"Hey, Cerbie," I whisper as I walk quietly to the gates of Hell. His heads jolt up, six eyes instantly narrowing. Once he sees it's me, though, he's all smiles and start wagging his tails and trying to jump on me. "Shh!" I hiss at him.
I really, really, don't want to run into Sheldon or Will right about now. I don't want to put up with Will's predictable apologies or Sheldon's ramblings about how I should've come home on time. They can both stuff it for all I care.
I pat Cerberus on one of his his black, furry heads so he doesn't feel neglected, and push the gates open. I start the walk up the smooth path to the enormous mansion on top of the green and shaggy hill. Unlike what most people think, Hell isn't made of fire and heat and all that crap. It's mainly just sprawling fields where the dead souls lay, wandering and thinking about their past gone wrong. Not evil or creepy at all.
But the great thing about Hell is that you can make it whatever you want. Literally. All you have to do is think of where you want to be, and the scenery shifts around you. When I first got here I was obsessed with playing around with different landscapes. One day I would do a sunset at the beach, the next a freezing winter night in the South Pole. But when none of us bothers to mix it up, it just stays its normal grassy self. And no matter what place its in, there's always the huge mansion. It makes Will's family's house look like a mere shack in comparison. Of course Sheldon's had thousands of years to work on it.
When I reach the house, I swerve around and decide to take the back door. I slip inside and take off my sneakers, tossing them quietly on the floor. I pad down the hall in my socks, being careful to not make any noise. After a few minutes of walking, my room is in sight. I fight the urge to do a victory dance.
"Ahem," Sheldon steps out of the shadows. "Where have you been?"
I slump in defeat. Why did I think I could've made it?
"On the earth plane," I reply smoothly, hoping he missed my sigh.
He didn't. "I expected you back this morning."
I shrug. "You're the one that forced me to stay up there. It's not my fault I took my time getting back."
He glares at me. "Yes it is. Because you were so late, Will had to go out and do your day's work for you."
I stifle a grin. Yes!
Sheldon scowls. "Do you know how much work will be left undone?"
"I can only imagine."
The Devil rolls his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. He looks up again at me.
"What were you doing that took so long anyway?" He inquires.
"Nothing," I say quickly. Too quickly.
Sheldon eyebrows raise as he smirks. He knows I'm lying.
"Mmm, really? So, you just decided to sit around, killing time, and leave your work undone? You know if that's true then I'll be even more angry about you getting back late."
I roll my eyes.
"And if I'm angry, then it looks like you'll have to have a punishment." Sheldon says nonchalantly. "Let's say, a month without going up to the earth plane?" He pretends to examine his nails.
I smirk. "Then I won't be able to collect souls. Will will have to do it alone."
Sheldon smiles at me. "I can help Will. I have lots of paperwork you can take care of."
I throw up my hands.
"Let's hear it, then," he grins.
I sigh and cross my arms.
"I visited my family."
Sheldon's brows raise but he's quiet.
"Well, my brothers.. but somehow I ran into my parents."
"How'd that turn out?"
"Weird," I admit. "She smacked me."
"Damn," Sheldon says, and smiles. "I told you I liked her."
I scowl at him.
He's quiet for a second.
"Why did Will come back without you?"
"He didn't tell you?" I breathe a sigh of relief.
"Nope. His lips were sealed."
I glare at him. "And of course you didn't threaten him like you just did to me!"
"Nope," he gives me a cheeky smile.
"Well don't look for the answer from me," I grumble, brushing past him and towards my room. I go inside and slam the door, my anger suddenly flaring up again.
"You know, it's quite rude when you do that," Sheldon says from where he's laying on my bed, his head propped up on his fist.
I groan. "And it's annoying when you do that," I frown.
He sits up. "Tell me what happened," he pleads. His brown eyes adopt a puppy dog look, getting wide and sad. His bottom lip sticks out, and he actually looks sincere. I shake my head. Nope, not buying it, Sheldon.
"No thanks," I smile at him. I go to the fridge in the corner of my room in search of a drink. I find a nice cold Coke and pull it out, kicking the fridge door shut. I sip my drink and stare at Sheldon, waiting for.. something. But he's quiet, staring back at me, the puppy dog face still on.
"Not gonna work," I sing, falling into my comfy chair and crossing my legs.
Sheldon doesn't move, only continues looking at me. Finally, he sits up and sighs.
"I was right, wasn't I?"
I don't respond, just continue drinking.
He smiles.
"You and Will made out."
I choke on my drink, causing some of it to fly out of my mouth. I scowl and wipe my mouth with my sleeve.
"Fuck," I mutter. Will told him.
Sheldon grins happily.
"Why did you pretend you didn't know if he told you?" I frown.
"Just playing with you," he shrugs, still smiling.
There's a pause. I wait for it. Three, two, one --
"I told you so!" Sheldon sings, getting up off the bed. He walks over to me, and grabs my face, suddenly serious.
"Mmmph," I wrinkle my nose. He's squishing my cheeks.
"Listen, Tiff. I need to tell you something," Sheldon says, staring into my eyes. "It's very important."
"Mmmph!" I respond, squirming.
He leans in close, his mouth at my ear.
"The thing I need to tell you is..."
I wait.
"I TOLD YOU SO!" he shouts in my ear.
I shriek and drop my drink on the floor, cringing. Sheldon just laughs and walks towards the door.
"See you later, Tiff."
BeepBeepBeep. My phone shrieks at me, letting me know I've got a new text message. I roll over on my bed and pull the chocolate ice cream bar from my mouth. Who could that be? I think to myself sarcastically.
Meet me in the backyard. I need to talk to you. Now.
I roll my eyes and text him back swiftly.
I don't really think you're in the position to be asking me for favors, Will. Get lost. I'm not in the mood.
I throw my phone on the other end of the bed and go back to eating my ice cream. I watch as some paint on the wall across from my bed starts to slowly but surely peel off. I stare at in fascination until I can't stand it any longer. I'm about to manifest some SuperGlue when my phone beeps again. I make a noise of frustration and throw myself across the bed to get at it.
I know, and I don't care. I don't want to talk to you through text messaging. Me me outside. Now.
And now he's ordering me around? Nu uh. I turn off my phone and continue reading. There's quiet knocking at my door. CHRIST! Can't these jerks leave me the hell alone?
"What?" I shout at the door, not bothering to look up from my magazine.
"Wow, PMS much?" Will gives me his killer smile from the doorway. I'm proud to say my heart doesn't jerk in response anymore.
"What the hell do you want?" I can't believe he's smiling after he was such a bastard.
His face is serious now. "I told you, we need to talk."
"We already talked," I respond, my voice daring him to argue.
"Not enough," he says simply.
"So talk," I say, looking back to my magazine.
"I broke up with Alison," he says. He sounds unsure.
"Mhm," I shrug. "Good for you."
Will shifts and puts his hands in his pocket. I watch him out of the corner of my eye.
"Tiffany, why can't you just get over it already?"
I resist the urge to gape at him. Get over it? It was this friggin' morning! And now he decides to come at what, twelve in the morning, to tell me to get over it? He made me think he really liked me, and then made out with some dumb slut in the same house! What is that?
"I have, Will," I say cooly, not looking at him. "I like someone else," I blurt without thinking.
I can see Will gaping at me from the corner of my eye. "What? But we only had our fight this morning!"
I have to think of someone, fast. All of the sudden my mind lands on that hot guy in the movie Twilight. What was his name?
"Yeah, well, I met someone else. His name is. . Jacob."
Will throws up his arms. "But I'm apologizing!"
"No shit, Sherlock," I smile sweetly at him. "And I'm saying I'm not interested."
"You seemed interested when we were making out," Will retorts.
Screw him!
I look up, my eyes icy.
"Get out, Will."
"I don't want to leave this room before you and I have come to an agreement."
I stare at him. "How about we both agree that you're an ass that doesn't deserve a second chance?"
Will gives me an annoyed look. "Look, Tiffany. I don't know how many times I have to say it. I'm sorry." Will looks at his hands. "You got mad at me for making out with you while I had a girlfriend already, right?"
I don't respond.
"Well, now I don't have a girlfriend. I'm all yours!"
"That's not the point, Will! The point is that you took advantage of both of us, fully aware that you were already with her! I don't tolerate disrespect, Will, especially from someone like you."
Will sighs in exasperation, throwing up his hands. Then he looks at me, and starts speaking as he walks backwards to my open door.
"Fine. Be that way. But just be prepared, because I'm not giving up," he warns, before walking out and shutting the door.
Later, as I'm brushing my teeth before bed, I have strange thought. Maybe I went a little too hard on Will? I mean, it is pretty hard to resist me. . . I shake my head and then spit my toothpaste out in disgust. Yuck. Of course he's not going to be forgiven. Of course not! What am I even thinking? It's probably just because I'm tired. Yes, that's all.
I climb into my soft bed. Aah. I'm so tired. It's strange how everything was pretty calm before Will came, and now everything is hectic for me. I mean, because of him making me so upset, I went to visit my family for the first time. And he's got all of my feelings going insane, trying to figure out what they actually are. Sigh. I might have lied earlier. As much as I want to, I, again, can't deny that I still sort of like Will, even though he's a jerk. I don't know why. Is it that charm? The amazing looks? His humor, so similar to mine? The fact that i enjoy his company?
But every time I think about forgiving him, I tell myself to stop being silly, and remember how bad it felt to watch him kissing his girlfriend, even though we weren't official. I squirm under my covers, trying to shake my feeling of unease. I'm so confused. I thought I liked Will, and I still might. But at the same time he had no respect for my feelings, or Alison's, for that matter. Oh God, before now I wouldn't even have cared about another girl's feelings. What has gotten into me?
This is all his fault, I finally decide before drifting off to sleep.
And he's going to have hell to pay for it.