Friendship for Dummies

Chapter Eight

            And let me tell you, she doesn’t get out a lot.

            “Seriously, Connor, what is your problem?” I ask, shooting him a glare to rival his own. “Why are you being like this to me? I haven’t done anything to you!”

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His eyes remain glued to the road ahead.

            “Oh, sure,” I say. “How about the way you cause a huge argument every time we come within three feet of each other? And hitting me with that dodgeball earlier – was that really necessary?”

            “It’s dodgeball,” he answers, speaking as if I’m mentally challenged. “That’s the point of the game.”

            “You’re not supposed to throw it at my head!”

            “You were fine.”

            “You gave me a bloody nose!”

            He doesn’t have any response. Instead, he just rolls his eyes, which infuriates me even further.

            “And it’s not just that, either. The way you acted in front of all those girls earlier. You’re so argumentative and moody around me, but for them you put on this great big flirty act. And you didn’t have to come out with that crap about the past in front of them.”

            “I’ll say what I want,” he says, tightening his grip on the steering wheel as he comes to the end of the street and rounds the corner, “and I don’t care what you think.”

            “And in the cafeteria?” I challenge, as I think back to lunch today. The memory’s still clear in my head, vivid as ever. Ava and I had been sitting at our usual table, minding our own business whilst deep in discussion about the hot senior transfer student she’d seen in the hallway after first period. It had been completely normal up until that point, but then Connor had made an exaggerated display of striding past our table and ignoring me, when just moments before he’d been making eye contact and flirting with pretty much every female in the room. And, to top it all off, when Charlotte had waved him over to the A-list table, he’d accepted her offer loudly, ensuring everyone heard his comment about “getting away from this table”.

            “What about it? I went to sit with Charlotte. Is that a crime?”

            “No, but it’s the way you act with all of them. I can see right through it. It’s so fake, the way you laugh along with them and flirt almost constantly. You don’t have to make eye contact and smirk at every female you see.”

            If I’m honest, I don’t know why that’s getting me so riled up. What has Connor’s incessant flirting got to do with me? Nothing, really, but it still irritates me beyond belief. The arrogant way he was talking to Sophie, Jade and the other girls in the hall was just the start of it. There’s no reason for me to care, but still I feel ravenous for any tiny reason to hate Connor even more.

            “Jealous?” he taunts.

            I probably should’ve known that was coming. “No,” I retort, folding my arms over my chest and staring ahead stubbornly.

            “Yeah, right.” His voice is dripping with sarcasm.

            A pause follows, in which silence consumes the inside of the car. It’s uncomfortable and possesses an almost stifling quality. I tense, waiting for it to be broken; something has to shatter the awkwardness at one point or another. What I’m not expecting, however, is exactly how this is done.