For My Momentary Self

Chapter 1- At Opposite Ends (Part 2)

(The Girl's POV)

Once I stepped inside the rest stop, I saw my cousins enjoy themselves at a souvenir shop. They were conversing with each other more than they ever did in the car. Julie patted Miranda's back as she started to vent her complaints about me. I looked at the two for a moment and then went my way.

I understood why Miranda didn't sit with Julie in the car now. Their alliance exists solely to get rid of me. As long as I'm seen as the enemy, they'll support each other. Unfortunately for them, they'll never be able to take me down if that's their only goal. From my experience, the ones who tried to destroy me ended up failing miserably. While they take their time to figure out their best methods, they end up never taking any action collectively. And of course, any action made by one person, can never defeat me.

Without wasting time, I bought a small cup of ice cream and walked towards the exit. There, a small crowd was standing in front of the doors, being an obstacle to the people flowing in and out. It was a group of two girls and three guys. A young male stood right in front of them, making it clear he wasn't a part of that group. The gap between them allowed people passage and satisfied them enough to not complain.

The individual standing across from the group had on a faded purple T-shirt with beige shorts. His head was slightly tilted downwards as if gravity refused to let him lift his head. This caused his gaze to appear like a menacing glare befitting a petty criminal. The one receiving this mean look was a young man of similar age, who stood in front of his group like a leader. He had sandy blond hair and a gaping mouth that changed to a whimsical smile.

However, ignoring the heavy silence between the two, a guy from the group asked a rather blunt question.

"Who is he?"

"Do you know him, Seth?" Another one asked.

The person with blond hair, Seth chuckled uncomfortably and lifted his head with pretense. He gave a response that neither acknowledged the criminal-looking guy nor answered the question.

"He goes to the same school as us."

"What?!"

"Really?"

The guy had an annoyed smile as if he knew exactly what they thought of him. However, he ignored them and directed his attention to only Seth.

"So? What did y-"

"Hey, Seth~!" a girl sang.

She has been standing there quietly on her phone but has chosen now as her time to talk. Her long beachy waves swayed side by side as she whined and groaned.

"I want some iced tea," she said while clinging on Seth's arm. A stiff smile appeared on Seth's face while she frowned, puzzled by the guy's presence. Instantly, her tone changed to cheerful, bright one. "Come on, Seth! Let's go," she enticed him desperately. Seth looked at her with an uncomfortable smile. Then, his eyes found me and became aware of my existence. As if ashamed, they lowered and cringed in guilt.

"Sorry, do you need to go through us?" Seth directed that question to me as openly as possible.

"Yes," I answered quietly, a bit unsettled.

"Let's go somewhere else," he told the others. Some of them showed their agreement by nodding. Based on appearance and demeanor, Seth was practically the complete opposite of the guy across him. The gentle facial features softened his masculine dominance, and the charisma surrounding him probably made Seth far appealing in their eyes than the guy did. For that reason, the group decided to revolve around him, and they were unable to shed an ounce of concern for those that didn't meet their standards. However, his readily presentable friendliness came across as pretentious to me.