Ten Things I Love (to Hate) About You

“Dude! Mocan! I’ve been trying to get ahold of you all weekend! What have you been- oh.” Brent came to an abrupt holt at the front of my car as I unfolded myself carefully from the passenger seat and Hailey got out of the drivers seat. She’d cut ten minutes off of a fifteen minute drive, like she said she could. She handed me the keys, winking. “Told you I could make it go faster then you could. Its all in the way you handle the car. See you later.”

“Lunch?” I ask immediately. She gives me a surprised look as she slings her bag over her shoulder, then nods. “Lunch it is.” Brent and Trent, who had joined him, watched her walk away.

“Is she the reason you haven’t been answering your phone!?” Brent all but yelled as all heads in the parking lot turned to us.

“No.” I muttered, wincing as I hefted my gym bag out of the back of my car. Trent gave me a confused look.

“I got in a fight this weekend. They got a good hit in on my ribs.” I lifted my shirt high enough for them to see it, then dropped it just as quickly. Brent sucked in air through his teeth. “Please tell me your mom looked at that and said it was ok for you to be out like this.” I nodded my head vigorously.

“She looked at them this morning. It’s fine. I’m as sore as hell, but I’m fine.”

“Good. So back to Hailey. Why was she driving your car?”

“Because she needed a ride, and I was late.”

“Did her motorcycle break down?” Trent asked, confused, as we walked into the school building. We’d gone over what we where going to say at school over breakfast this morning.

“Nope. It’s confiscated. She would have stole the Porsche from the video she has out, but I offered a ride instead.” Brent took my gym bag from me and when I went to protest, he waved me off. “I’m going to the locker room anyway. You get your stuff for first hour, and we’ll talk about this when I get back.” He said, giving me a look that said he didn’t believe a word I had said. Trent just nodded at me though.

“You should have told me. I owe her.” I rolled my eyes at him, shifting my bag so I could open my locker before saying

“You also want to bang her.” He smirked. “True. I got to go. I’ll see you- and Hailey- at lunch.” I nodded, waving goodbye. Hecklin appeared next.

“So, did you bang her?” I frowned.

”Who?” he rolled his eyes as I set my stuff on the shelf in my locker and grabbed my history book and my binder for computers.

“How about Hailey? The one who you let drive your car, which you don’t even let me and Brent do? Oh, and by the way, Kelic is furious. She’s supposedly confronting Hailey about it at lunch today.” I groaned. This was going to be an interesting day, I could already tell.

“Hey!” I said when I saw Hailey walking up. It was just me, Brent, Hecklin, and Trent at the table today, the rest of the team deciding to go to subway for lunch instead. She sat next to Hecklin, which was also next to me, giving me a small smile.

“Hey yourself. How’s your ribs?” I held out a hand, grinning. “hit me.” She sighed, fishing in her pocket before shoving two of the pills in my hand.

“oooooooh, we just witnessed a drug deal!” Hecklin cried. Hailey giggled.

“Oh, yes, this is definitely a drug deal. Of course, Mocan has to pay me later.”

“And why is that?” Trent asked mildly as I put the pills in my mouth and opened my water.

“Because what I have in mind as payment isn’t exactly publicly decent.” I choked as everyone else laughed.

“Hailey!” I exclaimed. She winked at me before turning to Brent.

“So, how was the party on Friday?”

“Oh, great, until about 2 in the morning when my parents walked in. apparently their flights got canceled and they just came home.” She groaned. “Awe, dude, that blows. I’m sorry.” Brent shrugged, and Trent gave me a funny look all of the sudden. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he glanced at Hailey before looking at me again. I gave him a confused look, and I heard a snicker. “Signals that unsubtle just need to be spoken aloud, boys.” I shot her a warning glare, and she stuck her tongue out at me. I rolled my eyes and looked back at Trent, who was frowning.

“Did you two bang or something?” Hecklin said abruptly. I reached around her quickly and hit the back of his head, hoping he didn’t set off her temper. Instead, she giggled. “Me and Mocan? No way in hell.” Hecklin frowned at us.

“Then why are you two so at ease with each other? Friday you where giving him the cold shoulder, and you where shooting her looks that could kill.” I shrugged at the same time as her, causing us both to grin.
“We had some differences we needed to get over, I guess. But we’re…. Friends, now.” I could almost see the sour taste the word left in her mouth, and burst into guffaws that immediately turned into groans as my side ached. I heard a throat clear behind me as my table burst into giggles, and I turned around.

Crap.

“Can I talk to you, Hailey?” Kelic asked. Hailey shrugged. “Talk away. Anything you wish to aim at me will be considered you talking to me. Whether I listen or not…. That’s a different story.” Snickers erupted around us, and Kelic’s ‘face reddened.

“Ok, fine then. I’ll just make sure I say something worth listening to then. I don’t know who in the hell you think you are, but you need to go right back under whatever fucking rock you crawled out from under and stay there. You have no right to waltz into everyone’s lives like you’ve been there your whole life you little bitch. For all we know you’re a worthless whore who goes around selling herself to the scum of the universe.” Kelic took a breath, and Hailey held up a hand. Our whole table was holding our breath, even though she looked relaxed, and actually had a slight smile on her face.

“May I say something?” she asked politely, but continued before Kelic could say yes or no.

“ I’ve lived in my house down the street my whole life, not under a rock, or in a country club version of an apartment like yourself. I’ve lived in this county my whole life, unlike you who moved here your sophmore year. I’ve never slept with the scum of the universe, because those people live in Garretsburg, Vermont. Get my drift?” she asked, her tone never swaying from polite. I glanced from her calm face to Kelics suddenly petrified one, nervous. Kelic scowled.

“You’re bluffing. You don’t know anything about me.”

Hailey had her in her spot in a heartbeat, making everyone else gasp and Kelics eyes widen as she leaned over her.

“Wanna bet? Your brothers name is Andrew. He lives in that lovely home in Garretsburg. He’s there because of you. You’re here because of your mom. You know why. Before that you where living with your aunt, who also had two sons, twins, Guy and Dude, because she was too lazy to pick real names. Your first screw was your middle school crush, who just happened to be-“

“STOP!” Kelic interrupted, a terrified look on her face. Hailey smiled sweetly. “What, you don’t want me to continue? But I know nothing about you!” Keilc took a deep breath.

“Ok. Lesson taught. I wont bother you again.” She said in a surprisingly level voice. I figured she would have been crying by now. Hailey gave her a long look, then backed up so she could stand.

“How did you know?” she asked softly. Hailey flashed her a bright smile.

“My older brother, Harris, used to live in Garretsburg before he hung himself.”