For Worse or For Better (Shawn Mendes)

Trapped

That's why I'm saying, I want to get to know you better.
-Mary J Blige

Shawn stares at me with intimidating brown eyes. "Are you okay?"

I look at him blankly. "Were you following me?"

He pauses. "What? No!"

I put my hands on my hips. "You hesitated."

"Huh, I did not!" Shawn protests, his eyes on fire.

I shrug my shoulders. "Then what are you doing here?"

"I forgot my economics text book."

I raise my eyebrows. "You're a sophomore. You take economics? Isn't that a junior course?"

Shawn starts to walk away, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Maybe I'm smarter than you think. You don't know me."

"Hey!" I find myself running after him. I catch up and look up at him. "You keep saying that." I shrug. "Maybe I want to know you."

"Yea, okay." Shawn says sarcastically.

"Can you not be a jerk for just one second?!" I exclaim, throwing my hands in the air.

Shawn stares at me silently. "You think I'm a jerk?"

"No, I think you're a fairy godmother." I retort sarcastically.

Shawn slows his pace, letting me catch up to him and walk beside him. "We shouldn't leave," he says, dropping the subject. "We need to take refuge in one of the classrooms."

"Ugh, I'm spending my Monday evening at school? How great."

I see Shawn smile for the first time.

And it instantly becomes the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

His lips curl at the edges and his perfectly white teeth gleam in the darkness of the hallway.

I snap back to attention and point to a classroom with only one window. "How about that one?"

Shawn nods, his smile already replaced by a tight grimace. "Okay."

We lock the door and I sit down, resting my back against the wall and closing my eyes.

We sit in silence for what feels like forever, until Shawn breaks it.

"We have to do something to pass the time." He sits down next to me, and I move away a tad. "Look," Shawn says, noticing, "I'm as unhappy about this as you are, but we have to be safe. So let's try not to kill each other for just one night, okay?"

I shrug. "I wont if you won't."

Shawn sighs. "Good, now what should we do?"

I shrug again. "I don't know. You not being an ass is kind of new to me so I don't know what you like to do."

Shawn frowns. "Ugh, I seriously despise you." His statement is completely serious.

"The feeling's mutual."

I wait for Shawn's snarky comment next, but it doesn't come.

Instead.

"Okay then, if you really want to know me, let's each ask each other ten questions."

I look at him as if he has three heads. "Wait....huh?"

Shawn slaps the floor. "Oh come on. Okay here's how it's gonna work. I ask you a question, you ask me one. And so on. NO sarcastic answers. Get it?"

I can't believe this. "Okay, let's do it."

Shawn sits against the wall, getting comfortable. "Okay, first question. What's your favorite band or singer? Music says a lot about a girl."

I think for a moment. "The Fray," I answer finally.

Shawn stares at me in disbelief. "You...you like The Fray?"

"We agreed on no sarcastic comments," I point out.

"No...that's not it. I-I love the Fray."

Now it's my turn to stare.

"What?" Shawn questions.

"Nothing." I shake my head. "You do NOT come off as a Fray kind of guy."

"Like I've told you," Shawn says quietly, "you don't know me."

"So I've heard," I whisper, looking into Shawn's eyes, trying to find SOMETHING, ANYTHING.

We stare into each other's eyes for a split second before he clears his throat and says, "Your turn."

I cough into my sleeve. "Oh, yea, right. Uhhhh, whats your favorite TV show?"

"Community." Shawn says immediately.

Again, I am taken by surprise. Not what I was expecting.

"Okay," he says, moving slightly closer to me. "What's your favorite TV show?"

"Oh, Teen Wolf all the way." I respond instantly. I lean into him and whisper, "I believe I'm a werewolf, just like Scott and Derek and Liam."

And there's that smile.

"I can totally see you as a werewolf. You sure are feisty enough." Shawn says, nodding at me.

"What's your favorite past time?" I ask.

That tells a lot about a guy.

Shawn doesn't answer, he just looks away.

"Shawn..." I say.

No response.

"Shawn, I-"

"Ask me something else." He snaps.

AHA! There it is. This is my chance.

"No, we agreed to rules. Answer the question, Shawn."

He turns to look me in the eye. "I star on lacrosse."

I narrow my eyes. "That's a blatant lie." I whisper.

Shawn dips his head closer to mine. "And how would you know?" He raises his eyebrows.

"Because I can see it in your eyes."

Shawn mutters something that I don't hear.

"What was that?"

Shawn lifts his chin so he's inches from my face. "Reading to my little sister is my favorite past time."