Careless and Reckless — Chapter 36

I'll just be blunt and straight to the point, that's the best way to go about this. "Um... he just wanted to know if I was still up for going on a date with him."

After I finished speaking the car went deathly silent, you'd even hear a pin drop from a mile away. Eli regained his composure quickly though so luckily the overbearing silence didn't last too long.

"Wait still? He's asked you out before?" Eli asks in a puzzled voice.

"Yeah, when I was at an ice cream parlour with Wyatt and Brooke. Didn't you know? I assumed Wyatt would've told you about bumping into him."

"Yeah he did," Eli tells me. "But not about the date part. Mr Shitty Explanation over here must've left that part out," he finishes, glaring at Wyatt from the corner of his eye when the traffic light turns red.

Wyatt lets out an annoyed grunt. "I just didn't think it was very important," he mumbles.

"Not important!" Eli exclaims, jerking the car ever so slightly due to his outburst. "It's not important that the girl you so clearly have a fucking crush on got asked out by the guy you probably hate the most in the world? No wonder you were so pissed off when you were explaining it to me, well more so than usual when you talk about River."

I don't really get a chance to process Eli's words before Wyatt grits out his retort. "Yes it wasn't important to the fucking story. Why would you give a shit about her dating life? She's one of the few girls who you've realised won't fuck you so you have no reason to care!"

I can see Eli's hands twitching as he holds the steering wheel — not good. "Not cool. You know not everything is about sex to me, right? Just because I have a sex life doesn't mean that that's all I think about. Yes, I might act like a fuck boy but that doesn't mean that all I want to do is shag people. Ari is my friend and so are you. Believe it or not, somewhere in this fuck boy heart I care and I'm sorry for actually giving a damn about my best friend."

Wow. I've never seen Eli like that. Usually he's so carefree and chilled out. He doesn't normally mind if people joke about him being a man whore so what's different this time? Wyatt must've hit a nerve but how?

Eli takes a few calming breaths, keeping his eyes on the road, his face becoming impassive as he does so.

Wyatt's jaw clenches. "You know I don't mean it like that," he sighs in slight defeat but his anger is still clear as day. "But it wasn't fucking important, alright? Can we leave it at that?"

Eli sends him a strained look. "Mate, we both know you're lying to yourself as well as me and Ari but I'll let it drop for now. It's best not to talk about this whilst I'm driving, none of us want an accident."

Wyatt nods and I let out a sigh of relief. Thank fucking heavens.

After a few more minutes of uncomfortable silence, Eli decides to speak again. "So, Ari, are y' going on that date with River?" Eli asks casually, all traces of his previous argument seemingly lost from his tone.

I have to think about that. Wyatt doesn't want me to and I value his opinion but he's never told me the reason for his grudge with River and the boy has been nothing but sweet to me so I feel like I have to give him a chance. Urgh, I'm just not sure so that's exactly what I tell Eli with a shrug.

Wyatt is quick to dart his head to me. "What do you mean you're not sure? I've told you that guy is bad news. You need to stay away from him."

"Why?" I challenge. "Tell me what's so bad about him." There's a daring glint in my eye and I'm not going to back down. No one backs Aurora Jasmine Kelly into a corner.

Wyatt's left eye twitches and I can tell he's trying very hard not to shout. "Now is not the time. I don't want to talk about it," he grits out, his words almost impossible to hear due to the sheet force he's clamping his teeth together with — not a good look if I'm honest.

"Well if you won't tell me why I shouldn't go out with him then why should I listen? You can't just order me around without so much as an explanation. That's stupid and you know it," I say, my voice clear and composed despite how irritated I'm starting to feel.

"You don't get it."

"Well duh, you won't explain anything to me. Until you do that we'll never be on the same page." It takes everything in me not to scream this and instead say it with only a slight raise of voice.

"I can't talk about this," his voice cracks a little as he practically screams the words.

I almost feel a bit bad because there's obviously a reason he's not telling me. Maybe he's not ready because it's too personal just like I've not really told him about dad.

But the key word is almost. As I'm so irritated I push my conscience aside and instead channel all my rage at him. "Then boo-fucking-hoo," I spit out.

I can see Wyatt falter for a split second before pure anger takes over his features. "Eli, stop the car," he says in a deadly calm voice.

"Wyatt, that's not a good idea I'm on a motorway for Christ's sake," he tries to reason but Wyatt isn't taking any of it.

"Pull over and stop the fucking car."

Eli sighs but complies by pulling over into the hard shoulder but before he can even cut the engine, Wyatt rips his door open, storms out of the car and jumps over the small metal pole that is separating the road from a vast field.

I sigh in annoyance as Eli takes out a cigarette from his pocket.

"Really, in the car?" I complain, making a face of disgust.

He just shrugs. "I'm stressed and we're probably going to be here a while so we might as well get comfortable," he says, taking a drag from his cigarette and putting his feet up onto the dashboard.

"Fuck this," I mutter, getting out of the car and going the way Wyatt went, leaving Eli and his nasty cigarette behind.

I take my time finding Wyatt, enjoying the peaceful quite of the night, the only sound to be heard are the cars which are so far from where I currently stand. As I walk I breathe in the clean air but after about fifteen minutes or so the air gains this strange, uncomfortable quality to it.

I open my eyes and see Wyatt sitting in the grass with a cigarette between his fingers — not him too.

"Since when do you smoke?" I ask as I approach him.

"I don't," he tells me. "Well I normally don't, only when I'm very stressed or annoyed, it helps calm me down."

I send him a puzzled look. "Then where did you get it?"

He sends me a knowing look as he takes another drag. "Swiped it from Eli before I got out the car," he says, his voice distant as he looks up into the starry sky.

Although I hate smoking I know he won't stop if I ask him, not when he's like this, so I don't bother and ignore my discomfort. I'm almost positive that if I tell him I don't like it he'll do it more just to piss me off.

I sigh as I take a seat next to him on the ground. Don't get me wrong, I'm still angry but the tranquil night sky is calming me a bit. "Wyatt please tell me why I should stay away from River," I say, curiosity getting the best of me.

He turns is face towards me, his eyes hard. "Green eyes, I don't want to talk about it," he says in a curt voice.

There's no point pushing anymore, I should respect his privacy. I mean, he's always respected mine. "Fine," I give in. "But I want to go on a date with River, he seems sweet."

"I've told you before, not everyone is who the seem to be," he tells me his jaw tightening.

"Yep, that makes perfect sense, thanks for the clarification," I state dryly.

He rolls his eyes, getting up off the floor and dusting off his jeans. "This conversation never happened and it's over, green eyes, clear? Let's get back to Eli," he says, completely dismissing me as he starts to walk away.

No he fucking didn't.

"You know you're a right bastard, Wyatt. Getting all angry then pretending it never happened and completely dismissing the topic at hand. At least when I get mad I own it and don't walk away like a coward," I taunt, my voice sharp and deadly calm.

He stops dead in his tracks, his eyes meeting mine with a challenging look. "Coward?" Wyatt almost laughs.

"Yep, you're a coward. It's fine if you don't want to talk about something but pretending the topic doesn't exist is a completely different matter. What's even worse is you brushing me off to hide from your problems. Pathetic." There's such venom to my words that I almost shudder at them.

Wyatt's expression changes from vague amusement to utter outrage in a matter of seconds. "I'm pathetic? Says the girl whose still pining over her ex-boyfriend and is willing to completely change herself in a vain attempt to win him back. That's pathetic."

His words hit too close to home and in a raging frenzy I move to slap him but before my hand can make contact he catches it millimetres from his face. "Too slow, maybe next time," he says in his most patronising voice before puffing a ring of smoke in my face.

I yank my hand from his grip and storm away from him in anger back to Eli's car. I can feel my whole body trembling but I ignore it as best as I can, taking calming breaths with each stride.

Of course, my welcomed solitude is short lived as Wyatt has to head back that way as well. He's walking a few metres behind me and I never thought I'd despise his lurking presence as much as I do right now. I wish he hadn't caught my hand, he could do with a red handprint on his cheek.

When Eli sees that we're both in no state for chitchat he silently begins the drive back home. Let's just say it was the most tense and awkward journey I've ever experienced and I've been stuck between a creepy sixty something year old man who wouldn't stop hitting on me and getting uncomfortably close and touchy and woman who had gone into labour mid flight on a trip back from Paris — that wasn't a fun experience I'll tell you that much.

~*~*~

When Eli arrived at my home I mutter a thanks to him before I slip out of the car, quick as lightening, completely ignoring Wyatt.

The bastard has another thing coming. How could he act like that? I mean, I guess I wasn't the best behaved either but this was his fault.

I slam each door behind me with a loud bang as I go up to my room, not even muttering a 'hello' to mum, very out of character for myself.

Once inside my room I flop onto my bed and scream into my pillow for a good twenty minutes. It felt good but didn't do a good job at dissipating my anger — I still felt like punching Wyatt senseless. I shudder at my violent thoughts but the matter quickly leaves my mind when I spy something on my bedside table.

My phone.

I snatch it up quickly and type a single message.

'A date sounds fantastic.'