Emma's POV
I thought it weird that he'd asked such a question. When did Chase start to give a fuck or two about how I felt or perceived him?
"I find it weird that you ask me that." I replied to him.
"Why?" He asked me.
"Well cause, for one, I don't think you really give a fuck about it." I replied. "This could be one of those your….how do I put it?" I had a lot to say, but my vocabulary was failing me.
"I feel like the issue is, you're prejudiced against me." He said. I looked at him in awe. I did not see that coming.
"What the hell is that even supposed to mean?" I asked Chase.
"Emma, I'm not a fool." He said, smiling sadly. "No good girl wants to be with a stuck up, bad boy, with bad friends." Chase grinned, and it scared me all the more.
"No!" I shouted, he was getting in my head and confusing my thoughts with all the psychological shit he was doing. "No. That's not it. It's not even close to it Chase, I gave you a chance, at least I think I did." I said, setting the record straight.
"You didn't give, Emma." He shot back. "I took it. I always waited for the right time and swooped in. I had to take it, like I do every other thing. You never really fought for me, for us. You kinda make it seem as though you're not interested. Like you'd be much better off without me, like I'm a bother, like this is so fucking…" He continued, on and on.
"Stop!" I yelled. Chase was evoking raw emotions in me. All I was trying to do was catch the wind, and my thoughts. "That's not true. Stop it. Please, please, just stop." I added,
"That's history, baby. It's always dirty." He said. "You know what, while we're at it, I think we should be sharing certain things." My mind was already upside down.
I looked Chase in the eye for traces of alcohol or drugs, but he looked perfectly normal, sober as a teetotaller.
"Chase!" I chided.
"What? You're too shy?" He wasn't even smiling about it. He had a deadpan expression.
"I just don't think it's necessary." I said.
"Alright." I heaved a sigh of relief, cause he looked like he was considering letting it go. "I'll go first. I've been banging Party since I was…" He started.
I put my hands over my ears. "I don't wanna hear it, stop!" I yelled at him.
"Come on!" He said. "We kinda have to do this someday." He added.
"And what is 'this'?" I asked, making very dramatic air quotes.
"Confession, baring our souls." He replied, touching my chin.
We were uncomfortably close.
"I don't think that is necessary." I said, looking him straight in the eye.
"I wanna ask you something." He said. I knew that night was it for me. At that point, I would have very much chosen the option of being carried off by extraterrestrials or swallowed by the ground. Everything was suddenly too embarrassing.
"What's your plan?" He asked me.
"You mean asides prom and college." Those were the two biggest things on my mind.
He gave me a look of mild disappointment, which was quite funny. "Yeah, not really." He looked nervous at that point. Like I was supposed to say something out of the ordinary.
I didn't know what he wanted to hear.
"Can I say something?" I asked him.
"Yeah you can." He replied.
"I feel like you're driving at something. And unless I know what that is, this is just gonna be a circus." I replied.
"I'm not." He said.
"Alright." I said.
There was silence for a minute, and I enjoyed every second of it.
"What is your ideal type of guy?" He asked.
"Chase!" I screamed.
"What?!" He replied in the same tone.
"You just don't give up." I said, laughing.
"You can't blame me for trying." He said, eyeing me. "Have you seen you?" He added.
I was grateful for the cover of the warm white lights, so my red cheeks weren't so glaring.
"Well I'd say, careful." I said. I began to get lost in my thoughts. I've heard too many stories about love to want to have something like that with someone who'd throw it away.
"That's a weird choice, don't you think?" He asked. Chase kept his eyes fixed on me. "Many girls would go for looks." He added.
"Well, I'm not excluding that. But I don't need a lovely looking emotionally empty excuse of a man." I said.
Chase put a hand to his chest, mimicking a bullet shot.
"That sounded a bit too direct." He said.
I laughed it off, cause I definitely didn't want to be prodded about details.
"More." He said.
"More what?" I asked.
"Details!" It's the most engaged I'd had him in a while.
"Err." I tried to think. All my specs on a man failed me. I was stuck trying to dream something typical, but even that wasn't working. "Just don't break my heart." I finally settled for that.
"Can I ask you the same question?" I asked him.
"Did it occur to you that you always ask a question to ask a question?" I thought about it, and it was actually quite funny. "Well, go on."
"What's your type?" I asked him, only too eager to switch focus to him and not me.
"I don't know how irritating I'm about to sound, but I've kinda been with a lot of women. I just don't like surprises." He admitted. He looked pretty genuine, and to think about it, no one really liked ugly surprises when it comes to stuff like that.
"I feel ya." I said, punching his chest lightly.
"You started it." He fake-groaned, feigning hurt in his chest.
"Come on!" I screamed. "Don't be a sissy." I added.
He straightened up and looked at me, accepting the challenge.
"Catch me if you can." I said, and bolted off as fast as I could.
I didn't need to look back to confirm that he was on my heels, I was halfway to the house from the garden and already almost breathless.
In my frenzy, and trying to catch my breath, I tripped on a piece of rock and fell forward. Before I hit the ground, I felt a hand around my waist, pulling me up.