I Hated You First

by Rachel John

she couldn’t hide her sass.

I THOUGHT HE SAID ASS BYE-

I knew she craved alone time more than I did, but even introverts had to have a limit, right?

nope

I was fine with country music.

Im not :/

“I hated you first,” I whispered back.

NO NO NO DONT SAY THE TITLE YET IT'S TOO SOON

But I still almost drilled one of the bolts into my hand when he opened with, “I want you to break up Lauren and this new boyfriend of hers if things start to get serious.”

excuse me?

And you and I both know she’s too young to date anyone seriously.

i hate you

John was an observer. Somewhere along the line, he’d caught wind of what I did to Lauren’s boyfriends, and now he wanted to mold my gift for his own purposes.

fuck u john

But Dad missed all that, and when I tried to explain, he’d turned the conversation

f u stupid dad

“Put your seat belt on, Clay.” “Make me.”

oh oh ok

“Oh, yeah? You’re going to kill me through the phone, darling?”

precisely

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

TS??

and I realized the argument I’d started with them in my head hadn’t escaped my mouth yet.

BAHAHAH PLS-

spider-monkeying

twilight?!

She looked so hurt and vulnerable, that I reached out and gripped her ankle,

um is that supposed to be comforting?

I imagined tugging on it and letting her land right back down with me. Holding her. Making her laugh. Kissing her lower lip and watching her eyes flutter closed.

do it i dare you

“Feelings are good.” “Not these ones.”

fr

Guys could say whatever they wanted about being the tougher sex. They were way more touchy feely when it came to their egos.

facts

did whatever she asked, her silent servant

we love a submissive man

“Muscles,” she murmured, giggling to herself.

me:

Today, I was boyfriend material.

yess plsss

She fingered the corner of the quilt.

excuse me-

And I’m good with friendship as long as we get this, too.” She kissed me,

um so a friends with benefits kinda thing?

Clay had moved to the passenger side while I was gone, so I jumped into the driver’s seat and adjusted the rearview mirror before running my hands lovingly over the steering wheel, silently apologizing for letting someone else drive it. When I looked at Clay, he was smirking. “How come I don’t get a greeting like that?” “Jealous?” “Clearly.”

“Mockery is my love language.”

“I’ll take an apology from you. They’re so rare.”

she tilted her head and took me in like the pathetic specimen I was.

“No, I don’t want to keep him. Thanks though. I’ll make sure he gets donated.” Into the ground somewhere far, far away.

“Go ahead and insert your millennial joke.”

She looked like an angry carrot. An angry, screaming carrot.

Like one of those mandrakes they uproot in Harry Potter

HARRY POTTER

Laur.”

LAUR-

Clay got down on one knee,

STOP STOP IT RN

“I want to know why you two picked Valentine’s Day to get married.

EW I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW AS WELL

Love was this scary and beautiful thing that existed all around me. I could see it. I could read about it. But I’d never experienced it before.