12
‘Treat You Better’
—Shawn Mendes
Lara
In a few days we are going to visit my grandparents, we do it every year.
Except this year it’s going to be different because Scotty and his family will be joining us, sharing a room with Scotty…
Yuck. I’m starting to enjoy his company, though.
A whole week of him 24/7 sounds horrible, yet I still wish he were here right now.
I can’t believe I miss his company. I’m going crazy.
I decided to invite Isaac over, so I’m getting ready for that.
My mom won’t be home until school is supposed to be over, and my dad won’t be home until 5.
The doorbell rings, I rush down the stairs, and open the door casually.
“Hey, Larva.” Isaac smiles, his black wolf cut messy, yet tame. It suits him.
“Hey, Isaac.” I lead him inside to our living room. I turn on the electric fireplace that my parents installed a few years ago to take out the old one. All their house modifications are probably the reason we are so broke.
“You look pretty,” he tells me.
“Thank you, Isaac.” He spots the bag on the table, and he points to it.
“What did you get?” Isaac asks me, and I walk over to the bag and pull out the book. ‘Unseen Bonds’ is the title of the book; it has a piano on the front. I show him the book, I watch him read the title, but nothing else.
“That’s cool.” He doesn’t ask what it’s about; he just gives me a dry two-word response. I guess he isn’t big on reading books. I sit back down on the couch next to him, he puts his arm around me, pulling me in closer. I feel his hot breath on me; it smells like pickles.
“What if I kiss you?” he whispers, leaning in even closer.
I don’t really want him to kiss me, but I let him plant a kiss on my lips. I try to pull away as he takes the kiss deeper.
He tangles his hands in my hair, kissing is really uncomfortable, I don’t get the hype.
Kissing him feels like kissing a wet, slobbery dog toy.
I used to imagine my first kiss to be magical. I imagined my leg popping up like in the movies.
I thought you were supposed to feel fireworks with your special one. I don’t feel fireworks. The only thing I feel is the burger I downed earlier rising from my throat. Kissing is disgusting.
The door swings open, we both pull away like we're allergic to each other. Scotty stands in the doorway. His eyes look hurt, for some odd reason.
“What are you doing here?” I ask him, standing up from the couch.
“I came back to get my clothes…” After Scotty says that, I spin around to see Isaac's reaction, his fist clenched. He also stands up.
“Clothes? What’s going on between you two?” he almost shouts. Looking at Isaac in his blind rage makes me think way differently of him. He’s nothing like the Isaac I knew.
“Nothing! He spent the night. He was drunk.” I try to defend myself, I really like Isaac, and don’t want to ruin it. Isaac walks closer to Scotty.
“You really think I’d treat Lara like one of your conquests?” I can see the fire in his eyes; they both look like they are about to explode.
“You know what was just about to happen, don’t you, Scotty? I have her, not you.” Isaac whispers in his ear, so I can barely make it out.
Scotty shoves Isaac back, which makes Isaac enraged. He throws a punch at Scotty’s jaw, but Scotty ducks. Scotty punches him square in the face.
“Fuck you!” Scotty spits at him.
“Stop!” I shriek. I rush between them before Isaac can hit him back.
“I think you should go,” I tell both of them.
“You’re seriously going to date this guy? Do you know what he did to his mom?”
Scotty says to me, his voice raised, but quieter than when he was yelling at Isaac.
What did he do to his mom? I stare at them blankly.
“Forget it.” Scotty walks out, I hear his car door slam, and the engine starts as he begins backing up.
“Are you okay?” Isaac turns to me, but I put my hand up.
“Leave.” Is the only word I can manage to get out.
Both of them are using me to get what they want; I won’t stand for it.
I spent the rest of the night trying to figure out what Isaac did to his mom.
I still can’t figure it out. I open my phone to see a paragraph from Scotty.
I’m sorry for what happened today. I shouldn’t have barged in without permission; it isn’t my place to dictate who you can or can’t kiss.
Forget everything I said about Isaac. I’ll see you on Monday for the trip.
I either want to kiss my phone or throw it against the wall, but I can’t tell which I’d rather do.
Isaac just gave me a one-word apology. Sorry.
Is all he said. Fuck him. I was not going to have sex with him, and if that’s what he thought, then fuck him.
Scott
This day was a roller coaster. A very intense roller coaster, the kind of roller coaster that makes you throw up your lunch twenty times. The type of roller coaster that leaves you ruined.
I started the day waking up next to Lara, and it ended with her kissing another guy, and that guy was Isaac fucking Anthony.
I’m wrong for going into her house; I just thought she wouldn’t mind.
I’m kind of family. It still doesn’t give me the right.
I should’ve known what I was walking into because Isaac lives next door.
I punched Isaac, too, in front of Lara. I wouldn’t have hit him if he hadn’t said that about Lara.
I’m smart enough to know violence is never the answer.
I really hoped Lara saw my apology. I won’t bother her by texting her a million times. She deserves her space.
I hope Isaac left after I did. I could tell she was scared when he was mad. I hope she knows I’d never hurt her.
I’m not mad Lara kissed him; she can kiss whoever she wants.
I’m mad about what Isaac said to me. He portrayed her as some prize.
I’m not trying to earn a prize when there’s no competition.
Lara doesn’t laugh the way she laughs when she does with me.
She wasn’t even kissing him back. It wouldn’t take a genius to know she didn’t like it.
She deserved a first kiss that made her smile, not one that made her look trapped.
I’m hurt too. I’m hurt because Lara and I spent the whole day together. It felt like something more than friendship was there until she went and kissed another guy. All my hopes of being together vanished into thin air.
I’m starting to come to the conclusion that I don’t want to be friends with Lara. I want her as my girlfriend. Not as a trophy, not as a conquest. As my partner.
5 years later
‘Come back… Be Here’
— Taylor Swift
Scott
I just finished a big game, I’m in the locker room.
Mostly everyone left to celebrate our win with their family, but I’m just stuck here, in my mind.
A text pops up on my phone, I close the social media app I was just scrolling on, and open up the text message from Lara’s number.
I’m ready to just be friends. She wrote.
It was followed by an address to her apartment.
Ashton and Danny are right. It’s very close to my penthouse.
**
I knock at the door, I had to walk up three flights of stairs because the elevator is only for residents. She opens the door, stepping aside so I can walk inside. She’s wearing baggy grey sweatpants and a black hoodie.
“So what do you want to do, friend?” I cringe. She has never called me ‘friend’ in her life.
I walk over to the couch and sit down, kicking my feet up onto the coffee table.
“Watch a movie.” I grab the remote and begin clicking through the channels like I live here. Lara awkwardly sits down next to me, on the opposite end of the couch. I click on a random romcom and set the remote back down. “I’m not going to bite, you know?”
“I know,” she says quietly, then scoots over to me. I move my arm around her, pulling her even closer until she’s lying on my shoulder. I feel her breathing get slower; she’s calmer now.
“Your heart is beating really fast,” she says, her hand resting on my chest. I feel the temperature heat up, my hands get sweaty, she’s so close. I haven’t been this close to her in 5 years, but somehow it still feels natural. I feel at peace.
“I know.” This isn’t a ‘just friends’ activity because the only thought I have right now is to kiss her.
“Is this what friends do?” she asks.
“No, but it feels right, doesn’t it?” I close my eyes, sinking into her touch. This feels so right but so wrong at the same time.