You Had Me at "I Hate You"
25
"Oh my God!"
I forced my eyes open. The room was flooded with sunlight. I would have feared oversleeping, but I then remembered that it was Saturday.
"I'm here one day and you guys are already hooking up right in front of me?"
Huh?
"I mean, excuse me, but the first thing that I want to see when I wake up is a nice plate of pancakes," Massia was saying, shaking her head. "Not you two snuggling it up over there!"
I sat up, rubbing my eyes and raking my fingers through my unruly hair.
"Nothing happened, Mass," I told her. "Calm down."
"Calm down? Calm down!?"
I slapped the back of Linc's head, and he awoke, shouting out the last remnant of his dream.
"I'll save you, Hermione!"
I snorted in laughter, and got out of the bed.
"Jesse was snoring, so Linc came in here," I explained. "Seriously, no big deal."
Massia narrowed her eyes at me, the international symbol for, "Are you telling the truth?"
I nodded, and jerked my thumb over my shoulder. "Do you honestly think that I would sleep with that?"
As if on cue, Linc burped, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
She laughed and we went out into the kitchen to make ourselves some breakfast.
"So..." Massia said airily, cracking an egg into the frying pan. "Is Lincoln single?"
"No!" I replied quickly. Maybe a bit too quickly. "He... He's not."
She raised an eyebrow. "Aha! I knew it!"
"Knew what?" I rolled my eyes.
"You love him!"
I burst into laughter. "S-Sorry to pop your bubble, hon," I wiped away a tear of mirth. "But Linc and I..."
I couldn't finish the sentence. Just the sound of "Linc and I" made me crack up.
She snorted at me and cracked another egg. "So... What about Jesse?"
She blushed.
I smirked. "Jesse's single."
"Oh."
"Why were you asking?"
"No reason."
"The truth please."
"I just told you the truth."
I sighed and threw in a dash of pepper to the sizzling eggs.
Massia and Jesse?
I really don't think my life could get any more complicated.
-_-_-_-_-_-
"Hey!" I called as Jesse and Massia tried to sneak out the front door. "Where are you crazy kids going?"
It had been about three days since Massia had arrived, and Jesse had gotten over his initial awe. He moved from "speechless" to "bumbling idiot" to "mindless flirting machine" over the course of twenty-four hours.
The nights were complicated too. Linc stuck it out with Jesse for a night, and he was grumpy and red-eyed the next morning from lack of sleep. I tried to bunk with Massia the next night, so that Linc could have his own bed, but she kept kicking me in her sleep. The night after that, I'd called up Aiden, much to Linc's dismay, and I'd shacked up at his place.
And Aiden had asked me something... I mean, something big... Well, that's a different story.
If Massia felt bad about complicating the sleeping arrangements, she didn't show it. Then again, she was probably too busy with Jesse to do much of anything, really.
She giggled, grabbed Jesse's hand, and then squealed, "We're going to a movie!"
Linc pointed to Jesse. "Have her back no later than twelve, you hear me?"
He laughed, saluted, and cried, "Yes, sir!"
They were out the door in a matter of seconds.
It was then that I realized that Linc and I were alone. He must have realized it too, because he flung himself over to my side of the couch and enveloped me in a hug. He turned his head, and moved his face towards mine, but I squirmed out of his grasp.
"Get off me!" I whined, and shoved him away. "I don't want to do that."
He grunted and then turned on the television. "A guy's got to try."
The theme song for House began, and Linc was instantly lost in the dramatic show. A girl's eyes were bleeding, and Dr. House made a sarcastic remark.
Then, something occurred to me.
"Linc?"
"Hm?" he answered, never prying his eyes away from the screen.
"Is this a new episode?"
"Yeah."
"If I had agreed to kiss you, would you have given up watching House?"
"Hell yeah."
He still hadn't looked at me, but I could see that his ears were glowing bright read. He meant it.
I sighed. This was a problem.
"Look... Linc... Aiden asked me something the other night... It was a very important question... Um..."
House was forgotten. Linc's voice was panicky and strained. "What? What did he ask you?"
"Um..."
"Violet...?" Linc asked, his eyebrows were furrowed.
I blurted, "He asked me to move in with him!"
His face was stony. "And what did you say?"
Just then, Massia and Jesse burst through the door.
"Back already?" I asked, grateful for the interruption.
"No..." Jesse said slowly. "Massia grabbed your purse by mistake. She's waiting in the car."
"What did you say, Violet?" Linc asked.
"Oh! Okay, well I think her purse is on the kitchen counter," I told him, and he nodded, but didn't make a move to get it.
"What the hell did you say to him?!"
Jesse had something in his hand. It was a white sheet of printer's paper. Carefully, he unclenched his fist, straightened out the note, and handed it to Linc. He was stopped in mid shout, and glared at me a final time before reading it.
I was confused. A few seconds later, Linc's eyes dropped from the paper.
"Violet DiMarco... What did you tell Aiden when he asked you to move in with him?" Linc asked, venom in his voice.
"I t-told him.... I told him yes. I'm going to move in with Aiden... I'm not going to be your roommate anymore."
The paper fell to the ground, where it landed, face up. I saw my name in bold type across the heading. It took me a few seconds to register... That was my article.
This was the article that I'd written about Linc and Jesse being scammers. The one that would get me to the front page. The one that I'd decided never to print.
I gasped.
"Massia found it in your purse," Jesse told me, his eyes as cold as ice.
"I'm glad you're leaving!" Linc shouted. "I'm glad!"
The cat, Harry Potter, ran out of the room, frightened by the booming-quality of Linc's voice.
"Lincoln... Just... Calm down, okay?" I tried to reason with him... but to no avail.
"No! I can't believe this! You lied to everyone!"
"I wasn't going to publish the story!" I protested. "I wrote it while I was angry!"
"You lied to us, Violet!" he spat again. "You lied to... You lied to me."
His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat.
"Lincoln..."
"Get out."
"Lincoln!" I protested.
"Get out!"
"Linc... This isn't necessary," Jesse said quietly.
"Shove off!" he spat at his best friend.
"Just let me explain!" I tried again, this time turning to Jesse. "I swear to you... I was never going to publish that story! I wouldn't ever do that to you!"
"GET OUT NOW!"
I looked to Jesse for help, but he met my eyes with a confused glare.
"Violet... I think it's best you leave."
"J-Jesse?" I tried to hold back my tears.
"I'm sorry, Vi. There's no way... I mean... How can we trust you?"
"I swear! I wasn't going to-"
Linc interrupted. He was using a calm, cold voice that I'd never heard before. "Go to Aiden's. We'll send over your stuff tomorrow."
"I... I..."
Linc turned his back on me.
I broke down.
Tears streaming, I exited the apartment.
One mistake. One stupid mistake.
How could it have escalated?
Why do these things always seem to happen to me?
I forced my eyes open. The room was flooded with sunlight. I would have feared oversleeping, but I then remembered that it was Saturday.
"I'm here one day and you guys are already hooking up right in front of me?"
Huh?
"I mean, excuse me, but the first thing that I want to see when I wake up is a nice plate of pancakes," Massia was saying, shaking her head. "Not you two snuggling it up over there!"
I sat up, rubbing my eyes and raking my fingers through my unruly hair.
"Nothing happened, Mass," I told her. "Calm down."
"Calm down? Calm down!?"
I slapped the back of Linc's head, and he awoke, shouting out the last remnant of his dream.
"I'll save you, Hermione!"
I snorted in laughter, and got out of the bed.
"Jesse was snoring, so Linc came in here," I explained. "Seriously, no big deal."
Massia narrowed her eyes at me, the international symbol for, "Are you telling the truth?"
I nodded, and jerked my thumb over my shoulder. "Do you honestly think that I would sleep with that?"
As if on cue, Linc burped, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
She laughed and we went out into the kitchen to make ourselves some breakfast.
"So..." Massia said airily, cracking an egg into the frying pan. "Is Lincoln single?"
"No!" I replied quickly. Maybe a bit too quickly. "He... He's not."
She raised an eyebrow. "Aha! I knew it!"
"Knew what?" I rolled my eyes.
"You love him!"
I burst into laughter. "S-Sorry to pop your bubble, hon," I wiped away a tear of mirth. "But Linc and I..."
I couldn't finish the sentence. Just the sound of "Linc and I" made me crack up.
She snorted at me and cracked another egg. "So... What about Jesse?"
She blushed.
I smirked. "Jesse's single."
"Oh."
"Why were you asking?"
"No reason."
"The truth please."
"I just told you the truth."
I sighed and threw in a dash of pepper to the sizzling eggs.
Massia and Jesse?
I really don't think my life could get any more complicated.
-_-_-_-_-_-
"Hey!" I called as Jesse and Massia tried to sneak out the front door. "Where are you crazy kids going?"
It had been about three days since Massia had arrived, and Jesse had gotten over his initial awe. He moved from "speechless" to "bumbling idiot" to "mindless flirting machine" over the course of twenty-four hours.
The nights were complicated too. Linc stuck it out with Jesse for a night, and he was grumpy and red-eyed the next morning from lack of sleep. I tried to bunk with Massia the next night, so that Linc could have his own bed, but she kept kicking me in her sleep. The night after that, I'd called up Aiden, much to Linc's dismay, and I'd shacked up at his place.
And Aiden had asked me something... I mean, something big... Well, that's a different story.
If Massia felt bad about complicating the sleeping arrangements, she didn't show it. Then again, she was probably too busy with Jesse to do much of anything, really.
She giggled, grabbed Jesse's hand, and then squealed, "We're going to a movie!"
Linc pointed to Jesse. "Have her back no later than twelve, you hear me?"
He laughed, saluted, and cried, "Yes, sir!"
They were out the door in a matter of seconds.
It was then that I realized that Linc and I were alone. He must have realized it too, because he flung himself over to my side of the couch and enveloped me in a hug. He turned his head, and moved his face towards mine, but I squirmed out of his grasp.
"Get off me!" I whined, and shoved him away. "I don't want to do that."
He grunted and then turned on the television. "A guy's got to try."
The theme song for House began, and Linc was instantly lost in the dramatic show. A girl's eyes were bleeding, and Dr. House made a sarcastic remark.
Then, something occurred to me.
"Linc?"
"Hm?" he answered, never prying his eyes away from the screen.
"Is this a new episode?"
"Yeah."
"If I had agreed to kiss you, would you have given up watching House?"
"Hell yeah."
He still hadn't looked at me, but I could see that his ears were glowing bright read. He meant it.
I sighed. This was a problem.
"Look... Linc... Aiden asked me something the other night... It was a very important question... Um..."
House was forgotten. Linc's voice was panicky and strained. "What? What did he ask you?"
"Um..."
"Violet...?" Linc asked, his eyebrows were furrowed.
I blurted, "He asked me to move in with him!"
His face was stony. "And what did you say?"
Just then, Massia and Jesse burst through the door.
"Back already?" I asked, grateful for the interruption.
"No..." Jesse said slowly. "Massia grabbed your purse by mistake. She's waiting in the car."
"What did you say, Violet?" Linc asked.
"Oh! Okay, well I think her purse is on the kitchen counter," I told him, and he nodded, but didn't make a move to get it.
"What the hell did you say to him?!"
Jesse had something in his hand. It was a white sheet of printer's paper. Carefully, he unclenched his fist, straightened out the note, and handed it to Linc. He was stopped in mid shout, and glared at me a final time before reading it.
I was confused. A few seconds later, Linc's eyes dropped from the paper.
"Violet DiMarco... What did you tell Aiden when he asked you to move in with him?" Linc asked, venom in his voice.
"I t-told him.... I told him yes. I'm going to move in with Aiden... I'm not going to be your roommate anymore."
The paper fell to the ground, where it landed, face up. I saw my name in bold type across the heading. It took me a few seconds to register... That was my article.
This was the article that I'd written about Linc and Jesse being scammers. The one that would get me to the front page. The one that I'd decided never to print.
I gasped.
"Massia found it in your purse," Jesse told me, his eyes as cold as ice.
"I'm glad you're leaving!" Linc shouted. "I'm glad!"
The cat, Harry Potter, ran out of the room, frightened by the booming-quality of Linc's voice.
"Lincoln... Just... Calm down, okay?" I tried to reason with him... but to no avail.
"No! I can't believe this! You lied to everyone!"
"I wasn't going to publish the story!" I protested. "I wrote it while I was angry!"
"You lied to us, Violet!" he spat again. "You lied to... You lied to me."
His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat.
"Lincoln..."
"Get out."
"Lincoln!" I protested.
"Get out!"
"Linc... This isn't necessary," Jesse said quietly.
"Shove off!" he spat at his best friend.
"Just let me explain!" I tried again, this time turning to Jesse. "I swear to you... I was never going to publish that story! I wouldn't ever do that to you!"
"GET OUT NOW!"
I looked to Jesse for help, but he met my eyes with a confused glare.
"Violet... I think it's best you leave."
"J-Jesse?" I tried to hold back my tears.
"I'm sorry, Vi. There's no way... I mean... How can we trust you?"
"I swear! I wasn't going to-"
Linc interrupted. He was using a calm, cold voice that I'd never heard before. "Go to Aiden's. We'll send over your stuff tomorrow."
"I... I..."
Linc turned his back on me.
I broke down.
Tears streaming, I exited the apartment.
One mistake. One stupid mistake.
How could it have escalated?
Why do these things always seem to happen to me?