Chapter Twenty One - Choke On Protein Shake

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

I barged right into Matt's house the moment Mack and Cheryl dropped me at my place. He'd just returned from the gym and I'd seen him walking from his car towards his house while I was stepping out of Mack's car.

I'd started to run to catch up with him but he was already inside and right before a middle-aged man somewhere in his fifties could close the front door, I broke in, making his eyes grow wide with panic.

But I hadn't stopped to explain or introduce myself to him. As if on a mission to annihilate my nemesis, I'd made a beeline for where he had just disappeared, finding myself in his kitchen.

He'd been in the middle of adding milk to a blender when I'd announced myself angrily with that question because something definitely had to be wrong with him in order to post that comment, right?

He looked up and all his movements ceased for a second. He hadn't been expecting me at all, had he? He really thought he could do whatever the hell he wanted and I would let it go without a fight.

He set the milk carton down on the counter with a scowl. "You?"

"Yes, me. The one you love to mess with," I snapped with elaborate hand gestures, clenching and unclenching my fists in front of me. "What the hell was that com—"

I was cut off by loud thuds of urgent footsteps and heavy panting right behind me.

"I'm sorry, Matt... I was closing the door when she came out of nowhere..." The poor old man seemed to have caught up with me, coughing and wheezing loudly as he doubled over with a huff and placed his hands over his knees. "Please tell me you know her."

"Garrett, it's alright. I do." Matt frowned. "You need to sit down. Do you want water?"

"I'm good." He waved his hand dismissively and looked up at me, a little v formed below his wrinkled forehead. I suddenly felt bad for him.

"I'm sorry," I said, embarrassed. I couldn't believe I'd rushed past him and entered their house like that. I didn't even know if Matt's parents were home. What would they think of me? My enemy really did bring out the worst in me, didn't he?

"It's okay." Garrett nodded, took in a deep breath, and finally straightened up. "I'm gonna head back out. Let me know if you guys need anything."

"For God's sake, catch your breath first, Dobby," my enemy rebuked incredulously.

Oh, so he doesn't watch Disney but he knows Harry Potter.

He pointed to the island stool for the old man to sit down, who in turn tried to be dismissive again, saying that he was alright but when Matt raised a brow at him, he eventually complied and took the glass of water my enemy held out for him.

"Thank you, Matt," Garrett mumbled and downed the water with shaky hands while I just watched with cautious eyes, waiting for him to spit it out after realizing something was wrong with it. I mean, come on, it's Matt. But thankfully, he didn't.

"I'm really sorry about that. I feel terrible now," I apologized to Garrett again and he gave me a little smile, nodding. "I apologize, too. I shouldn't have chased you here. That was rude and mannerless."

"So is barging in a house. Please don't apologize to me."

He gave another nod, got up and placed the glass in the sink before leaving the kitchen.

My anger for a particular someone resurfacing, I snapped my eyes to Matt and found him adding a banana to the blender next and reaching for other things like I wasn't standing there glaring at him.

"If you're done acting like I'm not standing here, I have something I need to ask you."

"You do? I thought you were just here to murder my butler," he said nonchalantly while securing the blender's cap.

I clenched my jaw angrily. "Listen—"

"I'm listening."

I exhaled my frustration and begged the heavens above for patience to deal with him before starting, "Why did you post—"

A loud whirring interrupted me as he turned the blender on.

I bit down at my lip to hold back a curse and tried to remain as patient as I could for fifteen seconds, then at the very sixteenth second—yes, I was counting in my head—I reached forward and turned the loud machine off.

To my surprise, that didn't piss him off as if he was expecting it already. As if he was doing it all on purpose just to make me act. That's what the hint of satisfaction in his eyes told me as he crossed an arm over the blender jar and turned to me, finally deigning to give his attention.

Without wasting any time, I flashed my phone screen at him and he averted his eyes to it uninterestedly.

"Why the hell would you write this?" I demanded.

All he did was shrug. A freaking casual shrug. He didn't even pretend to be surprised or taken aback. "I don't have to explain myself to you."

My jaw dropped. "Are you fucking serious? Yes, you owe me an explanation when your actions affect me directly. You know damn well what your comment implies."

"And?"

I opened my mouth to speak but I had no words. He'd rendered me a little speechless.

"In case it isn't obvious, I can't have myself associated with you like this." I grimaced, earning an eye twitch from him, which caught me a little off guard. I'd expected him to have similar feelings, so I continued awkwardly, "I'm sure you feel the same. So, help me understand why the hell you would write this."

His eyes held me in a diligent scrutiny and I suddenly felt the need to look away before he could see through me. I didn't even know what I didn't want him to see.

"I was probably drunk," he finally said.

I scoffed out loud at his ability to lie right to my face. That was bullshit. I knew it, and he knew that I knew it, too. He didn't even care about it. "That's your shitty excuse? No, you were not drunk at Chris's party. You drove me home, remember?"

The next sound I heard was the loud whirring of the machine again as he turned the blender on, acting like the conversation was over.

I sighed out loud and placed my hand on the counter, tapping my fingers on it to remain calm.

This time, I only waited for eleven seconds before I reached forward, turned the machine off and unplugged it altogether. I was simmering with rage at this point.

"There." I threw him a sardonic smile.

Again, no angry reaction from him. He simply removed the cap to check out the status of his drink.

"Look! I don't know what messed up reason you have to do this or worse, there is no reason and you just did this to mess with me as usual. Quite frankly, I don't even wanna know what it was. I just know that you're gonna fix it."

The last line caught his attention and one of his brows lifted incitingly. "Or what?"

"You have some fucking audacity challenging me here, Williams."

"And?"

"And you're gonna do something about this comment. You're gonna delete it," I ordered.

His brown eyes locked with mine, gleaming with something diabolical as he started advancing towards me. And as his tall frame slowly hovered over mine, I started questioning my purpose. I fumbled back a step in surprise and my lower back came in contact with the counter. The scent of his cologne wafted to my nose as he leaned in closer and I swallowed, staring up at his face, which was so close to mine.

His arm reached around me and I held my breath, feeling tingles on my back with the mere anticipation of his touch. It wasn't like I wanted him to touch me. No! Of course, not. But he was highly unpredictable and often did things without a reason so I could practically feel his hand on me when it hadn't even brushed me yet.

But in the very next second, he pulled away. I looked down at his hand and discovered that he was just retrieving a glass from the counter behind me.

Oh!

"And if I don't, Andrews?" He cocked his head impishly, challenge crowned over his features.

"Huh?"

"The comment," he reminded me with a mysterious, knowing look in his eyes. "What happens if I don't delete it?"

I blinked out of my little daze to register his question. Unbelievable.

"I'm curious. What will you do, Becks? What do you have over me?" When I didn't say anything, a little smirk curled across his lips. "That's what I thought."

"Actually..." I slowly recalled something. "I do have something over you. Remember that picture I clicked of you sticking your tongue down that cheerleader's throat? I didn't use it before, but it doesn't mean I won't use it ever."

"That picture. Right. I didn't get a good look at it back then. You wouldn't mind showing it to me again, would you?"

I chuckled. "Really? You think I don't know you intend to snatch my phone and delete it? You can see it when I upload it."

I pouted with fake sympathy for him, almost doing a little victory dance right there. For once, I'd actually acted instead of just using words with him.

But to my utmost bafflement, he still looked amused.

"Trust me, you wanna see it too. Just to make sure you still have it."

My smile dropped. Eyeing him carefully, I drifted to a safe distance from him before using my phone just in case it was a trick of his. I scrolled through my pictures to look for it and dammit! I couldn't find it. I scrolled up and down desperately in case I'd missed it the first time but it was all in vain.

He smirked while pouring the contents of the blender in the big glass. "Your fingerprint works in your sleep, you know?"

My jaw dropped. Asshole. He'd been through my phone this morning while I was sleeping? So that's what he was doing in my room. I quickly recalled if I had something personal on my phone that he shouldn't have seen but nothing. Just assignments and hot celebrity photos.

But that didn't make me feel a whole lot better as I stared back at his annoyingly conceited face.

"By the way," he started, "you have some nerve clicking those lame ass selfies with my cat after you've had the audacity to name him after a snack."

"You're a conniving, deceitful..." I stepped towards him until I was right in front of him, poking a finger in his chest. "...untrustworthy and immoral asshole."

"I'm sure you can find more words."

I huffed out in frustration, looking around desperately for something to do that would make him mad or at least ruin his day like he was ruining mine, when my eyes fell on his hands.

I snatched his glass from him and had a quick debate between splashing it all over him or spilling it down the drain. Before either of us could know my next move, I picked the third option and drank a mouthful in frustration to avenge my avocado toast.

The moment I did, my eyes widened at the awful taste and I clamped my hand over my mouth, feeling a gag reflex coming.

His face contorted with a look of surprise—his brows shot up while his lips parted, threatening to turn into an actual laugh for once.

And for a second, I forgot all about the drink from hell in my mouth, waiting to see that laugh.

"You better not spit that out, Andrews." His voice reeked of humour, snapping me back to reality.

That had been my plan but now, I didn't wanna look like a quitter. So, I downed it, even though I was convinced it was going to make me throw up. But it did not, thankfully. The after taste made me cringe really hard though.

"I bet that's what you say to every girl," was the first thing I came up with after recovering.

"It's fucking expensive." He snatched the glass back.

"You paid for that crap?" I stuck my tongue out and wiped it aggressively with a paper towel I'd grabbed from the counter, and then disposed it in the bin. Why would anyone drink something like that willingly?

"No, I won it in a lottery." He rolled his eyes.

"Must've been nice to win some brains, instead," I sneered.

"I'd give them to you. You're clearly in a dire need."

"Oh? Bold of you to assume you have one single good atom in your body to give something to someone."

"What's the point of keeping something when you have enough of it and someone else is clearly running low right in front of you?"

"You..." I held up my index finger right into his face and he frowned at it before sipping on whatever was in that glass like it was water. And he didn't even flinch. What was he made of?

Assuming it was a protein shake, Matt didn't make half as much of a grimace as I'd seen my older brother Blake make after taking his post workouts.

"I'm gonna say this one last time. Delete. The. Comment."

He scoffed to himself like me telling him to do it was just funny at this point. "No."

"Why are you doing this?" I snapped in exasperation.

"How many times do I need to say it for you to finally get it? I don't tell you my reasons, Andrews. If there's any in the first place."

In that moment, he became the most confusing and annoying person I'd ever encountered. Courtesy of the past few days, I was stupid enough to start thinking that he didn't hate me as much as I'd believed all these years. But clearly, I was wrong.

He messed things up for me for absolutely no reason and then refused to make them right. I claimed to hate him and I still couldn't see myself doing that to him. Just how much did he loathe me really?

"You know, I thought we..." I trailed off. Was it really worth telling him I thought things had changed just a little between us? I think not. I would just be giving him leverage over me. Things could never change between us. And now, I didn't even want them to.

As he watched me, for once, it felt like I had his attention and it wasn't just his indifferent self who thought he could do whatever the hell he wanted and get away with it. He watched me with what appeared to be curiosity as he paused drinking and waited for me to continue.

"Never mind. I was an idiot." I shook my head, taking a step back. "I can't even look at you right now."

And I started to exit his kitchen until his voice stopped me.

"Wait."

I knew I should've ignored him and kept walking but for some reason, I couldn't help but stop and turn around with little hope. "What?"

"I'm assuming your friend Meera won't be going to school for a while."

I raised a brow. What did he want with Meera now? "No. Why?"

"If you need a ride to school again, be out in my driveway no later than 6:45. I won't wait a minute longer."

I stared at his face for a moment to make sure he was serious. He was.

"You live in your own little world, don't you?" I chuckled to myself in disbelief. "I'd rather walk to school for the rest of the year than get in your car with you ever again."

I spun on my heels to leave but remembered something.

"Also," I said over my shoulder with a sweet smile, "I hope you choke on your protein shake."

With that, I finally walked out.

*****

"This is exhausting." I stifled a yawn as Will put the guitar aside to stretch his arms up. I'd sang two songs, then we'd listened to some music to take a break and then, one song later, we both were extremely bored. An idea struck me, and my eyes lit up. "Let's waltz again!"

"I'd like to keep my foot intact, thank you very much."

"That's a bit much, Will."

"You know I'd tell you if you were good at it, Becks. But you just suck at waltz!"

I gasped. "Mean. You're brutally judging a beginner with one day of waltz experience."

"Okay fine. Good point. Sorry. Maybe you can learn better. But just not from me, please." He raised up his hands in surrender.

"Fine." I chuckled. "But we're so done with music for the day. How was I?"

"Good. You sounded good to me, except for the last bit. You know what I'm talking about. You need to work on that part."

"Yes, I will." I looked around at the instruments and noticed the huge window besides the drums overlooking the football field. "Is the music room always vacant?"

"Of course not. You're lucky we don't have an event lined up or we'd have to find a spot on the bleachers."

"Lucky me." I got up from my chair and headed over to the drums, running my fingers over the plate on the side. "I've always wondered what this is for."

"The crash cymbal?"

"Is that what it's called? Is it because it's a symbol for...crash?" I shrugged.

"Not that symbol." He chuckled, then spelled out, "C-Y-M-B-A-L. I think it's used for...well, maybe crash, as you said, like the name suggests. I don't know. You should ask Parker. He's the expert."

I smiled, turning to the plate and tipping it down with my finger.

"Do you wanna play?" he asked.

"The only time I've touched a drum set in my life is when I was helping assemble and disassemble it for the gig."

"So what?"

"Knowing me, I'll be surprised if this drum set gets away without any damage when I'm done."

"Come on. You can't possibly break it even if you tried."

"Are you sure?" I raised a brow.

"Okay, I take it back. But I assure you the drums will be safe. I'll be an excellent guide."

"Really? Haven't I taken enough of your time already?"

He scoffed. "Sit down, Becks. I've got nowhere else to be. I'd be helping Parker's lazy ass with homework he's perfectly capable of doing himself if I wasn't here with you."

"Okay then." I sat down eagerly and grabbed the two sticks. "Now what do I do?"

"Hit the drums, what else?"

"What? The instructions seem a bit unclear, Will."

"Exactly. You don't know what you're doing. Just go apeshit. It's what I do."

I chuckled and started hitting the drums with the sticks. It sounded ridiculous but I kept going and Will nodded with approval.

"You're a pretty lousy guide," I remarked.

"I know." He placed a hand over his chest and bowed his head to accept the compliment.

I spent the next few minutes hitting the drums randomly, trying to make some pattern out of it. I got so lost that I didn't realize when I started drumming aggressively until one of the sticks flew out of my hand and projected up towards the ceiling.

"Whoa!" Will lunged forward to catch it while I covered my head for protection. It fell right past my shoulder to the floor, bounced once and finally rolled under the drums.

"What did I tell you?" I chuckled and slid out of my seat to reach for it.

"Damn, Becks. How does one mess this up?" He was laughing too as he rounded the drums and ducked down next to me.

"I got it," I muttered, probing the floor with my hands just as I heard the door open. Somebody stepped inside and since I was already retrieving the stick, Will got up to check out who it was.

"Will," I heard a familiar voice just as Will rounded the drums. It sounded like an enemy of mine. "I wanted to talk about the next gig. Parker said he got a phone call from—"

That's when I grabbed the stick and popped up from behind the drums, still on my knees. Matt's eyes landed on me and he stopped talking abruptly. Then his head slowly turned to Will.

Anger must've been his default reaction to my presence as he clenched his jaw before asking him, "what is she doing here?"

Wow. Way to be subtle about your hateful feelings, Williams.

"You know I've been teaching her music," Will reminded him.

"Is that what you were doing when I walked in? Teaching her music?" His voice had an edge of irritation to it.

I almost bashed him for taking out his frustration for me on Will but I refrained. It wasn't worth it. Besides, Will didn't seem to mind.

"Oh, don't even get me started. We're up to the most random shit around here all the time." He waved his hand dismissively, rolling his eyes at me playfully and I managed a smile towards him as I put the sticks together and got up, giving my enemy the cold shoulder while walking past him to grab my backpack from the chair.

"This is definitely my cue. I'll see you tomorrow, Will," I said to him, feeling a certain pair of eyes on me.

"Same time?"

"Yes."

"By the way, if you promise to practice just a little bit of waltz foot movements at home, I might consider taking you under my wing again. I thought about how I turned you down and felt bad."

I placed a hand over my chest profoundly with gratitude. "How kind of you. But I've accepted I'm more of a wild dancer. Slow's probably not my thing."

He clicked his tongue. "Your loss."

I chuckled.

"Oh wait, Becks!" He reached for his pocket to pull something out, probably his phone. "I was going to ask you for—"

"I don't have all day," my enemy cut in as he eyed me sharply with a bit of impatience, motioning towards the door with a single flick of his eyes.

I was never going to admit, even to myself, that his actions were slowly becoming capable of hurting me. But that wouldn't make it any less true.

"Bye, Will," I said, forcing another smile.

Even he looked a little taken aback but offered me a smile. "Bye, Becks."

As much as I didn't want to, I cut one final look at Matt and no wonder, he was watching me with a deep scowl. He couldn't just wait for me to leave his sight, could he?

Exhaling, I turned to the exit and left.