Hate You Still by Lyssa Lemire
CHAPTER FIVE
EMMA
How in the hell can he have a party like this two nights in a row???
I stand at the window looking out to the front lawn with a scowl etched on my face. My arms are folded over my chest and my breathing is jagged. I want to punch the window with all my might, but a bill for a broken windowpane (or a broken hand) is the last thing I need on top of all the other bullshit I have to deal with right now.
“Wanna go over again and try to talk to them again?” Katie asks from the couch, more an ironic joke than an actual suggestion.
Instead of punching the window, I settle on giving the table next to our kitchen a little kick. “Ouch,” I exclaim, lifting my foot up so I can rub my toe.
“What was with you and that guy last night?” Katie asks. My stomach sinks. Shit, did she notice that there was something between us? I haven’t told Katie anything about Knox and me. I wish I could forget it all myself, much less do I want to let others in on our shared history.
“What? Huh? Who?” Yikes, Emma. I think the lady doth protest too much.
The curling smile on Katie’s face tells me I’m caught out. “There is something between you two, isn’t there?”
“Absolutely not,” I say, summoning all the acting skill I can muster. It’s not a lot.
Luckily, maybe sensing how strung out I am, Katie cuts me a break and changes the subject. But I’m sure it’s not the last of this that I’ll be hearing from her. “Want to just call the police?”
“For what? It took them almost burning down the neighborhood last night for the police to show up. And even then, they didn’t do anything. They didn’t write Knox a ticket or anything. He’s untouchable here.”
“You’re on a first name basis, huh?” Katie’s comment is sly, showing that she caught me slipping, revealing a familiarity with Knox Delton that I had just tried to deny.
I moan in annoyance and grab a diet coke from the fridge. I plop down on the couch next to her and crack open the can. “Cut me a break about it, okay? At least for now.”
“Fine,” she groans. “But I can tell there’s something juicy between you two, and you better not hold out on me for long.”
Juicy? Pfft. Yeah, right.
More like pathetic: on my part. It’s not like there’s any sense in me holding a grudge against a guy who played with my heart and dumped me back in high school. Isn’t that the kind of thing that I should have gotten over a long time ago? Something I barely even remember now that I’m a grown woman in college?
But I’m not over it. Not by a long shot.
And as my cheeks flush when the memory of last night invades my head again, I’m sure as hell not over last night. It’s not fair that any man can look that good, let alone an inconsiderate jerk like Knox Delton.
Those perfectly sculpted muscles. That radiant, smooth skin. Those delicious dimples. Fuck, I have to struggle against the urge to let my fantasies run wild.
The familiar sound of a glass bottle shattering rings from in front of Knox’s house.
Katie shakes her head. “It’s unbelievable the mess they leave behind every morning.”
Suddenly, a devilish thought enters my head. “Hey, Katie, you have a late class tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Me too.” A devious smile spreads across my face, as I concoct a scheme to get back at Knox. If basic decency can’t prevail against him to act like a reasonable neighbor and keep the partying at least within the bounds of reason, I’ll have to resort to less innocent tactics.
“Why?” Katie asks, her voice sounding intrigued as she clearly notices that my expression is one of scheme-hatching.
“Because we’re going to give Knox Delton a taste of his own medicine.” I can’t suppress a catty giggle as I imagine Knox’s reaction when he sees the result of my plan tomorrow.
Katie laughs. “Girl, no matter what you say, there must be something really juicy between you and that guy.”
It’s nine in the morning. It’s a beautiful day. Looking out of our second-story front window, I see a beautiful expanse of blue sky, a bright, cheery sun, trees full of green leaves, quaint red brick sidewalks, and an absolute pigsty on Knox’s front lawn.
Of course, it’s not just on Knox’s front lawn. A good bit of the wreckage has made its way to our lawn, as well as the sidewalk in front of our houses, even out onto the asphalt of the street.
Broken glass, empty cups, articles of clothing, half-digested food. It’s all well represented outside this morning.
The underlings that Knox usually has clean up after him haven’t stopped by yet. They usually aren’t able to make it here until almost noon on school days, I’ve noticed.
But they’re gonna have the day off today. Because Katie and I are going to clean up after the party this time.
Just not the way Knox is expecting.
Katie and I don’t have our first classes until eleven this morning. With my freshly brewed coffee in hand, I’m standing watch by the front window, hoping that Knox and his roommate leave their house this morning. I know it’s not a guaranteed thing. If Knox can get away with everything I already know he gets away with, I’m sure there are no repercussions for him skipping classes.
It doesn’t take long for me to get the first lucky break of the semester. I see Knox and his roommate, whose name I don’t know, stumbling out of their front door.
Well, really, I should say that Knox is stumbling out of the front door, looking worn down by the hangover that he’s very much earned.
His roommate, on the other hand, looks much less hung over but much more annoyed. I can tell they’re having an animated conversation, animated from the roommate’s part at least, so I stealthily crack open the window to try to eavesdrop.
“I thought we agreed no party last night,” the roommate grumbles.
“I can’t help how many people came,” Knox responds.
“You didn’t tell Sara to show up with half of her sorority in tow?”
Knox takes a deep breath, looking like he’s trying to fight off the urge to puke. “No, Gavin. I told her to bring a friend. You know, someone for you. I just thought we’d hang out the four of us.”
Gavin, the roommate, scowls. “You told her to bring one friend? Those were your words?”
Knox shrugs. An easy giveaway that he’s full of shit. “What’s it matter? You holed up in your room all night, anyway. And we’ll have the underclassmen stop by later to clean this stuff up,” he gestures broadly to the trash-heap generated last night.
“That’s not the point, man. You know you’re hanging by a thread with Coach. No police or firetrucks showed up last night, but if last night is what happens when you don’t try to throw a rager, you’re only gonna get in deeper shit.”
“Whatever, I gotta get to class.” Knox brusquely dismisses himself and walks down the sidewalk while Gavin is left surveying the wreckage and shaking his head. After about a minute, he, too, sets off to campus.
Gavin sounds like a half decent guy. Not as irresponsible and out of control as Knox, at least. I kind of feel bad that the scheme I’m plotting is going to mess with him, too. But, come on, he signed up to share a house with Knox Delton: he must have known what he was getting himself into.
And it’s not like he doesn’t share any of the responsibility for the animal house that their place has turned into since the week before the semester started. If he wants the benefits – and I know I’ve noticed him making out with girls out front or back of the house during some of their parties over the last few weeks – then he can deal with the consequences, too.
Katie walks into the kitchen and pours herself some coffee. “So, finally ready to spill the beans on this prank of yours?”
“Prank? Oh, I don’t know if I’d use that word,” I say, reveling in the transgression I’m about to commit. “I’d call it a lesson.”
Katie snorts. “Normally I wouldn’t let you fool yourself like that. But we both know Knox Delton deserves what’s coming to him. So, what are we doing? TP-ing their house seems too lame.”
“Let’s go, you’ll see.” I lead her down the stairs and outside. The fragrant smells of the trees and flowers in early September hardly cover up the stench that reeks from next door. Dried and partly dried vomit, stale liquor, half-eaten pizzas. The morning after one of Knox’s parties is an assault on the nostrils as well as the eyes.
“First, I need to see if they’re as irresponsible as I suspect.” Looking from side to side to make sure no one’s looking at me, or that there are no patrol cars happening to be driving down the road, I quickly walk across our lawns to their porch.
Katie lets out a peep of surprise and follows after me. “What are we doing?” She whispers.
Without answering, I gingerly draw my hand to the knob of their front door. I apply light pressure on the twist and find that my prediction of their responsibility-levels is correct: they didn’t leave their door locked.
I allow it to swing open. I scan the dim interior to make sure there are no sleeping bodies on the ground. It looks like the coast is clear.
The inside of their house is messy, but at least fit for human habitation. But in just a couple minutes, that will no longer be the case. This afternoon, Knox and his roommate Gavin will be coming home to the mess that they created.
“We’re breaking into their house?” Katie whispers worriedly.
“We’re going to clean up for them. All of this,” I motion with my arm to the pile of trash strewn wildly in front of their house. “Is coming in here.”
Katie’s eyebrows rise and she wears a naughty smile. “Oh, Emma, I like this side of you.”
You know what? I like this side of me, too.
Knox thought he could walk all over me without any regard for my feelings back when he broke up with me without explanation, without as much as a goodbye. And he thinks he can continue to walk over everyone else, living without any regard for how his actions disrupt and dirty this whole neighborhood.
If no one else around here has the guts to put their foot down and start teaching him the meaning of consequences, I’m glad that the boldness to do so has finally come to me.
We set to work. From underneath their sink, I find a full box of trash bags. Grabbing one, I quickly fill it up with trash from outside, Katie holding the bag open while I deposit cans, bottles, boxes, and dirty shirts and underwear inside. Then we haul the full bag back through Knox’s front door.
We both set the filled-to-the-brim trash bag down, grab a handful of it from the bottom, and lift up, spilling its contents all over the linoleum floor right behind their front door inside their house.
“Wow, that felt good.” Katie giggles.
“Sometimes justice can feel better than an orgasm,” I respond. Katie and I crack up, surveying the good deed we’ve done.
Okay. Most people wouldn’t call breaking into someone’s house and strewing garbage all over their floor a good deed. But context is everything. Knox deserves this. And if no one gives him what he deserves, he’s just going to keep acting like he’s the only person in the universe.
Maybe he’ll learn a lesson, save the partying for the occasional Friday or Saturday (hey, it’s not like I’m asking them to turn the place into a monastery), and I’ll actually be able to get some sleep once my student teaching starts.
Or, he’ll just up the ante.
The thought freezes me for a minute. But I shrug it off. What could he do that’s any worse than what he’s already doing? I grab a couple more trash bags and Katie and I get to work finishing the job.