Til Death Do Us Part || Tate Langdon

another passing face

      All the guys, and a few girls who were desperate to know their crushes, sat in a circle after a group moved the Powell's coffee table from the middle of the floor. Tate begrudgingly sat beside you, resentful that you'd convinced him to join. Everyone blinked nervously at each other, until Brielle spoke.

   "It's Delaney's party, so she should go first," she decided. "So Del, go ahead and ask someone something."

   She took in the crowd for a moment before calling on a guy with a brunette widow's peak, "Travis." His eyes became the size of baseballs. "Truth or dare?"

   "Um... dare?" he said hopefully, an edge of fear to his voice.

   "I dare you to text Amber that you can't stop thinking about her."

      Squeals and giggles came from just about everyone. Amber was Travis' ex that he didn't end on the best terms with. He protested for a minute before everyone took Delaney's side, repeating that these were the rules. After a few minutes, he typed it out and pressed send. People around you burst into laughter; even Tate shook his head with a small smile.

   "Okay my turn," Travis said, red as a firetruck. "Brielle. Truth or dare?"

   "Truth," she said confidently, all eyes on her.

   "Okay," the red-faced boy had to think a minute, as you assumed he was hoping she'd say dare. He finally managed, "A-Are you a virgin?"

   Everyone gave exaggerated gasps and whispers. Brielle didn't miss a beat. She raised an eyebrow at him, "What do you think?" Every boy in the room made some sort of noise or dramatized movement.

   "Dude's totally got a stiffy right now," Tate whispered to you referring to Travis. You gently slapped his shoulder with a smile.

   "My turn," she said, eyes moving toward you two. "Tate." Your heart dropped, and he went rigid next to you. "Truth or dare?"

   He looked at you, then back to her. "Dare."

   You'd figured he'd say that, rather than let any of these people in to get to know him. Brielle smirked, obviously getting her way. "I dare you," she began seductively, "to kiss the hottest girl in the room."

      Guys gawked and stared between the two in jealousy, and girls' hands flew to their mouths at the scandal of it all. When the whispering died down again, you looked anxiously to Tate, waiting for him to lean in and meet Brielle's lips with his own. His cheeks went pink, and he stared at a spot on the ground while everyone around him goggled in anticipation. Brielle blinked impatiently.

      Before you knew what was happening, Tate had turned to you and smashed his mouth against yours. Your eyes flew wider open and you saw his squeezed shut, then he was gone again a second later. The room fell dead silent as everyone's jaws dropped. Delaney looked nervously between you and her sister.

   "What the fuck, asshole," Brielle finally said. "I meant me."

   Tate pressed his lips into a line and didn't reply. She was fully offended now, and dead-set on getting this kiss. She half crawled across the circle to him and grabbed the front of his shirt.

   "Quit it," he said through clenched teeth and pulled his shirt out of her grip. "If you meant you, you should've said that. You took a risk by saying hottest."

   "Ugh!" She shrieked. "Get out! Out, out, out!"

   Tate took your hand in his and stood, laughing the entire way out the door. You called out a quick apology to Delaney as you shut the door behind the two of you. You guys ran all the way down the block, laughing your asses off before finally stopping for breath.

   "So," you panted. "Wanna tell me what the hell that was?"

   Tate plastered a dimpled grin on his face and said, "I wasn't about to let those bitches show you up. She needed some humbling anyway."

   You smiled graciously at him, and found yourself wondering if any part of him actually did think you were hot.

      In the next few weeks, you got closer with Delaney. She said what happened at her party wasn't your fault, it was her sister's and partly Tate's: you could live with that. She managed somehow to be one of the most popular girls at school, fitting in with whatever social group she felt that day, and also totally down to earth and kind. You appreciated her for it. For whatever reason, the closer you two got, the more Tate seemed to resent her.
      These situations were few and far between, but, when you'd tell Tate you'd be hanging with her instead after school that day, he'd become overly jealous at the idea. You'd go as far as to say he'd become a little possessive of you. He changed completely for the worst that year when his father left.

2019, freshman year

      Ninth grade rolled around, and things at home got rough. Aunt Thea had gotten progressively angrier and colder towards you in the past few years, not doing anything more than making sure you didn't die. And that may only have been so she didn't get in trouble with the law. You  and Tate were finally in the same class again, you in your freshman year and he in his sophomore. Brielle had thankfully graduated out, and you and Delaney got closer every week. As that happened, you and Tate gradually grew apart. He refused to be around you while you were with her, or anybody else for that matter. He wanted it to just be you and him like when you were little, but you guys were 14 and 16 now; you had some growing and discovering to do. You didn't dislike him, but his possessiveness and how emotional he could be was a little taxing, and you distanced yourself from him a little.

      Delaney being close with Remi, meant that you became close with Remi. While you and Del were a little more reserved, you more than her, Remi was a party girl. She smoked, she slept around, and she didn't give two shits what anyone had to say about it. You admired her.

      Through the year, you hoped that Tate made male friends, but he didn't. You two went from hanging out once a week, to hanging out once a month, then from waving when you saw each other, to avoiding eye contact altogether. By your sophomore year, he was just another passing face in the hall.