Unparalleled

Hissy Fit

Both Seth and I
just stare at Natalia
for a moment, dance forgotten.
The offending bunch of leaves
is still dangling overhead
from her fingers as she
grins at us expectantly.
"Well?"
she says at last.
"Get on with it, already."

"Jesus, Nat,"
Seth breathes,
rolling his eyes.
"So this was your idea?
Could've stood to be
a little more original."

She throws a finger
over her lips to shush him,
but it isn't enough to keep me
from hearing his statement.
"What's going on?"
I wonder aloud to
no one in particular.
"What do you mean?
Were you planning this?"
I mean, it's pretty obvious
that she's been plotting
to get us together
all this time, but
the fact that Seth seems
in on it too, now,
worries me a little.
Apparently, now I'm
outnumbered.

"Well, it's not like
this mistletoe just appeared
out of nowhere,"
Natalia mumbles sarcastically,
rolling her eyes in
a perfect imitation of
Seth's earlier reaction to her.
"Gosh, would you two
just kiss already?
I've been waiting
long enough, you know."

And with that, my
cheeks flood with red -
finally, I guess, because
I would have expected it
this long while.
I've always blushed
way too easily,
and it's pretty annoying.
"We're not even dating,"
I protest weakly.
"You even said so
yourself earlier.
You can't just force us
to do something that we
don't want to do, okay?"
Desperately, I throw
a glance in Seth's direction,
looking for his assistance.
"Right?"

But he has that weird
expression on his face again,
the one he'd worn when
approaching me to
ask me to dance with him.
It makes my stomach churn
with butterflies and
nervousness again;
somehow, I don't think
he agrees with me.
So much for him
having my back.

"She's obviously not
going to give up,"
he sighs, turning to me.
Out of the corner of my eye,
I catch Nat vigorously
nodding her agreement.
"Let's just get it
over with."

My stomach knots up
at the sound of that,
my eyes widening.
I can't believe it -
he's actually agreeing
with Natalia?
She looks just as
surprised as me,
I see as I cast a
furtive glance in her direction,
if excited by the
prospect of us kissing.
And Seth looks
completely serious...

"W-wait!"
I protest as he
starts to lean in.
"I-I, uh, I've
never kissed anyone before,
and I d-don't know..."
I trail off into
a mumble, my cheeks
flaming even worse than before.
It doesn't help that Nat
bursts out laughing;
even Seth breaks his
cool composure to
smile a little.

"Aw, look at that,
Sethy-poo,"
she coos.
"It'll be her
first kiss.
You'd better get in there-"

"Shut up,"
he grumbles, which only
makes her laugh harder.
"You're making her
uncomfortable -
just stop."
But she doesn't stop,
and instead attempts to
push him closer to me,
which doesn't really do anything
but annoy him further.
"Seriously, Nat-"

"Why are you two
so frickin' stubborn?"
she grumbles,
cutting him off.
"It's not that hard;
I should know."

"I'm sure you would,"
Seth retorts sarcastically,
"considering how many of
the guys here you've fu-"

"Stop,"
I interrupt them both,
pulling back from Seth completely.
"Just stop, please."
His arms flop back
down to his sides as
he stares back at me,
looking both hurt and
a little confused.
I immediately feel bad,
though I don't know why, really.
It isnt like I did
anything to hurt him.
"Please don't fight over
something this stupid -
if it'll stop you guys
from trying to kill each other,
then whatever,
he can kiss me."

I immediately regret those words
as soon as they leave
my mouth.
Both Natalia and Seth
look shocked by
my proclamation -
and Seth even looks
a little hopeful, which
throws me into
even more confusion than before.
He's the first to recover,
spluttering out an,
"Are you sure?
We don't have to listen
to her, you know.
It's all right if-"

"Just get it
over with,"
I mutter, squinting
up at him.
"Before she starts
throwing a hissy fit
about it."

He looks down
at me for
a long moment,
to the point where it
starts to get
a little uncomfortable.
I can feel my hands
starting to get clammy,
my heart fluttering up
in my throat like it's
trying to escape.
I've just gotten myself in
deeper than I should be,
I realize belatedly.
There's no going
back now.

And I guess Seth
seems to think so
as well.
Before I can
mentally prepare myself
or whatever it is that
people do before kisses,
he leans in and
places a quick peck
on my lips.
"There,"
he tells Nat,
spinning back to face her.
Even so, I can see
the high color that has
risen to his cheeks,
echoing that on my own.
"You happy now?"

"That wasn't
even very exciting,"
she pouts.
"You guys are boring."

"We're not here
just for your entertainment!"
Seth protests,
throwing his hands up.
"Jeez, Natalia..."

Her eyes narrowing,
Nat sticks her tongue out
rather childishly at him
before spinning on her heel
and stalking away.
We both stare after her,
and I feel as if I've
just caused something awful.
"I should go after her
and apologize,"
I tell Seth.
"Maybe we should have just-"

"Don't bother,"
Seth sighs,
rubbing the back
of his neck.
"She'll get over it
eventually, I'm sure."

"And I'm sorry,"
I throw in before
he can say anything more.
"I shouldn't have said anything -
it was just
mistletoe or whatever-"

"It's fine."
I almost think that
he's upset with me by
his tone of voice, but then
he turns and gives me
one of his characteristic grins.
"That was my first
kiss too, by the way."

×

Hello and welcome to Meth hell y'all--

I gotta go back to work so im gonna make this quick, lol. If you guys liked this chapter, I'd very much appreciate if you would vote and leave me down feedback!! Have a fabulous Saturday, everyone.