Chapter 4

A Chapter by Melissa

“Jason told me about the incident last night,” Katy says as she walks into the pool room.

“Really?” I ask, feigning innocence. “Whatever do you mean?”

“Oh nothing,” she says, walking to the edge of the pool and sitting down, letting her legs dip into the water. “Just you walking in on my brother half naked.”

“What are you doing up this early? It’s like 7 o’clock,” I ask, trying to change the subject, to avoid awkwardness.

“Six-thirty actually. I have strange sleeping patterns.”

“Have Natalie and Jordan left yet?”

“Nope, they’re still asleep. They don’t have to leave for work until like eight, so they probably won’t be up for a little while. Probably around a half an hour or so.”

“Oh,” I say.

“So back to last night… apparently, you just about beat him at his own game?”

“I’m not usually that mean,” I defend myself. “Something about him just brings it out of me.”

“He’s really good at pushing buttons. Low blows are a specialty of his. I’m usually the only one who’ll fight him back, though.”

“Jordan won’t?”

“Are you kidding? Jordan’s a puppy dog. He doesn’t have it in him. He was pretty mad you fought him back though. Jason, I mean.”

“Good,” I respond.

An hour or so later we hear Jason yell, “Katy? Are you in here?” We’d switched from sitting to swimming and back again a few times, so we were just sitting and relaxing when he called for Katy.

“Yeah,” Katy calls back, and Jason then enters the room. His eyes land on me and a slight blush rises to my cheeks as he continues to stare. I’m unsure if he’s glaring at me, or checking me out because I’m wearing a bikini. “What’s up?” Katy asks him.

He pulls his gaze away from me, and turns it to Katy. “I was just going to see if you wanted any waffles…”

“Yeah. Hay, do you want any?” Katy asks, using a nickname she’d never called me before, and causing Jason to glance at her harshly, probably wondering why she was becoming so close to someone he hates so much.

“Um…” I start, hesitating. Katy nods to me, so I say, “Sure. Thanks.”

He looks at me for a couple seconds before turning and leaving the room quickly.

“He was totally checking you out!” Katy exclaimed.

“Don’t be silly,” I answer, sliding back into the pool.

“Trust me. He’s my brother. I’ve seen him check out girls before.”

“He wasn’t checking me out any more than he was checking you out,” I say, smiling a bit.

“That’s disgusting!” Katy says, slipping into the pool. “Actually, we should probably get out and dry off…”

“Five more minutes?” I ask, smiling a bit more now.

“Five more minutes,” she agrees.

Five turns into ten, which turns into twenty. Finally, Jason comes back and tells us we have five minutes.

“Fine,” Katy groans, sliding out of the pool. I follow her and climb out as well. I reach over and grab my towel, wrapping it around myself. When I look back at Jason, he’s staring at me. We make eye contact for a brief moment. I break it by looking away, and then Jason leaves the room.

“Totally checking you out.”

Katy and I decide to go to our rooms to chance before eating. We agree to meet in the dining room, so after I finish changing, I head downstairs. I beat Katy there, so it was just me and Jason in the dining room.

“Look,” I say, deciding to be the bigger person. “I’m sorry for last night. Honestly, I’m not usually that mean.”

“Okay,” he says dismissively.

“So… I’m sorry,” I repeat.

“You said that already.”

“Yeah but… I’m waiting for you to say it back.”

“Why? I have no reason to be sorry. You’re the one who barged in. it’s your fault I’m even here in the first place.”

I know he doesn’t know why I’m really here, but hearing him say that stings anyway.

“It’s Natalie and Jason’s faults that you’re here… if you can blame them for falling in love.”

“Love? You’re such a girl.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that there’s no such thing as love,” Jason says curtly, as if my question was the stupidest thing he’s ever heard.

“Really? You’re that immature?”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you’re immature. Or is that too big of a word for you to understand?”

“I know what immature means,” he says, glaring at me.

“So then stop acting like it.”

“Why? Is Princess mad that I disagree with her? Not everyone agrees with you, and you’re not always going to get your way.”

“Princess? What is that supposed to mean?” I question.

“I bet you’ve never been told ‘no’ before, have you? You’ve always gotten your way.”

“That’s not true!”

“Prove it!” he says loudly. “Name a time when Princess didn’t get her way!”

I remain silent, unwilling to let him into my past.

“You can’t do it, can you? God, you can’t even name one time you didn’t get what you wanted. You’re just a spoiled brat!”

Then I explode.

“How about before here, when I lived in a broken down house and always went hungry? How about how I lived with a drug addict? How about when my mom was shot by her dealer when she couldn’t pay for the drugs? How about when I was forced to live with an ignorant, self-pitying, pathetic jerk!”

Jason’s eyes change to pity, but I turn and sprint from the room as fast as possible. I pass Katy on the stairs, and she’s able to see the tears falling down my cheeks. I reach my room and slam the door, before collapsing on my bed. My whole body is still shaking from anger.

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