Kaia's POV - Sixty-Two more days
I awkwardly sit beside Vivian, the silence in the room is strong. I keep my hands and feet to myself, attempting to take less space as possible. Vivian would frequently look at me as though she continues to disbelieve that I'm here. Ben's mother returns, "I'm sorry dear, I just have to quickly organise the dining table," she informs. "Why don't you two go wash up?" she suggests.
I nod whereas Vivian jumps up, agreeing with the thought. "I'll show Kaia the bathroom," she says, grabbing my arm and leading me towards the furthest room from the lounge room on the bottom level. She shuts the door behind us and locks it, "What are you doing here?" she asks immediately.
I smile, guiltily. "Ben invited me," I reply, avoiding eye contact.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier that you were coming?" she asks.
"Was a last minute thing?"
"Is that why you kept asking me where I was going? Did you want to be here?" she accuses.
I laugh, "Why would I want to be here?"
"Then why are you here?"
"No reason, I was just bored," I lie.
Vivian arches an eyebrow, catching my lie. "Did you overhear Ashton and I speaking?" she asks.
I take a deep breath and tell her everything. "Okay, yes. I did. I overheard your conversation with Ashton earlier this week – I thought that if I came, you would be okay. I don't like Ashton and would very much like you two to break up but then Ben told me that Ashton would humiliate you if you did break up so I came here to make sure you're fine," I say as fast as I could.
Vivian laughs, "Right, okay. Now tell me the truth," she demands.
"That is the truth!" I reply.
"You've got to be kidding! I didn't invite you for a reason, you idiot."
"Why?" I ask, curious.
"Because Ashton is threatening me and I don't like being threatened or being told what to do?" she responds bravely.
"Really?" I smile.
I don't know why I'm so relieved to hear that. I always pictured Vivian as the strong woman who is capable of protecting herself. When I had the slightest thought that she couldn't, I panicked. I don't know why. I don't really like Vivian that much to go over the moon for, but for some reason, I don't like the idea of her to getting hurt. Maybe cause she's my family, I don't know. But I can't stand the thought that she went through so much pain when I could've done something to prevent it.
"Of course, I'm Vivian Barbra Harper," she says with pride.
"Your middle name is Barbra?" I squint.
Vivian immediately regrets it. She clears her throat, "You can't tell anyone!" She warns. "You need to leave now!" she demands.
"Okay! How do I do that?" I ask. I never wanted to be here in the first place. I don't think I can manage another minute with Ben and Ashton. They both make my skin itch.
"Just say that you forgot you have some appointment," she suggests.
"An appointment for what?"
"Does it matter?"
"Of course, it matters. What if they ask and I panic and say the most unbelievable thing in the world? I am capable of doing that you know, just because I'm a Mercer doesn't mean I can lie through my teeth," I inform.
Vivian groans, "An appointment with the doctor cause you're pregnant?" Vivian suggests.
"At six? And what's up with you and the thought of me being pregnant?" I frown.
"I don't know! I thought it'd be more believable if you said you're pregnant," Vivian replies. I shake my head, seeing no logic in her answer. "Say that your mom called and you need to go home," she suggests again.
"Okay, that's more believable. I'll do exactly that!" Vivian sighs with relief. She turns to look at herself in the bathroom and adjusts her dress. I watch her awkwardly, not sure if I should leave or stare at the wall instead.
"I never thought high school would be crazier until you moved here," Vivian mutters.
I frown. "I'm not the cause of the crazy," I say defensively.
Vivian rolls her eyes, "Yeah, you are. I don't get why everyone is obsessed with you, why they want to change you. It's like you're their new toy to play with," she adds.
"You're talking about Aunt Meredith, aren't you?" I ask.
She looks at me in the mirror for a few seconds before she draws her attention back to herself. She pulls out a lipstick from her bad. "She's one of the many who do care. Cade cares, Ben for some unknown reason cares and so does Ashton – the people around my life, excluding Cade, wants to have you in their life," she mutters.
"Most of them only include me in their life because of you," I reply.
"What do I get to do with anything?" she asks.
Eh, I can't believe I'm having a conversation to boast about Vivian's popularity. "Well, for example, Ben only dragged me here because he thought Ashton would hurt your reputation if you didn't invite me over," I said. I hope I don't regret saying that.
Vivian laughs. I immediately regret it. I spoke too soon. "Why would he do that?" she asks.
"Um, because he likes you," I state.
Her laughter only grows louder. "Ben doesn't like me," she says.
"Says every girl about the guy who does have a crush on them," I pout.
"Oh, trust me, Kaia, I know exactly when a guy likes me. Ben isn't one of them. When he looks at me, he has the same expression as he does in class," Vivian explains.
"Then it doesn't make sense why he cares so much about protecting you. You have no idea how much he's been annoying for the past week about this student dinner and he won't go away," I complain.
Vivian shakes her head with amusement, "I still don't get it. What do Cade and Ashton see in you?" she asks.
"My charm," I smile, until two seconds later. "Wait, Ben doesn't like me, if that's what you're implying," I correct.
Vivian rolls her eyes, again. "You're stupider than you look – Ben wouldn't go over the moon just for me – he only did that so he can spend more time with you. Ben's not great with girls, clearly. He probably thought the only way you would spend time with him if you had a common interest and I guess that's me," Vivian says as though it's something normal to say.
"Crap," I mutter to myself.
"I don't know how you could be so stupid," Vivian says, checking herself out one last time.
"Okay, I guess it's time for me to leave then," I say. Vivian agrees.
We leave the bathroom together and we face Ashton, "Hey Kaia, thanks for coming."
"I'm leaving," I respond expressionless.
"What? Why?" he responds.
"I forgot that Ben is your brother, so I'm leaving," I lie.
"Kaia," Vivian says. I ignore both of them and I make my way back to the lounge room to find Ben's parents. Ben sits across from his parents expressionless – he stares at the table in front of them while his parents are trying to make conversation with him.
"Your new friend. She's interesting. How long have you two been friends?" she asks.
"A while," he responds.
"I'm surprised she is your friend. You always have terrible taste in friends – I wouldn't be surprised if she's another disappointment," Ben's dad asks. Wow! I now see where Ben and Ashton both get their obnoxious attitudes from.
"She possibly could be – please don't tell me you like that girl," Mrs Waite asks.
I purse my lips. The answer I'm waiting for – to wash away all my worries. "I don't – she's undateable. She talks too much, jokes too much and very controlling," he explains. I narrow my eyes at the back of Ben's head. I'm not undateable! Cade's dating me, so how am I undateable? My jokes are very charming, thank you very much. Ben just lacks proper taste.
"Good, I don't want to see you dating that girl. I can tell she's up to no good," Mrs Waite says. "She's from a very lower-middle class family, isn't she?"
I clench my jaw. What categorises me to be low-class? I wore a dress for this stupid occasion and it's a pretty expensive too. I nearly died of a heart attack when I saw the price on this dress. Anything more than ten dollars is too much for my heart. Mostly because I'm a high school student and I rarely ever seen one hundred dollar bills. Is it my face? And what's wrong with being from a low-middle class family? Veronica Mars is technically from a lower-middle class family and she's amazing. Veronica Mars has and always will be my idol.
"No, she's Vivian's cousin," Ben replies.
"I'm surprised. A girl like her doesn't seem like Vivian's cousin. Are they blood-related?" Mr Waite asks.
"Oh, why did you invite her here? She doesn't fit here, she doesn't seem like the type who would enjoy our lifestyle," she explains. Although that's true, I don't like her jumping to the conclusion that I don't.
"What are you still doing here?" I hear Vivian.
I turn around to see Vivian and Ashton standing beside each other. I take off my jacket and place it on the coat rack, "I decided to stay a little – no need to rush," I say, feeling my blood bubbling. I enter the lounge room and take a seat next to Ben.
"Oh hello, Kaia," Mrs Waite greets with a fake smile.
"So, Mrs Waite, I heard you're a literature Professor at University of California?" I ask, arching an eyebrow. I keep my voice strong and confident.
"Yes, that's true," she replies, unsure what I'm leading to.
"That's fascinating. I always loved literature ever since I started high school. In Year eleven, or as you may know as Junior year, we were required to do a thorough analysis on a chosen literature, which I chose The Great Gatsby, and make critical conclusions using any theory of choice. I chose Marxism and Psychoanalysis, mostly because they were very interesting topics to research in," I explain.
"The Great Gatsby?" she arches an eyebrow.
"It wasn't my first choice, to be honest, but I thought it would smart if I did an analysis of the same text we were doing for another class assessment," I explain.
"Would be convenient," she says, uninterested.
I shift in my seat. "During my analysis, it dawned on me of the social issues we face in today's society. It's shocking how much money imprisons our society, that we are controlled by the very thing we made. The whole social order is particularly discriminatory just due to money. Having power can, and is often, a form of injustice, that those with power can get away with many things. That's why it is difficult for many employees to start a legal action against their employer due to the imbalance of power. This is mostly why I decided I wanted to become a lawyer to address class actions and the large separation between social classes. I thought about it further after I did another analysis on the novel, The Help, where I realised that the bourgeois, although more powerful in the working class than the proletariat in a Marxist sense, they only have their title because of the proletariat. So, truly, the bourgeois is nothing without the proletariat," I say, looking directly at Ben's parents.
"Interesting analysis," she says.
"I thought so too – but when I thought about it, in reality, it would be difficult to change such social issues due to the bourgeois dependency on the proletariat to maintain their very title, so they would do whatever to keep them as the proletariat. I guess, the problem begins with those who separate themselves from different classes and declare them to be unfit to be in their society – because that is technically another form of discrimination," I add.
Mr and Mrs Waite smile uncomfortably. I notice Vivian frowning at me, confused as to what I just said, or perhaps wondering why I had a rant. Ashton seemed to not even care, whereas Ben shifts uncomfortably in his seat. I wonder if he knows that I overheard them.
"Well, thank you for having me for this short-time but I have to go," I tell them in my nicest voice I can muster.
"So, soon?" Ben's mother responds, standing up. She feigns sadness but I know it's just an act. She's probably excited to see me go.
"Unfortunately. I just got a call from my mother and she needs me home in thirty minutes – some family emergency," I say.
"Oh, no. Is there anything we can do?" she asks.
"Oh, it's nothing serious – I should probably leave now. Thank you again," I say.
"Ben take her home," Ben's father says.
"No, why do you have to go?" Ben asks, frowning. His expressionless face is vibrant with confusion. Please, you know why. Jerk.
"Family emergency," I reply.
"Ben stop and take her home," Mrs Waite says.
Ben grumbles something under his breath and we return to his car. The whole car ride was completely silent. The silence only confirmed that he knew why I wanted to go home. He knows that I overhead them – I don't know how but it only explains why he isn't complaining or arguing as to why I'm not staying for dinner. "Was that an attack to my parents?" he asks, breaking the silence.
"Indirectly, yes."
"You overheard, didn't you?"
"Are you referring to being a lower-class individual and doesn't deserve to be in your home? Then yes, I did."
"I'm sorry," he says.
I scoff, "Whatever," I mutter.
He looks at me, "I really mean it. I'm sorry that you had to hear that," Ben says. "I didn't expect them to say that."
"Why were you so desperate for me to go?" I ask.
"What do you mean?"
"Why did you drag me to that stupid dinner party? Is it because you wanted me to feel completely out of place at your home. Is that your weird version of getting back to me? Like honestly, a stupid prank is more realistic and effective than showing me off to your parents," I state.
"I took you there for Vivian," he lies.
"Oh, bullshit! Since when do you care for Vivian?" I ask.
"You're really annoying," he growls.
"Oh, I know. You already said that to your parents – even said I'm undateable," I snap. He suddenly laughs. I pause and glare at him. "Why are you laughing?" I ask rudely.
"Is that why you're mad? Because I said you're undateable?" he asks.
"No, that has nothing to... I only said that to prove that I did hear you call me annoying. I don't even know why I'm still talking to you. I don't know why I thought that you could possibly have a humane side to you but who am I kidding. You're a bully, a jerk and they don't have humanity in their blood," I argue.
Ben laughs mockingly, "Wow Mercer, that really hurt my feelings," he says sarcastically.
"Erg, stop the car," I order.
Ben complies immediately. He stops the car and looks at me, "Are you going to get out? I rather go somewhere else than drop a bitch off home," he states.
"You don't have to speak out everything that comes to your mind, moron. It's called thoughts – use it," I growl before exiting the car and slamming the door shut. Ben calls me some curse word before driving off at high speed. Jerk.
[a/n: Hello everyone! As per usual, I again apologise for posting so late. But as this chapter is completed, I am to announce that this story is no longer going to be called 'Love me for 100 Days'. I decided to change the name to 'Undateable' so please do not be shocked or worried if you can no longer find Love Me for 100 Days. I thought Undateable is more fitting to the direction I am heading with this story and that means there will be a few edits to this story to adjust to the path of this book.
The cover and title will be changing on the 20th of December 2017.
I apologise for any inconvenience, but if you'd like, I will add a list of things that has changed in the previous chapters for you guys to be on track! There won't be any major changes, so there won't be any problems even if you don't read the changes. The title will change once cover has been sorted.]