Art of Opposites

Chapter 3 ~ Great ideas

Dinner was extremely awkward. For mom and Mrs.Brody? No. They were chatting up a storm and talking about the time they set some popular boy's underwear on fire. For me? Yes. With my arm in the cast, I couldn't do anything. It didn't help that James was staring intently at my face and moving his finger around in small lines.

"What are you doing?" I snapped at him. He smirked.

"Can't you tell?" He asked and I shook my head. "I'm connecting the dots." He seemed to think that was the funniest thing in the world, and he threw his head back laughing. I glared at him, my face turning red with anger.

I went to slap him on the arm, but of course I had to forget about my cast. My entire arm came with my hand, knocking my glass of water to the floor. It shattered into hundreds of miniature, almost invisible pieces, water spilling everywhere.

Everyone's heads snapped up, glancing at me then the broken glass. My mom's eyes widened in shock and I shrunk back in my seat, waiting for her to get mad.

She laughed.

"Oh my," she said to James' mom. "This just proves your point wonderfully, doesn't it?" Mrs.Brody nodded, a smile forming on her lips. Why were they so happy?

"Um, what point mom?" James questioned, voicing my thoughts. Had they been talking about me?

"Well, Eliza just had this great idea!" My mom said cheerfully. "Tell them." She said, nudging her friend.

"You see, I'm so terribly sorry about your arm, Venice." She started, and I just waved my non-injured hand.

"Don't be, Mrs.Brody. It's not your fault at all." I told her giving a pointed a glare at James, who just shrugged.

"Call me Eliza. And no, I do feel as if this is partially my fault. So I was thinking James could help you out? To make up for what happened." James eyes went wide and I raised an eyebrow.

"What exactly do you mean, mom?" James asked, almost sounding nervous.

"You'll be coming over everyday to help Venice out, since this was mostly your doing." She told him, smiling smugly and mumbling something about how he shouldn't sneak up on poor girls. My mouth formed an O and James paled. 

"No, no, no. That won't be necessary. I'm perfectly fine on my own." I promised her. James nodded his head, eyes pleading with his mom to take it back.

"Don't be silly, sweetheart." Eliza said. "Like your mom said, you obviously have some trouble with that cast." My mom nodded in agreement.

"Now go outside and do something while I clean this up. Go." Mom shooed us out the back door, closing it in our faces. I turned around on my heel and started towards the gazebo that was past the pool.

"Where are you going?" James called out to me.

"Away from you." I told him truthfully. He was crazy if he thought I was sticking around him.

James' POV

"Away from you." She called over her shoulder, continuing to walk towards the small and lit up gazebo. 

As I followed her, I couldn't help but feel a little bit bad. I mean, sure she got way too scared yesterday, but it was technically my fault she fell. I flinched, thinking about the crack I had heard when she landed.

I walked around the sparkling blue pool and smiled as she sat down facing away from me, obviously still upset over the plans for the summer. We were definetly on the same page there.

I had to admit though, she was pretty. Not only was she original, with her fiery hair and freckles, but she was vibrant and real. Something I don't see with most girls anymore.

Too bad she was annoying as hell.

"Hey," I said, taking a seat opposite her. She looked away from me, crossing her arms over her chest. My eyes flicked downward and I couldn't help but notice she didn't have much chest, but it worked on her body.

"My eyes are up here buddy." She snapped. I looked up, feeling my face heat up.

"Sorry." I mumbled. "About everything. It sucks you're in a cast over the summer." She just rolled her eyes.

"Well, I wouldn't have to be if you hadn't snuck up on me." She glared at me, and I gulped. That girl could be downright scary when she wanted to.

I looked out at the dark trees behind her house and wondered how we were going to make it through an entire summer together. I mean, we couldn't even go a couple minutes without arguing.

"Look, we should try to get along." I tried to make a case. "I can't see us getting out of this one, and I'd rather make it to college alive." She sighed, running her hands through her hair.

"Sure, I guess I can try." She said quietly, not meeting my eyes. I smiled. Maybe this summer wouldn't totally suck after all.

Suddenly her head snapped up and she stared into my eyes. "I'll try to be civil with you on one condition." Honestly, at this point I just wanted us to not kill each other, I knew we wouldn't be able to completely get along. But I gestured for her to continue.

"Cut it with the freckle jokes. I love my them, and I'm not going to let you get away with insulting them." I raised my eyebrow.

"That's all you want?" I wondered. "Nothing else?" She shook her head.

"Nope. That's it." I bit my lip, trying not to laugh. My face was turning red and she glared at me. Finally I burst, my laugh booming throughout the night.

"Deal." I said, gasping for. Damn, she was serious about her freckles.

After my mom had said her goodbyes and collected the customary plate of leftovers, we were walking down their driveway when she gave me a sideways glance and a shoulder nudge. 

"Venice seems like a nice girl." She instigated. 

"Venice is an annoying girl." I countered and she just smiled. 

"An annoying girl who you'll be spending the summer with, mind you. So you had better learn to be nice, James." Her tone was more serious now, and I shot her a confused look. 

"I got it mom, don't worry. Be nice and shit." She bit her lip to hold back a smile but I knew she didn't mind as long as I didn't use my "dirty language" around my little brother, Joey. 

I thought about Venice's fierce attitude with hair to match and almost groaned. Nice and shit was going to be a lot harder than I thought. 

• • • • •

Hello!

I think a couple of people have been reading this which is really great, and I'm super excited. Boy POV is hard so yeah. 

Love,
Lynn