Love Me Or Hate Me

Love Me Or Hate Me [09-I]

Unpacking my things into my new bedroom, I couldn't help but mumble a few choice words under my breath. Not only did my mother offer my hand in marriage, but she kicked me out the same day she told me and moved me into some condo across town. Sure, I was still close to the school and I could still see my friends, but that didn't change the fact that I'd be coming home to James everyday, and it didn't change the fact that I was still stuck in this stupid marriage.

I don't see why my mom just can't marry his dad. It would make this a hell of a lot easier. Not bothering to hide my frustration, I threw the TV remote that was in front of me and only turned around when I heard someone getting hit on the head by it. Obviously, the person who got hit was James because—according to my mother—we were the only two allowed in the apartment. “I know you don't like me much, but did you have to throw the damn TV remote at me? Sheesh.”

Muttering a quick apology, I continued unpacking and bringing my clothes over to the dresser. The walls of the bedroom were a shade of olive green, but it seemed lighter with the way the sun reflected off of it. The bed was king sized—surprise, surprise—and it had a white comforter, a few black throw pillows and a white canopy over it. Had I not had to share it with James, I wouldn't have minded getting a new bed, but considering the circumstances, I'd most likely sleep on the couch. I didn't want my unconscious body anywhere near James'.

The floor of the room was a bright wooden color that looked like it had just recently been waxed—which you could only see around the small carpet that was placed conveniently in the middle of the room. On the far right, there was a balcony, and on the left there was the way out of the room and into the rest of the apartment; the door right next to it leading into the bathroom. There were a few dressers placed around the room, but for the most part, it was spacious and almost completely bare. I would definitely have to buy some paintings or something. . .

I hadn't even realized that James was still in the room until I turned away from the dresser and walked into his chest. He seemed to like the position because he looked down at me with a smug grin on his face; one that was quickly replaced with a frown when I pulled away from him. “You know,” he said as I brought the next pile of clothes into my somewhat empty dresser, “you can't ignore me forever. It's only Friday; we're going to be here all weekend and at some point, you're going to have to talk to me.”

Laughing humorlessly to myself, I placed the few shirts that were in my hand inside the dresser and I looked up at him without a single emotion on my face. “We only have to end our days here, meaning, I can do whatever I want throughout the course of the day, and only have to see you for about an hour or so.”

His brows furrowed and he looked at me with an annoyed expression playing his features. “You can't run away from this, Is. We both know that at some point, our parents will find out, and then they'll take drastic measures and like, lock us in here.”

“I'm pretty sure that's illegal.”

“Yeah, so is forcing us to get married, but that didn't stop them.” I stayed quiet, sadly realizing that he was right. I wouldn't admit that though; I'd just let him continue speaking. “All I'm saying is, I'll make this easy on you if you do the same for me.”

Turning my head to the side in confusion, I raised a brow. “What do you mean by 'make it easy on me'? I'm not just going to lie down on the bed and let you fu-”

“-that's not what I meant.” Clearly noticing that I had no idea where he was going with this, he rolled his eyes and went on explaining. “I don't want to be here either, but since we really don't have a choice, let's just try and be nice to each other. It won't hurt you to at least try and be civilized.”