at the garage where Justin is leaning against the frame of the open garage entry watching Sean and I. There is a glint of curiosity and I can tell that I’m not the only one who gets easily jealous.

“It’s okay Sean, I promise. Just stop apologizing all of the time. I don’t want you worrying about it either.” I tell him, my eyes tearing away from Justin to look back at Sean.

“Okay,” he mumbles.

“Okay,” I repeat and give him a small smile before stepping on my skateboard and pushing away. Great, I got that taken care of. Now, I must find out the details of complicated relationship number two: Alex and Stephanie.

~*~

Not seeing any cars in Stephanie’s driveway, I almost skip going to Stephanie’s but figure I’ll give it a try anyway. Standing on her porch, I bang my fist rapidly against the pale yellow door and don’t stop until someone pulls it open—and I’m glad it’s Stephanie.

She looks at me, puzzled. She’s still in her pajamas, which are childish despite her change in style. Her hair is loose with no braids and her feet clad in light pink slippers.

“Um, hi?” she greets me, looking wary and half sleepy even though it’s eleven thirty in the morning.

Unable to contain it, I bounce up in down the way she usually does and get this ridiculous smile on my face.

“You owe me an explanation!” I say giddily, peeking over her shoulder “Is anyone home?”

She raises an eyebrow. Gosh, it’s like we’ve switched roles or something. It’s freaking me out, especially when she tells me that nobody is home but her and cautiously pulls the door open a little wider to let me in.

“I’m tired,” she tells me after closing the door and rubbing her eyes, “Exams are next week and I’ve been studying nonstop.”

I nod my head, agreeing with her statement, but won’t let her get me off topic and smile broadly when I say one word, “Alex.”

Her eyes widen and her cheeks flush instantly. She’s almost unable to hold down a smile so she turns away from me and walks to the kitchen. I follow her and lean against the white countertops as she pulls a glass from a cabinet and pours orange juice in it. I’ve been in her house before, but that doesn’t stop my eyes from darting around the kitchen while I wait for her. Her mom has this thing for flowers. From floral wallpaper to washcloths—I’m surrounded.