Compare and Contrast

"Aye," Lee said to me. "I'm gonna take her home real quick. Yeh gonna be okay withou' me?" he teased.

I leaned closer to him, grabbing onto his arm. "Oh, Lee! Don't leave me like this!" I cried with a fake southern twang.

He ripped his arm from my grasp. "This is the only way, Panic. And besides, I have her, now," he said, gesturing to Trenton.

I saw Trenton tense up when he said that, her eyes darting between him and me.

I saw a few of the workers eavesdropping on the situation.

I let out a shaky breath. "But Lee! What about all those times we shared together? You can't forget about them!"

He looked away from me, staring out the window. "Most already have been."

One of the older waitresses gasped, covering her mouth as she did.

I leaned back in my seat, pushed up against the wall now, as if to get away from him. "How could you!"

"It was easy."

"Yeh guys are fuckin' retarded!" Oli yelled then. "Look! Yeh got one of the waitresses lookin' like she's abou' teh have a damn heart attack!"

Lee and I looked her way. I couldn't help but laugh. Even Trenton let out a giggle.

"Did yeh just giggle?" Lee asked, looking at her then.

She blushed a little. "No..."

"It was cute," Oli told her, smiling at her.

She blushed more.

"Okay," I loudly interrupted. "Time for Trenton to go home now. Say goodbye."

Trenton bit her lip.

"Panic," Lee said sternly. "Can yeh at least try teh be nice?" He shook his head and grabbed her wrist. "Come on, I'll take yeh home now," he muttered, pulling her out of the diner.

Everyone was quiet until the door closed behind them.

Oli opened his mouth to speak.

"Fuck off," I said before he could say anything.

He closed his mouth and furrowed his brows, half pouting at me.

I grabbed Tom's wrist and pulled him out of the seat. "Come with me."

"Where?"

"Anywhere." I turned to Oli. "I'm taking your car." He shrugged. "Craig, you wanna ride home real quick?"

"Sure." He stood with Tom and I and we left the diner.

"You can drive to your house," I told Craig. I got into the backseat and Tom sat in the passenger seat.

The drive was only ten minutes or so and very uneventful. It was silent until we got to his house. I told him bye and then I got in the drivers seat.

I drove to Wal-Mart. You know, cause that's where the cool kids hang out.

I pulled up to the gas station.

I rested my head against the seat and rubbed my eyes, groaning. "Do you have any money with you?" I asked, eyes still closed.

I heard him moving around. "Only, like, twenty."

"Can I have it?" I turned my head to look at him, still leaned back. "I'll pay you back once we get to my house."

He handed me the twenty. I pulled the car up to a pump. "Your fucking brother needs to learn how to fill his car up occasionally." I glared at the big red 'E' that the meter was pointed to. I got out of the car.

The gas-station just had a little window that you walked up to to pay for gas and buy stuff.

"What can I do for you?" the guy asked.

"Gimme a pack of the Camel Special Blends. Put the rest to gas." I handed him the twenty.

He went to the back, looking over the cigarettes. He finally found the ones I wanted and came back. "Here. Have a nice day."

I nodded and walked back to the car. Tom was already out, pumping the gas. I leaned against it, folding my arms across my chest as I waited for him to finish. I drug my foot across the ground, drawing invisible shapes.

"What's on yeh're mind, Panic?"

I shrugged, then kicked at the ground.

"Dakota," he guessed.

"Trenton," I corrected him.

"Panic, her name is Dakota. She's human, jus' like yeh. Treat her with some respect. Yeh don't have to act like such a bitch teh her all the time."

If it had been anyone else saying that to me, I probably would have punched their lights out. But Tom was sensible and he was always looking out for me. Besides, I knew he was right. I was being a bitch to Trenton. I didn't even have a reason.

"I don't know why I'm so hateful to her."

"Yeh haven't figured it ou'? Clearly, yeh're jealous."

Immediately, I was on the defensive side. "I am not jeal-"

"Quick teh defend there, Panic. Thin' abou' it."

And I did think about it. We used to be best friends. What happened to that? Truth be told, I almost kind of missed her. Not that I'd be admitting that to anyone else anytime soon. I guess I was just scared that the guys would ditch me once they started hanging out with her.

I looked up at Tom, feeling much more at peace with myself than just a few moments before. "Thank you."

"It's not a problem."

I pulled a cigarette out of my new pack and retrieved the lighter from my pocket. I lit it and stared off at the sky.

"I don't know why I've been like that so bad lately..."

"You're only human," he responded.

I took another drag off of my cigarette. I could still hear Evan's voice in my head.

"Hayden is also a hybrid," he'd explained. "It's so wonderful. There's not that many hybrids in the world, and yet here we are with at least four in our front yard. Don't you think it's wonderful, little sister?"

"What do you mean four? There's only two, you idiot."

"Actually, one of the other one's you know quite well."

And I thought about how I could see through the Mist.

Normal humans can't see through the Mist.

"Actually, one of the other one's you know quite well."

I took the last drag off of my cigarette then stamped it out on the ground. I leaned back against the car again, folding my arms across my chest and closing my eyes.

"Am I?"