The Seat Exchange

Chapter 5

The moment I stepped through the front door of our apartment, I knew that I was done for the day. Forget the expressionist essay I was planning on writing, or the painting I was trying to finish. I kicked off my shoes, not caring where they landed, and threw myself down on the couch with a deep sigh. An unforgiving mixture of defeat and exhaustion washed over me.

Not only had I missed out on trying to have a conversation with James, but now I was stuck taking a course with Booker freaking Gauthier.

"What in the world has gotten into you?" Alex's voice sounded from the dining room.

The palms of my hands sunk into the couch cushions as I pushed myself up, throwing my arms over the back of the couch and clinging on for dear life.

"That French tutorial sucked the freaking life out of me," I complained to Alex and Veer, who were sitting at the round table we had stuck in the small area outside of the kitchen. I'd barely call it a dining room. Half of the time it collected the overflow that Veer couldn't contain in the kitchen or the piles of books that Alex brought home from Fenton's library. But we made it work.

Crunching filled the room as Veer reached for another cracker, dipping it into... something before tossing it into his mouth. "Did you at least get a chance to talk to James?"

I gnawed on the inside of my cheek. "Not exactly."

"It's more of a yes or no kind of question," Alex responded as she waved a cracker in the air by her head.

"I was about to," I sassed, narrowing my eyes at my twin. "He sat one seat away from me and I was about to say hi."

Veer raised a thick, black eyebrow. "And then...?

"And then Booker showed up and sat right-smack-dab in-between us!" I huffed, addressing Alex again. "Why didn't you tell me he was in that tutorial?"

The skin between Alex's eyebrows bunched the slightest amount. "Booker? I didn't tell you because he wasn't there last week."

I grunted, tossing my head back on the armrest and touching the back of my hand to my forehead. "That guy gives me a headache. Do you know how hard it is to act like you around him?"

"You mean... be nice?" Alex's tone was laced with humour.

"Yes!" I said, sitting back up. "It's so incredibly painful."

A light smile painted across Alex's rose coloured lips. She shook her head. "It doesn't hurt to be nice, Charlie."

Speak for yourself. Smiling at him was like asking me to swallow a cup of nails.

"Clearly you've never disliked someone as much as I dislike Booker."

Veer interjected around a mouthful of food. "At least you have your chance of getting closer with James."

"At this point, I don't even know if it will be worth it," I replied, dragging my gaze to Alex again. "You got paired with Booker for a semester-long project. Now he has every excuse to talk to me."

"That's fine," Alex said with a shrug of her slender shoulders. "It's not like you'll really be working on it with him anyways. You just have to stomach him during tutorials. Love is pain, Charlie," she reminded me with a knowing smirk, her eyes twinkling as she spoke the well-worn phrase.

"You know that's a load of shit," I countered, rolling my eyes and throwing my arms across my chest. "You just like being able to skip class and get attendance marks."

"Can't argue with that," Alex agreed with a cheeky grin, her laughter unravelled the frayed edges of my already-sensitive nerves. "At least you'll have something nice to look at."

"James was nice to look at until Booker's big head got in the way," I muttered.

"I wasn't talking about James."

My nose scrunched up in distaste. "Please tell me you aren't referring to Booker."

Alex chuckled; a sound like windchimes in a mild morning breeze. "Why not? Even you have to admit, Booker is good looking."

"I wouldn't know," I said, turning my nose up in the air. "I can't see past his inflated ego."

"He's not that bad when you get to know him."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Why don't you date him then?"

Alex pursed her lips at me. "You know I'm not interested in dating. I've got too much else to focus on."

"At least you don't have to worry about going to your French tutorial anymore," Veer added.

My frown deepened. "I feel like I've been conned."

Our friend put up a finger before raising from his chair. "I know what will help." He disappeared into the kitchen before returning with a plate of chocolate chip cookies. "Something told me that you'd need a little pick me up when you got home."

With wide eyes I reached towards the cookie resting on the very top of the pile. The chunks of chocolate were still glossy, as if they hadn't been removed from the oven that long ago.

"You are the best friend a girl could ask for, do you know that?"

"Aw, shucks." Veer wafted his hand in my direction before saying, "I know." He grinned, popping a stray chocolate chip off the plate and into his mouth.

I kicked my feet up, one over the other, before inhaling the mouth-watering scent. It was like the tension I had been feeling all afternoon left my body.

The settling silence was broken by my quiet crunching. "Can I request that these are made at least once a week? Maybe twice when things get really stressful?"

Veer scoffed, wandering back to the table and offering my sister one. "Seeing as they're one of the five things I can get you to eat, I don't think I have much of a choice."

"Don't take it personally," Alex said as she flipped the page of the book in front of her—cookie in her other hand. "Charlie has always been a picky eater."

"I am not—" The rest of my sentence died as bass vibrated through the walls. I winced, feeling the urge to cover my ears as the pounding rhythm grew louder.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." I glared at the wall that separated us from the Hockey House. "Did they not just have a party the other day?"

Veer peered down at his watch. "Four o'clock. That's a new record."

Alex closed the book she had been attempting to read. "Well, there goes my plans for the night."

"This is ridiculous," I shouted, clamming a pillow on either side of my head in a poor attempt to drown out the noise. I was just starting to think that maybe my pillow tactic was working when the thump of the bass crescendoed, rattling the mugs in our shelves. I groaned.

"Maybe it's time we officially set some ground rules," Veer suggested, but there was a lightness to his voice like he was only half-serious. "Draft a treaty or something."

Simmering rage boiled from within me. "By this point, we're well past treaties. They're asking for war," I said, getting up from the reprieve of our too-soft living room couch. "And I'm going to give them one."

_ _ _ _ _

author's note:

It's an all out war. How do you think Charlie's going to get even? Will she manage to shut down Booker's party?

You can find out early by subscribing to me over on Ream (:

Happy reading!