Two more girls come in behind them before Tyler spots us and waves our way with a grin.
Elisa impulsively waves back and then crouches in her seat when she catches the scathing look I give her. Gritting my teeth and muttering curse words under my breath. I do not want them with us, especially not now he’s all cozy with the uber bitch from hell.
“Ladies. I couldn’t let you do it without me as I happen to find the topic interesting.” Tyler smirks and then turns the chair next to Elisa back to front so he can sit on it while straddling it. He leans in and rests his arms on the desk before nudging his shoulder into hers, smiling at her with a cute boy head tilt to get a full view of her face and sending her into shyness overload.
He's so painfully obvious that this was not about the topic but about the possible conquest.
Elisa turns crimson and engages the veil of hair before burying her face in the book she picks up. Tyler seems to hang and linger, watching her before I kick him in the foot and throw him a shady face gesture, signaling to get off her.
“Fine, as long as you work.” I huff through tight lips, aware Dane has wandered off to the other corner with the four girls and seems to be hanging over his new love interest. I guess he didn’t come to work but to spend flirting time with his hoe of the moment.
I just don’t get it.
It’s not like he hasn’t hooked up with Charmaine before, but he’s never made a show of hanging around her in school like this. I don’t get this sudden desire to act like Charmaine is his girlfriend, and the sickening PDA gives me the vomits. Dane is your typical fuck boy who avoids the trap of seeming tied to one girl for fear it discourages new conquests. So this is weird. Normally, his aversion to PDA is only matched by his avoidance of doing any schoolwork.
Seeing how he leans over and whispers into her cheek before stroking her hair behind her ear makes me feel sick. A low pain like a kick in the gut, and my temper rages internally as hot fury flows through my veins. I turn away and go back to the other two before whipping open the folder Elisa has laid down. So determined not to let this get to me anymore.
I don’t care. I don’t like him. That was a moment of stupidity, and this right here is a strong reason never to like him.
“So, Elisa and I made some notes on how to set out the topic. We broke it into sections about compatibility, attraction…. communication…. Here. See what you can add before we finalize the order.” I slide it to him as Elisa pulls her laptop out and sets it up before her. She seems to calm down when Tyler’s attention is on work and sits up again, honing in on her keyboard and letting out a deep breath to focus.
“About yesterday, Kales...” Tyler lifts a brow as he scans the document and then glances at Elisa with a flicker of a frown. “If we hadn’t moved you, it would have blown up in Char’s domain. Charmaine is not one to fuck with outside of school, and if Dane had shielded you, she would have been worse today. That girl is the queen of grudges, and her crew is not the type you want coming after you.”
“Are you making excuses for him now?” I ask petulantly, knowing fine well what Charmaine is like. She’s a rich bitch bully with a squad of weak friends who do what she says. I have lived in the same neighborhood for a decade.
“No….. it’s just. If he had embarrassed her, she would make your life at school hell. Dane was ending it.”
“I can handle people like her. What Dane did was make a show of humiliating me. I’m not stupid… this was not about protecting me.” I snort at Tyler’s lame reasoning, knowing he is trying to smooth things over by lying for his best friend. One thing about Tyler is he has always tried to remain neutral between Dane and me. He is painfully obvious.
I have known Dane long enough to know that Charmaine would have been shut down in or out of school anytime before this week. This is one hundred percent a big message for me to get away from him.
Maybe Elisa is half right in that this is because of the kitchen. But wrong in that it’s because he likes me. He has never wanted me, even as a sister, let alone anything else. I think this is Dane, disgusted that he thinks I might like him, and he’s doing his best to make it clear to me that I should nip that crap in the bud.
He needn’t worry because I am back to loathing him with a passion.
“Are they a thing now?” Elisa asks shyly, flicking her hair aside and staring past me with a slight lean towards Tyler, forgetting he’s there. I can tell her gaze is fixed on Dane, but I don’t want to turn around and see what he’s doing, making her ask that. I can only imagine.
“Hmmm…. I guess, sort of.” Tyler answers with a sheepish quick smile, flips the page in the folder, and holds it under her nose. “So this… what do you want me to do ?” He asks as if interjecting and distracting her. I catch the weird way he hesitantly flicks an eye my way before tilting his head back to Elisa and locking a gaze on her face. I can’t tell if he is into her, the work we must do, or just trying to pull our focus off Dane.
I zone them out as she explains what else we need and find myself turning slightly despite telling myself not to. I can’t help it. This internal compulsive behavior whenever it comes to that idiot, and I regret it as soon as I do.
Dane is chatting at the table with all four girls, but Charmaine has pulled her seat up against his so she can wrap herself around his arm while cooing, blowing into his ear, and running her nails through his hair. It’s such an obvious show of ‘we’re together now,’ and she is marking her territory for those around us. I don’t know what happened at the beach after we left, but it seems I missed this coupledom formation.
It's sickening to watch. My heart thuds heavily in my rib cage, so I get an instant wash of moisture in my eyes and a sudden breathlessness. I can barely pull my sight from how he leans in and smiles at her… a full-on swoon-worthy and genuine grin. Like he actually likes her and finds her amusing.
This, now… feels a lot more painful than before. I can’t deny that seeing him with girls hurts more intensely than it used to. If I am being honest, it’s always bothered me, and I thought it was just intolerance of his behavior. Maybe all this time, I secretly harbored some feeling I can no longer deny, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s unworthy of any of it. I shouldn’t waste my energy on something as toxic as him.
I just don’t get it, though.
Charmaine?
He has been distant and disinterested in her for years and has never shown any deep attraction. Using her as occasional boredom or drunk fun filler.
Why her, and why now?
Now she is what? His girlfriend. Something he never actually has despite hooking up with girls all the time. I thought he was allergic to the word. I genuinely believed he had commitment phobia up until this very second.
I don’t understand why he threw himself into a relationship with the one girl he knows I have had issues with since we were young. He’s seen it himself, knows the constant battle between us, and this hurts more than anything. I thought there was a tiny sliver of feeling in him, seeing as we have a lifetime of history and a link through our parents.
Whether he hates the fact I like him or not, I still feel betrayed that he can live under the same roof, have a connection as siblings, and still do this to me.
I slump back into my seat and rest my chin on my chest, picking at my pencil and chewing my lip as I mull over a million different reasons he’s being such a shithead to me these past few days. I should let it go.
I didn’t want him near me, and he’s taking the initiative to give me what I want, so I shouldn't be over here sulking about it. I have more important things to focus on, and I should zone them out and forget they exist. Let him go do whatever over there. I don’t care.
“I’m taking Dane’s name off the essay…. if you tell him before I hand it in, I’ll castrate you,” I warn Tyler with a fierce scowl before sitting up and yanking the folder from him to peruse Elisa’s notes. “I’m not carrying him anymore.”
Tyler doesn’t say anything. He lowers his brow, narrows his gaze on me, and seems to sit in thought for a moment before nodding and shrugging. He picks up his pen and starts writing something down while I flick the pages and stare at the topic headings.
It won't be enough of a loss in grades to have his dad packing him off to London, but it won’t help him either. I am so done being his doorstep when it comes to school. Let him act like a jerk and treat me like trash.
Two can play that game.