Tape • NH

14

Chapter Fourteen, Like or Hate?

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"Can you seriously just shut up already?"

"Not until you tell me what you're going to do if I don't."

I wanted to rip my hair out, but since I love my hair too much, I waited until the stop sign came closer and stepped hard on the brakes. Carmen shrieked as she was immediately jerked forward and then forced back in her seat. I noticed she was glaring at me, but for a few moments I was more concerned about my brakes and how much gas I used to make that sudden stop. I finally turned to face her with a smirk.

"Hmm, you're awfully quiet now."

"You're a freaking idiot."

"That was really funny, though."

"You want to know what's funny? Roses are red. Violets are blue. Sugar is sweet and so are you. But the roses are wilted and the violets are dead. The sugar pot is empty and so is your head."

"That's a beautiful poem, but I have a better one. Roses are red. Violets are blue. I have five fingers. The third one's for you."

"You're right, Niall. You're the best at all you do and all you do is make people hate you."

I was about to tell Carmen a comeback, but I kept my mouth shut because she got me. It's true; there's a lot of people who hate me and I'm really good at causing them to. I couldn't help but think about all the reasons why, too. I'm ignorant, totally. I'm rude and don't give a care when I should. I can be blunt and I'm super stubborn. I tend to speak my mind and sometimes, or most of the time, it's not considerate. Carmen had pointed out my greatest- not proudest- flaw and threw it in my face at the perfect moment. I could have done the same in return, but if I was being completely honest with myself, I couldn't find one flaw in her. I hate everything.

"Hey." Carmen said as her weak attempt at getting my attention back. Too bad for her, she wasn't going to get it back that easily. She just blasted through my confidence harder than ever. Luckily, I have a better poker face than Lady Gaga.

"Niall." Carmen tried again. She nudged me with her hand, but that only made me tense. I heard her sigh after that, but didn't bother giving her a glance. By now, my ego was nothing compared to Kanye West's big one.

"I'm sorry." I heard Carmen whisper. Okay, so maybe she did manage to get through to me after all.

"No need to apologize when you're stating facts." I muttered, clearly upset still. I couldn't get over it. How do you get over that? I know I tend to be a terrible person at times, but to have someone call me out the way Carmen did was excruciatingly painful.

"I didn't mean it just as I didn't mean to say you're empty-headed and have no brains. I was only kidding and I know it's not nice, but I figured it was okay given the way we joke with each other."

"No matter how much you intended it to be a joke, it wasn't. You know it's true just as much as you know my name is Niall."

"I don't know, your name could be Neil." I glanced at Carmen to see her smiling and trying not to laugh. I wanted to glare at her, and tried so hard to keep it on my face, but I started to slip and turned away.

"That's not funny." Carmen started to giggle, but it sounded ugly because of her attempts to hold it in.

"It's really funny."

"No it's not."

"It's hilarious." She was full-on laughing now and I let out a chuckle.

"I'm being serious, though, people do hate me and I pretty much make them. Harry even told me this."

"Niall, who cares? Why do you care what other people think of you?"

"You said everyone is self-conscious, Carmen."

"Well, yes, but you shouldn't be self-conscious over this."

"You were. You came to me that one morning because you thought I hated you and you wanted to apologize."

"I... that was different. I knew you didn't have a valid reason for hating me. Anyways, it doesn't matter. Let them hate you. I don't hate you. I never hated you and I never will. I know I may get annoyed with you, but honestly you could never really get on my nerves enough to the point I would hate you. I like you too much."

"Thank you, but you're just one person and irrelevant."

"Okay, first, ouch. I'm trying to comfort you and out of every person you know, I'm probably one of the only people who considers you a good person when you give every reason to believe you're not. Second, it only takes one person to make a difference even though it's cheesy. Third, I'm not irrelevant. You know I'm not irrelevant."

"You suck at comforting people." I bit my tongue after that; I was doing it. I really need to think before I say things. I should just shut up and get over it. This is why I don't talk about how I'm feeling.

"Oh my gosh, what the hell is wrong with you? Seriously, are you def or hard of hearing?"

"I'm sorry, but you made me feel like crap with your shitty joke."

"I apologized! The least you could do is accept it."

"I don't feel like accepting you're joke at a fact about me." I muttered, knowing our day just reached its lowest point.

Carmen fell silent. I noticed she had let out a deep breath and crossed her arms over herself. I thought about what she said in the silence and wanted to apologize for being a jerk about it all. In the back of my mind, I knew I had done all of this for her- ditching school and trying to make her happy as she distracts herself from school- and I screwed it up. She's the kindest person ever and I'm grateful that she genuinely likes me. After all, the ratio of people who like me to those that don't sucks. I don't even hate or dislike Carmen anymore; it's impossible. I don't know if I want to call her a friend, but I like her.

"You're awesome." I whispered not thinking Carmen would hear me but she did.

"Um, thanks." She said, sounding confused.

"I'm sorry and you're right. I like you, too, Carmen Shay Mitchell."

"Thank you, but don't use my full name ever again."

"Noted and won't."

"And Niall?"

"Yes?"

"You're an idiot."

"True, but you still like me."

"No, I don't."

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated in my car."

I glanced at Carmen and saw a smile start to crack on her face. I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding in and felt my muscles loosen up. At least she doesn't hate me for being the jerk I am. I have no idea why, but I'm grateful for that. She's amazing, she really is and I can admit it now. I continued to drive for a few minutes before I reached my house. I guess it won't be as awkward having her here until it's time to take her home with an excuse for her mom as to why she ditched with me. It's still the longest day, though, and not anymore enthusiastic as it was to begin with.

Holy crap, I think I'm becoming close and attached to Carmen already. That's not a bad thing- I don't think. She's horrible.

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I'm sure this story isn't what you expected. I can assure you, we're getting somewhere. trust me when I say I'm basing this off my high school experiences. no, I'm not trying to relive my glory days because there is no glory to begin with tbh

sorry for boring stuff in these past chapters but expect some action coming up (; there's freaking Samantha still and Niall's parents to think about

also, I wanna say a massive thank you to those who have to continued to read and have voted!