“What?”
“I know, right? I would have thought that was super romantic if he weren’t reading a book about sociopaths when he said it.”
I don’t know what I found more disturbing, that Seth was sitting around trying to figure out ways to make me fall for him, or that he was looking for advice from Hannibal Lecter.
“But
Dave
,” Angela continued, snapping my attention back to her, “is perfect. True, he’s not quite the Zac Effron Seth is, but he’s still pretty cute and super popular. Plus you already like each other. You both just need a push in the romantic direction.”
I sighed and Angela began pouting. “Please?”
“You can try all you want, but it’s not going to work. Dave and I are just friends.”
Angela took that as a green light to play matchmaker. She gave me a giddy squeal and ran off. As she disappeared I sighed again.
“Wow, she seems determined.”
The statement came so naturally that I answered it automatically. “When Angela goes into matchmaker mode, there’s simply no stopping her.”
“So how do I get put on her list of viable candidates, and could you kindly point out who my competition is?”
That made me turn around. “Travis?” I asked, startled to see the jock strap from the lake party last week. His face brightened considerably when I called him by name.
“You remember,” he said. “I’m glad.”
He grinned this big cheesy grin at me that I couldn’t find the least bit impressive. Once Seth pointed out what a player this guy was, it was easy to see.
I smiled at the thought of Seth nearly picking a fight with Travis last week. I’d been so mad at the time, but looking back, what he did was actually pretty sweet.
Seth? Sweet? Did I really just say that?
“I’m glad I found you,” Travis said, placing himself in my line of vision so that I had to look at him. “We didn’t really get the chance to talk last time.”
“How did you find me, anyway? Angela didn’t know who you were.”
“So you were asking about me?”
Travis looked so pleased with this that it was kind of fun to burst his bubble. “No. Angela asked me about you after she saw us talking.”
“And what’d you tell her?”
I shrugged. “I told her what I knew. That you’re some guy named Travis.”
Speaking of Angela.
Where the freak was she? I figured for sure she’d have returned dragging a clueless Dave with her by now. I started scanning the crowd looking for her. Somewhere in the back of my brain it registered that Travis was asking me something, but I couldn’t answer him because I’d spotted Seth across the room. He was talking to some girl I recognized from school, but he seemed to be paying about as much attention to her as I was to Travis.
I don’t know why I’d assumed Seth wouldn’t be there. Angela said she’d invited him. My heart gave an anxious flutter. Or maybe that was my stomach twisting in on itself at the sight of him. So hard to tell with Seth. Both reactions are equally likely.
“I see big brother’s here again,” Travis grumbled, startling me from my stare. He’d followed my gaze and was glaring at Seth so hard I had to smirk.
Seth felt us watching him and looked up. The lifelessness I saw in his eyes confused me. Oh, he stared at me, same as always, but there was no sparkle, no hint of desire, or even the danger that there usually was. At least, not until he looked at Travis. Then there was plenty of danger. He and Travis resembled a couple of caged pit bulls ready to tear each other’s throats out.
Not that I’m naturally vindictive or anything, but an idea hit me that I simply couldn’t resist. “Well you asked who your competition was,” I said to Travis, then smiled as sweetly as I could Seth’s direction.
I figured Seth wouldn’t mind that I was using him since it was in an effort to get rid of Travis. He’s a pretty sharp guy and it didn’t take a genius to see what I was doing. But when I sent him a big friendly wave and mouthed the words “Hi Seth,” he was shocked. He returned my smile and started making his way over to us.
Oh, great!
I hadn’t meant to actually encourage him. Now the best I could hope for was that he and Travis would kill each other, thus ending the party and allowing me to go home and watch the UFC fight.
Before I had to deal with that problem though, Angela returned, dragging Dave with her. “Ellie, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you.” She gave me a look that suggested she was not happy to see me standing there with another guy.
Dave eyed Travis curiously, too, but he wasn’t so subtle with his thoughts as Angela was. “Another guy you’re not dating, Westley?”
“Following my sister around like a lap dog, Holcomb?” I shot back.
“Oh, you guys,” Angela said with a laugh. Nobody could have missed the way she stepped up to me, putting herself between Travis and I, consequently pushing me next to Dave. “Who’s your friend, Ellie?”
After I begrudgingly gave introductions, Angela said, “So, Travis, how come I’ve never seen you around school?”
“I’m a senior over at Stevenson High in Livonia.”
“Oh. So who do you know from Canton?”
“Well, I’d like to know Ellie better,” he said. “She pretty much stole my heart when she busted that guy’s face at the lake last week.”
With that, Dave burst into laughter. “Yeah, she tends to do that.”
“What, steal hearts or punch people?” Travis asked.
I glanced at Dave, surprisingly curious of his answer, but he just smiled knowingly at Travis and said, “Good luck with this one,” plopping his arm over my shoulder. Angela had to be loving that.
“Speaking of punching people,” I grumbled.
Dave stepped away from me, lifting his hands in surrender. “All right. Chill, Westley. I’m just playin’.”
“Your favorite pass time lately. But I was talking about the fight. Can we still turn that on or what? I’m sure there’s a big screen around here somewhere.”
More like a small movie theater. Rachel’s parents owned one of the biggest houses in Canton. It made the lake house with the boat and the Jet Skis look rather unimpressive.
“What fight?” Travis asked.
Dave answered before I could. “The UFC Prelims.”
“Those are tonight?”
“Yup,” I said. “And we’re missing them, so why don’t the two of you go see if we can turn them on?”
Travis started to say something, but Dave gave me a mock salute and said, “The birthday girl has spoken.”
I gave him a special salute of my own as he dragged Travis off to find Rachel. They weren’t even out of sight before Angela was clinging to my arm, bouncing up and down. “Did you see that? He was totally flirting with you!”
“That wasn’t flirting. That was Dave doing what he does best—giving me crap.”
“I don’t think so, Ellie. It’s obviously on a subconscious level, but Dave is in to you. But listen to me, if we’re going to make this happen, you really have to ditch muscle man. What’s he even doing here, anyway?”
“How should I know? It’s not like I invited him. I didn’t even know about this stupid party.”
Angela’s face fell and I instantly felt like a jerk. Which was surprising, because I don’t normally feel bad for being rude to Angela. But what was even more surprising was that I apologized. “I’m sorry,” I said, shocking us both. “I didn’t mean the party was stupid. I’m just annoyed by Travis. Oh, hey, I know. Why don’t you go find some girl to keep him busy?”
“Ooh. Good idea. Now, no more flirting with anybody else.”
“I wasn’t—” It was no use. Angela was already gone.
On the bright side, Angela was gone. And Dave was gone. And best of all, Travis was gone. I plopped myself down into an empty armchair with an exhausted sigh, and closed my eyes, enjoying the alone time. But I only got a moment’s peace.
“You left your hair down.”
Only one voice can make my heart speed up and raise the hairs on my neck at the same time. I opened my eyes and sure enough Seth was staring down at me with that familiar deep blue piercing stare.
“Angela made me,” I muttered, cursing myself for sounding as nervous as I suddenly felt.
Seth sat down on the arm of the chair, looking me over in a way that made me blush. “I like it,” he said. “
A lot
.”
He reached out to touch my hair and I cringed back so violently it startled him. In an instant his face went sour. “What is your problem?” he snapped.
“
My
problem?” Hey, if someone gets pissed at me, I get pissed back—just ask Kowalski. I can’t help it. I guess even possible psychopathic killers are no exception to my anger management issues.
“You were the one smiling all friendly a minute ago.”
“That doesn’t mean I want you to touch me. Geez, Seth! I was just doing that to piss Travis off so he’d leave me alone.”
Seth played back the scene in his mind and I could see the exact moment he realized it was true. His anger was gone, and, just like a minute ago with Angela, I suddenly felt like a world-class jerkwad. Except I hadn’t just hurt Seth’s feelings a little bit, I’d crushed them.
He gave me this scorned, bitter look that racked me with so much guilt I couldn’t let him leave. When he started to walk away I jumped up and grabbed his wrist. “Seth, wait. I’m sorry, okay?”
Seth glared at me, but calmed down despite himself the instant I touched him. I could feel the way his muscles relaxed beneath my fingers. When he looked down at my hand I let go of him, but I attempted a sincere smile. It probably looked more like a grimace.
Seth watched me for a moment as if he were in pain and then lost whatever internal debate he’d been having. “Here,” he said sullenly. He pulled a tiny, messily wrapped gift from his pocket. “Happy Birthday.”
“A present?” He’d gotten me a gift. I was shocked, and surprisingly flattered. “Seth, you shouldn’t have got—”
“Just take it,” he said, his anger returning so quickly it made my head spin. “I don’t think I can handle any more blows to my ego from you.”
I gasped. I was surprised he’d misunderstood me. Usually he reads me like an open book. “No, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just surprised. You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“Surprised? You are the most stubborn person I’ve ever met!” His face was starting to turn red, he was so frustrated. “Ellie, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I’d want to do something nice for you on your birthday. I don’t understand why you hate me so much.”
For someone so mysterious Seth sure couldn’t hide his emotions. That vulnerable, self-conscious kid I met in his bedroom was back, and he was clearly struggling with my constant rejections. Psycho or not, there was something about that face—and not just that it was beautiful—that made me want to make him feel better.
“Cut me some slack,” I said in the softest voice I had. “I’m trying here.” I held out my hand and Seth hesitantly dropped the package into it. As I tore off the paper I forced myself to be extra polite. Not exactly my strong suit—as my mother is always pointing out. “This was very nice of you Seth. Thank you.”
I was surprised by what I found in my hand. Seth had given me a tiny pink Swiss Army knife on a keychain. “It won’t fend off any serial killers,” he said. “But they can come in quite handy, and everyone needs a good keychain for their first set of car keys.”
I couldn’t help the smile that crept across my face. The pink was the perfect contrast for my shiny black jeep, and, actually, the gift was surprisingly thoughtful.
“I saw the jeep parked out front of your house tonight. It’s yours, right?”
My smile got even bigger.
“It’s a beauty,” Seth said. “But I don’t think your friends are going to be very happy when they see the legroom in the back seat.”
My eyes flashed up at Seth and after a moment I smirked. “Then they can walk.”
Seth and I laughed, but the minute I realized we were acting like normal people together, I clammed up again. I couldn’t help it. When I could no longer look at Seth, I turned my attention to the knife in my hand. I started pulling out all its gadgets—tweezers, a toothpick, scissors, nail file, and finally a tiny blade. I thought of all the different knives in Seth’s garage. This one didn’t look dangerous like those had. This one was cute.
“I know it’s not an autographed jersey or anything,” Seth said, sounding surprisingly self-conscious. “I was going to get you season tickets for the Red Wings, but my aunt suggested I start smaller.”
I smiled, figuring Seth was kidding about the season tickets, but when I glanced up I couldn’t really tell. I started to say “It’s perfect,” but then it dawned on me what he’d said. “How did you know about the jersey?”
Seth shrugged. “I was watching you from my room yesterday. I figured the jersey was autographed or something when you almost passed out.”
“You were
spying
on me?” I asked, forgetting that Seth is surprisingly sensitive. Also ignoring the fact that
I
spy on
him
on practically a daily basis. In an attempt to soften the blow I said, “I’m surprised you didn’t come say hi.”