the hating game ; lrh

twenty

"UM," IS THE ONLY word I can manage to utter as I watch Ashton, my almost-boyfriend, kissing — no, making out with — another girl on my bed.

I am painfully aware of Luke's presence behind me, and I swear I hear him take a step forward, but I choose to ignore it — I'll deal with one blaring issue at a time.

It takes a moment for Ashton to pull his lips from Cara's, but when he does and he finally looks over at me, his eyes widen to the size of two moons.

"Oh my god," he mumbles, and he throws Cara off him so quick and hard she topples into a heap on the floor. He launches off the bed — my bed — and approaches me with two outstretched arms, like an animal he doesn't want to frighten away. "Rory."

I don't know how to feel. An hour ago he was chastising me for allowing Luke — my life-long arch enemy — to kiss me, and here he was rolling around on my bed with somebody else. All of a sudden the thought of what is happening fills me with pure, red-hot anger. It pumps through my veins, igniting my blood and sending pulses of adrenaline rushing through me.

"Yeah, Rory — remember me?" My words are fiery, loud and filled with venom, and I almost don't know where they come from. Typically, these emotions are reserved for Luke, yet here I was using them against my... boyfriend? I didn't even know what Ashton was, really. Regardless, I was angry.

To my surprise, it is Cara who speaks up next. She has managed to pick herself up on the floor, smoothing over her hair as she speaks. "Listen, Rory—"

"Get out," I tell her without a second thought. The last thing I want to see is her face — under usual circumstances I didn't like her, but now I felt like slapping her. She seems to sense this and rushes out of the room without another word.

"Rory," Ashton repeats my name, and I wonder whether he will actually try to provide an explanation for his actions. "I'm sorry."

"You do realise the irony of this, right?" I let out a humourless laugh. "You've been jealous of Luke this entire time — of Luke — and now you're here with the school bicycle? It's hilarious."

"It's not like that," Ashton shakes his head at me. "Look, can we forget this happened? Please?"

"Ashton, I gave you a second chance after what happened at the party," I manage to calm my anger in an attempt to speak with him rationally. "Do you honestly expect another one after this?"

Ashton doesn't answer, only glances over my shoulder. He narrows his eyes into a menacing glare and that is enough to tell me exactly who he is looking at. I turn to the side and look back at Luke, who is glaring daggers into Ashton.

"You can leave," says Ashton.

"I think I'll stay," Luke steps into the room, standing away from both of us but watching closely all the same. "Supervise."

Ashton looks to me with a pleading glare. "Rory," he says my name as though it's a reason Luke should leave, and under normal circumstances I'd order him out, but I'm far too angry to do anything Ashton wants me to do.

"He can stay," I decide, trying my best not to glance over at Luke even though I know he is giddy.

Ashton only scoffs and shakes his head, laughing humourlessly. "Unbelievable," he smacks his lips together, continuing to shake his head. After a moment, he looks to Luke. "I should beat your ass."

Luke rolls his eyes. "Shut up."

"No," Ashton steps closer to Luke now, chest puffing out in that disgusting alpha-male notion, and I let out a long sigh.