Page 16 of I Love to Hate You
“You’re not going to say excuse me?” she has the audacity to ask with a raised eyebrow as mine come together in a furrow.
“What? Maybeyoushould say excuse me,” I fire back. “You were obviously looking down at your phone, disregarding the fact that there are a ton of people around, like you always do.”
“Well, maybe if you weren’t walking so fast and being an angry bitch, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
The two of us stare at each other, eyes on fire as memories from years ago play in my head like they’re brand new.
“Amy, it has been a long time since we’ve talked. A lot has changed since freshman year,” I say, trying to warn her so she can avoid my oncoming wrath. “I know you think you’re tough shit now because you’re dating Kendrick Kennedy, but if you don’t get out of my face, he won’t be able to protect you.”
“Of courseyou know I’m dating Kendrick, because you’restillobsessed with me,” she replies, giving me a big, fat reminder of how fucking horrible she is. “You need to mind your own business and watch where you’re going. I’m actually going to meet my boyfriend right now. You’re welcome to watch us make out. That way, you can live vicariously through me just like you used to freshman year. I’m sure it’s better than whatever ghetto existence you’re about to drive back to in that raggedy little car of yours.”
I don’t know what it is about that word that ignites me. All I know is that hearing it causes an explosion, and before I can register what’s happening, red hair is wrapped around my fist and Amy is bent over in front of me, wailing for help.
“You’ve been calling me that for far too long, you little cunt. I told you he wouldn’t be here to protect you,” I bark as I hold Amy down by her hair, and use my other hand to push her face against the wall as hard as I can.
“Stop it,” she squeals, saying it as loud as she can so a passerby will hear and run to her aid. “Let me go, please.”
“Yeah, how’s this for ghetto, bitch?” I yell in her face as I push harder. “Beg for me to let you go. Say please again. Say it!”
“Stop it, please!” she yells. “Please!”
“That’s what I thought. Where’s your boyfriend now, huh? Where is he?”
“What the fuck are you doing?” a deep voice booms from behind me, and I’m suddenly being spun around and pushed against the opposite wall.
The back of my head smacks the wall, and I instantly think that campus police have found us, but I quickly realize I’m wrong.
Kendrick Kennedy steps so close to me that his nose touches my forehead, and I’m face to face with the fury in his light brown eyes.
Kendrick
Thirteen
~ KENDRICK~
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I snarl, my face only inches from hers. Heat radiates up from my feet and into my head, simmering there as I glare at Maya for attacking Amy.
It’s not that I’m in love with Amy. I certainly am not, but she’s my … friend, and I don’t want to see her get her ass whooped just a few feet from the student parking lot. We haven’t been hooking up for very long, and I know she won’t be there for me to use if Maya puts her in the hospital. I don’t know if they have history or what this is about, and while it’s entertaining to watch them go at it, I can’t let this happen.
I’m not actually mad when I step toward Maya. I’m putting on a front because she had the girl I’m hooking up with in a headlock, so I glare at her like I’m ready to fight over it, and it works. She presses her back against the wall like she’s trying to push herself through it and looks up at me with shock on her face. She doesn’t move—her blinking eyes and furrowed brow the only sign she’s still alive—and the two of us engage in an impromptu staring contest. Maya is probably only five-foot-six, but her stare through those hazel eyes sends a bolt through my heart. It’s not fear. It’s lightning, and it steals all of my strength. How does she look so angry but also so … likethis.
The world around us becomes a portrait photo—everything blurs but the two of us. She is all I see, even with Amy angrily bouncing in the background yelling about something I can no longer hear as Maya and I lock eyes. We stand there, frozen in time, and my eyes scan her face. I see her perfect skin up close—the way ribbons of jet-black hair dangle down, decorating her face. I get stuck on her lips and I don’t know why. They are full and smooth. Fuck. I watch her mouth part and my breath shudders. My tongue runs across my bottom lip involuntarily, and I’m biting my lip before I can stop myself.
I see the moment Maya notices, but neither of us can pull ourselves out of this tailspin. Her eyes drop to my mouth before bouncing back up again, and there’s a sudden urge to move forward—to learn what those lips feel like on mine. Are they a perfect match? The desperation to find out makes me panic, and all I can hear is the sound of my own rushing heartbeat. I don’t want to step away. I want to be closer. I’m a moth to her flame and suddenly fine with being a kamikaze pilot if it gets me closer to her.
“Yeah, what do you have to say now?” Amy says, but it hits my ears like sound under water.
Neither of us moves from our position, but our faces soften. I’m no longer scowling and neither is she. Now, we’re just looking at each other, our eyes roaming the other person’s face, taking in their features. The sound of life and movement around us goes back to normal with the screech of a car horn, and we’re suddenly back to reality.
“What the fuck, Kendrick? Do something,” Amy belts, and when I turn to face her, I see she’s standing only a few feet away with her hands on her hips. “Hello? Are you going to do anything? She was pulling my hair and pressing my face against the wall. Aren’t you going to defend me?”
It’s not until now that I realize how close Maya and I still are. I can still smell her perfume and feel the effect it has on my heart until the moment I finally step back and regain my composure.
“What more do you want me to do?” I ask Amy, but I can feel the sting of Maya’s eyes on the side of my face. “I got her off you, didn’t I?”
“I don’t know, but … she attacked me,” Amy cries, gesturing wildly with her arms.
“I’m not going to jail so that you can feel avenged,” I say as calmly as I can.
