Stuck with You

by Alexandra Moody

  “Uh, Shelly, we’re not dating.” God, I sounded like such a dick, but it was the truth. We’d kissed at a party last weekend, but that was it. The way she was looking at me though, I began to wish that social distancing restrictions had started a week sooner. Then I wouldn’t be in this mess.

  “What do you mean, we’re not dating? You gave me your letterman jacket at Jamie’s party last weekend.”

  “Because you were cold…” I rubbed a hand down the side of my face. I had no idea how I’d gotten myself into this situation. I mean, I was well aware that I was a flirt, and I made out with my fair share of girls, but I never led them on. They all knew I didn’t do relationships. There was only one girl at school I’d consider changing my ways for, and she was standing next to me, scowling in my direction.

  Shelly shook her head. “No. You gave it to me because you want me to be your girlfriend.”

  I felt my jaw slacken and my eyes bulge. “Girlfriend?” I hadn’t even hinted at the word last weekend. And we couldn’t have kissed for more than a couple of minutes. I felt like I was getting pranked, but from the way Shelly was looking at me, she was completely serious.

  Clary made a small coughing sound next to me, and my eyes whipped to her. She was focused on Shelly, and there was a sense of understanding in her eyes. I got the distinct impression she wasn’t on Team Aiden right now—not that she’d ever been a fan of me anyway.

  She caught me looking at her and patted me on the arm. “Why don’t you give me and Shelly a minute to talk?”

  Clary didn’t wait for my response as she gestured for Shelly to go with her. She led her toward the street where Shelly’s car was parked. The two girls started talking, but they were out of earshot, and I had no idea what Clary was saying. The hopeful expression on Shelly’s face was changing as Clary spoke, and she started to look more and more irritated.

  I got the feeling Shelly’s frustration wasn’t aimed at Clary though when she directed a disgusted look in my direction. She then launched herself forward and into Clary’s arms, grabbing her up in a hug—so much for social distancing.

  Clary rubbed Shelly on the back and glared at me over her shoulder. Yep, she definitely wasn’t on Team Aiden right now. I appeared to have thoroughly pissed off two girls in a matter of minutes. That had to be a record, even for me.

  I pushed a hand roughly through my hair and swore under my breath. My chances of winning Clary over were small to begin with, but it felt like they’d just diminished to the point where I’d be lucky if she ever spoke to me again. She must have thought I was the worst guy on the planet—if she didn’t think that already.

  After several long and painful seconds, Shelly released Clary from her grasp and slowly started to peel my jacket from her shoulders. She sent me one last scathing look before she passed it to Clary and stormed off to her car. As soon as she was inside, she threw the car into gear and screeched off down the street.

  Clary was frowning as she returned to me, my jacket in hand. She passed it over with a shake of her head. “You really know how to pick them. She was really upset.”

  “What did you say to her?”

  Clary shrugged. “The truth.”

  “Which is…”

  “That she deserved better than you.”

  That couldn’t have been everything. “And…”

  “And that you’re a manwhore who doesn’t do relationships, and she should have known better.”

  “Ouch.” I winced. Clary really didn’t pull her punches.

  She shrugged again like she hadn’t just landed a powerful blow right to my gut. “Just trying to help.” She turned and walked toward the house.

  As I watched her leave, all I could think about was the way she had described me. She thought I was a manwhore? A manwhore?

  It was beginning to feel like my chances with Clary were only growing more hopeless. I couldn’t be more screwed if I tried.

  8

  Aiden

  Clary had been in our house for a total of four days, and she was still refusing to see me as anything more than a pebble in her shoe. I knew it was going to be hard to win her over, but she refused to even give me a chance.

  “It’s not working,” I grunted into the phone. “I keep trying to do nice things for Clary, but none of them change her mind about me. I tried to cook her dinner, and that was a disaster. I helped her drop letters in people’s mailboxes, but it only annoyed her more. I even stopped working out in her bedroom while she’s asleep, and nothing!”

  “You worked out in her bedroom while she was sleeping?” Seth replied. “Damn, even I wouldn’t want to date you if you did that.”

  “It was one time,” I grumbled. “And I hadn’t really thought it through.”

  “Clearly.” Seth chuckled in his deep voice. I scowled at the ceiling and felt tempted to hang up on my best friend. I was far too bored to actually go through with it though.

  I was lying on my bed throwing a tennis ball against the wall with my free hand. We’d been under stay-at-home orders for about a week now, and I had a serious case of cabin fever.

  It had sounded great at first, like an extended vacation. School was still trying to set up online learning for us, so there wasn’t any homework. And the ability to spend my days doing whatever I wanted was every teen’s dream.

  The reality wasn’t all it was cracked up to be though. Since I couldn’t leave the house, my options of what to do were limited. Watching TV passed the time for the first few days, but it had grown old real fast. I struggled to sit still for more than five minutes, and lazing around doing nothing for extended periods of time was like torture.

  I tried exercising to fill the void, but there was also only so much time I could spend lifting weights. And while I escaped the house for a run around the neighborhood once a day, the outing was always over far too soon. It felt like my whole life was on pause, and I hated it.

  I’d even resorted to doing chores around the house to pass the time. The lawns were mown, the carpets vacuumed, and the kitchen had never looked so clean. I usually helped mom out around the house, but even she couldn’t believe how spotless everything was. My attempts to impress Clary were failing, but at least it was making my mom happy.

  I glanced at my closed door. I would have liked to hang out with Clary, but she still wasn’t very receptive to the idea. She was in her room, only a few feet away from mine, but the distance felt so much bigger. She spent most of her days in there, and I spent most of my time wondering what she was doing. Given the number of books she’d packed, she probably did a lot of reading. But, since I couldn’t be certain, my curiosity was killing me.

  “So, you really haven’t made any progress at all?” Seth continued.

  I let out a long sigh. “Not really. Everything I do seems to backfire. The nice gestures don’t work, it’s almost impossible to strike up a conversation with her, and she laughs at me when I try to flirt. I’ve never tried this hard and been so rejected in my life. What am I doing wrong?”

  “Well, I told you nice gestures might thaw her out a bit. I didn’t say they’d make her fall in love with you. I seem to remember telling you to just act yourself, and my advice is still the same.”

  “I told you that wasn’t really an option.”

  I wished I could simply do what Seth was suggesting, but I found it hard being myself around girls—Clary more so than any of them. When Clary had rejected me in freshman year, I’d learned the hard way she wasn’t interested in me. I tended to learn from my mistakes though, and I refused to make that one again. The next time I asked a girl out I was confident and cool. I used enchanting words and a charming smile, and the girl said yes. The girls had been saying yes ever since.

  I’d been acting the part of the cocky football player so long that I wasn’t sure who I really was anymore. Not that it mattered anyway. The girls at school weren’t interested in me showing my true colors. They wanted to date the quarterback, or they wanted to be seen with the popular
guy. Perhaps they simply thought I was hot and liked the way we looked together. Whatever their reason for wanting to date me, it seemed to be a universal truth that none of them actually wanted to have a conversation with me.

  I was the guy they wanted to make out with or parade around in front of their friends. When girls came to me, they wanted a relationship that was light and meaningless, so that’s exactly what I gave them. What was the point in trying for more when that was all I was really worth?

  “Perhaps the fact she’s laughing at your flirting is a good thing?” Seth suggested.

  I caught the tennis ball out of the air and paused. I’d always liked when I made Clary smile or laugh, and the thought it might actually be helping my cause made my stomach flutter with anticipation. “What makes you think that?”

  “Well, she might not be returning your advances, but at least you’re entertaining her. Girls like guys that make them laugh.”

  Clary had certainly been slightly less hostile toward me since she’d started living here, so maybe Seth had a point. Each time Clary smiled or laughed at me, it was like I was chipping into the wall she had built up between us, and if I chipped at it enough, eventually it had to crumble.

  “So, you think the flirting’s working and I need to lay it on thicker?”

  “Ah, no, I’m sure you’re already flirting more than enough.”

  He’d responded far too quickly, and I scowled at the far wall. “Now you think I’m too flirtatious.”

  Seth chuckled down the phone. “Yep, you’re a total lost cause in that department. At least most of the ladies like it.”

  “Great,” I muttered. “It’s a shame it doesn’t work on the one girl I want it to work on.”

  “I don’t think you’d like her as much if it did.”

  It was strange to hear my feelings for Clary laid out like that. I had to admit Seth was right again. Part of what drew me to Clary was the fact she didn’t fall at my feet like so many other girls in our year. She wasn’t impressed by my looks, and she didn’t just want me as a trophy she could show off to her friends.

  “Which is why she needs to see the real you,” Seth continued. “If she suddenly started flirting back, are you sure you’d still like her?”

  I didn’t know how to respond, and I worried he was right. Seth seemed to sense my concern because he continued. “How about you focus less on flirting and try to have a real conversation with her instead?”

  “We talk.”

  “About what?”

  “Uh, well, we had a great conversation about how I was a manwhore the other day.”

  “That wasn’t the kind of real conversation I was thinking.” I could practically hear his grin over the phone. “Why don’t you try for something a little deeper?”

  “I mean, I suppose I could do that.” It couldn’t hurt to try, but the thought of actually attempting to have a serious conversation with Clary terrified me. Plus, I wasn’t sure how easily I could simply stop flirting with her. Most of the things I said to her came out of my mouth before I could really think it through. I was probably just as shocked as she was by half the crap I came up with.

  “Good,” Seth said. “Okay, I’ve got to go. My mom’s calling me.”

  “Does she want you to watch Outlander with her again?”

  “I hate you.”

  I laughed as he hung up the phone. It was so easy to rile him up.

  I placed my phone back in my pocket before swinging my legs off the bed. I couldn’t stand another moment being in my room. Perhaps it was time I put Seth’s plan into action by trying to have a deep and meaningful conversation with Clary.

  I left my room and walked across the corridor toward Clary’s. The door was closed, but I was pretty certain she was in there. I hesitated before knocking though. What would I even talk to Clary about? It was easy enough to chat to her when I wasn’t trying to be serious, but a deeper conversation felt so much harder. I didn’t do deep and I didn’t open up.

  I lifted my hand to knock but quickly lost my nerve and stepped away. I could try to talk to her again later. Much later. Perhaps I’d try tomorrow or the day after that. Or maybe it was best to just leave it completely. I’d probably only say something stupid. This was Seth’s advice, after all. He was about as useless with girls as Elliot.

  Thinking of my younger brother, I decided to head downstairs and pay him a visit. He was in his bedroom, and I was completely unsurprised to find him with his eyes glued to his TV screen as he played his latest PlayStation game. It was the middle of the afternoon, and I doubted he’d left his room all day.

  I walked right in front of him, blocking his view of the screen. “What are you doing?” he yelled.

  “Getting your attention. Waiting for you to pause the game takes way too long.”

  Elliot grumbled, but I heard the game pausing behind me before he placed his controller to the side. “What do you want?”

  “I’m bored and I figured you could use a break from killing zombies. I thought we could go toss the football in the backyard.”

  “Really?” Elliot suddenly perked up. He was addicted to gaming, but his second love was football. Unlike me though, he was absolutely terrible at it.

  “Yes, really, but only if we go now. It’s supposed to rain this afternoon, so we should get out there before the clouds roll in.”

  Elliot launched himself from his beanbag, happily forgetting about his game as he followed me from his room. There were only two things he’d consider leaving his game for: football and food.

  The sun was still shining as we ventured outside, but some dark clouds were visible on the horizon. Our backyard was a wide-open space with a large stretch of lawn that was bordered by perfectly pruned hedges. There wasn’t much need for plants as our house backed onto the forest, and large trees shaded most of the lawn.

  I jogged out of the house, football in hand, before turning to my brother. I didn’t put too much distance between us because Elliot’s throws tended to skew off to the side when he tried to put too much heat into them.

  “We haven’t done this in ages,” Elliot said, as I threw the ball to him. He fumbled it slightly but eventually gathered it and managed to stop the ball from falling to the ground.

  “Yeah, because you’ve been too distracted by that new game of yours,” I replied. It was also because Elliot had been getting on my nerves since we’d been cooped up together. I figured it was better to spend time together in small doses, or we’d be at each other’s throats by the end of lockdown.

  “I can’t help that my game is awesome.” He tossed the ball back. His throw wasn’t too bad, and I easily plucked the pass out of the air.

  “Nice one,” I said, making Elliot smile.

  We threw the ball as the clouds continued to loom overhead, and eventually the sun disappeared. Every so often, I’d give my brother advice, trying to help him with his technique. He always nodded and accepted my tips, but it often felt like he forgot them again almost immediately. I didn’t mind though. I was just happy to see my brother enjoying himself without being hooked up to a TV.

  There was something calming about just throwing the ball, and it felt like the fresh air was doing us both good. Perhaps I was wrong to think spending too much time with Elliot would only annoy me more.

  “So, it’s April Fools’ Day in a couple of days.” Elliot dropped the ball and went to pick it up again.

  “Okay…”

  “I think we should prank Clary.”

  “You do, do you?”

  His eyes twinkled with mischief as he nodded. “Yep.”

  He sent a clean throw toward me, and for once, it went straight to my waiting hands. When he didn’t think about what he was doing too much, his passes weren’t too bad. I grinned at my brother. “With throws like that, you’ll be taking my spot on the team in no time.”

  Elliot beamed in response, his chest puffing out slightly at the compliment. “So, what do you think about pranking Clary?”

/>   I turned the ball over in my hands as I looked at him. “Is it because you’re afraid I’m going to out-prank you again?”

  “No.” Elliot responded far too quickly, and I laughed. He was probably terrified. We always tried to outdo each other on April Fools’ Day, and Elliot usually got the raw end of the deal. Admittedly, the kid was an evil mastermind, so it was only a matter of time before he got his revenge.

  “Just think, we could combine our prank powers and come up with the best prank ever.”

  “Maybe,” I replied.

  “And I’m sure she’d like to be included in our annual tradition.”

  “Perhaps,” I said. “I’ll have to think about it.”

  Elliot grinned as though he knew I was going to agree. I honestly wanted to think about it though. I was trying to get Clary to like me, and I didn’t want to upset her. Perhaps she’d be offended if she wasn’t included though. Why did girls have to be so complicated? If it were the other way around, and she was trying to get me to fall in love with her, a good prank would be a great way to impress me.

  “Have you seen her today?”

  “Not since breakfast.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, me neither.” I didn’t like that Clary seemed to feel uncomfortable leaving her room during the day. She was welcome to make herself at home wherever she wanted in the house.

  Elliot’s lips lifted in a knowing smirk. “Why? Do you miss her?”

  I rolled my eyes. “No.”

  “You totally do,” he replied. “You love her.”

  “No, I—”

  “Clary and Aiden sitting in a tree…”

  I threw the ball at him a little harder than normal, and he laughed as he pulled it into his chest with a thud.

  “You’re dead,” I shouted as I started running toward him.

  Elliot let out a dramatic scream and turned to run away from me. My brother wasn’t quick at the best of times, but his laughter seemed to be slowing him down. I easily tackled him to the ground and started tickling him. Tears leaked from Elliot’s eyes as he laughed and squealed for me to stop.