Chapter 3, The Unsuccessful Set-up

 

Chapter 3

The Unsuccessful Set-up

        I knew in my head, that it was the last person I wanted to see. I quickly crumpled up the note, and threw it in the recycling bin.
        “So I’m taking that as a no,” a voice said quietly. I jumped back, locating the voice.
        “Oh, yea, I-I, um-“
        “No it’s alright. I’m going to class now,” he said coldly.
        I stared at him and it slowly transformed into a glare.
        “Class doesn’t start in another five minutes,” I glowered.
        We stared darkly at each other, until the bell rang.
        He turned around without another word, and walked to his locker. He was so mean! First, he was nice to me, and then he ignores me. I started to hit my locker once hard.

         I tried to ignore the conflict, and pretend nothing happened between him and me, pretending we don’t even know each other.

        My face was burning up in anger when I got to my car. I slammed the door closed when I got in. I felt tears welling up in my eyes. I put the key in ignition, and turned on the radio. I leaned my head back, and kept listening to the music, until I heard a tap on my window. I unwillingly lifted my head, and rolled down the window with my eyes closed.
        “Yes?” I hoarsely whispered, unsure if they heard me.
         I heard silence. I slowly opened my eyes, and saw Seth kneeling beside my car, facing me. I felt a flicker of emotions across my face.
        I stared at him darkly, but failed. Instead, I was dazed.
        “What do you want, Seth,” I asked, unwillingly.
        He was silent, still staring at me.
        “I just wanted to apologize the way I’ve acted. Something happened, and it really pissed me off,” he whispered, apologetically. It sounded like he meant it.
        I stared at him, still trying to succeed glaring at him, and it came out successful.
        “Are you done apologizing? I need to get my brother,” I gave him a dirty look.
        A flicker of emotion flew across his face, then it settled for the ‘annoyed’ look.
        “I was just trying to be nice. You weren’t so nice yourself either,”
        “Like when,”
        “Like when I gave you the ice cream and you walked away, when you nearly broke my bones again with your defensive flip, and when you ignored me.”
         “That was you when I did my defensive flip?” I asked. “I thought you were some stranger taking me away to death,”
         “Nope, that was me,”
         “My bad then,”
         He chuckled.
         “It’s alright, I usually get that a lot,” He trailed off. “Anyways, so why did you run away?"
         I stared at him confused then turned away from him, my eyes started to well up again. I felt a tear slide down my cheek. I turned to the key ignition, and started the car.
        “Wait, you aren’t going to answer my question?”
        “No. I’m not going to answer your question,” I said.
        I put the car on reverse, and drove away from his position. He hasn’t moved an inch once I left my parking space. All I saw was his arms dropping to his sides.

        I went to my room after I was done everything. I’ve decided to open the window. I really didn’t like this part of my life right now. I for one, needed to get some music before I die from these conflicts. I grabbed my iPod, and started to play some random music. I put my elbows on the windowsill, and rested my head on my hands. I felt the wind against my face, and saw the sunset. I sighed. If only life was like the beauty of nature. Free.

        I kept staring at the sunset until I felt an uncomfortable breeze. I sighed once more, and closed the window.
        I went into bed and started to read Twilight once more, until I fell into unconsciousness.

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        Seth and I haven’t spoken to each other for the rest of the week. I acted as if he never existed, but it was hard.   We were assigned together for a Geography project, it seems like I see him even more then I usually do, and he sits at my table now, thanks to Robert, and Daniel’s friendliness, he sits across from me. I tried to move where Dawn sits, but she refused.
        I really despised my friends now. They keep trying to convince me to go to the damn dance, but I always refuse. To think they already knew my answer.

        I went to my locker after school, and I felt a tap on my shoulder. I sighed, and I immediately recognized the exotic scent. I sighed again in denial.
        “What do you want, Seth.” I asked, dully.
        “How the hell did you know it was me?” he asked, shocked.
        “I recognize your scent. Your exotic scent. It’s hard not to notice the fragrance,” I explained.
        He was silent. I turned around, to see his body a feet away from me. I gasped, turning red.
        “Uh, I need to go now,” I said in a rush. I turned to the door, and he grabbed my shoulder, and spun me around.
        My breathing was getting heavier. What did he want?
        “I was wondering,” he said. “Are you going to the dance tonight?”
        I stared at him, hoping he was joking.
        “No. I’m not going to the dance, are you?” I asked casually.
        “Yes,”
        “Hm,” I said, looking at the clock behind him. “And if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to feed my hungry family before they go into starvation like my dog,”
       He was silent once more, his expression was frustrated. I turned away from him, letting his hand slip off my shoulder.

       I silently drove back home after picking up Michael. He seemed content again, but I didn’t feel like asking.

      When we got home, I went to my room, stressed out. Jack was on my bed, curled up like a fuzz ball. I smiled slightly. I walked over to Jack, and put him in my lap, stroking his back and scratching his chin. The phone rang. I got the phone on my bedside table, and answered the phone.
      “Hello?”
      “Hey, it’s me. Seth.”
      I couldn’t speak.
      “Hello?”
      “Oh, yea?” I managed to choke out.
      “Are you sure you’re not going to the dance?” he asked.
      “Hold up. How did you get my number?” I asked, confused.
      “That’s for me to know, and you to figure out,” he smirked.
      “Creeper,” I muttered.
      “What?”
      “Nothing,” I said. “And yes, I’m sure I’m not going to the dance. I have too much to do,” I said.
      “Oh,”
      “And if you’ll excuse me,” I looked at the clock. “I must feed my family now. Peace out, home slice.”
I hung up the phone before he could respond. I exhaled. Oh boy.

        After dinner, I went up to my room once more. I heard a light knock on my door.
        “Come in,” I yelled.
        The door opened.
        “Someone wants to see you,” my dad informed me. Oh, please not it be who I think it was.
        Lila and Dawn stepped in. Thank god.
        Someone else was trailing behind them. My heart pounded.

        The three came in, and my dad closed the door.

         I sighed.
         “Why are you guys here? I said I wasn’t going to th-”
         Before I knew it, Dawn and Lila grabbed my arms, and pulled me to the bathroom and stuffed me into a dress.  My hair was still up with my big hairclip, so it was painful.
         “Ow! What are you guys doing!?” I screamed.
         “We are trying to get you to the dance. You HAVE to go to the dance, or we will KILL you,” Lila threatened.
         “Then kill me, ‘cause I’m not going to the dance, no matter what you say,” I said.
         “So if I said that Seth plotted this plan, would you believe us?” Dawn asked.
        My face wasn’t stressed anymore. It was angry. What was he doing to me!? I’ve told him I wasn’t going to the dance, and he forces me to go!
         “Why are you guys doing this to me?” I asked.
         “If I said your brother was part of this, would you slap him?” Lila asked this time.
          I couldn’t believe it! Even my own brother has forced me into this plot.
         “Once I find him, I’ll slap him,” I muttered.

         Once they’ve gotten me into a black, satin dress, they put lip gloss on my lips, which I wasn’t a big fan of. The pushed me out of the bathroom afterwards, and took my black flats, stuffing my feet into them.

          I was growling at them.
          “You’re lucky you guys are my friends, or I would of called the police anytime soon,” I threatened.
          “Just have fun just this once, Jade! It wouldn’t hurt,” Lila begged.
          “I’m not going to dance with him. I’m just going to the courtyard, and wait till my dad comes back to pick me up, how about that?”
          “Oh, you’re dad isn’t going to pick you up. We’ve told him Seth was going to drive you there, and back,” Dawn explained.
         My face started to burn with rage. Why are they even doing this to me!? I don’t want to go to the dance, I don’t want to dance, I just want to stay home, and sit on my bed. Why can’t the respect that!?

        The pushed me out the door, ignoring my struggles, and pushed me onto his ride. My eyes suddenly turned frightened. A motorcycle? Was he out of his mind? I don’t even have a helmet!
         I thought that too soon. They’ve stuffed a helmet on my head, and gave me a sweater.
         “Road rashes aren’t pretty,” Lila said.
         I glared at her.
         “I hate you guys so much right now,” I glowered.
         “We love you too, tootles!” she screamed behind her, once they got to their dates’ cars.

        Seth walked up towards me, putting his jacket, and helmet on. He waited.
        “You should put you’re sweater on,” he said.
        “I’m not going to put it on, because I’m not going.” I said sternly, as I got off the motorcycle. It would of went smoothly, if my dress wasn’t caught by the hook. I glowered at the sky. “Fine. However, once we get there, can you help me with my dress? It got caught onto the hook,”
        His lip twitched. I took that as a smile.
        “Okay,”
        I put my sweater on while he climbed onto the motorcycle.
        “You might want to hold onto me,” he suggested.
        “For the love of god, when will this end,” I complained.
        “Oh trust me, it’s the beginning,” he smirked.
        I glowered at him, but did as he asked. I wrapped my arms around his waist, and clung onto him. My breathing gotten faster. I could smell the exotic scent on his clothes.
        He started the motorcycle, and started to steer it. We were going quick! I tucked my head behind his back because of my cowardness, squeezing him tighter. I heard him snicker. I glowered at him.
        “It isn’t funny,”
        “Yes it is. It’s funny how you can still hide after your little accident,”
        “As I said, it isn’t funny,”
        We were silent after that.

        We arrived to the dance just on time, which surprised me. I thought the dance started hours ago, but I guess I was wrong.

        Seth parked the motorcycle right beside Robert’s car. He used the kickstand, and turned off the motorcycle. I released him immediately from my grip. He paused for a second, and then got off, while taking his helmet off. I noticed that his forehead was a bit damp.

        I tried to get off, but I just remembered that my dress was caught onto a hook. I sighed.
        “Seth?” I turned towards him.
        “Yea?”
        “Um, remember what we discussed back at my house? I’ll come, if you’d help me unhook my dress,” I reminded him.
        He walked around the motorcycle and kneeled down on one knee. I blushed for some apparent reason.
        He gently took the end of my satin dress, and tried to unhook my dress from the motorcycle. He couldn’t unhook the dress; he needed to rip the bottom in order for me to be free. Lila was going to be mad at him, I can tell.     He was going to rip a piece of the dress! I was still blushing once he got me free from the motorcycle.

        He stood up and sighed fustratedly.
        “Lila is going to be pissed at me,” he muttered under his breath.
        “Oh yea, she will probably pumble you,” I assured him.
        He chuckled softly.
        I got off the motorcycle, glad to be free. Seth stood beside me, and took my helmet off. I blushed into the deepest shade of red. I looked away, trying to avoid eye contact.  I could feel his eyes on me. I blushed even deeper.

        We got to the entrance, he opened to door for me. I went through, thanking him, while he walked behind me.   Since it was held in the gym, there was some gym equipment blocking the corners.

         I stood absent-mindedly beside Seth against the wall, with my hand on my arm. I looked around the gym. The dance committee did a really great job to the gym. There was a balloon arch at each doorway, and there was music.    One of the best djs which made everything lively, and free, as if we only had one night to dance for the rest of our lives.

        Alexandra came up beside me. I instantly looked at her with a curious eye. I looked back at the dance floor, watching everyone having fun. I never thought that dances could be so… real.

        I saw Seth looking towards me, then looking down at my feet. Before I could look down and see what he was looking at, something threw me in the air. I wasn’t sure what threw me. I landed on the punch bowl beside where I was before, and I heard someone scream in pain, and then cut off instantly. I tried to twist my head and see what had happen. All I saw were two lips locked together.
        Alexandra peeked over at me smirking, while locking her lips with Seth. Seth wasn’t too pleased. It looks like he was in pain. Cold sweat started to roll down his face, his face was as if he had ate a whole lemon in one bite. I looked down and saw blood all over the floor, and also saw Alexandra’s heel stabbed through his foot. I gasped. No wonder Seth was looking at me in shock. He pushed me out of the way, and tried to stop Alexandra, but unsucceeded, leading himself into pain and agony.
         Everyone turned to him, shocked. He fell over, screaming again. Everything was chaos.
I tried to get up, but the table broke under me. Something was stabbed through my right hand. I looked over to my hand, and saw wood from the table cutting as I fell. I screamed softly.
         Everyone started to stare at us, the music stopped. People started to run towards us. I looked over at Seth again, and Alexandra disappeared.  My face was turning red with rage, while Seth was sweating like a horse in Death Valley on August.
         I quickly scrambled up, and walked towards Seth, ignoring the pain on my palm. I knelt down on my knees, and checked his feet. Blood started to flow to the ground, his left foot was broken.

        “Excuse me, pardon me,” I heard a voice getting through the chaos around us. “Miss, are you alright?”
        “Um, sure,” I winced my hand, and Seth’s foot.
        “It doesn’t look like you’re okay. Your hand is bleeding. I think I should take you two to the hospital, eh?” The paramedic offered.
        “Sure, I guess. Just take him first,” I urged.
        I turned my head, and saw Lila and Dawn staring at me in shock, yet apologetic. I stared at them, trying to tell them that everything was alright, and they were forgiven.

        The paramedics took the stretcher, and rolled Seth on. I walked beside him, trying to understand what has happened.

        We got to the car, and I got in. Déjà vu started to hit me. When Seth was having lung problems. I was terrified.    What if he couldn’t walk again? I looked back at Seth, and he was still screaming, but I hadn’t noticed. I took my head and placed it to his head.
        “Shh,” I tried to soothe, but he kept screaming. I ignored that. “Listen to me Seth. You’ll be alright. Trust me, you will. Just stop screaming, it’s scaring me to death!”
        Instantly, he stopped, quieting down, until I all heard a soft murmur.

        It was quiet all the way back to the hotel. My hand was okay. It was wrapped up in a bandage. Seth on the other hand, needed to stay in the hospital up to a month or so. My heart dropped instantly. Not seeing Seth for a month? The doctor said he can’t get out of the hospital because his toe cracked. My face started to burn in rage. This was all Alexandra’s fault. She’s the one who had to torcher me in the first place. I did nothing to her. She always tried to out-witt me or make me look bad, no matter how hard it is, even if it caused someone hurt, she’ll go for it.

        I visited Seth’s room the same night, his face was peaceful. He was still sweating, but still slightly peaceful.

        Like I did when he was in the hospital, I grabbed a towel, and dampened it with water. I placed it on his forehead, waiting for him to grow conscious again. I reached out for his hand, but pulled it away before I touched his skin. No way I was going to grow attached to him, especially now. I sat next to him, patiently, until my eyes could hold any longer. I closed my eyes, leaving everything behind me.
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        “Jade?” a hoarse voice called.
        My eyes fluttered. Tired as I was, I stiffly came up from my sleeping position, and my mind instantly went alert. I turned to Seth slowly, not trying to make any sudden movements that could frighten him a bit.
        “Jade, are you alright? Sorry for throwing you onto the punch table. I just saw Alexandra beside you, and grew suspicious,” He paused for a brief moment, studying my expression. “I saw her looking at you, as if she was going to hurt you. Now, since I was your date, I knew I was supposed to bring you back unharmed, or else you dad would kill me,”
        “I’m alright, for the most part anyways,” I pointed at my hand. “You don’t look so well yourself,”
        He looked at his foot, then grimaced.
        “What happened anyways? I felt something on my lips, but I couldn’t understand what it was,” he asked, confused. I felt a lump in my throat. I tried to swallow, but I choked.
        “Um,” I said, my voice a little hoarse. “Well, Alexandra kinda…”
        He looked at me, still not getting it. I turned my face away from him to keep myself from blushing. I felt his eyes staring at my back. I shivered.
         “I don’t understand, what did she –” his voice changed into rage. “She what? She kissed me?”
         I turned and nodded.
         “She did,” I whispered. He looked away from me, turning to look out the window. I tried to read his face, but it was blank. “I’ll leave now.”
        I took my bag, and nearly tripped. I started to run through the hallway, running past everyone who was in my way.
_________________________________________________________________

        A month has passed now, and Seth was back on his feet. During the time, I’ve visited him when Geography homework was handed out. I help him when he is confused. Emma has visited constantly, probably two times a day. Without Seth in school, things just got a little bit complicated. I see people staring at me, as if I was the bad guy.

         Later that night, I stayed in bed, hoping nothing can go worse. I heard a knock at my door.
        “Come in,” I shouted. Someone came in, and I instantly knew. “Hey!” I said happily, getting off my bed.
        They were my cousins, Jason and Fiona. They live in California. They were much older than me though, probably ten years worth.
        Their faces weren’t so happy. I looked at them curiously, and looked at their hands. They were holding a pink hankerchief, which was wrapping something small. Fiona’s face was frowning, and tears started to roll down her cheek. Something was wrong. Very wrong. My face turned from happiness to worried. They unwrapped the hankerchief, and it contained a necklace. It was ashed, and there were some red stains on it. They held it out for me so I could examine it. It was a heart shaped locket. I looked up, with questions in my eyes.
        “May I open the locket?” I asked, my voice cracked. They nodded.
        I opened the locket carefully, and saw my Aunt and Uncle Lee’s picture in it. I thought about it for a moment, then, it hit me. It was Aunt Julie’s locket my Uncle gave her when they were young. I instantly looked up at my cousins, my expressions all jumbled up.
        “What happened?”

Author's Note

IGNORE SPELLING && GRAMMER. Kty <3