"How's your cold, Aubrey?" Mom asked, walking into the kitchen. "Do you feel much better?"
I looked up from my math sheet and gave her a brief smile. "Yeah, I feel much better. I just don't appreciate the fact that I can only breathe through one nostril." I wrinkled my nose. "It's annoying."
"How on Earth did you manage to catch a cold anyway?" she asked, leaning against the granite counter.
Pursing my lips, I shrugged and played with my pen. Now, I had been thinking about that and speculating about the reason as to why I was sick. The weather was quite cold but I knew that it wasn't just that. What seemed more logical to me was the fact I had ended up in Dylan's bathtub with freezing water soaking my body. Then, I left Dylan's house and the not-so-warm weather might have played its toll.
Well, I didn't tell my mother that.
(She'd probably disown me.)
"Well, it's nothing serious," she shrugged and smiled. "Do you have a lot of homework for Monday?"
"Nope," I replied, jotting down an equation. "I'm almost done and then I'm going to meet Amber and Tymon. Why?"
"Don't be late," she said. "We're having lunch at Molly's."
"Okay."
Mom left the kitchen and I continued the set of equations I had to do. When I was done, I was more than content. Shoving my books away, I stood up and stretched, satisfied. It was a good Sunday morning. I was supposed to meet Amber and Tymon at some coffee shop downtown. Trudging up the stairs, I made my way into my bedroom and changed into an orange long sleeve shirt and jeans. I put my hair up in a loose braid, said goodbye to my mother, and exited the house. The moment I passed the Seether residence, Dylan had made his way outside. His eyes were covered with black sunglasses, his hands shoved into his pockets. Smiling, I walked up to his car, where he was standing, ready to leave.
"What do you want?" he flatly asked.
I gave him a sour look. "Good morning, sunshine."
"Good morning," he said, void of emotion. "Now, what do you want?"
"Mind if you give me a lift?" I asked. "My dad took the car and my destination is not really around here."
"No."
"Oh, come on!" I cried. "Why do you always insist on being mean? I just want a lift; I'm not going to do anything!"
Dylan's jaw clenched and he flung his car door open, heaving a sigh. "Get in."
Victoriously grinning, I walked to the other side of the car and entered. Dylan, on the other hand, looked far from happy and I was not in the least bit surprised. "Where do you want to go?" he asked, starting up the engine. I gave him the name of the coffee shop and its exact location. He nodded and drove in silence.
Though, I was never really good with silence.
"So," I began.
He groaned. "No. Whatever you're going ask me—it's a no from now. I do not want to play any games and I'm not going to answer any questions. I just want to drop you off so that I can go on with my day. It's enough I'm seeing you for lunch."
I gasped at him. "You little—why you little—you grouch!"
"I am appalled by your choice of words," he sarcastically retorted.
Fuming, I folded my arms and muttered to myself. "You know, I wasn't going to ask any of what you mentioned. I was only going to ask about you. I mean I just wanted to know how you were doing seeing as you got into a bloody fight just two days ago! But pardon me, next time, I'll make sure to sack you in the face."
Dylan stayed silent, his eyes focused ahead and his eyebrows furrowed. I decided to remain quiet for the rest of the drive, although I was itching to say something. I really didn't do well when it came to complete and utter silence. I acknowledged the fact that whenever Dylan and I were around one another, it always ended with us two bickering for the sake of bickering. I'd say I was the decent one here when it came to socializing, and that said a lot since I was quite horrible at conversing.
Minutes passed and soon, Dylan had the car parked near the coffee shop. I looked out the window and spotted a bunch of my classmates lounging outside and my heart stopped when I saw Dallas. Exhaling a breath, I removed the seatbelt and glanced at Dylan. "Thanks."
He looked at me. "You can get out now."
I gritted my teeth and narrowed my eyes. "A decent 'you're welcome' would have been sufficient. What is your problem, for goodness sake? Why are you such a grouchy, stubborn, and snobby guy? I'd say I'm doing well when it comes to us. Again, we started off on the wrong foot and I'm trying to fix that but you're not cooperating—"
"Will you shut up already?" he asked. "I drove you here so get out."
"I am so close to kicking your butt!" I cried, flailing my arms around. "You're so void of emotion! You didn't even thank me for saving your drunken butt! I could have left you slumped down against the wall in the middle of the night! You—you could have been hurt! You were so drunk that you tried to shush a trashcan! Now, I demand a 'thank you'."
"You demand? Are you messing with me right now? I'm not saying a word. Now will you please get out already?" he snapped.
"No."
Dylan's head fell down and rested against the steering wheel, his hands gripping it as tightly as ever.
"You're impulsive and rude and I'm not leaving this car until you're at least decent enough to say thank you or something. It might be a long day."
His head snapped up and he sent me an icy glare. I was scared for a minute.
He cursed, flinging the car door open. He got out and walked to my side, opening the door with force. He leaned against the door and gave me a straight face. "I opened the door for you. You may leave now."
Sighing, I got out of the car. I pointed an accusatory finger at him. "That was most definitely not a nice move."
"Don't expect a lot of things from me," he said in a calm yet cold manner. Dylan shut the door.
"I don't expect you to be some gentlemen, you know," I said, swinging on the heels of my shoes. "I just expect you to be a decent human. Well, I'm not trying to accuse you. I do know you're decent. You just don't show it."
He stared at me, his eyes roaming mine. I wet my lips and sighed. "We're always arguing, you know. It'd be quite a change if we had a normal conversation. How are your bruises by the way? They still look fresh."
"They're fine," he replied. His eyes wandered and I followed his gaze. Dylan was coldly staring at Dallas' group. Dallas seemed to be mirroring his stare. "I should go."
I nodded. Dylan walked back to his side and I grinned. "I'll see you at lunch!"
Before Dylan took off, I heard him mutter obscenities and I couldn't help but smile. He probably detested my guts but it was quite amusing, in a way. When his car disappeared, I turned to enter the coffee shop. I noticed Dallas' group had gone in.
Well, except for Dallas.
My heart thudded as I made my way to the door. Before I could enter, though, Dallas' deep and sweet voice stopped me.
"Aubrey?"
He knows my name, I thought.
I gulped and looked at him, aware of the assembly of bruises and scars that painted his features. "Y-yeah?"
"How are you?" he softly asked. "I-I'm really sorry about what happened. You-you shouldn't have been hurt. I hope you're okay."
My stomach proceeded to do flips. "I-It's okay. I'm fine, actually." I exhaled half a laugh. "Though I do believe I should be asking about you. Are you okay?"
I was surprised at my cool manner. However, my insides were far from calm. I felt I was about to explode any minute.
"I guess," he smiled.
I smiled back.
"Well, I guess I'll see you around, yeah?"
"Yeah!" I mentally kicked myself for how overly excited that had sounded. He didn't seem to care, though. With a wave, he departed and took off, much to my dismay. Dallas and I never really had a proper conversation. It was a smile here and there and a wave or two. We've been together for as long as I could remember, dating back to kindergarten where I also met the two goofs. I entered the coffee shop and found an aggravated Amber seated next to a vulnerable and innocent-looking Tymon. "Where have you been? He's driving me crazy!"
"Just some minor setbacks," I smiled, sitting down.
