The Truce

Chapter 5

The first text from Scott came at almost ten-thirty.

'I'm SO sorry! On my way now!'

As if I'd still be standing there an hour and a half later. Rolling my eyes, I ignored the text and continued working on my English paper. Let him waste the trip out there. Serves him right.

My phone beeped again, ten minutes later. 'I'm here. Where are you?'

Again, I ignored it.

Scott sent several more texts and called three times. I ignored everything. I was sick of being forgotten about for the sake of his stupid art project. If it wasn't for Sebastian, I'd have had to call my parents and they would have been furious. They already thought Scott wasn't that responsible. Mom would have a stroke if she found out I was waiting on some deserted road at night, alone. Plus they had to be up early, so having to come get me would have been really inconvenient. And it was no small matter that I'd had to rely on Sebastian to save me.

At about eleven-thirty, I decided to answer Scott's increasingly desperate texts. I didn't actually want him driving around all night and I certainly didn't want him showing up here and getting my parents involved. Plus I wanted to go to sleep without having to turn my phone off.

'I'm just fine, no thanks to you.'  I hit send, hoping he'd get the hint that I wanted to be left alone. Of course, he didn't. He continued to text me with apologies. When it didn't seem like he'd stop without acknowledgement, I sent one more.

'Going to sleep. Stop texting.'

I'd have to deal with him in the morning, but for now, I just wanted to be angry. For someone who was so worried about me spending time with another guy in a public library, you'd think he would have been waiting for me before the time we agreed on for pick up. You'd think he'd set an alarm or something to make sure his cute little girlfriend wasn't left completely vulnerable to any psycho who happened to pass by.

The worst part was, it would give Sebastian more ammunition. I'd had absolutely no way to counter anything he said about Scott. And that just ticked me off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'd never been so glad that my morning was boyfriend-free. Natalie didn't live that far from me, so she always drove me to school, and my classes were on the complete opposite side of the building from Scott's.

Lunch, however, was the time in the day we always had together. Scott was usually a little late getting out of his graphic design class, so I'd hoped I might have a little time to eat before he got there, but of course that wasn't the case.

I'd been at our usual table for all of about two minutes when he sat beside me, setting a stuffed bear, holding a bar of chocolate on the table in front of me.

"I'm so sorry," he said, putting his arm around me and trying to pull me toward him. Apparently he thought a simple show of affection would fix everything. He fully intended to just kiss and make up.

Refusing to allow him to move me an inch, I glared at him for a second before shoving his arm off me and jumping up, to the general surprise of the table. All but Natalie, who was the only one who knew about last night.  Abandoning my lunch, I strode for the door, not looking back to see if Scott would follow, though I knew he would. I'd hoped to make it to the bathroom so I could avoid him completely, but he caught up to me before I could actually reach the door.

"Please, Michaela." He grabbed my wrist. "I'm really sorry. Please talk to me."

I suppose I couldn't ignore him forever. Stopping, I spun and yanked my arm free of his grip, choosing instead to cross my arms as I scowled at him. "You're sorry?" I said. "For this time or the last time? Or the time before that?"

He blinked, a little confused. It was probably my own fault that he didn't think it was a big deal that he kept doing this. I always gave him a pass with an apology. But Sebastian had never been a factor before, and he'd never left me in the middle of nowhere at night.

"All of them," he wisely said. "But especially last night. I lost track of the time. You know my project is due on Friday. I just...." He huffed. "I'm really sorry. But it won't happen again. I promise."

I'd heard that before. But maybe now that I was really mad, he actually meant it.

"Since you felt you had to mark your territory before leaving me with him, I'd have thought you'd be a little more concerned about showing up so I wouldn't have to spend even more time with him," I said, not satisfied since his "apology" was basically just an excuse.

He frowned. "Wait, how did you get home?"

"How do you think?" I spat. "Everyone else was gone and he wouldn't leave me alone at night, unlike someone. You knew I didn't want to be with him and you knew when to come get me, but you didn't care! All you cared about was your stupid project!"

He really seemed upset with himself, which I thought was progress. "It's not all I care about," he said. "You know I get really focused when I'm working." He shook his head. "But you're right. I should have made sure that didn't happen last night. I really let you down. I'm sorry."

Part of me wanted to keep being mad, but he genuinely seemed repentant, and not just because I was upset. It was definite progress and it made me think he'd be different in the future.

Scott could tell I was softening. He risked taking my hand and I let him.

"Can I make it up to you?" he said. "Saturday? We can do something special."

"No projects?" I asked, skeptically.

He shook his head. "The main one is due on Friday. I can put the others off for a weekend."

I allowed a small smile. Big project or not, he always had something to work on. If it wasn't art, it was photography. If it wasn't photography, it was year book or graphic design or regular homework. If it wasn't something for school, his parents wanted him to do something with them.

"Alright?" he asked hesitantly.

I nodded and, seeming relieved, he pulled me into his arms. He kissed me briefly and then we just stood for a minute, hugging.

"When's your next meeting?" he asked. "I'll make sure to be there early."

"Don't worry about it," I tried, knowing he was going to hate the new arrangement. "I won't need a ride."

"No really." He pulled away. "I want to."

"Well..." I fought the urge to fidget. "We're not meeting at the library next time."

His eyes narrowed. "Where are you meeting?"

"He does live next door," I said. "And it's stupid for us both to keep going all the way over to the library if all I have to do is walk across the lawn."

"You're going to his house?" Yep, he definitely hated it.

"It's not a big deal," I tried. "I've been to his house before and his parents will be there." I had no idea if that last part was actually true, but there was a good chance it was.

Scott wasn't comforted in the least. He defensively crossed his arms. "Your mom is home when we're in your room sometimes. It doesn't always make a big difference."

That's what he was worried about? Gross!

"It's Sebastian," I reminded him, wrinkling my nose. "We're not even friends, remember? Nothing is going to be going on except math."

Scott didn't answer. He just scowled.

"You said you trusted me," I reminded him. "Did you mean it?"

His expression softened, but was still decidedly unhappy. "Of course I did."

"Then trust that this is no different from us meeting in the library," I said. "Neither one of us want to do it, but we don't have a choice. And he did pretty well yesterday, so it shouldn't need to be a long drawn out process."

Scott still hated it, but he seemed to accept it for the most part.