Fallen Angels

Chapter Four

Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that

—Martin Luther King Jr.—

In a blink of an eye anything can happen. Seriously, anything at all. Perhaps, like, some random girl was staring at a gorgeous guy one second, and almost being hit by a speeding car the next.
     Sadly, that girl was me.
     "Yes, I'm okay," I responded in a whisper, everything slowly locking into place.
     "What the hell was that?!" Dante finally snapped at me menacingly, fury in his eyes as he glared down at me. "Do you want to get yourself killed?!"
     It took me yet another moment to process his words. Was he yelling at me for almost getting hit by a car. You're kidding me, right?!
     I felt my blood boil, my face flushing red with frustration.
"No!" I snapped back. "I was just..." I trailed off. I had been distracted by his friend, but how pathetic would that sound if I said it outloud? Really pathetic. "I'm... sorry," It seemed as though it were the right thing to say because the next second his gaze softened
     "You're such a nuisance," He muttered under his breath.
"Well no one asked you to check up on me," I told him, defeated entirely. People had gathered around me but I hadn't noticed, some asked if I was okay but I barely registered Dante and was much less going to waste energy to register all these people.
     Dante rolled his eyes. "Can't you just learn to say 'thank you'?" He asked with an eye roll.
     He turned to leave and in this moment I peeked behind him to see his friend still glued to the hood of the Camaro. He no longer wore a smile, and his eyes seemed uninterested.
     I knew I might have been acting like a bitch and that I should've apologized, but my pride was eating me alive, and I knew that if I would have apologized, all of it would have gone down the drain. Besides, he had started this war.
I sped past Dante who kept quiet until I slipped into my Jeep. A small part of me wished that I would have accepted my fate and let the vehicle hit me, but another part of me was still racing with adrenaline that enjoyed the thrill.
     I turned the key to the ignition and tightly closed my eyes when I heard the dying screech of Shitty Betty rejecting to ignite to life. Now I really wished that I were dead.
     As I dug into my bag to find my phone, the dying sound my phone makes when it runs out of battery filled the silence in my Jeep.
This can't be happening. Why do you hate me, God?
     A silent sob nearly escaped my lips until someone knocked at my window. I had no energy to withstand Dante and his friend, but as I turned to look out the window, I had never felt quite happy to meet Seth's eyes.
     "Is it not turning on?" He opened my door and pulled a lever beside the one to open up the gas tank. "You may have left your—ah, I was right." He switched off the headlights and I growled to myself. "Easyyyyyy there," he moved away and headed over to the front of my Jeep. "I'm only trying to help."
     I nodded, too exhausted to handle an argument with anyone, much less Seth. "Okay," I whispered, my eyes shutting with a sigh.
     A few moments passed until he came back over, black grease staining his hands. "So besides the obvious, there are a few things wrong with your Jeep that I cou—"
"Can you start my engine or not?" I whispered.
     "Do you have jump start cables?"
     I sighed, "No,"
     "Well you're in luck," He smiled, one which reminded me of when we were in elementary. "Because I'm gonna take you home!"
     From next door, Dante must have been overhearing our conversation because he intervened. "I have—"
     "Hey, it's cool," Seth grinned. "I have it under control." He offered me a hand out of my Jeep. Much to my dismay, I accept it by handing him my bag. "Ah, that'll do as well."
     I wasn't sick enough to hold his hand. Even if I was sick enough, I would have fainted before losing my pride and accepting it. I hopped out, taking little things that I would need. "Thank you," I mumbled, my head spinning while I fought to lock both doors.
     Though I didn't look back, I knew Dante watched us, and maybe his friend did too.

Twenty awkward minutes later we had arrived to my home. "About time don't you think?" I asked Seth. His driving was so slow, so precise, that I could have sworn a jogger had passsed us with ease.
     "Shut up!" He chuckled. "Without my help you would have needed to use your thumb to hitch a ride. Besides, it's better late than never."
     I nodded, realizing that he was right. I should be thankful for his help. "Thank you, but I'm afraid that Mom needs my help for dinner."
     "Wait, this has been killing me for so long and I need to know... what happened?"
     I blinked, confused. "What?"
     "In middle school," he muttered, suddenly insecure with his own words. "What happened to you—us?"
     This, traveling down memory lane, was the last thing that I felt like doing. Not now, not ever.
     "You grew out of me, Seth." I muttered after realizing that he wasn't going to give up the topic so easily. "You grew up and realized that there was more out there than a girl from your elementary school class."
     Seth looked confused, but I wasn't willing to argue with him over the past. He opened his mouth to argue, but I shook my head and he clamped it shut.
     "You said that you needed to help your mom with dinner." Before I could argue, he continued. "I wanna help." He slipped out and sprinted towards the house with a goofy grin.
     Despite the frown that wanted to form on my face, a smile surpassed it. I watched as he made his way so comfortably to the porch, so normally. It brought me back to the last night he had visited me.
     I shook the memory away, blinking as I wondered what had I done to deserve this.
     Without another thought, I followed after him.
"Who's this cutie?" My mother asked as she opened the front door before I could open it myself. "Oh my—is that you, Seth?!" She embraced him and I pursed my lips tightly. What a reunion. "I haven't seen you since you were in middle school! You've grown to be a handsome young man."
     "Long time no see, Mrs. Preston." Seth replied politely, returning the hug.
     "Bite me," I muttered under my breath, though I no longer meant the words.
     "Oh shush," my mother said, waving me off. "I can tell she's happy that you're here." She smiled brightly at Seth. "Come on in! Pie for all."
     Following my mother into the kitchen, I immediately slumped in defeat on one of the stools. "This place hasn't changed." Seth stated as he took a spot next to me. "It's just like I remembered it."
     I sighed and decided to tune out of the conversation. It's not that I had no care for it, although I most likely didn't, but the exhaustion was slowly catching up.
     The moment that I shut my eyes, my thoughts roamed off to my past with Seth. He had been my first love, but it had ended when he'd cut off all strings of the two of us ever having a past as friends.
     Upstairs, someone whispered into my ear.
     I lifted my head off the counter and glanced at Seth who was picking at the slice of cherry pie my mother had just served him, "Did you say something?" I asked.
"Oh I was just telling your mum how this cherry pie tastes as good as I remember." He repeated, smiling awkwardly at me.
"No," I said. "I could've sworn you said something else."
"Wh—No, are you okay...?" Seth trailed off, looking at me with confusion and concern.
My mother walked over to me and placed her hands on my forehead, "Ash, you're heated up." She whispered. "Seth, hon, can you get me a pack of peas from the freezer?"
"Yeah, su—"
"Mom," I croaked out, pulling away. "I'm fine, I'm just tired. I've had a long day. I almost got hit by a car, and my car wouldn't even start, and now here is Seth acting as if we don't hate eachother while you're feeding him grandma's cherry pie."
"You almost got hit by a car?!" She gasped. "Are you okay?! Get me Principal Mcstandley on the phone this instant!"
Upstairs, the voice repeated itself, but this time I knew it hadn't been Seth. It had come from my head.
"I'm just gonna go upstairs," I stated over my mother's panicking voice. Her voice was causing my migraine to increase.
Half way up the stairs I felt Mom grab my arm, surely so I could give her more information on who had almost hit me, "Mom, please, I'm okay. I'm just tired."
"Are you sure that's all it is, daddy." I heard Seth say and I sighed, unsure of why I hadn't expected it to be him.
I snatched my hand back and turned to face him. "I'm fine, Seth!" I whisper-shouted. "Now if you don't mind, I just want to sleep. Also, stay the hell away from me! Who are you trying to fool anyway?! We both know we've hated eachother since freshmen year so stop trying to be kind! I don't know what you're planning, but guess what pretty boy? It's not gonna work on me! You may have Lottie wrapped up around your finger, but not me!"
"Are you done?" He asked not even looking fazed by everything I had just said.
"No!" I claimed. "I haven't even begun! Why are you doing all of th—" I was cut off as he grabbed my face with both his hands and slammed his lips onto mine.