Hate + Time = Love

2: The Party

Whoops of excitement erupted as Chris exited out the glass doors leading to the back patio outside his home. His pool was as large as the city pool, and went from three to twelve feet deep. But Chris' pool had a waterslide, hot tub, and a rock cliff jump-off, with a built-in waterfall that hid a small grotto. Music blared from the speakers; "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz. Unconsiously, Chris began to search for Emma. He saw her, sitting near the pool filter room by herself, reading. Her dark hair fell into her eyes, shading her face even more from the sunlight. Chris had to admit, she looked rather attractive, her knees brought up to her chest, her brow furrowed as she read, the small portion of her pale face still visible twitching with emotion as she read...Chris mentally slapped himself. She was not attractive.

"Chris!" a feminine voice called. Julie Jones, his current piece of arm candy, stood on top of the rock cliff, waving flirtatiously at him. Her curly blonde hair fell around her shoulders, to a hot pink bikini, studded with reflective gold squares. The tiny garment was too small for her, showing off too much skin. Chris sighed and kicked off his flip flops, jogging over to the cliff and climbing up, not using the convenient stairs in the back. "Hey, babe," Julie said, sashaying over to him and turning her face up for a kiss. Chris pressed his lips against hers, resisting the strong urge to gag at her strawberry-flavored lip gloss. He felt her small hands, with the long fake nails, pull up the hem of his shirt. "Come on, babe." Julie pulled her made-up face into a pout. "Take it off." Chris shook his head. "Take it off. Take it off. Take it off..." she bagan to chant. Slowly, more voices joined in the rhythmic chant, until the only two left not chanting were Chris and Emma.

"Okay, fine! But just remember, you asked." Chris slowly lifted his white shirt over his torso, making a show of it. His guy friends whistled jokingly, and all the girls shrieked with perverted delight. All but Emma. Chris looked up to see if she was watching. She wasn't. Her head was bowed as she read her book intently. "Emma!" Chris shouted. Emma looked up, startled to hear her name in such a setting. She glared through the crowd to find the demon that had pulled her away from the Ouran High School Host Club. More importantly, from the adorable twins, Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin. Her glare deepened when she saw Chris standing shirtless atop a cliff formation, his tank top in his hand. "Still not gonna swoon?" Chris asked, gesturing down to his body. Emma looked at his sculpted form, and willed her face not to redden as she took in the magnificence of his body. As much as she hated him, she had to admit, to herself at least, he was physically attractive. Instead of letting her thoughts show, she hid them with her favorite line.

"Like hell!" she spat. Everyone oohed, then quieted when Chris only laughed it off.

"That's not how you felt in the driveway," Chris countered. Another round of oohs ensued, directed this time at Emma, whose scowl deepened as her face reddened. "Yeah, she was all over me," Chris assured the crowd cockily.

"Um, I believe it was you who was all over me. I was simply an unwilling victim."

"Victim? Please, babe. You loved how it felt when I held you," Chris said, milking Emma's anger.

"Yeah. 'Cause what girl doesn't love being held against her will and sexually assaulted? In other words, you practically raped me." That did it. Chris had only been messing around, goading her on. But when she accused him of raping her, that was it. In sheer anger, he jumped down to the concrete, and stomped over to Emma. People moved aside wordlessly to let him by. Emma was smiling, pleased with herself, until she saw the scowl on his face. Then she was scared. She backed toward the wall as he came near her. He grabbed her arm, hauling her up easily, and dragged her inside, away from prying eyes and eavesdropping ears. He then cornered her, and glared daggers at her. If looks could kill, she'd be dead.

"Let me get one thing straight. I never raped you. I know how I seem to you. I seem like a self-obsessed douche who dates a different girl every week. And you probably think that I only date them to sleep with them, so you probably think I'm a man-whore. Despite all you think of me, I'm not so awful that I would rape any girl. You don't know me. You don't know my past. You don't know what I have and haven't done. But I can tell you that I have never raped anyone, and I don't plan on it. I am sorry you felt like that when I touched you. I would not have put my hands on you that way if I had known that was how it felt to you. But don't say I raped you, because I didn't. I would never rape you, or any other girl for that matter. You don't know what goes on in my head, but I am not some sick pervert. Do you judge your mangas by their covers?"

"N-no," Emma stuttered in a whisper, terrified.

"Then don't judge me by mine. Got it?" Emma nodded quickly. "Good." Chris released her and walked back outside, anger still radiating from him. Emma let loose the breath she had been holding. What had just happened?

Outside, Chris silenced the whispers. Everyone was shocked, and slightly uneasy. Except Julie. Julie was plain pissed. Good. That got that slut off his back. Chris pulled his face into an enthusiastic grin. "Well? Let's get this party started!" Chris shouted. Everyone whooped and raised red plastic cups filled with either beer or soda. Three girls slid down the waterslide, and four guys cannonballed from the cliff. Everyone else got into the pool, diving, jumping, or easing in. Chris ran around to the cliff, climbed up, and jumped in with a shout of excitement.

Meanwhile, Bash had snuck into the house, and was looking for his sister. "Emma? You in here?" He looked around, and saw her, frozen, against a wall. "Emma." He ran over to her instinctively, pulling her into a protective embrace. "You okay? You're shaking."

"I'm not shaking! And I'm fine!" she said harshly, shoving him away. Bash could see that it was not true. She had been scared. This tough act was just that; an act. She hated looking weak, especially in front of her brother.

"Are you sure? Emma, you can tell me-"

"Bash, I said I'm fine. Leave it." She hissed, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly. Bash grinned weakly. It was still an act.

"Come on. Let's get back to the party." Bash offered Emma his hand, but she declined, instead keeping her arms crossed in front of her. "Don't worry about Chris. He can be a bully sometimes. I didn't hear what all happened, but I do know that he can be tempermental."

"You think? I never would have guessed. Thanks," Emma spat sarcastically.

"What did you say anyway? I've never seen him so pissed."

"None of your business. I could care less if I pissed him off."

"Yeah. Okay. Whatever you say."

"Oh, shut up!" Emma said, punching her brother.

"Ow! What the hell was that for!" Bash demanded, rubbing his sore arm.

"For implying that I care about Chris in the slightest. Because I don't. He could die, and I wouldn't care."

"That's a little harsh, don't you think?"

"Nope. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who feels that way."

"Whatever. Are you coming?" Without waiting for her to answer, Bash headed back outside, leaving Emma to follow, and sneak back to her book. It was slightly difficult not to run into anybody. Some of the people had already been drinking alcohol, and were staggering around drunkenly. Emma almost ran into one particularly drunk person, Jacob Miles, a senior who was almost always the first to get drunk. Fortunately, she evaded his staggering walk, as well as the sloshing cup of foul-smelling liquid he clutched in his hand. Eventually, she made it back to her spot and opened her book.

The party went on for a few hours. People were swimming, dancing, eating, drinking, play-fighting...one drunk girl had been caught giving someone a lap dance in the hot tub. Another girl, also drunk, had flashed the upper part of her body to at least four guys. Someone proposed the idea of truth or dare. Everyone agreed, and arranged themselves in a circle on the patio. Chris looked at Emma. He was still mad at her, but that was no reason to exclude her.