The Dating Game

FOURTEEN

The walk to my locker is short and silent, a refreshing sort of silence. That is until Chase decides to ruin it with his pointless flirting again.

"You know, Michelle," he starts, dragging out my name for just a second too long. "We haven't touched each other very much yet. Maybe we-"

"No," I turn him down right away.

"What? I wasn't gonna suggest anything graphic." He throws his arms up in defense with a baffled smirk.

"Yeah right, Matthews. Everything you suggest is graphic. You're a perv," I say, crossing my arms.

His face goes from playful to offended in a fraction of a second. "You think I'm a pervert?"

"Everything you say is sexual and suggestive. You were so whiny when I didn't want to kiss you the day that we became official; it's weird."

Silence simmers for only a short moment. "Are you serious?"

Why is he acting so weird? "Well, at first, I was just teasing you. But yeah, I kind of mean it."

"Unbelievable." He shakes his head after a second and then dons a brand new expression. "Maybe we shouldn't kiss from now on then."

Is he trying to piss me off?

Well, it's working.

"I completely agree." My face heats up before I can think about what to say next. "That's exactly what I've wanted since the moment we became a couple."

"Maybe you should just get Miles to kiss you then! Since you're so infatuated by him!" he says, getting in my face.

"And maybe you should stick to dating girls just to get sex out of them! That seems to be the only thing you're good at!"

He glares at me for a second with a pained look before opening his mouth to talk with a lowered voice. "I can't believe you'd take that asshole's word over mine."

"You never even had a word to begin with. You just started yelling at me when I told you I was with him."

"Because he's the one who dates girls for sex! I was trying to protect you, Michelle."

I scoff at his pure audacity before letting out a bewildered chuckle. "Give me a break, Chase. Don't pretend like you want to keep me away from Miles out of protection."

Finally, he stops talking. All he does now is stare directly into my eyes and shake his head ever-so-slowly.

"I may be forward but I would never do something that I know you wouldn't allow."

With that, he turns away and walks off without another word. What the hell was that supposed to be? Some kind of mic-drop? Am I just supposed to believe he actually wouldn't push me to do something I wouldn't allow? He pressured me into kissing him; I didn't want to do that.

Though, I guess I was the one to initiate our first kiss.

But that doesn't mean anything! He kept whining and begging like a desperate kid asking their parents for candy. The only reason I did it was to get him off my back—he knew exactly what he was doing.

Right?

Shit, what if he didn't actually plan any of that? What if this whole time, all his remarks about kissing me and touching me were just stupid jokes? What if I just accused him of being some sex-hungry player for no real reason and I just demolished the last decent human connection I have with someone?

I really messed up.

Ding!

My phone lights up in my hand with a text message from Isaac.