Enemies Without a Limit

Chapter 23

It's over. It's finally over. Naomi thought with relief as she plopped down onto her bed. Somehow she got through the last of school and all her final exams and she was ready for the summer to begin. Despite everything, the dance last night had went without a hitch and she had had fun watching other people enjoy themselves, even though she couldn't. Everytime she tried to enjoy herself, Darryl found a way to captivate every thought. She knew that she hurt him and after he'd stormed out of the ballroom, she hated herself for it. But her self-loathing quickly turned to irritation when she got to school this morning all he did was ignore her and refute all her attempts in explaining herself. She huffed out a sigh of frustration as she rolled onto her back. The dance is over, I never have to take Spanish again, my best friend isn't pregnant and my ex doesn't hate me as much as he did yesterday, and I still can't catch a break. She rolled off her bed and pulled off the sweaty halter top and slipped out of her skinny jeans from her clammy body. The summer heat was outrageous and the cool air coming from the air conditioning vent in her room was enough to tempt her into lounging around in her bra and panties. As she looked for something more comfortable to wear, she heard a tapping on the slide door of her balcony.

It was Darryl. At first she stood rooted in place as she watched his lingering gaze swept over her half-naked body, feeling that familiar spine-shivering sensation whenever they were near each other, but then she remembered that she was upset with him and her look of lust quickly turned to a hard glare. Deciding to torture him, she didn't bother to get dressed and slid the glass doors open. 

"Why are you here?" she asked hastily as she moved to let him in without a look towards him. She took a comfortable seat at the center of the mattress perfectly aware that his eyes were still trained on her from his spot at the far opposite side of the room.

"We need to talk. And can you put some clothes on?" he answered. His tone sounded irritable and impatient and it only fueled her annoyance with him.

"Now you want to talk to me?" she said as she rolled her eyes, "And no I won't put clothes on. It's hot outside and it's my damn house." she snapped as she grabbed her phone off her bedside table and looked idly through it.

"Who you texting? Charming?" he asked with a bit more edge than before. She looked up at him in comtempt and noticed that he had crossed the room and now stood at the foot of her bed. She looked back down at her phone, not giving him the satisfaction of an answer. "Naomi!" he growled.

"What do you want, Darryl? You made your decision last night that we can't move on from the past two years and you think you have a right to be jealous?" she howled pointedly as she threw her phone to the side.

"I made that decision?" he asked incredulously, "So, when you decided that Miles was going to be your date last night, that wasn't your way of saying you're better off with him than you are with me?" 

"No, asshole! And if you weren't busy putting words in people's mouth maybe you'd find good reason behind why I agreed for him to be my date." 

"So, why'd you do it?" 

"You and I both saw how upset he was yesterday at lunch. He was angry--more than that--and it was all our fault..." 

"So you felt sorry for the asshole who called you a slut in front of everyone?" Darryl cut in brashly. 

"No. I did it because I lost a friend for two years the last time someone was that angry with me and called me a slut in front of everyone." she countered. She saw that the words hit home as his face fell from its harsh demeanor to a look of understanding. "I'm not still mad about what happened--if that's what you're thinking. I just can't have someone going around hating me as much as you did. I tried to explain to you last night and today at school." she said in a calmer tone. She rose to her knees and crawled over to where he stood.