The Gift

3

"You screwed him, didn't you?"

"Betty!" Mary shrieked in shock.

"What?"

Having been out with Sebastien as late as she was, Mary was expecting Betty to be fast asleep. What she had walked in on instead, was Betty on top of her new fling, John, in the middle of the living room, both of them shirtless. Mary had immediately left the room. Betty had come and found her later.

"You had a spring in your step when you came in, that's all."

"I'm not going to discuss me and Sebastien with you."

"Oh, you definitely did." Betty mumbled with a grin. "In any case, John is taking me to the drive-in this weekend, I thought we could make it a double date; Me and John, you and Sebastien. What do you think?"

"I think it sounds like a good idea. I'll let him know in the morning."

The following day, Sebastien agreed to the idea of a double date, but insisted that they took his car and not John's. John disagreed.

"I don't want to ride with that guy," John started. "I barely know him."

"Nor do I but I don't have a problem with him," Betty countered.

"Why not? He's shifty and I don't like it."

"'Shifty?'" Sebastien echoed angrily.

"How is he 'shifty'?" Betty asked.

"Well, why does he want to drive so badly?"

"Why do you want to drive so badly?" Betty asked.

"Because it was my idea!"

Sebastien sneered. "You can take your idea and shove it-"

"Oh, calm down, Seb." Betty chided.

Sebastien's face darkened. He took a finger and jabbed her chest. "You do not call me that!"

The room burst into noise as John, Sebastien and Betty all roared at each other. Mary walked to the nearest door, opened it and then slammed it shut again. The roaring stopped and they all turned to Mary.

"Quiet, all of you!" Mary yelled. "We can take both cars! Both of you can drive if it's such a big goddamn deal to you two."

Begrudgingly, they both relented and went to the drive-in in two cars, Betty and John in his dad's pickup, and Mary and Sebastien in Sebastien's second-hand Cadillac. Not exactly the peak of romantic automobiles, but Mary found it to have a certain cosy quality nonetheless. As the movie started, Mary found herself only partially paying attention, sneaking sideways glances at Sebastien whenever she could. The light of the projector bounced off the screen and illuminated his face in a way that let her examine every minuscule detail, from his olive skin to the light stubbling on his sharp chin to the glint of the movie, reflected in his emerald eyes.

Mary figured he must have picked up on her glances, because he slid himself closer to her and gently placed one arm around her shoulders. In turn, she also moved closer, and laid her head on his shoulder. Their hands met between them and they stayed embraced in silence for the rest of the film. As it drew to a close, Mary turned to face Sebastien. His eyes locked with hers and she hesitated for just a second. As Time of my Life came on over the radio, Sebastien took over and moved his lips gently against hers, without missing a beat. She returned the kiss and pressed her mouth into his, feeling the warmth of his breath and the cool caress of his hand on her cheek. As the reluctantly broke the kiss off, Mary lost herself in his eyes and knew with an instant confidence that they had a connection.

Betty meanwhile had ignored the entirety of the movie, as she and John were otherwise occupied, their hands in each other's clothes and tongues in each other's mouths. Betty had never been an especially emotive girl, and her session with John had none of the intimacy or passion of her sister's. To Betty, it was nothing beyond physical pleasure, pure and simple, with no feelings attached. However, as she discovered at a most inopportune time, John didn't feel the same way. With his hand in her shorts, John proclaimed his love for her. She pushed him back, taken aback.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I do, I love you. I've been thinking about it a lot lately."

"And you thought now was the best time to share?" she asked, gesturing to his hand, which she removed from her personal space.

"It's not?"

"No, God no! Even if I was into that, which, by the way, I'm super not, that was the worst possible time to bring it up."

"Wait, you... don't feel the same way?"

"What the hell, dude? No, not a chance. I've said from the start that this was just casual."

"I thought we were beyond that." He said, his voice rising. "If you don't love me, why are we still seeing each other?"

"Because I like sex?" she offered with a grin.

Her head rocked back as a biting pain surfaced on her cheek. Betty touched her face gingerly as she realised he'd just slapped her, tears of shock and pain welling up and threatening to spill over.

"You led me on, you bitch!" He was screaming now. Betty recoiled from him, shaken.

He advanced on her, raising his hand to slap her again. She drew her foot up and kicked him in the chest, falling backwards out of the car. She stood up and he kept coming, following her. Betty took off towards Mary and Sebastien and John gave chase, calling after her. Betty spotted Sebastien standing beside his car and began to call for help. Spotting her, Sebastien came towards her and positioned himself between her and John.

"What's going on?"

"He abused me!" Betty immediately yelled. Mary, noticing the commotion, stepped out of the car.

"What the hell, man? You hit her?"

"She had it coming," John sneered.

In the blink of an eye, Sebastien had crossed the distance between them. Sebastien wrapped his hand around John's throat and threw him violently to the ground, kneeling on his chest. He grabbed John's collar with one hand and began laying punches into his face. Mary raced around the car and caught Sebastien's fist before he could do any permanent damage. John scrambled to his feet and stared daggers at Betty, blood flowing from his nose, mouth and left eye.

"Rot in Hell, Elizabeth Abrams!" John roared."You'll regret this," he threatened her once more, then turned tail and left.Betty started crying.