Playing with Fire

e p i s o d e | f o u r t e e n (pt. 1)

I have never seen someone so upset at the news of a new relationship than Henri when he found out that Kai and Milana were officially going out.

The news got around quickly; after all, both of them were well-known and popular. Apparently, it happened after school. Milana had been the one to bring it up, and Kai had nonchalantly agreed.

That's weird. I'd always thought that that bastard had a thing for his sister – Anna.

Henri is almost fuming at the lunch table when he sees Milana sitting next to Kai. She's nearly leaning against him, and I can't help but hold in a laugh. Silver hates touchy-feely girls. "I told you that this would happen!" Henri growls murderously to no one in particular. "That bastard Silver just snatched her out of my fingertips! And I was going to ask her out soon, too! Like this weekend-soon! At your next party, Hawthorne!"

Sure you were. I don't see the big deal with this news. I also don't see Kai's motive for deciding to date Milana. He's never been a dater, thanks to his "overprotective brother" mentality – he didn't want to get other girls involved with his sisters. And Milana has always had her eyes on either him or me when we were younger. He never cared back then. So why the sudden change of heart, and nearly when senior year is coming to an end? It's strange; that's for sure.

"I'm going to assassinate that dick," Henri grumbles.

"You didn't make a move fast enough," I remind him absentmindedly. I glance over at Anna, who's bound to be the one most affected by this news. The poor thing's been fawning over Silver since she was young, hasn't she? I start to wonder if this decision had something to do with her.

He shrugs. "So? Everyone freaking knew that Milana and I would eventually be a thing!"

Yeah. Everyone at this table, maybe. "Who cares? You have tons of options if you're coming to my party this weekend."

Henri pauses for a moment and then nods, thoughtfully glaring at Kai's table. "You're right. If Silver's going to take my girl away from me, then I'll just steal his girl back from him."

I assume he's talking about Milana. I know that she'd never fall for someone as bad-natured as Henri over the school's "Prince Charming," but if he wants to break his neck trying, then hey, I'm not going to stop him.

"You know what?" Henri decides. "This is war right here. Pure war."

Once a guy like Henri gets that into his mind, there's nothing stopping him from going full-force madman.

Anna doesn't say a word to me for the entire school day. In fact, she doesn't even look at me. I start to think that maybe my lies towards her had been successful, but at the same time, it bothers me. No matter how mean I had been previously, she'd still come back running. She always easily bounced back from bad situations. I must have been a real dick about what I'd said.

Screw it. The more hurtful, the better. It ensures that she won't come back.

I surprisingly see Sawyer waiting for me in the parking lot, standing against my car. She grins a little cockily at my puzzled expression, her arms folded over her chest.

"Well, let me guess. You and Anna Silver are still a no-go?"

I raise an eyebrow at her as I reach for the door. "Why do you care?"

"Like I said, I'm rooting for you to finally change. And it was bothering me that you said all those things to the one person whom I've seen bring about that change in you." Her eyes lock on mine. "Why did you say that, anyway? Even if you're an asshole, I didn't think you'd be that much of a jerk yesterday."

I let out a sigh. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"I don't have time." I just give her a smirk. "Anyway, you should really stop dropping by Eastbrook every time school ends. If you're not already aware, there are quite a lot of thirsty guys here."

"Aww, are you worrying about me?" she gushes sardonically.

"Nope, I'm letting you know so that your blood isn't on my hands." I open my car door and step inside my car, but Sawyer follows me into the passenger's seat. I just stare at her for as she buckles her seatbelt, and she raises an eyebrow.

"What?" she demands. "I took the bus here. Give me a ride home, would you?"

I roll my eyes and start the car. So needy. "I'm not doing this for you ever again," I grumble.

"I know. I don't want you to. This was purely for the sake of convenience." Sawyer turns her head to look at me. "By the way, you're throwing another party this weekend, right? It's only been a couple weeks since your last one. What's the occasion?"

"Boredom." Also, I need to let my mind loose.

Sawyer just laughs a little, as if she doesn't believe me. "Funny. Rowan Hawthorne is always bored, but he doesn't just throw two parties within the span of three weeks."

"Mind your own business," I retort, suddenly tired of her curiosity.

She just shrugs. "All right, well ... it doesn't really matter. I'm probably not going to show up. Anything that takes place at your house is just ..." She almost shudders. "Insane. I don't know how you can allow people to do some of the stuff they do inside your place."

I'll just call a cleaning company, and they'll take care of it. Besides, I live alone. What's the big deal?

I pull up to Sawyer's house, and she casually unbuckles her seatbelt. "You actually remembered where I live," she says, clearly impressed. "This is a friendship well-kept."

"Friendship?" I snort. "You know what I'm going to say about that."

She rolls her eyes and gets out of the car, then leans down to peer in through the doorframe. "Ever the one in denial. I hope you can realize how much of a moron you are one day." With that, she shuts the door and starts towards her house. It's been a while since I've seen her place. She's got the perfect life – two loving parents, a younger brother, a dog ... the envy of all the broken families of the city.

I remember being thrilled about visiting her house when her whole family was there, just so I could feel like I was part of one. Of course, they probably would have killed me had they known what kind of relationship Sawyer and I had, but we kept it under wraps well.

Though I met her after Kai and I were no longer friends, she was the type of person that I would have liked to introduce to him, had we still been close. And she was the type of person that I would have liked to call my friend, had Kai not shattered my idea of that word as well.

She's a good kid. I take one last look at her house and then start driving away. At the same time, she's just an era of my past ... just like everyone else who mattered to me.