Chapter Ten

 

Before I even stepped out of the classroom, I already spotted Seth waiting outside by the lobby. Liam had a point—he’s been showing up a lot more frequently than he used to and I don’t seem to be minding too much.

Fine, I have developed a soft spot for the guy but that’s it. A soft spot is all that I can afford right now.

“Hey, it’s late. What are you still doing here?” I asked him, noting that that was my last class for the day and it was eight in the evening.

“I was in the area. I had to meet with my group for a project anyway so I thought I’d hang around until you were done with class,” he answered casually. Seth, despite this weird, unnamable relationship we’ve developed in the past couple of weeks, never seemed awkward around me. “I feel like dinner anyway. What do you say we grab something to eat at the grill by the university courtyard?”

I bit my lip. “Uhm, I’m not sure…”

“Oh, come on,” he insisted, grabbing my books and my wrist. “That was an accounting class, wasn’t it? I’m pretty sure it was ‘coz you look like you could use some amazingly delicious ribs. My treat. Let’s go.”

Ten minutes later, we were in a table by the outdoor patio space of the grill, going through the menu.

I told him I was happy with a half-rack of ribs and some garlic mashed potato but he named a few more items to the waitress.

“That’s an awful lot of food, Seth,” I told him when the waitress left. “You could feed a dozen people with that.”

He grinned. “We could always have it packed up to take home. There’s still dessert but we’ll figure that out later.”

“If I gain fifty pounds by tomorrow, I’ll know who to blame,” I teased with a knowing smile. “It’s surprising though how I see a lot of rich girls eat out all the time but they don’t seem to be gaining any weight.”

“Because they probably order all vegetarian or vegan stuff or they order normal food but just not touch any of it,” he answered with a shake of his head. “I hate that. They get so excited ordering food and how you’re going to have such a wonderful dinner and by the end of it, their steak looks as complete as it was when it was brought to the table. It’s no fun and it disturbs me.”

I laughed. “Weight-conscious girls disturb you?”

“Skinny girls who seem like they have an eating disorder disturb me,” he corrected just as our food arrived. “Because most of the time, they’re not only going to have a problem eating, they’re going to have all sorts of self-image issues. Guys want a girlfriend, not a psych patient.”

“It may not be that bad,” I replied, watching him as he happily dug into his meal. “It might be easier to deal with than a girl who has a problem with your being privileged and kicks your butt every chance she gets whether or not you’re to blame for it.”

He looked up, his green eyes smiling and amused. “May you be referring to someone we are both very familiar with?”

I shrugged noncommittally. “It’s hypothetical.”

He straightened and looked up as if deeply thinking it through. “Well, you see the thing is, true she may have a problem with my being privileged and she may kick my butt every now and then but that may just be because she’s firm on her philosophy that people should work hard for what they get in life and doesn’t tolerate rich kids who use their trust fund as a way through life. I really understand where she’s coming from with that, as hard to believe as that may be.”

His eyes focused back on me, this time, looking a little bit serious. “I guess I’m just hoping that once she’s gotten to know me a little bit better, she’ll see that I’m not planning on being the person she dreads me to be. And maybe then, she’ll go a little easier on me.”

I sighed and gave in to a smile that was tickling the corners of my mouth. “Listen, I’m sorry if I was so harsh and judgmental to you. I’m just naturally—defensive.”

He laughed. “You’re pretty good on the offensive too.”

I blushed but knew that he was quite accurate about that. “Fine, that too. I guess I was pretty comfortable criticizing people like you from afar—comfortable that I’m never going have to find out that I’m wrong. And then you showed up and pretty much knocked me out of that comfort zone. And you wouldn’t leave me alone and that took a while to figure out.”

He smiled and I smiled back but then suddenly there was this unmistakable high-pitched bark of a woman.

“Seth!” There it was again.

I looked up and saw a tall, leggy blonde in skinny jeans, high-heels and a fitted, tangerine blazer over an almost see-through blouse.

She looked very glamorous and very, very angry.

Uh-oh.

“There you are!” she blustered as soon as she came to our table. “You haven’t returned any of my calls! What’s up with that?”

Seth looked uncomfortable, straightening up in his seat, his dark green eyes narrowing. “Katherine, excuse me, I’m with someone right now.”

Ah, so that’s Katherine.

She turned to look at me as if she just realized I existed. She raised one finely penciled brow at me.

“And who’s this?” she demanded.

“Katherine, this is Ali. She’s my—“

“Never heard of her,” Katherine interrupted, rolling her eyes and flipping back her hair. “Anyway, I don’t know what’s up with you but you’ve been practically MIA in the last couple of weeks. Don’t tell me you’re now doing charity projects for the, uhm, less fortunate students in our school.”

I didn’t miss the surreptitious glance she cast me.

Seth got up and clasped Katherine by the elbow. His lips were set in a tight line. “Excuse me, Ali. I just need to talk to Katherine for a minute. I’ll be right back. I’m sorry.”

I saw him drag her a bit to a dimmer corner of the patio and they quickly seemed to have gotten into a hushed yet heated conversation. This is probably the first time I’ve seen Seth actually upset and Katherine’s attempts at putting her arms around him disturbed something in my gut.

I waited a couple minutes, trying to finish my dinner while pretending I can’t hear or see them.

A few more minutes passed.

Finally, I pulled out a couple of twenty dollar bills from my wallet and quickly scribbled a note on a clean paper napkin.

My head’s out of the sand. Just… leave me alone. Ali

I ignored the ugly feeling that was washing over me like one full bucket of ice cold water after another and quickly escaped the scene.

At the end of the block, I hopped into one of the city’s older street cars. They run a small portion of the city now after the major routes have been replaced with new giant red buses but the university preserved them in the area for historical and tourism purposes.

Five minutes after it rolled out, I tried to get comfortable in my seat, sliding open the half window to let some cool breeze blow in and hopefully calm my jostled thoughts.

Another five minutes later, I saw a familiar red Porsche Cayenne aligning itself with the bus and matching its speed.

My eyes widened when I saw the window roll down and heard Seth yelling from the driver’s seat.

How the hell did he find me?

“Ali!”

I glanced at the driver who was looking at me and back at Seth through his rearview and side mirrors.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed, you idiot?” I yelled back though the wind muted my pitch.

“Ali, I need to talk to you! I need to explain!” Seth went on, swerving to the next lane just right before he rear-ended the car that slowed down in front of him. Two minutes later, he changed back to the lane next to the bus.

“Stop this, Seth!” I shouted at him, glad the bus was practically empty except for me and a sleeping old lady in the front row. “There’s nothing to explain. Stop this before you seriously hurt yourself!”

“Get off at the next stop, I’ll meet you there!”

“No, Seth!” I called after him but he had already sped up ahead of us.

“I suggest you get off the bus and talk to your boyfriend miss, before he kills himself or get arrested for reckless driving!” the bus driver, a dear old man, yelled at me as we passed the intersection a block away from the next stop.

I sighed and crumpled back in my seat. Groaning, I pulled myself up and headed towards the door.

When I got off at the stop, I saw his Cayenne parked by the street that led into a residential area.

I grudgingly walked towards it and got into the car.

I didn’t bother looking at him, just at my hands that were clasped tightly together on my lap.

He didn’t say anything.

“I want to whack you in the head, you know that?” I muttered, still avoiding his eyes. “That was a pretty stupid stunt you pulled back there.”

“I know,” he answered quietly. “I just didn’t want you leave without giving me a chance to explain—“

“As I’ve said, there’s nothing to explain,” I interrupted, unable to hide the irritation from my voice. “I may be dense sometimes but I can make pretty accurate deductions when things are quite obvious.”

“It’s not what you think—“

“Does it matter what I think?” I demanded, my voice rising a bit now. “What matters is that I realized the mess I was diving into before I completely drowned. I’m not into this kind of game, Seth. I’m sorry.”

He exhaled sharply, his voice almost pained when he spoke. “I’m not playing some kind of game with you, Ali. Katherine is of no importance or significance to me, do you understand?”

I looked away and out through the side window. “I just want to go home now, please.”

“Ali, listen to me.”

“You can drop me off at the next stop.”

“Ali—“

“I don’t want to listen to this anymore, Seth!” I snapped, turning around and glaring at him, my cheeks burning up in anger. “I just want to go home and forget that you ever existed. Understand?”

Then I scrambled out of the car but he was quickly right out after me, grabbing my hand before I could pull away.

“Hey, hey, Ali, please,” he pleaded in a hushed voice as he pulled me close and tight within his arms. “I’m sorry you had to hear that and that Katherine talked to you that way. She’s pretty upset that I’m not accessible to her anymore and I told her why. I don’t like her the way you think I do.”

I groaned and shut my eyes. “Stop messing with my head, Seth. I told you—“

He cupped my chin and lifted my face up so I could look at him. “You told me you’re not into this kind of game. Well, it’s not a game for me. Don’t you get it?”

I swear, I would die if those tears dangerously hovering at the corner of my eyes roll down my cheeks.

The immortal question lately: “Get what?”

He managed a small smile as he gently brushed his thumb against my cheek. “That if there’s one girl I care about, it’s you. Haven’t I made that obvious enough?”

Hearing it from him had its own magic. The anger stripped itself away from my heart and melted like ice on a warm summer day.

“No,” I choked out the word and he just laughed and his arms loosened around me, I guess now that he’s pretty sure I’m not going to jump and run.

“Crazy girl.” He held my hand and gestured to the car. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”