THE most depressing and equally infuriating part of Reese lounging next to me on the porch, as if he had any right to be there, was at that point I couldn't even say I was surprised. That, like a goiter that had overstayed its welcome, I had grown almost used to him being there.
How disgusting.
I sighed. "Reese, why are you even here?"
Reese was stretching his arms, pulling them above his head and shifting his body in a way that betrayed he'd just rolled out of bed, unsurprisingly. A lazy smirk carved into his face.
"Moral support. I'm your coach, remember? Do you think I would miss the day of your semi-final?"
I felt myself bristle at his choice of words, even more considering how his supposed 'coaching' was essentially throwing me into the deep-end of Antarctic waters, sans life-jacket and my arms handcuffed behind my back.
And even more so doing this instead of what some might call communication. And not being an asshole. And actually listening to me. But what did I know, I wasn't the one who called himself Dr. Love.
"Right, okay, yeah. So if you could, I don't know, explain how any of this came to be, that would be nice? Delightful, even? Much appreciated?"
My eyes narrowed.
Reese hummed next to me on the step, thoughtfully rubbing his chin and ignoring my glare. "Well you see, I always sort of knew I was a genius on the inside, just kind of a genius intuition you might call it, but it wasn't until I was in school and I could finally realize my talents-"
"Genius? That wasn't really what I was looking for. Dumbass, now, that's a little bit closer."
Reese merely shot a grin in response, eyes sparkling. "Stella, if you keep flirting with me, I'm going to start thinking that you might be falling in love with me."
I paused. Involuntarily, I swallowed hard, allowing a moment for his words to process in my head. My palm came to cover over my chest slowly as I blinked up in awe.
"What?" I gasped. "Could it be done? Did you actually just break my gag reflex with a disgust overload? I didn't think it was possible, and yet, here we are. Broken. A modern day miracle."
Reese barked out a laugh, throwing his head back and leaning his elbows against the wooden porch. "I'm just saying, I wouldn't blame you. I mean, hot and smart? It's hard not to get into this," he beamed, gesturing to himself as if he was unveiling a grand prize.
And behind door number two, Reese Powers, the life-ruiner. He ruins people's lives.
My eyebrows dropped, unimpressed. "Really? I remember you having to- what was it? Prove you're actually somewhat of a decent human being before I let you get anywhere near Savannah after the whole Melissa/Britta mess? And when did that stop being a thing? And how did we get here?"
I may have had been selling out my best friend, but I still had ground rules that, for any purpose, helped me sleep at night. If anything.
Reese's face didn't even stutter, still glowing with inconceivable pride. "I got you an actual date with Tyler- two, counting this! Two dates equals one double date with Savannah. Don't you think?"
"No."
A cheeky amusement was written all over his face. "But I mean, why would you be here then? Sitting on your porch, waiting for Tyler to pick you up so you guys can go to the mall and find clothes for the double-date that I set up. But what do I know, right? I'm just a dumbass."
My eyes darted away from the mocking grin that was devouring his face, refusing to entertain his words for the sole reason that any sliver of conscious I'd been able to keep all these years was cringing away at his honesty. Because it was true, I was armed with backpack and wallet, waiting on my porch steps for the past fifteen minutes just in case Tyler came early, and I was totally freaking out about hanging out with him. Alone. And had essentially sold out my best friend, again, to get there.
But the ground rules. Those were what were important.
"It's not my fault," I insisted with a grumble, shrugging and pulling my jacket tighter around myself. "It's those cheekbones. I never stood a chance. It's science."
Reese opened his mouth to respond with some probably smart-ass remark, but was interrupted by the groan of an engine and Tyler's familiar, beat-down car climbing up beside the curb. The window rolled down to reveal Tyler's grinning face, and I felt my nerves ignite.
A smile tugged on my lips as I waved over, pointedly ignoring Reese's flailing next to me.
Tyler slammed the card door shut before jogging up the driveway, wearing a fitted jean and plaid shirt ensemble that was what my dreams were made of. "Hey guys, sorry, I didn't mean to be late or anything. Hope you weren't waiting too long."
"Dude, it was like forev-"
"We weren't waiting long at all!" I cut Reese off, wearing a fierce smile. "But no point in wasting any more time, let's go! Bye Reese!"
When I shot up, I could see a grinning Reese in my peripherals, but refused to entertain him any longer. I didn't even want to begin to wonder what was happening in his head- tolerating him was enough trouble as it was, and really, it didn't even matter
What mattered was that I was going on a full-blown date with Tyler and Reese was going to be far, far away where he truly belonged.
Tyler paused, those blue eyes falling to Reese who, irritatingly enough, had yet to disappear. "Oh, Reese, did you want to come with us? I know that you're coming on the date anyway. Might as well all get something, right?"
Despite the fact that Tyler was smiling so innocently, I could feel my eyes begin to narrow, burning. My jaw clenched. I froze.
No.
"Well, you know, I-"
"Reese is busy! Aren't you Reese? Reese is just all booked up today, and can't bring himself to make it. I know. It's heartbreaking, isn't it? Well, goodbye Reese!" I began pushing said boy over towards his house where he should've been all along, being the life-ruiner that he was, away from me and my almost-date. And if I accidentally dug my fingers into his back as a slight warning, well, that was his fault for not staying far, far away in the first place.
"Are you sure, Reese?" Tyler asked, and bless his beautiful face, he really needed to shut up.
"Actually," Reese said, grinning cheekily as he managed to escape from my hands. "I think that I can move some things around, free up some time right now. Wouldn't that be fun, Stella?"
"Just one notch below a root canal on the scale of fun."
"Well then, it's settled," Tyler said, as if anything had actually been settled, and clapped his hands together. "Reese is coming with us."
I blinked. "I- what? Wait, who-"
Reese gently pushed me forward, a soft chuckle resounding behind me. "We're going clothes shopping, Stella! Aren't you excited?" Excited for homicide. "Shot gun!"
Somehow I found myself in the back seat, much to my dismay, catching Reese's gleaming eyes in the rear view mirror with a narrowed glare of my own. Tyler seemed oblivious to this as he continued driving down the road, talking about his last physics test and how the tutoring seemed to help, fueling small talk for the entire drive.
Which worked out pretty well, since I was much too busy teetering between brooding and inbridled rage, all of which kept my mouth pressed tightly shut. I barely said a word, just continued burning holes into the back of Reese's head.
This lack of telekenetic head-exploding thing was really starting to become a downer.
This was not how things were supposed to happen. Romance was supposed to happen, true love, first kisses, some hand-holding goddamnit. Generally the exact opposite of everything Reese brought to my life.
When we'd finally gotten out of the car, I tugged on Reese's arm, slowing him down to my pace. Tyler continued walking up ahead, unmindful.
"What are you doing?" I hissed in a whisper, digging my fingers into his skin. "You said it yourself, it was supposed to be a date! A date usually consists of two people, not three! Date logic!"
"Listen, this is just to make sure things are going well. This is perfect! Let's be real, if I wasn't here, you'd probably screw something up. I'm here to make sure everything goes well. Trust me, I know what I'm doing," he said, gently trying to pull his arm away from me, a reassuring smile touching his lips.
I was not reassured. I gripped harder. "That sounds like the biggest load of bullshi-"
"Hey, is everything okay?" Tyler asked, stopping to look behind his shoulder at us.
I paused, becoming intensely aware that I will still gripping Reese's arm, where Tyler's eyes were now being drawn to, and immediately let go.
At lightning speeds, I plastered a broad grin across my face. "Nothing! Reese was just saying that he's been a little constipated lately so we shouldn't worry if he disappears, he's probably just taking a dump. In fact, we should expect him to. And he'll then find his own way home. Right, Reese?"
I broke away from Reese, not even giving him the chance to respond as I caught up to Tyler, keeping the grin on my face and ignoring the heated stare burning into my back.
Two could play at that game.
"So much constipation," he echoed, seeped in irritation.
While Tyler and I kept walking, I turned my head to see Reese following behind us, an unimpressed look on his face. I pointed to my eyes and then to him, my glare telling enough of what that meant.
We entered through the double-doors to where the food court lay, immediately being assaulted by the lingering grease, hum of voices and general cacophony that made up the mall. It'd been a while since I'd stepped foot inside, but every fake potted plant and scuffed up tile still breathed with familiarity.
"How fancy are we going with this?" Reese asked, suddenly next to me.
It was frightening how fast he was sometimes.
"Well, you want to impress Savannah, don't you? So probably a steakhouse, so steakhouse fancy, I'm guessing," Tyler offered, and I took a moment to absorb how thoughtful and adorable he was, to even suggest such a thing.
"So McDonalds is a no?" Reese grinned.
I fixed him with an unimpressed look.
A part of me said I shouldn't have been surprised, and yet, there I was. In between the two boys and wondering what twisted turn and blind mishap brought me with the literal devil and angel on my right and left. Drawing a deep breath, I forced my mind to focus, and that hopefully positive thinking could draw me in the right direction. Optimism felt weird in my mouth.
I turned, pointedly looking at Tyler. "Let's go to the store over there, they seem like they have some nice things."
Maybe if I just pretended that Reese wasn't there, he would actually disappear.
"Are you sure you don't want to buy me dinner first before you get me to strip?"
And that plan was going to go a little bit harder than I'd hoped.
I turned to Reese, blinking up at him with forced innocence. "Oh Reese, before we rush, you sure you don't want to get something for your little poop issues? Maybe we can stop at the drug store, because of your little blockage?"
Reese was not impressed.
"Hey, I'm sure we can get your some sort of over-the-counter medication," Tyler offered genuinely, adding a sweet, beautiful cherry on top.
He was immediately forgiven for even inviting Reese in the first place, if only for the deadpan look on Reese's face.
A shit-eating grin found my lips as I concentrated every muscle in my body into not breaking down in laughter, my body trembling. Reese's face did not appear appreciative of my efforts.
"Thanks, Ty. Will do. But first let's try on some clothes. Stella, don't worry, we're gonna pick out the perfect thing for you. Trust me."
The mischievous glint in his eye was the most untrustworthy thing I'd ever seen in my life.
***
Stay tuned for part 2, which should be uploaded in like 5 minutes along with an actual author's note of tears.