After nodding my head in acknowledgment of what Matty said, we quickly fell into a moment of silence. Well...multiple moments of silence...back to back. Besides the sounds of us munching away on our candy, no other words were exchanged. I turned away from him, unsure of how to act after our small civil interaction, and tried to focus on how insanely comfortable this chair was. Seriously, I only sat in things this comfy when I went to furniture stores with my family.

But, the smooth leather could only distract me for so long.

Honestly, other than the prospect of more free candy, I was having a hard time figuring out why I was still here. I mean, clearly Matty said he wanted to talk to me about something, but he had yet to share what that something was. Because of that, things were now extremely awkward, which was a rare oddity for us. We'd known each other for so long that it hardly ever was this uncomfortable between us. I guess that's something that happened even between sworn enemies-they became familiar to you.

Well, at least it can't get more awkward than this, right?

"We should talk about our kiss," Matty suddenly said, breaking the silence. "Kisses, actually."

Nope. It totally just got worse.

I was so caught off guard, that I inhaled a deep breath, resulting in the beautiful blue M&M I just bit into to hit the back of my throat. The coughing fit that soon ensued brought tears to my eyes...or maybe it was the prospect of having to discuss 'that which should never have happened' with the kiss-stealing culprit himself. I mean, for Christ's sake, what was he thinking?!

When a bottle of water suddenly was held in front of my face, I took it, drinking the contents greedily. Once every bit of candy coated goodness was washed away, and my breathing came under control, I finally looked at Matty with an expression of horror and heavy irritation.

"Have you lost your mind?!" I exclaimed, my voice having a tone of rasp to it as a result of my whole choking fiasco.

"No," he shrugged, unphased. "But, you look like you have."

"You don't say?" I sassed, standing up and crossing the room so I was farther away from him. "Well, maybe that's because my idiot of a neighbor thought I'd want to discuss the times he dared to put his floozy-infected lips on mine!"

Raising his brows in a look of amused puzzlement, he questioned my word choice. "Floozy-infected...how do you even come up with these things?"

"Who cares?! My point is, we-" I emphasized by pointing at him and then myself, multiple times, as I held the word out. "-are not talking about that. Ever."

"Well, I think we should," he argued, crossing his arms.

"There is literally no point. As long as you keep your mouth to yourself, we can act like they never happened."

"Maybe we shouldn't. I mean...maybe I don't want to act like they didn't happen," he responded, lifting his arms up like he was frustrated. Well, I was frustrated, too. My father was out there, in the start of a hurricane, doing God-knows-what, and instead of focusing on that, I had to deal with this.

"Riiiight," I held out with sarcasm. "I'm sure you wouldn't. Honestly, Matty, if this is why you brought me here, then you really shouldn't have."

"Is it really so bad that I did?"

When I looked at him like the answer was obvious, he shook his head with a frown.

"If you would stop being so stubborn, maybe we could have a normal conversation for once. But noooo, if Bryce doesn't want it, then it can't happen, right?"

"Exactly!" Why was he acting like this was brand new for us? This was how we'd interacted for years now. "You pretty much just wasted yours and my time with this whole thing."

Scoffing bitterly, he turned to the door and pushed it open, his back tense with what I read as unwarranted anger. "Yeah, I guess so," he replied coldly as he walked out.

Standing there in a frozen stupor, I watched the door swing close, trying to figure out just what had gotten into that boy. We'd never had a normal conversation since that terrible day in fifth grade, and while I'm pretty sure I was over what he did to me then, our rivalry never stopped.

Shaking off my confusion, I grabbed another pack of M&Ms before leaving, knowing fully that I planned on bringing Oli and Naomi back here, if not today then tomorrow. When I finally got back to the gym, considering Matty had taken me to the complete other side of school, I noticed that Oli and Naomi were now clearly sitting separate from the others.

Climbing past Matty and the others to get to my friends, who now sat a handful of bleachers above them, I took a seat in front of Oli and leaned on his legs as a back rest.

"And where have you been?" he questioned, holding his hand out for some of my candy just as I opened it.

Pouring some out for him, I sighed, "Dealing with Bratty Matty."

Lightly laughing, he said, "I figured he ran into you since he came back all angry, glaring holes at us until we finally just moved up here."

"That is so not what happened," Naomi giggled as I popped an M&M in my mouth. I would have offered her some, if she wasn't terribly allergic to peanuts.

"Then, what happened?" I inquired, watching them in amusement.

"Okay so, we all could see that something must have happened while Matty was gone that upset him. Naturally, we put two and two together, figuring that since you both were gone for a while, you must have ran into each other. Of course, none of us, not even Aimee, planned to ask him about it, since he looked like he could kick the bleachers and they'd be the ones screaming in pain. But, leave it to Oli to miss the silent communications."

Turning to Oli, she gave him a teasing look, making his cheeks go red as I looked up at him. "How was I suppose to know?" he weakly defended.

Snickering at his embarrassed expression, I asked, "So what did he leave out, Naomi?"

With a humored roll of her eyes, she shook her head and answered, "The part where he asked, and I quote, 'What's got you so wound up? You try to kiss Bryce again?' Bee, I'm telling you, if looks could kill, we'd be singing Ave Maria at Oliver James' funeral."

I knew I was supposed to laugh, and a huge part of me wanted to hate myself for not doing so, but instead of being humored, I found myself letting out a frustrated groan. Throwing my head back dramatically onto Oli's knees, I covered my eyes with my arms and huffed out a breath, processing everything that'd happened since I left earlier.

"Um...there there? Everything will be alright?" my precious best friend questioned as he patted the top of my head.

"Was it something I said?" That question came from Naomi.

"No," I mumbled with a pout. "It's not even what Oli said. It's what stupid Ellington said."

"Which was..." they both egged on in unison. Creepy little gossip addicts.

Taking a moment to prepare myself for what I was about to share, I reluctantly confessed, "He said he wanted to have a normal conversation with me, which I found extremely weird and mildly alarming, but whatever, I went with it. Then, he led me to the teacher's lounge, which I think we should go back to together because there is this chair in there that is ab-so-lute-ly amazing and-"

"Bee, get to the point," Naomi prompted.

Frowning at her impatience and quick spotting of my stalling, I grumbled, "He wanted to talk about our kiss. Multiple kisses, actually." When they didn't say anything right away, I continued, "I mean, what the hell was he expecting me to do, jump for joy at the whole idea? Did he want to pull out some sleeping bags, ice cream, and talk about our feelings like a couple of girls at a sleepover?"

And that's when it hit me.

Or, maybe he wanted you to say something embarrassing that he could hold over your head for a lifetime!

"That little fart," I muttered, sitting up with a stone cold glare at the back of Matty's stupid head. "He tried to play me."

"Um, how so?" Naomi asked, still processing my rant, it seemed.

Spinning around so I was facing both of them, I crisscrossed my legs and explained in a hushed voice, "I bet he thought I'd turn into all those other bimbos fawning after him after he first kissed me, and when I didn't, he felt a need to prove himself. That douche is trying to get me to fall for him so he can turn around and reject me. It'd be like the ultimate play in our war. There's no way I'd be able to come back from a move like that. He'd win."

It was all starting to make sense to me. I had to hand it to him, it was a pretty convoluting scheme, pure evil, but oddly respectable. It was about time he pulled out the big guns on me. I always felt like he was holding back. I'd just have to come up with a better counter.

"Orrrrrr," Naomi differed, tilting her head slightly. "Maybe, and y'know, I'm just spit-balling here, but maybe Matty actually does like you."

"...That's not funny," I deadpanned. "I'm being serious here."

"I know, and so am I."

"Matty does not like me," I asserted. "We hate each other."

"We all know you hate him, but we have no idea how he really feels about you."

Shaking my head, I scoffed, "I don't believe this. You honestly think you're on to something." Her big brown eyes held that spark they always did whenever she thought she solved a problem. Whether that be with math, science, or life itself, she got this glimmer in her eyes that revealed how much those cogs in her mind were working. "Oli, would you talk some sense into her?"

He was in the middle of licking off his hand when I called his name. He must've had some melted chocolate on it or something, but it just goes to show how little he's changed since I first met him in middle school. Looking up at us, tongue still mid-lick on his palm, he managed to ask, "Huh?"

Rolling my eyes at how easily he dazed out of the conversation, Naomi poised the question, "Do you think it's possible Matty likes Bryce?"

Furrowing his naturally arched brows, he sat up straight and wiped his wet hand off on his jean covered thigh before answering like it was obvious, "Hell no. They hate each other."

"That's what I'm trying to say!" I agreed.

Raising a finger to signal for me to wait a second, she rephrased her question. "No, Oli, not like that. Do you think it's possible Matty like-likes Bryce, as in, romantically?"

Ew, God. Hearing the words 'Matty', 'Bryce', and 'romantically' used in the same sentence made me feel sick.

"Ohhhh," Oli held out, like it was all making sense to him now. "Well, duh."

Shocked at his sudden change in tune, I exclaimed, "What?!"

"Hey, don't look at me like that," he said, holding his hands up to mimic a surrender.

"You guys can't be serious!"

"Would you keep it down?!" the all too familiar, skin-crawling, nasally voice shouted from beneath us. "I can't hear Reese speaking, and he's right next to me!"

Looking over my shoulder, I gave Aimee the BIGGEST stare down known to mankind. I didn't even stop when she uncomfortably looked away after almost a minute of brooding silence. I only averted my gaze when someone else spoke up, voicing their apparent lingering bitterness from earlier.

"Ignore her, Aimee. Bryce is too far up her own ass to care about what other people want. You're talking to deaf ears," Matty spat, unable to hide the scorn in his tone.

"Oooooo," Oli responded with his hand over his mouth as I marched down the bleachers, heading right for him.

"I don't know who you think you are, Matthew Ellington, but I suggest you stop acting like a butt-hurt child and move on. I don't owe you anything, and certainly not a 'normal conversation' after all the messed up shit we've done to each other," I snapped through gritted teeth. "I've got someone very important to me to worry about right now, and it sure as hell ain't you. So, how about you get your head out your own ass?"

Satisfied with his tight-lipped, tensed-jaw expression, I proceeded to walk down the rest of the way and headed towards the doors, only pausing to call back to my friends, "You guys coming?!"

Once the three of us were in the hall, having been reminded, once again, by the officer at the door for us to be back by eight, I led them to the teacher's lounge I'd just been in. Was I planning on actually taking them there so soon? No. But, with Matty's stank attitude stinking up the air in the gym, I decided this was a much more promising place to be. I didn't even choose to sit in the comfy chair, instead waiting for Naomi or Oli to take it. I don't care what that jerk thought of me, I did not only care about myself.

"You okay, Bee?" Naomi asked, rocking in the recliner. "You know what Matty said isn't true, right?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

"He's probably just pissed you don't care about him," Oli snickered while, ironically, eating a Snickers bar.

Ignoring his comment, I leaned back on the much firmer, and less comfortable couch, letting out a sigh. "I just want this stupid storm to pass so we can go home. It's only the second day and already I want to murder someone."

"That someone being me, I assume?"

At the sound of his voice, accompanied with the light creak of the door opening, I groaned in complete, tortured frustration. "Are you fuckin' kidding me?!"

"What are you guys doing here?" Oli questioned, probably more concerned with the prospect of them dipping into the snack supply than anything else. "You following us?"

Chuckling, Matty stood by the door while Reese, Cooper, Sean, and Aimee walked in, finding spots to sit. "Please, like we'd want to do that."

"So...you guys just so happened to leave the gym, moments after us, and head to the exact same place as us, as well?" my tall friend continued, not buying it for a second. That's my boy.

"Well, I am the one that showed Bryce this place. She didn't think I only wanted her know about it, did she?"

"No, she didn't," I jumped in, finally looking at him. Just the sight had my fights clenching. "You know what? Screw you, Matty! All I wanted was some space to breath, to think, but you won't let me! If you and your friends want this room, then have it! I don't care! I just want to be wherever the hell you aren't!"

I was mentally kicking myself for losing my cool so quickly like that, but with my father still out in the storm, Matty and his drama was just etching away at my resolve. The clear discomfort on everyone else's face was the only thing that reeled me back in.

I originally left the gym to get some sense of solitude, which is why I went to the bathroom. I needed to think, and assure myself my dad was fine. And, just when I thought I did, Matty was waiting outside for me. When I caved and let him take me to the lounge, I small part of me was grateful for the distraction, but then he brought up the kisses and ruined everything.

Even now, he continued to ruin everything.

"I'll be back, guys," I mumbled to Naomi and Oli, and then I was out the door. I kept my head down, watching my feet hit the ground as I walked. My sneakers' occasional squeak were all I noticed until someone else's footsteps began to make an appearance in my solo.

Leave it to Ellington and his thick skull to not be able to take a hint, even when it's not a hint but the whole freakin' answer spelled out for him.

"Bryce, wait!" he called out, jogging up to me as I took what had to be my third turn since leaving.

Too tired to fight anymore, I stopped to face him with my arms crossed around my chest. "What?"

When he was just a few feet away, he flipped his hair out his face and started to say, "I'm sor-"

But he never got to finish his sentence, because a deafening crack resounded through the halls, off the walls, and in the air. I was wondering if that was actually lightning, and if so, how close did it strike when the lights suddenly began to flicker and you could hear the ventilation system sputter as if it was giving out.

I thought that would be the worst of it, until I quickly found myself drowning in complete darkness, with nothing but the sounds of the hurricane and Matty Ellington to keep me company.

Lucky me.

Ooo, looks like the storm is really kicking off. Could that be a hint that something else...perhaps, more deadly, is about to kick off as well? 😏😈

Also, thoughts on Matty? Was Bryce's 'aha!' moment ingenious? Or...did you feel the need to facepalm? 😅