Enchanted to Meet You

My chest felt like it was stuffed. Not with fluffy cotton, but with something thick, and sticky. Like peanut butter. And because my chest was filled with peanut butter, I couldn’t take in a breath. If I did, it wouldn’t come out. The air just added itself to the peanut butter, added to the awful stiffness.

Is this what it feels like when your heart stops beating?

“Can I come in?”

I had the urge to claw her eyes out. But my general politeness won me over. “Sure, come in.”

When she walked passed me, I caught a whiff of her perfume. It smelled like honeysuckle, and lemons. It was disgusting.

She stood at the center of the room, wringing her fingers. “How long has he been in the shower?”

“He should be out soon.” I said through my teeth.

That irritating smile still consumed her face. “I’m sorry to barge in, but I wanted to surprise him.”

“He’ll be surprised, alright.” I mumbled.

“Huh?”

“Oh, nothing.”

We heard the shower turn off, and the shower curtain sliding over the rack. Elena nearly started jumping up and down.

“I’m going to hide in the kitchen!” She exclaimed quietly, skipping into the other room.

I wanted to gag.

I was not myself. I didn’t have any desire to hide my hatred towards her. That was totally not me. But it was like I couldn’t help it. I related it to a lioness trying to protect her territory. Get off my turf. And my man.

I felt animal instincts, and I’m not even the werewolf.

The man of the hour started to make his way down the hallway, predictably wearing only a pair of black sweatpants. He rubbed a towel through his hair to dry it, smiling his beautiful smile.

Why did he have to be so perfect?

I hurried to meet him before he came too close. Seth leaned in to kiss me, but I was forced to hold him back. I hated her for making me hold him back. His skin was even warmer than usual.

Seth’s face was already close, so I whispered. “Somebody’s here for you.”

He glanced down the hall. “I told you Paul was coming, right?”

The stiffness was almost unbearable. “It’s not Paul.”

His eyes were curious, a smirk on his lips to match. He left me to sneak down the rest of the hall and peek into the kitchen.

All of the sudden, his face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. There was a squeal from the kitchen, and then a blonde leaped into his arms, her legs around his waist. He held her there.

“I don’t believe it!” He said, twirling her around.

“Hi, Sethy!”

“What are you doing here!”

“I wanted to see you!”

“When did you get here?”

“This afternoon! My mom and I are staying at a hotel for two whole weeks! She has to finish up with a few things from work…I missed you so much!”

He finally set her down, digressing to just a hug. “Me too.”

The front door flew open, causing me to jump out of my skin.

It was Paul.

He was humming to himself, but froze and dropped the tune when he saw Seth embracing Elena and me standing awkwardly to the side.

“Hi, Paul.” Elena tried to hold back her giggles.

Paul’s eyes switched between us all. He could see my discomfort, motioning for me to follow him to Seth’s room.

“What the HELL is she doing here?!” Paul whisper-yelled once the door was safely closed.

“You think I know?!” I whisper-yelled back.

“Why did you let her in the house?!”

“I thought it was you at the door!”

Paul violently pulled out Seth’s sock drawer like it was his own. “She’s going to totally screw him up again. Why the hell did she come back?”

“How am I supposed to know?” I repeated.

“They’re alone out there.”

“I know!”

“Well what the hell are you doing in here?”

All I could do was release a well built sigh.

Paul nearly pushed me back into the living room. We found Seth and Elena in the same place as they were before, catching up. Just as friends.

Seth’s eyes were able to tear away from the blonde. He found me and looped his arm through mine.

“This is Valerie. Val, this is Elena.”

As if I didn’t already know. I put on my fakest smile. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too!” She quickly switched her eyes to Seth, and then back to me. “So how do you know Seth?”

Seth watched me casually, waiting for me to answer her question.

So I just said it. “He’s kind of my boyfriend.” I stressed the ‘my’ part.

She didn’t lose that ridiculous smile. It simply twitched, but just once. “Oh…well there’s something we have in common.”

I didn’t laugh at the joke.

Seth willingly changed the subject. “So Elena wants to see Jake, if you want to come with us.”

No way in hell was I letting them go anywhere alone together. “Yeah, of course.”

. . . . . . . .

“Is it just me, or are you emmiting an envious shade of green?”

“I’m not jealous.” Another terrible lie.

“See, now why do you do that?” Jake sat himself up straight, away from the back of the sofa.

“Do what?” I wasn’t really paying attention, watching Seth and Elena talking with everyone else. Paul must have gotten the word out.

“Pretend like it doesn’t bother you. You’re allowed to be jealous, Val.”

“But I’m not.”

“Yeah, I can see that by the way you’re giving her a stink-eye-death-glare.”

I didn’t realize I was glaring. It wasn’t making me as mad as it was making me feel left out. I watched them smile and laugh and how she kept touching his shoulder and how he hung his arm over hers.

I dropped my eyes to my hands in my lap. “I was at first, I guess. But I know he loves me.”

Jake was quiet for a few seconds. “Emily told you about her, right?”

I bit my tongue. “Yes, Jacob.”

“Okay, okay. I’m just making sure.”

We both watched the two of them some more. As much as I hated to say it, they looked great together.

“You think so too, right?” I asked.

“Think what?”

“That he loves me.”

“Oh, yeah, of course. He’d be crazy if he didn’t.”

I gave him a look. I really wanted to punch that injured arm of his. It was incredible just how quickly he was healing. It’d only been four days and he could walk around again.

Elena and Seth moved their way over to us, loosely holding hands. I almost lost it.

Seth thankfully dropped her hand and brushed his thumb over my cheek lovingly. “Come and get ice cream with us?”

“Please?” Elena asked.

I pursed my lips. “I think I’ll stay and keep Jake company.”

Elena shrugged. “Suit yourself. Come on, Sethy.” She tugged on his arm, and yet he didn’t budge.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” He asked me directly, ignoring the pulling sensation in his arm.

“You don’t have to stay.” Jacob said. “I’m a big boy.”

I shook my head. “I’m not really in the mood for ice cream, anyway.”

Seth kissed my forehead and gave in to the obnoxious pulling.

She was ripping my heart in half.

“Don’t let her get under your skin.” Jacob bumped my elbow. “She isn’t worth it.”

. . . . . . . .

I didn’t understand. We weren’t angry, and we weren’t yelling. And yet, we were actually arguing.

That’s never happened before.

“Really Val, that’s it.”

“That’s it?” I asked, dumbfounded. “That’s all you have to say?”

He shook his head, at a loss of what I wanted to hear. “Yeah, that’s it.”

Why wasn’t he telling the truth? “So you were just friends when you were young, and then you…dated her…before she moved across the country?”

“Yes, I told you that three times now.”

I didn’t understand why he was lying.

It was dark, only the lights on the dashboard illuminating our faces. I couldn’t see the lie on his, but I knew it was there. It had to be.

I tightened my folded arms across my chest.

He stopped his car in front of my house, running his fingers over the steering wheel.

“What about the part where you thought you imprinted on her?”

He didn’t seem surprised. It made me feel even worse. “Who told you about that?”

“I want to know why you didn’t tell me.” I kept my voice strong and authoritative.

My eyes were down, so I lifted them to see if he was looking at me. He was. I dropped them quickly.

“I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”

I swallowed my fears. “You already hurt them by not telling me when I asked.”

“Val, she’s just my friend. It’s not important.” He slipped my arm out from being folded and rubbed the top of my hand. “You’re not jealous…?”

“I just…well, usually, in a relationship, you tell each other about past relationships. The serious ones, anyway.”

“You haven’t told me about any of yours.” He was taking on a defensive tone. “So you obviously understand.”

“I’ve only ever been with you.” I said sheepishly.

“So then you wouldn’t understand, and that’s okay.”

I matched my tone with his. “You’re right.”

“You should learn to watch that little nose of yours.” He poked my nose and smirked.

I smiled half-heartedly. I say half because a part of me wanted to let it go, but the other part was still holding on strong.