ITS NICE TO HAVE A FRIEND; seth cohen

one

fade into you, mazzy star

i walk into class, pausing my music, and i'm greeted with the sight of twenty familiar faces. some, however, are more friendly than others.

"excuse me, miss...?" the woman at the board says snobbishly.

"adams." i reply and look around the science classroom, trying to see if i spot--why am i looking for him?

"miss adams, your skirt is too short."

i'm taken aback. what the hell?! why is she looking in the first place? doesn't she have a class to teach?

"what would you like me to do about that?" i question.

"go to the dean's office and tell dr. kim that mrs. blake sent you."

i walk out of the classroom and down to the office. this is so stupid. it's our first day back from summer vacation and i'm already getting in trouble. at least i don't have that many friends in that class, meaning that no one really cares that i got in trouble.

except for seth. seth definitely cares.

the hallway is quiet as i knock on dr kim's door. i try to stay out of things in an attempt to avoid her. she's not exactly my favorite person. don't get me wrong, she is very understanding for the most part, but i still don't like having to chat with her.

"come in."

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i grab my books out of my locker and stuff them in my bag. once i zip it up, i turn around and am suddenly face to face with a tall figure. 

"oh, excuse me," i try to pass him.

"wait..." he looks me in the eye.

"seth, what do you want?" i ask, clearly irritated. he stands in front of me with a blank expression. my day has already sucked. i don't want him making things worse.

"nice to see you too. i saw what happened in mrs. blake's class. i just wanted to let you know that i think it was completely unfair," he replies.

"aww you do? you think that was unfair? how sweet!" i say sarcastically and roll my eyes. "do you want a medal or something?" is my world supposed to stop because seth cohen thinks i was wronged? anyone can see that that was unfair. he's not special.

"n-no! i just wanted to... i don't know... share my sympathy towards you."

is he kidding? that man is the least sympathetic person i know. "i don't want your sympathy, cohen."

"what did i ever do to you?" he questions.

"what did you not do?" i start to walk away again before he stops me.

"i'm serious, lucy. please, just tell me. i haven't seen you all summer. i just want an explanation. i deserve one after you just stopped talking to me."

i think about his offer for a second. i guess i did ghost him... he deserved it, though. he's lucky i'm talking to him right now. honestly, he's lucky i didn't punch him in the face. but, he does seem genuine. my gaze softens as i look back into his eyes.

"fine. come with me," i say reluctantly and begin walking to the library. "but don't expect me to forgive you."

"for what?" he asks loudly. a few people turn around to look at us.

"be quiet. i'll explain, just wait a second." we walk through the halls silently before we enter the library doors and sit in a corner. there aren't as many people in here as i expected there would be. there is a window open, allowing for the singing of birds to accompany our conversation.

"talk," seth says impatiently. i don't know why i'm being so nice to him. i guess i missed seeing him.

"i ghosted you because..." because... truthfully, i'm not sure how to explain it. or at least i'm not sure how to explain it while making it sound reasonable. because i'm not sure if it was reasonable. a part of me feels bad for what i did, but i know it was for the right reason.

"look, cohen, it doesn't matter why i ghosted you" i say. i turn around and look at the books on the shelves as i wait for his response.

"you're kidding, right?" seth replies. "you can't lure me here and then not enlighten me as to-"

"seth..." i look at him. if you had asked me ten minutes ago if i would want to become friends with seth cohen after all that happened last year, i would have said no and laughed in your face, but being in his presence once again brought up old feelings that i really don't want to deal with. deep down, i know i can't let myself get caught up in the past. this can't happen.

"so you just aren't going to explain to me why you just left me on the last day of sophomore year and haven't acknowledged my presence since?" he asks sarcastically. technically, that is not true. i definitely thought about him multiple times over the summer. and i'm acknowledging his presence right now, aren't i?

"i told you, seth, it doesn't matter. can we just forget about it?" i sigh and look at seth sadly, stand up, and walk away. he isn't going to understand. i just can't explain to him why i stopped talking to him. not without him questioning everything.