4. Seth

Miniature fingertips timidly play with my lashes when I wake up. My room is dark but I feel someone sitting on top of me. I pretend to be asleep, waiting for just the right moment...

At once I twist around, sending the little person on top of me flying to the ground. A girly squeal cuts through the early morning silence as my baby sister whizzes through the air. Before she hits the ground, I catch her skillfully and throw her up in the air, sending her into a fit of giggles.

"Hello there, Poppy." She sticks her tongue out at me and cracks up again. "What's so funny?"

"You look girly, Seff." My hands immediately fly to my face and I rub them over my skin. When I pull them away from my face, I notice black and blue smudges.

"Did you put make up on my face again?" I burst out and jump out of bed, setting my baby sister aside.

I walk into the en-suite bathroom, checking my face in the mirror. Horrified I take in the psycho clown make-up my sister has put on me.

"You look pwetty, Seff!" She shouts from the bedroom and I hear her bouncing on my bed.

"I'll give you pretty!" I shout. "Be scared! Be very scared, Poppy! If I were you, I would start running!"

She squeals as I splash water and soap on my face, trying to wash off the play make up. Paulina, or as I call her Poppy, is the best thing in my life. Undeniably she has her fair share of moments of being a right pain in the ass. I love her though... To bits. Without her, I would probably have gone completely insane already.

I am pretty much raising my little Poppy as my parents are constantly working. They are both lawyers, and don't get me wrong, I am very thankful, but sometimes, I would love to have actual parents... especially for Poppy's sake.

"SEFF!!!"

"I'm coming!" I rub a towel across my face and shake the wet strands of dark blond hair out of my forehead, brushing it back with my hand. "Get ready for a tickle war!"

She squeals again and starts wobbling into the living room. I act like I am too slow to catch her as I chase her, earning the cutest laugh on earth.

"You're too fast." I pant, dropping to the floor. "I give up! Have mercy on my poor soul, queen Paulina, the beautiful."

"You slow, queen Seff!"

She plops down on top of me as I rest on the floor, my arms by my sides in surrender. "King, Poppy. The male version of queen is king."

I pinch her nose and she just stares down at me.

"Male?"

"Yeah, you know, boys..."

"Ohh. But Seff not a boy! You wear make ups." Paulina giggles, pinching my nose as well.

"You cheeky little thing--"

"Mr Smith, Ms Smith, breakfast is ready. Lunch box and money are on the counter. Call me if you need me!" Lilly, our maid, bows her head a little before walking off. Ridiculous how my parents still insist on her calling us Mr and Ms...

I pick myself and Poppy up off the floor and carry her into the kitchen, where there is food waiting for us.

Poppy struggles in my arms and I sit her down in her high chair, that she barely fits in anymore. She immediately sticks her spoon into her apple and cinnamon oatmeal and starts stuffing it into her chubby cheeks.

"Slow down or you might ch--" Before I can even finish my sentence, she starts coughing up a storm and chokes on a piece of her food.

I jump out of my seat and bend her forward while hitting my flat hand against her back until she spits out a piece of apple. "Geez, Poppy! Be careful!"

Poppy goes right back to devouring her oatmeal and I take a bite out of my toast.

My eyes land on my watch. "Sh---enanigans." I stop myself before I curse and run out of the kitchen and into my room.

I'm late!

I quickly pull a random shirt over my head and slip into a pare of jeans, grab my backpack and car keys and run back downstairs. That must have been record time!

"Sorry, Poppy, you need to ask Lilly to drive you to school today. I'm late." I kiss her forehead, trying not to look at her puppy-dog-eyes and pout, that she has perfected.

I run out of the front door, leaving her behind. I know how much she hates it when I don't take her to preschool but right now, I can not afford to get another detention!

I'm pretty sure I conquer the way to school by constantly driving over the speed limit. It is definitely worth it though because as I am now running towards my class the bell hasn't even gone off! Which means, no detention for Seth today! (Not yet anyway...)

Go me!

Bursting into Ms Crones classroom, I realize that she's not even there yet herself. I'm greeted by some of my friends that are also in this calculus class with me and I nod at them briefly, before sitting down in my usual seat - next to Arya.

"Good morning." A smirk forms on my face and she just turns away from me, staring straight ahead.

My good mood turning sour, I repeat myself. "I said, good morning."

Again, she ignores me.

"Where have your manners gone?"

"Down the drain, along with your brains." She mutters under her breath, yet loud and clear enough for me to hear.

I snicker at her attempt to sound mean and lean back in my seat, taking a good look at her. Her clothes are different. She's not wearing those tight, slutty clothes anymore...

Why am I noticing this?!

"Alright class, I'm your substitute for today..." A female teacher walks into the classroom and someone wolf-whistles.

How desperate can you get?

The sub insists on going over previously learned stuff for the whole of forty-five minutes before she lets us go. I find myself incapable of concentrating as I keep looking over to Arya. I can't shake the feeling that something is off...

"Seth! Where were you this morning?" Brice comes up behind me and slaps me on the back.

"Paulina kept me busy." I mutter.

"Everything okay with her?" He stops walking and grabs onto my shoulder, making me stop as well. "Talk to me, Seth. If something is wrong, get it out of your system... We can't afford drama. You can't afford that. You're the cap--"

"Captain of the soccer team, I know that! Can you just leave it?!" I snap.

Brice glares at me, throws his hands up and stalks off into a different direction. Fucking drama queen. I know he means well but he should know by now that school is the last place I would want to talk about my sister.

Trying to forget everything, I make my way to my next class. Erasing everything from my mind turns out to be harder than I think, though. What's wrong with me today? All kinds of thoughts are fucking about in my head!

"HEY!" I call when I spot Arya again.

Just then the bell rings but I ignore it and jog after her, putting my hand on her shoulder. She immediately shrugs it off, making me grin.

"Beautiful weather today, isn't it?"

She furrows her brow at me and gives me a look of 'are you serious?!'.

"Not very talkative, I see." I rub my chin and stare down at her.

She takes a deep breath and puts her hands on her hips. Uh oh! As a man you learn one thing real fast: if a woman ever puts her hands on her hips and gives you that "don't fuck with me" look, you're in trouble.

"Here's the deal. You're not as unbelievably attractive as you think you are. Everyone in this place might act like they like you, but the thing is, they really don't. So get off your high horse and leave me the fuck alone. I don't need your drama. I don't want you following me around and I don't need you making fun of me either. I get it, I stepped on your ego. I'm sorry." She finishes, breathing heavily, her face has taken on a slight red tinge.

Before I can answer, she twists around and runs off to her next class. I just stand there, completely stunned.

At lunch, I'm still not back to normal but nobody seems to notice or care. Everyone is wrapped up in their own business while I sip on my water, looking around the cafeteria.

"Are you even listening?".Leena suddenly appears in front of me. When has she joined us? Was she here the whole time?

"Uh, yeah, sure... whatever."

"What's wrong with you today, dude? You've been acting weird all day." Brice pipes up.

"I don't know. I'm just out of it today-"

"Clear case of... Seth needs to get laid." Cole throws in, making everyone laugh.

"Whatever." I snap and everyone stops laughing in an instant. I feel their eyes on me.

"Fuck it." I get up and walk out of the cafeteria, ignoring Brice's calls. Yes, he is my best friend but a dude needs space some times.

The hallways are empty at this time. Everyone is either having lunch outside, enjoying the last sunny days, or in the cafeteria, chatting it up with their friends. So I just storm through there, looking at the ground, my hands in my pockets.

Suddenly someone runs into me and I send them flying back into the lockers. They crash down, full force, crying out in pain.

A girl, great.

"Shit." She curses, holding onto her elbow. "What have I done to you?!"

I take a look at the girl and curse myself inwardly. Arya. Of course!

You couldn't make this up! I swear it's some sort of setup!

"Karma really is a bitch." I mutter and crouch down to look at her bleeding elbow but she quickly pulls it away from my view.

"Just piss off, will you!? Leave me alone." She pushes herself off the ground and starts walking off again but I can't just let her go this time.

"Wait!"

To my surprise, she stops walking and turns around to look... not at me but behind me. I turn around to see Leena stalking towards me in her high heels, looking all of the bitch that she truly is. Turning back to Arya, I notice the look of distress on her face.

"Hey, babe, I thought we could talk about..." Leena starts, pushing herself against my chest but then...

"Ew! What is that doing here?" She spits venomously in Arya's direction. "What are you looking at, fatty?! Oh, I know. You have a crush on Seth, don't you?"

Arya just stands there, looking shell-shocked and like she's about to cry when Leena peels herself off me and comes charging towards her like a savage boar.

Why am I not doing anything!?

This annoys me. Leena bullying Arya seems wrong. It sounds so incredibly fucked up but somehow I feel like I am the only one allowed to do it. Looking at Leena, sneering down at Arya makes me sick to my stomach.

"I thought I made it clear. Nobody wants you here. Nobody will ever like you! Look at yourself! You're a sad excuse of a girl. Your parents must be so ashamed." Arya's facial expression goes from humiliated to dangerous.

For a split second I am convinced she is going to beat up Leena.

"Why don't you just go back to where you came from, you cow?" Leena fills the silence with another insult.

"Gladly." Arya spits and finally walks off. I am somewhat relieved and stunned at the same time.

Leena walks back to me, a victorious grin on her face. "Gosh, that girl is so annoying."

She leans in to kiss me but I pull away in the last second.

"I don't know if you need a hearing aid, but I said we're over. Through. Done. Broken up." I roll my eyes at her stunned face, her mouth forming an O and her eyes almost twice the normal size.

"Don't even think about calling me. Don't think about me at all! Get a new boy toy." I call angrily and run outside of the school building.

As soon as I walk through the school doors, the bell rings, signaling that lunch is over and students should make their way to their next classes. Instead of doing so, I jog through the crowd of people until I see her. She's holding onto her elbow, still, and talking on the phone at the same time. I'm not close enough to hear what she's saying, so I creep up behind her.

"I don't know the way home, though..." She's crying.

I should feel good about this. This is what I wanted, right? Just a day ago I would have relished in her whimpering cries but now...

"Sam... Hmm, okay... Fine. No! Don't call the principle. I'll just go to the nurse or something... Fine. Bye." She hangs up the phone and pushes it into her bag.

Instead of turning around and making her way to the nurse, she slumps down on the ground, putting her face in her hands. I can tell people are looking at her and probably at me as well.

I hesitate for a moment but sit down next to her nonetheless.

Sometimes you just have to ask yourself: What would Paulina do? And Paulina would definitely help Arya.

"What do you want?" Arya says in a small voice. She sounds exhausted.

"Do you want me to drive you home?"

"Ha..." Her laugh is humorless. "Didn't I tell you to piss off?"

I look at her in disbelieve. "I'm trying to be nice here."

"Nice?!" When she turns to face me, still cradling her hurt arm, her dark eyes shine with tears. "That word doesn't even exist in your vocabulary, Smith. You're just another jerk, trying to make my life miserable. I told you, I know guys like you... I just want you to leave me alone. Can you please do that?"

She almost sounds like she is pleading with me and something inside me wants to scream at her.

"You know what?" I jump up. "If I'm an ass to you, you hate me and if I'm nice to you, you also hate me. There's really nothing I can do, is there?"

"Yes, there is! Just ignore me!"

"What if I can't?!"

Did I really just say that?!!?

*****
A/N I know this seems rushed but this was pretty much just one of Seth's outbursts. He's not suddenly going to turn nice ;) don't worry about that. It's going to take a long, long, long time for him to turn nice mwahahhaa