Daydream Dating

Chapter 10 - Kitchen Tables

Song of the chapter - Forgot to Laugh by Bridgit Mendler

My house was no longer a quiet place to refresh and relax. For some unknown, crazy reason, Seth had declared our family room as Party central for his gang of demons. It was now a daily occurrence to arrive at our humble abode after school, only to find zombie squishing imbeciles lounging in our back room. They always beat me home because I walked, and Seth's friends actually had drivers licenses and cars.

It was almost impossible to distinguish the video game zombies from the live ones. That's how comatose these guys seemed as they played. No one was even yelling at the screen, as per usual, and I wondered what the deal was. My mail reading skills had taken a pretty big hit recently, but something told me it was all due to my current war on Seth. This must be his retaliation for my non-violent non-action. I really hadn't done a thing to him, following the plan I had hatched with the girls.

It was like we were both waiting for the other one to strike first, two predators circling each other looking for weaknesses. I had to hand it to Seth for being that insightful. What can I say, I give credit where it's due.

"Um...Seth? Could I talk to you for a minute?" I asked into the void that was the family room. As if I brought them out of their coma, half of the room turned to look at me. Seth paused his game and glared, but there wasn't as much fire in his eyes as usual.

"God! What now!" He huffed. It sure sounded forced to me, however. As if he was trying to put on a show. He followed me into the kitchen then stood with his arms crossed.

"Well?" He demanded.

"I have a proposal for you." I said. His eyebrows went up but he said nothing so I continued. "Truce. Cease fire. Let's call an end to this war."

He narrowed his gaze as if he was trying to see through my words and into my mind. I could tell he didn't believe I was sincere.

"Why?" He sneered.

"Because this is stupid. Can't we just let each other exist without trying to make the other miserable?" I put my hands up.

"I don't know. I kind of like messing with you." Seth smirked. That's when I knew he was open to it.

"Yeah, sure. Me too. But don't you want to stop all the cat and mouse crap?"

"On one condition..." he said as he put out his hand to shake mine.

"Which would be?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You make us some nachos." He laughed. "Seriously, you make the best nachos. I can't figure out what you do, but they're good."

My mouth fell open. What the heck? "Really? That's why you're always demanding I make them?"

"Well, yeah. I didn't think you'd make them if I just asked. Plus, the guys were here and I couldn't look like a baby..."

Ah. Trying to be a man even though he's still such a kid. That made sense. It's got to be hard navigating the high school scene and dealing with sudden popularity. Well, he'd always been popular, but high school was a whole new world.

"Okay, deal" I reached out to take his waiting hand. It felt good to not have to look over my shoulder anymore.

"Cool" Seth replied as he pulled his hand back, ran it through his messy hair and headed back to the zombie den. His energy level was definitely different after our exchange because he cursed and exclaimed "ah, come on! Dude, you wasted two of my afterlives!" To whomever had taken over his game.