"So are you high, drunk, or just stupid?" I asked Seth as I opened the flower shop door. Darkness enveloped me as I stepped out. From their plain clothing to their identical fuckboy-esque haircuts, his little posse behind him looked nothing but forgettable.

"We were wanting to buy flowers," a red-eyed Seth replied.

I motioned toward the pink emptiness of our shop. "We haven't gotten our shipment in yet. How did you find our new address anyway?"

"Your new girly website," he said, sniffling. Had he been crying? What the hell was going on?

Jack was still inside the shop, his features lit in alarm. He probably wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out, looking at me like I was crazy for confronting them.

"I'm sorry that our girly site triggered your fragile masculinity," I told Seth flatly, then looked toward his posse. "Do you all have nothing better to do?"

"This is who you dated in middle school?" one guy with a tattoo of a pizza slice on his arm said. "Didn't know you liked Asian girls."

There were so many things wrong with that statement alone. I wanted to throw him off a cliff. I wanted to cut him up like I'd promised to cut up Anika's uncle.

"Or girls in general," another guy added after a long pause. I recognized him from one of Seth's races. I only remembered the fact his name started with a D. For now, I'd call him Douchebag.

Seth's jaw tightened, his smile widening like he was trying his hardest to play along. No longer the leader of the pack, he now the baby of their group, high school senior among frat dudes.

They took a step closer to me, closing me in. Pizza tattoo guy looked me up and down with a sleazy smile while Douchebag whistled. "Why don't you and us get out of here?"

"Or we leave and get back in the car," Seth suggested, looking away.

"What's wrong, Seth?" I asked. Pure thrill coursed through my veins, a break in the boredom as my heart beat faster. "You wanted them to gang up on Jack and not me?"

"We'll make room for two," another guy said. His hair, unlike the others, looked like a literal mop.

The lights went out in the flower shop. Everyone glanced inside, distracted. Seconds later, Jack emerged from the darkness and calmly locked the door behind him with the master key. The air pulsed in the silence, the empty street, light-polluted sky with not a star in sight. Jack slowly looked up at Seth's posse, his gaze tense and guarded.

"Mute boy wanting to join in?" Seth asked, barely above a whisper.

My heart skipped a beat as Jack, without hesitation, punched him in the face.

Smack.

Seth staggered back. Slowly, he touched his fingertips to his jaw. A small smile crept upon his lips, then it turned into a full-blown, typical Seth grin. The other guys cackled. If this was a school hallway, they'd be chanting fight fight fight!

And Seth did it. He pounced on Jack like a leopard, and they grabbed each other in a mess of pale arms and clenched fists. Almost like how me and Jack had wrestled in the flower shop but bloodier, punches and gut-kicks and Seth yelping as Jack went for the dirty trick and kneed him in the balls.

Part of me envied them. Part of me laughed at how they could turn into uncivilized cavemen within seconds—even Jack. The others hooted and cheered them on, making bets on who'd win. I didn't know if this shop had been built atop some gaping hole of negative energy, a curse that made everyone who came near erupt into irrational violence, but I found it way too entertaining to stop.

Seth swung his fist high in the air, but Jack ducked and rammed himself into Seth's stomach, making him fall to the floor. Jack stood above him, panting, staring at the posse of cackling frat boys around us, who did nothing to help Seth up.

"That's it? You're just going to watch?" Seth asked them as he rubbed his jaw. "I'm not one of you anymore?"

"Not when you keep hanging around that Mexican twink," mop-haired guy said.

Seth stared up at him, his gray eyes blazing. "Fuck you too, then."

"Bet he'd love that," taunted Douchebag. "Bet he'd love his ass kicked."

They started closing in. This time, Seth, Jack, and me stood at the center, outnumbered 4 to 3. Pizza tattoo guy ogled me like I'd be their prize after beating Jack and Seth's asses.

"Do it," Seth spat, hands clenched into fists, ready to pounce on whoever came for him next.

Jack's nose bled into his mouth. His eyes flickered rapidly from me, to Seth, to the four guys cackling loudly.

With my hand over my nose and mouth, I stepped forward and pulled out my pepper spray. "Jack, Seth, run!"

And then I opened fire.

A cloud of acrid, burning liquid flew into Douchebag's, Pizza tattoo guy's, and Mophead's faces as I pressed down hard. They staggered back, gasping and yelping, and I could've kept going. I could've sprayed them until their lungs filled up with it, burning from inside. I could've done it until they fell to the ground. Screaming. Writhing.

But Jack and Seth were already running to the nearest bus stop. At the end of the street, the bright lights from a bus flashed, less than a minute away from passing the bus stop and leaving us here for good.

I ran. Even my own eyes stung. Jack stopped, wheezing, and turned to look at me. When he saw me making my way toward them, he broke into another sprint. The lights got closer, blinding in the darkness of the street. We ran, ran, ran while the staggering fuckboys attempted to chase after us. They had their hands pressed to their eyes, cursing us out. Mophead tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and fell into a bush.

Seth stopped. He turned to look at the fiasco. "Come on!" He yanked his shirt off and spun it over his head. "Who are the real fags now, huh!"

I sped past him toward the approaching bus. Jack was already waiting anxiously at the bus stop, waving at the bus driver so she'd make sure to stop.

Douchebag shouted profanities at Seth, but Seth beat his fists against his chest, the most caveman display of power I'd ever seen. "Try and catch us, bitch!" He laughed maniacally. "You stupid fucks!"

"Seth, come on!" I yelled out. Seth broke out of caveman mode, noticed the approaching bus, and ran until we'd all climbed on. Jack and I had bus passes, but Seth simply strutted into the nearly empty bus and made his way toward the windows while outside, the other guys finally caught up. But the doors closed. The bus started moving.

And then Seth climbed onto a seat, literally pulled down his pants, and pressed his ass cheeks against the window, flashing his former posse below.

I burst into laughter. Jack—and a few other bus-goers—looked horrified. The bus driver gave Seth a bored glance, and Seth quickly pulled up his pants. He went to the back of the bus and plopped himself down, face scuffed from the fight, arms crossed over his chest as he stared me down.

My heart raced in a way it hadn't for so long, especially considering I never exercised. Any adrenaline rush would always remind me of Anika and Penelope and our bizarre games. And still, I couldn't help but think... I could've done more. I could've bled. What if I'd punched those guys? What if I'd gotten beaten? Better yet, what if I could've sued them and had them pay a fine directly into my bank account? Or recorded the scene and blackmailed them with it, forcing them to pay me so I'd keep my mouth shut...

Jack sat himself down on a nearby seat, closing his eyes and shaking his head as he probably attempted to process what the hell just happened. I had the choice of sitting with either him or Seth, and I chose the former.

"You were trying to distract them, weren't you?" I asked Jack as I sat down. "That's why you punched Seth. So that guy would leave me alone."

He opened one of his eyes to look at me briefly before closing it again. His nose was bleeding slightly, and I reached over and dabbed it with my finger.

His eyes flew open, but I didn't move my hand.

"Why would you do that?" I asked.

He shrugged me away and pulled out his phone. Then, a few minutes later:

From Jackass:

i was the brave knight and you were the helpless princess :)

I snorted. "Right, because pepper spraying them was so helpless princess of me. You still didn't answer why, though."

He gave me a look. Was this one of those empathy things? Or maybe he just wanted to feel strong. Why else would he let himself get punched by Seth for me?

I leaned back in the seat, arching my neck as I stared at the ceiling. "But you have to admit that fight was prime entertainment. The most fun I had since you and me during the thunderstorm." I tilted my head toward Jack. He was biting his busted lip, probably trying to hide a smile, similar to that day at the World's Most Awkward Dinner. "Aren't you having fun?"

From Jackass:

unfortunately

I grinned and pushed his arm. Then I noticed Seth glaring at us.

"Come here," I called out to him. "Let's talk."

"Leave me alone," he huffed.

"Come here, Seth."

"What do you want from me? You already saw me getting embarrassed back there."

"I'm pretty sure you embarrassed yourself when you flashed your white ass to the whole street."

Seth stood. He yanked down the cord to signal the bus to stop. The few other passengers were staring right at us, but Seth pointed at me and Jack. "If this gets out to anyone, I will destroy you."

"Sure you will."

Jack looked at me in alarm. I rolled my eyes. At the next stop, Seth, still shirtless, got out.

I stared at the smear of Jack's blood on my finger. Stared at it for what seemed like an hour as the adrenaline faded, leaving only the hollowness underneath my ribs. Keeping myself entertained was nothing but a game of chasing the next thing.

I looked up as the next stop name flashed on the screen above. Several streets from where I was supposed to get off. I pulled the cord and stood. "Looks like I missed my stop."

The bus came to a halt. I'd have to walk about a mile or so to my house, especially considering this bus wasn't the one I usually took. Good thing I had my pepper spray. Maybe the night would end on a lighter note if I got the chance to use it again.

Jack stood.

"What are you doing?" I asked. "Isn't your place more up north?"

My phone buzzed a moment later.

From Jackass:

can i walk you home? 

❀     ❀     ❀

A/N: I had a lot of fun writing the sheer cracked energy of this chapter. Seth has always been one of my favorites. 

A while ago I decided to find out the MBTI personality types for each of my characters, and I thought I'd post them here. What type are you? I'm an INTJ 🙀  

Romy - ENTP      

Jack - INFJ

Talia - ESFP      

Seth - ESTP 

Grace - ISTP 

Caio (Romy's dad) - ISFJ          

Greta - ENFJ 

Danielle - ESFJ

Eli - INFP

Megan - ESTJ

✨ This chapter is dedicated to sclair_ for being the first person to say they also like Seth! glad I am not alone 💀✨