Living for the Music

I took a deep breath as I walked into science. It’d been two days since I’d brought up the idea of bringing Seth. Amazingly, neither of them had mentioned it again – to me, at least. But there was a definite tension between them, as if they knew they were competing for something.

I slid down between the two boys. Ever since we got back from break - well, ever since Seth learned exactly what was going on between me and Aaron – I had been acting as the buffer that kept them from killing each other.

“Could you hand me that beaker, Sophie?” Seth asked calmly.

I rolled my eyes slightly as I leaned across Aaron to grab it. It would’ve made more sense to just ask Aaron, but no. I knew how Seth got. “Thanks.”

I was doing a lot of busy work this lab – running materials back and forth between the two. They both seemed to know what they were doing, and something seemed to be happening, so I guess it was okay.

Finally, the class was over. The day was over. I couldn’t believe it was only Wednesday. It felt like it’d been a week and a half since break. I guess the first week back was the hardest.

“You want a ride, Sophie?” Seth asked as we packed up our books.

I glanced at Aaron who shook his head. “Nah, I’m gonna go to Aaron’s for a bit.”

Seth opened his mouth, then seemed to change his mind. “Oh,” was all that came out. He was a lot better than me about knowing when to stay quiet.

I smiled at him before heading towards my locker. I grabbed a binder and shoved my textbooks on to the small shelf. “Why won’t it go in?” I muttered, pushing it forward only to have it bounce back at me.

Finally, I reached behind my books and pulled out the small envelope that had been blocking them.

Sophie

I recognized Seth’s handwriting and automatically glanced down towards his locker. I saw a flash of red… was that Seth? In a letter jacket? Before I could figure it out, Aaron came towards me, blocking my view. “You set?”

“Yeah.” I stuck the envelope in my pocket and pulled on my coat. I shot one last glance over my shoulder and followed Aaron out to the car.

We drove in silence, except for the radio. Aaron drummed against the steering wheel, but he seemed… tense. I made a mental note to be careful, to watch what I said. He looked like he was ready to blow.

I followed Aaron up to the second floor and into the game room. He had a full sized pool/foosball/air hockey table on one side, along with a dartboard. Across from that was a mini-fridge and I knew it was stocked so Aaron would never have to leave the room.

“What do you want to do?” my boyfriend asked, a suggestive look in his eyes.

I tried to figure out a way to turn him down without insulting him. My eyes fell on the huge TV screen, surrounded by CDs, DVDs, and various games. “Remember that weird car game you showed me?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I think I’ve gotten better at it,” I lied.

It worked. Aaron stood up and pulled out a game that he stuck in the PlayStation. “We’ll see about that,” he laughed, handing me a controller.