Here’s the next chapter! Enjoy! The song for this chapter is One of THOSE Nights by The Cab. Please vote and leave a comment on how you like the story so far! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chapter Six: Love and Hate
Seth
I pull into the driveway and it is past midnight. I get out of the car and sneak in the front door. I am almost to the hallway when the lamp beside my mom’s favorite chair in the living room turns on. I silently curse to myself for being so close and yet so far away.
“Care to tell your worried mom where you’ve been?” she asks in a calm voice. That’s not good. When my mom is slightly angry she yells. When she is calm, it is better to dig your own grave and plop yourself down in it because it means that she is on the war path.
I turn around to face her and try to do my calmest smile, but on the inside I am freaking out. She glares at me and I try not to crack under her intense gaze.
“Um, I was out with Tuckett . . .” her eyes narrow and I know that I just gave a really bad answer. My mom loves Tuckett, he’s basically like another son to her, but she knows that he does some stupid stuff. Coming home at twelve at night, without calling her, after spending time with Tuckett is probably not the best thing to say
“You were with Tuckett?”
“Yes, . . . but I was also with Vi and Low.”
Her eyes lighten up at the mention of her favorite niece and Vi’s best friend. The loves both of them to death and sometimes I think wishes that she had daughters like them of her own. I know that sometimes she gets tired of being the only girl in the house. It’s hard for her when we want to watch sports and she doesn’t. She’s outvoted and I know for once she would like to watch her girly wedding shows that she loves so much. My mom’s face suddenly becomes red and I relax. She is about to yell and I know that is a good sign.
“Did you even think to call? Did you even think to tell me before you left?! I was worried sick! I expect more from you Seth! You are supposed to be responsible. You are almost eighteen, grow up!” She stops yelling, takes deep breaths, and her face almost returns back to its normal color.
“I’m sorry Mom.” She sends another one of her glares at me before she nods and accepts my apology.
“So how did it go?” she asks and I am confused.
“How did what go?”
“You know . . . your double date.”
“What!” I shout.
Her eyes widen at my face that I am sure looks as shocked as hers does right now.
“What are you talking about?”
“I thought that you guys went out on a double date,” she says and shrugs.
“Mom, you do realize that means I would have been on a date with Low right. Low and I hate each other!”
“Sure you do,” she says and smiles smugly. She lets out a little laugh and I am at a lost for words. What the heck is she talking about ‘Sure I do?’ “Seth, you know the saying . . . there is a fine line between love and hate.”
“Whoa! Love? Mom seriously. I hate Low! She and I don’t get along, we always argue, there is no way in hell that we would even ever like each other, let alone love each other,” I am slightly panicking and I am pretty sure that I look like a flamingo because I am flapping my arms like an idiot and I feel like my face is on fire. She doesn’t say anything else. She just crosses her arms and rolls her eyes at me. “Ugh, whatever. I’m going to bed. Night Mom.” I turn away from her smirking face and head down the hall. I quickly strip off my shirt and jeans before sliding into my bed. I stare at the ceiling for an hour running everything that happened tonight through my head.
Low and I, dating? I think my mom has seriously lost it. She has been around enough to know that we do not get along. She has grounded me all the times that I pranked Low and laughed at the times when Low got me back for what I did to her. Some mom she is, picking the enemy’s side over her own flesh and blood.
But then when I think of her words again, my mind switches gears. I think of tonight when that guy was hitting on her. I was so mad, but she calmed me down. She pried my fingers apart and completely relaxed me. I remember her hand holding mine and the way that I felt . . . I have no idea what I felt. She probably saved me from going to jail tonight, and I hate to say it, but I am pretty grateful.
I panicked when I saw the guy making a move one her that I took my anger out on her in the car. When I was in Vi’s room watching Low as she sat down like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders, I wanted to take all of it away. When she ran her hands over her face, I wanted to take her hands, like she did to me earlier, and help her calm down. I felt so guilty about yelling at her in the car that I apologized. That’s twice within forty-eight hours . . . a new record from my score of zero.
The last thing that I wanted to do was leave. I wanted to stay right there with her and hold her wrist when I grabbed it to keep her from walking away from me. I just wanted to hold her.
My mom’s voice rings through my ears. ‘There is a fine line between love and hate.’ I know that there is no way that I love Low, but do I really hate her?
I have no fucking clue.
I am in home ec. on Monday morning, trying to stay awake. I barely slept at all last night. I was thinking about what my mom said to me and the last few times that I have spent time with Low.
I tried spending more time at the shop on Sunday to take my mind off of her. I couldn’t concentrate Though and ended up dropping a wrench on my chest when I was underneath a car. Arty finally sent me home because he was worried that I wasn’t paying attention and was going to screw up on one of the cars or poking my eye out. Even when I went over to family dinner last night I couldn’t stop things from running through my head. My aunt asked if I was okay because I was being so quiet, I just nodded and went back to stuffing my face with her lasagna. What was I supposed to say? ‘No, I am thinking about my cousin’s best friend’s eyes?’ That would not fly over well with Vi.
At least Vi was okay last night. I was a little worried that she might be a wreck for a while after what happened at the party. She acts tough, but it is just a front. My cousin is actually pretty emotional, so when something happens, she has a hard time getting over it. She seemed calm during dinner, but gave me a huge hug when I got there and whispered thank you into my ear as I left. When she pulled back she had tears in her eyes. It crushed me to see my cousin like that, but I was just so happy to see that she was okay.
Now I am sitting in this torture zone of a classroom. I am bored out of my mind until my attention is drawn to my side when Vi tucks back a lock of her blonde and turquoise hair. God, I just want this class to be over. Smelling her vanilla scent all class is killing me.
“Mr. Ryker!” I turn my attention to the front of the room and see that everyone is staring at me. Mrs.E has her arms crossed and is tapping her foot. Her eyes are narrowed at me and I know that I am screwed. “Will you please repeat what I just said.”
What was she talking about? All I was doing was thinking about Low’s hair. I wasn’t actually listening to anything that the old bat had to say.
“Um, pretzels?” I ask.
“Pretzels?”
“Yes, the importance of pretzels in todays society. They are a salty treat for people to enjoy. They are a basic necessity because they require a delicious amount of salt. I personally don’t like them unless they are soft and dipped in cheese, but that is just my own perspective.” I clasp my hands on the top of the table and smile at her like I know what I am talking about. She just sighs and shakes her head.
“See me after class Mr. Ryker.”
Shit.
I sigh and sit back in my chair. A piece of paper slides to me across the desk and sits in between Low and I. I look up at her, but she is facing the front acting like she is paying attention. Carefully, so that Mrs. E does not see, I reach across the table and grab the note. My fingers unfold it and I look at the writing across the lines.
What the hell is wrong with you? Pretzels, that is the best that you can come up with? The great Seth Ryker has all of these comebacks when it comes to making my life hell and the one thing that you can come up with is pretzels? That is pathetic.
Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t really paying attention. I did the best that I could after being fed to the wolves. Comebacks don’t automatically appear in my mind. They just come easily when I am making fun of you.
I hate you so much.
The feeling is mutual babe.
Don’t call me babe.
You got it sexy.
Her face gets red and I swear that she is going to have an aneurism. The bell rings and Low swings her backpack onto her shoulder before stalking out of the room. I can’t help but chuckle at her. She makes it too easy to annoy her. The rest of the class clears out and I plop down into the desk right in front of Mrs. E’s. She raises her eyebrows and tilts her glasses down her nose.
“Mr. Ryker, can you do me a favor?”
Okay, so that was not how I was expecting this to go. She’s supposed to get angry, I’m supposed to say something stupid, and then I’m supposed to get detention. There is a process to this and she is breaking it.
“Um . . . sure I guess.”
“Please gawk at Miss Riley outside of class, or please ask her out on a date.”
I’m pretty sure that my jaw is on the floor.
“W-what?” I stutter.
“Miss Riley? I hope that you do remember her. After all you were staring at her like a baboon during class. Do something because if you don’t you are going to fail home ec. and that is really sad. No one fails this class Mr. Ryker. All you have to do is show up.” She says and rolls her eyes. “Okay, you’re dismissed.”
I stare at the lady in front of me. She turns back to the papers that she was grading and pretends like nothing just happened. I slowly get up from my desk and head toward the door.
“Oh, and Mr. Ryker, if I ever see you passing notes in class again I will read them out loud to the entire class. Is that understood?”
Normally I would say something sarcastic in return, but I am still to shocked about what the conversation that I Mrs. E and I just had. I swear that woman has eyes like a hawk. I had not idea that she could see me. I have nothing to say, so I just nod and head to my next class.
At lunch I am sitting at my table laughing about something that Tuckett said when I see Low walk into the cafeteria. She has on a red top that fits her perfectly around her chest before is flares out slightly at her hips and white shorts that highlight her gorgeous pale legs that lead down to her chucks. Her hips sway back and forth and I can’t help but stare at the hypnotizing movement.
“Do you see her hips?” one of my friends asks from somewhere around the table. I turn my head around to see all the guys at the table staring at her ass just like me. I look around and see that several other guys around the cafeteria are looking at her too. How did I not know that so many guys look at her like that! I mean does anyone not see how I saw- I mean see her?
I scan around the room looking for someone who was not looking at her. I think that there is some guy in the corner of the cafeteria, and I am pretty sure that he is gay. Wait, nope his eyes just flicked down to her ass. Are you kidding me?
“Damn, I wanna tap that,” Micah groans from my left.
I see red. I want to string the guy up by his thumbs and make him hurt as much as possible for talking about Low that way. And he’s one of my best friends! I punch him hard in his arm and he clutches it with pain across his face. I hide the smile that is on the inside and turn back to my lunch like nothing just happened.
“What the fuck man? That hurt like hell!”
I shrug my shoulders and Tuckett laughs in amusement.
“Dude, don’t step on another guy’s territory.”
“What territory?” Micah asks.
Will, Parker, and Jackson all turn their heads away from the girls that they are currently flirting with and look at Tuckett and then at me. They all lean forward and focus their attention on us. I swear the guys gossip like old ladies at their bingo night. Tuckett swings his arm around my neck and leans across the table more.
“Our boy has a little crush,” he says while fluttering his eyes and makes kissing noises. I throw his arm from around my shoulder and chuck my apple at his head, but he ducks seconds before it hits him in the face.
“Stop being such an ass. I don’t have crushes. I’m not in third grade.”
“Really? Then why did you look like you were about to chop Micah’s head off when he was talking about how hot Low’s ass is?” He smiles at me and raises his eyebrows.
When he mentions Low’s ass, the red haze returns and try to shoot a punch at his arm. He laughs and jumps out of his chair before running around the table. I get up and race around the table. He sprints to the other side of the cafeteria with me on his heels.
“Sure Seth. You don’t have the hots for Low at all,” he says and rolls his eyes. I run a little faster and chase him out of the cafeteria. I can hear my friends laughing as we leave them behind. I round the corner and do not see Tuckett anywhere. What just happened crashes into me as I lean over and try to catch me breath.
Is he right? Do I have a crush on Low?
I shake my head and try to erase all of those thoughts as I make my way back into the cafeteria.