Mutual Hatred - Love Game (27 page)

"And?" Shelley prompted.

"And I got two tickets!" said Brandon, like it should have been obvious.

Indeed.

Two tickets to see the Backstreet Boys! She could hardly contain her excitement. But Shelley couldn't show him how ecstatic she was; after all, she'd firmly turned him down flat just last Friday.

Play it cool, Sinclair.

"Uh, thanks?" she offered.

Shelley's heart gave a slight tug when Brandon's face fell. Any idiot could tell his intentions had been foiled.

"That's all you have to say?" was all Brandon could manage to get out.

"What do you want me to do? Thank you profusely and confess my undying love for you?" scoffed Shelley.

"Now that you mention it, yeah,' answered Brandon, "A little appreciation would be nice."

"Too bad," said Shelley. "You're talking to the wrong person."

She made a reach for the tickets in Brandon's hand, but his quick reflexes were too fast for her.

"What are the magic words?" he said in a sing-song voice.

"Fuck you," she spat.

"No, I don't think those are it, unless by 'Fuck you' you mean that
you
want to fuck
me
. And if that's the case, I'll think about it. And if that's not what you meant, try again."

He was goading her on and he knew it.

Bastard!

By now they had attracted a small amount of attention. People were starting to stare; tickets to the Backstreet Boys were pretty hard to come by. And naturally, all the girls wanted in on the action if Shelley turned the tickets down.

But who in their right mind would turn down the Backstreet Boys?

"Forget it," Shelley said saucily. "I don't want to see that stupid boy band anyways."

Apparently, Shelley Sinclair was not in her right mind.

And with that, she pushed through the crowd and left him standing there, dozens of people staring and all.

"What, no good bye kiss, honey?" Brandon called after her.

- - - - -

"Stupid, stupid,
stupid
," Shelley muttered to herself as she made her way to first period.

Why did she always have to be so stubborn? Tickets to the Backstreet Boys, for chrissakes! The Backstreet Boys! The tickets she and Taryn had so desperately wanted for months.

And somehow, Brandon had gotten hold of a pair.

Why couldn't she just give in to him
just this once
?

Damn pride. Always got in the way of things.

So now she had two choices. One, stay stubborn and miss out on a concert she might never have the chance to go to again. Or two, go to Brandon and grovel, and go to the best concert ever.

Well really if you thought about it long enough, there was only one logical choice.

- - - - -

Shelley was already in the English classroom when Brandon arrived, sitting in
his
seat to be precise. And strangely enough, no one else was in the room.

He dropped his backpack with a thud and remained standing in front of her.

"Is there a reason why you're in my seat? Because I can direct you to yours," Brandon said snidely.

"Oh, don't be bitter," Shelley's laugh was mirthless. "I know exactly where I sit. Now if we were talking about tickets to the Backstreet Boys concert, per say, where
would
I sit?"

Brandon caught on quickly. "Front row," he said simply.

He loved the way her eyes widened in shock; it was obvious she regretted turning him down. Well,
serves her right
! And now here she was, groveling her way back into his good graces.

This should be interesting.

"Ah, well um, I'll be straightforward Brandon. I want to go. What would it take for me to get those tickets?"

Oh, this would be
very
interesting.

Brandon pretended to ponder this for a moment, when in reality he knew Shelley was right where he wanted her.

"Wait a few minutes and I'll tell you," he replied.

The rest of the class began to trickle. Just as the bell rang, Brandon flipped Shelley a note, which she gingerly unfolded. It read:

When Ms. Nickol calls on you to answer a question, stand up respond 'I don't know the answer to your question, but I do know that I'm an idiot and I'm in love with Brandon Miller, the most ridiculously good looking man alive!' Say it like you mean it, too. Otherwise, you can kiss those tickets goodbye!

When Shelley looked up, she saw Brandon watching her expectantly. She threw him a dirty look that said 'I'm going to get you back for this!' He gave her a Cheshire-cat smile in return.

And it was just her luck; sometime during class, Ms. Nickol called on Shelley. "Ms. Sinclair, what do you think Emerson is trying to say in his essay? And do you agree with it?"

Shelley sighed and got up so that she was standing next to her desk. "I don't know, but I do know that…" she paused for a moment but continued when Brandon caught her eye, "Brandon Miller is the most ridiculously good looking man alive!"

The last part was said in a flourish as her classmates gasped.

"You forgot to say that you're in love with him!" Brandon called out.

"Ms. Sinclair," demanded Ms. Nickol, "What is the meaning of this outburst?"

Shelley tried her best not to blush, but she couldn't help it. She felt the pink tinge creep up upon her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," said Shelley. "It won't happen again."

"Explain yourself or I'll be forced to send you to the principal."

"I um, just felt like declaring my undying love for Brandon during your class," offered Shelley.

Ms. Nickol looked like she was torn between laughter and rage. Instead, she said, "Detention for disrupting my class with your inappropriate display of affection. And as for you, Mr. Miller, I
don't know how you got Ms. Sinclair to say such a thing, but you will spend this afternoon in detention with Ms. Sinclair."

Damn it.

Brandon opened his mouth in protest, but Ms. Nickol silenced him with the wave of her hand. "Don't even try to fight it. There are a thousand other times I could have given you detention, so you can save yourself some useless, unneeded, unnecessary hot air."

Try saying that ten times fast.

Brandon bowed his head.

Ms. Nickol
really
didn't seem to like him, and he knew she wasn't going to let him weasel his way out of this detention.

But on the other hand, it was detention with Shelley-even more time to have
fun
with her.

Maybe not. Shelley didn't look too happy with him right now.

- - - - - -

Detention wasn't that bad. All they did was sit around while Mrs. Roberts, their supervisor, surfed the internet. And sitting around basically translated into doing whatever you wanted to; you just couldn't leave the room.

So if detention wasn't so bad, why did Shelley, who was sitting across from Brandon, still look like she wanted to murder him?

"I know you want me, but staring at me like that won't help. Now if you offered to meet me in my bed…" Brandon said as a joke.

Wrong thing to say. This only made her even madder.

"I'm staring at you because I'm mentally killing you," she retorted.

"Still mad, cupcake?"

"Oh, does it show?" Shelley said sarcastically.

"You know, I like you better when you're not mad at me," he commented.

"And I'd like you better if you were six feet under. But I'll settle for you being injured in a football game," Shelley offered brightly.

"Why, so you can take care of me?" Brandon teased.

"I'd never dream of such a thing!"

Oh, a fiery one.

"Cool it, babe-"

"Don't 'cool it, babe' me!" cried Shelley. "You made me humiliate myself in front of my classmates
and
my teacher. And you know what's worse? I'm serving my
first
detention in the history of Shelley Sinclair because of YOU!"

"If it makes you feel better," said Brandon with a slight smile, "You did it for tickets to see the Backstreet Boys."

"Please," she scoffed, "Knowing you, you're probably going to make me do something else that's just as heinous and I won't even get the tickets!"

"Then you really must not know me," said Brandon as he fished around for something in his pocket, "Because I'm giving them to you."

And true to his word, he produced the two tickets and held them out for Shelley to take.

It took her a split second before she realized what was going on. Brandon was giving her the tickets. And she was going to get to see the Backstreet Boys!! Front row, too.

Shelley hastily snatched the tickets from Brandon before he could change his mind. He smiled at her knowingly.

"So, do I get a thank you?" he asked.

"After what you put me through?" Shelley shook her head, "I don't think so."

But when she saw his frown, she quickly added, "But there
is
one way I'm willing to show you my gratitude."

The first thing that came to Brandon's mind was
sex
.

But this was Shelley Sinclair, so he should have known she'd never suggest anything like that.

"And what would that be?" Brandon said with a sly grin.

Shelley threw her pen at him, which he dodged. "Nothing like
that
, you perv. I'm not that grateful!"

"So what'll it be then? Will you serenade me with your beautiful voice during lunchtime? Admit that you really do love me?"

"Now you're just pushing it. I
was
going to invite you to go to the concert with me, but I guess I'll rethink that."

"Me, go to a Backstreet Boys concert? Do I look like a fag to you?" Brandon said disdainfully. "You'd better rethink that!"

"Speaking of fags-and never use that word around me again," began Shelley, "Maybe I'll ask Johnny if he wants to go with me."

Brandon wrinkled his nose in disgust. "You do that. You can have an awesome time together and make awesome babies while you're at it."

"Jealous that Johnny gets to spend some quality time with me, Brandy-poo?" snickered Shelley.

"I can show you an even better way to spend your time," said Brandon, raising his eyebrows suggestively, "If you'll let me."

"You're such a boy."

"Is that a yes?"

"No."

"So it's a no?"

"No."

"Is it a 'Maybe I'll think about it and let you pick me up at seven tonight?' " he asked hopefully.

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"No."

"No? But you just said yes!" he protested.

"Yes, I did."

"But when I asked you if you said yes, you said no!"

"Yeah…"

"So what is it?"

"It's a yes, dumbass!"

Score!

Brandon Miller was back in the game!

"But we're going out with Alex and Taryn," added Shelley.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because Taryn and I feel like it. And because I don't want to be alone with you."

"Do you want people around because you're afraid you won't be able to keep your hands off me?"

"Oh yes, Brandon," said Shelley as she rolled her eyes, "Because right now I'm resisting the urge to drag you to a supply closet and have my way with you."

"Just say the word, princess," smirked Brandon, "Just say the word."

She
so
wants me
, he thought.

Chapter 23 – Not Just Any Girl

Shelley could sort of see why girls liked Brandon. He was sexy, charming, fun to be with, and a total heart-melter.

Not that
she
thought he was sexy or a heart-melter. Brandon was undoubtedly charming, though, and she supposed that was what people liked best about him. He had that kind of personality that attracted everyone. And it was amazing how he could make her smile just like
that
.

And then it hit her that this was a different Brandon she was sort-of-dating, not the same egotistical asshole she'd met several months ago.

On the other hand, they were with Taryn and Alex, so he might have felt more comfortable.