The City Is at War

"I don't like her," William says, as soon as we get back inside of my house.

I don't say anything and William shoots me a look.

"Sabrina-"

"Do you want something to drink?" I ask, standing up.

"No," he says slowly, "what I want is-"

"You know I think Patrick was on a date tonight," I say, walking towards the kitchen.

William follows me inside and sits down at the table, "Why are you changing the subject."

I open the refrigerator and pull out a can of Pepsi, "are you sure you're not thirsty?"

"What did that girl do to you?" he asks, more forcefully.

Casey pokes his head in the doorway, "I just saw Jade."

"It's Jadelyn now, Casey. You gotta keep up," I mutter.

Casey shrugs and sits down next to William, "I don't care what her name is. I just wanna know what she was doing here."

I shrug and Casey sighs, "Sabrina, if she's-"

"Casey, I don’t walk to talk about it right now," I say, shooting him a pointed look.

Casey raises an amused eyebrow, "you haven't told lover boy yet?"

William and I both blush, "it's not like that!"

Casey laughs and pats William on the back, which only causes him to blush harder.

"Aren't you supposed to be on a date or something?" I ask angrily.

Casey smirks, "she's upstairs."

"You're disgusting," I hiss.

Casey smiles, pulls something out of his pocket and hands it to William. William turns a color I hadn't even thought possible and Casey leaves the room smiling devilishly.

"What did he give you?"

"Um...I don't think-" he begins nervously.

"C'mon Bill, let me see it!" I whine, grabbing whatever it is out of his hand.

A condom.

"Ew!" I yell, dropping it out of my hand.

William forgets his embarrassment and starts laughing at me.

"Shut up," I hiss, standing up.

"You're not mad....are you?" William asks, trying not to laugh.

I fold my arms across my chest and turn away from him, feigning anger. William completely buys it.

"Sabrina, I'm sorry," William says softly, trying to get me to look at him.

I eventually turn to look at him and freeze. Our eyes lock and thoughts that I shouldn't be thinking about my best friend run through my mind. William reaches up to touch my face and I step away.

"Um...it's getting late," I say nervously.

William gives me a confused look and then lowers his eyes, "Right, I should go."

I should tell him not to go, that eight-thirty is hardly late, but I don't. Instead I watch William walk out of the door and wonder what I just stopped from happening.

An hour later

I walk out of my house and pull up my hood, as rain begins falling. I step off of my front porch and begin walking. I don't know where I'm going, but I keep walking. I need to clear my head. I need to talk to someone, because Jade is here and I’m scared. I can’t talk to William but that’s another problem altogether. I can’t possibly have feelings for my best friend.

After about ten minutes, I stop and sit down on the stoop of an old gray apartment. The neighborhood seems familiar, but I shake the thought out of my head. I pull the hood back and let the rain soak into my hair; it feels good.

"You lost?" a male voice asks.

I quickly place the voice as Gabe's and look up.

"No," I say even though I am.

"Then what are you doing here?" he asks, but there's no anger in his voice.

"I was taking a walk. It's a free country," I mutter in response.

"So you just happened to be taking a walk a block away from my house in the rain?" he asks, narrowing his eyes.

I nod and Gabe shakes his head and starts to walk away.

So Patrick needs a spy and I feel guilty.

"Gabe, wait!" I yell.

Gabe stops and turns around slowly.

"I'm sorry, I slapped you. I just...freaked out," I mutter.

Gabe shrugs, "it’s fine. We're even."

He turns around again and I grab his arm, "What?"

"I said we're even," he repeats.

"What the fuck did you do?" I hiss, as horrible scenarios run through my mind.

My mind settles on one thing: the text message.

"I am going to kick your ass, again!" I yell angrily.

Gabe sighs and takes my arm, "Let's get out of the rain and-"

"Don't touch me!" I hiss, slapping his arm.

“Okay, okay, I won’t touch you. Just let me explain-” Gabe tries.

“I take back my apology, you deserved that slap! Why the fuck would you do something like that?!” I shout.

“I didn’t think-” Gabe says uneasily.

“Of course you didn’t think!”

“S-Sabrina, I w-was-”

I was making Gabe Saporta stutter. I was scaring him.

“You know what, I don’t care anymore. Just stay the fuck away from me!” I hiss, slapping Gabe for the second time this week.

It feels damn good too.