Seven More

5. An Angel

"I can't believe we lost you again last night, Bash," Peyton exclaimed as I walked into the kitchen in the morning. 

"I don't worry, I was absolutely fine," I grinned. "I had Gabriella to take care of me," I winked at Eli who was smirking. 

"That is gross," Peyton rolled her eyes. 

"She couldn't resist the Montgomery charm," I said proudly. 

"You know what that's like, don't you baby?" Riley grinned at Silver, who smacked him on the arm in return. 

"Right now I'm very resistant to the Montgomery charm," she rolled her eyes dramatically. 

"You should watch what you say when you're literally surrounded by Montgomerys," Kai spoke up.

"We're outnumbered," Vincent looked between Eli and Silver, feigning fear. 

"I'm not scared of any Montgomerys," Eli raised his eyebrows at Vincent. 

"Oh really?" I stepped closer to him. 

"Can we stop the displays of alpha maleness please?! We need to make revenge plans," Peyton exclaimed, but I was not willing to stick around and listen to all of that. 

"And on that note, I'll be off," I sighed, sticking my ear buds in. 

***

Yet again, it was a lovely day for a run, and I couldn't help wondering if I would see Mia on my run again. A small part of me hoped I would, so I could apologise for being an ass to her. 

I don't know why I was softening up to her so much, before I would never have found myself hoping to see her. Perhaps it was because we had never actually spoken to each other one on one. She wasn't quite as unbearable when she alone, without her possee. Perhaps she thought the same about me. 

Sure enough, I eventually saw Mia Hastings about two hundreds metres in front of me, and there was no way I was going to lose the opportunity to scare her. 

I sprinted to catch up with her and when I was close enough, I hoped in front of her and shouted "Boo!"

Unfortunately, my plan did go down as it was supposed to. She early jumped out of her skin and ended up losing her footing. Since I was the closest thing within reach, she grabbed onto me, but I was caught off guard too and we both ended up tumbling down a very steep ditch.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" I panicked, worried I had seriously hurt her, it was quite a fall. 

"Can you stop pushing me down ditches please!" she exclaimed. Well, at least I hadn't injured her voice box. 

"Technically you were the one that pulled us down here," I pointed out, perhaps foolishly. That wouldn't sit well with her.  

"I guess you're right," she sighed, still sitting in the dirt. That surprised me, I expected her to rip my head off. "Its still your fault though," she added. 

I stared at her sitting sadly in the dirt. She looked different without makeup. She didn't necessarily look younger, but she looked more real somehow. She looked like she wasn't try to hide something. She was beautiful, for sure. 

"I'll take the blame for this one," I admitted. "Do you need a hand up?" I offered, standing up and brushing myself off. 

"No, I'm fine," she began standing up, but instantly called out in pain and feel back down again. 

"Are you hurt?" I panicked, she'd never let that go. 

"Its probably just a twisted ankle," she winced as she inspected the injury. It definitely looked swollen. 

"Oh crap," I looked around at the steep ditch, realising there was no way we were getting out without some help. I could probably have pulled myself out, but I couldn't imagine Mia had that sort of upper body strength. I wouldn't even be able to pull her out with her injured ankle. 

"I'm gonna have to call Elijah to come and help us out," I told her, pulling my phone out of my pocket. 

"No!" she exclaimed instantly. "Please! Not Eli," she looked at me pleadingly. 

Then I recalled the time when she had tried to win Eli over. That must have been kind of awkward for her. 

"I'm so embarrassed about that whole situation, I don't know what came over me," she looked ashamed of herself. 

I racked my brains for who to call instead. I wanted to call Eli because he was the only one who wouldn't overact at the fact I was stuck in a ditch with Mia, plus he was strong. I considered Riley, Blake and Kai, but they would all completely lose their heads. That only left Vincent. 

"I'll call Vincent instead, he's a good guy," I reassured her. She still didn't look comfortable with the idea, but it didn't freak her out as much as the thought of Eli had. 

"Sebastian? Are you okay?" Vincent sounded confused, which wasn't surprising, since I never called him. 

"Listen buddy, I'm stuck in a ditch about half a mile down the running path outside the house. Do you think you can come help me out? Without telling the others? Its kind of embarrassing, and I'm not alone," I asked politely. I knew he wouldn't say no, he was a good guy and I trusted him. 

"Sure, I'll be there soon, hang tight," he said, before hanging up. 

"He's on his way," I turned to Mia, who looked like she just wanted the world to swallow her whole. "So I guess we just have to wait."

"Why did you jump out to scare me?" she asked after a while of silence. 

I thought about it a moment. Obviously, 'I thought it would be funny,' wouldn't be a very good answer. It was partially true though. 

"Well, I didn't expect it to end like this," I signalled to the ditch that surrounded us. I sat down on the dirty ground, to get to her level, plus, we were probably going to be waiting for a while. "And I wanted to apologise for being an ass yesterday. Well, actually, for being an ass in general." 

She looked like she wanted me to carry on, so I did. 

"There's been this feud between you and my family for years, and I don't even know what started it. But after you ran away yesterday, it got me thinking that maybe we're just as responsible in causing the drama as you are." 

"I'm not sure if that's true. I am a bitch and I always have been," she said, which surprised me. "Don't look so shocked. I know I'm not an angel. I'm argumentative and spoilt and in general, not a nice person. It does hurt at times, to have people dislike me so much, but I do deserve it. But thanks anyway, for the apology, it shows what a big person you are," she finished speaking, leaving me speechless. I had to think for a while before I came up with anything to say. 

"You haven't been so disagreeable the last few days, in fact, you've almost been nice to me," I chuckled. 

"I guess I have," she chuckled also. "You must be special Montgomery." 

"Or maybe, just maybe, you're not as much of a bitch as you make yourself out to be," I suggested. 

"Did someone order a hero?" Vincent's face appeared over the top of the ditch. 

*** 

JJ xo