I Need You To Hate Me Read online

  “Since before we knew how to walk. We all grew up in Wallace,” Zach tells me.

  “Are you coming to the party on Friday night?” Theo interrupts, looking up at me.

  Me? Party? I don’t think so.

  “Of course she’s coming,” Liv answers, and I glance around the café uncomfortably.

  “Uh, I don’t really do parties,” I say quietly. They stare at me like I said the sky is falling.

  “C’mon, it’ll be fun,” Liv presses.

  “You have to come. It’s the first party of the season,” Josh joins in. “Everyone is going to be there.”

  The fact that everyone is going to be at the party doesn’t make it sound appealing. They’re all looking at me, waiting for me to agree, and there’s no way I can get out of this one.

  “I guess I can come for a little bit?” It comes out as a question.

  “Great! I’m so excited!” Liv exclaims, and I force a smile.

  I wait out front of the chancellor’s office. Since I accepted the university offer so late, the chancellor requires to go over a few things. I’m uncertain what they are, but I assume it’s going to be the standard: a brief welcome, and perhaps a discussion about any future goals or what I plan to achieve with my time here.

  Yelling originates from the office, and my head snaps up—who can possibly be yelling at the chancellor on the first day of the semester?

  I try not to eavesdrop, but it’s hard with all the bellowing and swearing. I can’t decipher what they are talking about, but whatever it is, it seems heated and not university-related. Something about a competition and bigoted terms.

  “You are so fucking fortunate that I’m in a good mood,” the voice growls. Goosebumps crawl up my arms—if that’s the good mood, then I wouldn’t wish to hear him in a bad mood, whoever it is.

  There’s silence for a moment, followed by a loud thump, like a fist hitting a wooden desk. I gulp loudly and my heart beats faster. Maybe I ought to come back later.

  I stand up to leave, but at the same time, the door flies open. Something hard collides with my body, and I stumble back, spilling my coffee. My bag slips from my shoulder and tumbles onto the floor.

  “Why the fuck are you in the way?” a voice growls.

  “Sorry,” I manage to squeeze out in a small voice. This is one of the things I wanted to avoid on my first day. I don’t look at him, afraid to meet his glare—instead, I eye his shirt, making sure no coffee spilled on him. But it’s hard to tell, since it’s midnight black.

  He sighs and bends down to pick up my bag. “Here.” His voice is rough, with pique still present. He shoves my bag into my hands, and my eyes scan the tattoos that cover his arms. There are different images scattered across his skin, yet they also manage to tie in together.

  I keep my head down, avoiding eye contact with him, but I can feel his eyes piercing into me. Why is he still standing here?

  Don’t look. Don’t look.

  I foolishly look up at him.

  His eyes instantly attract my attention—intimidating and intense. They are the most cavernous I’ve ever seen, a mix of blue, gray and green.

  He meets my gaze, and when our eyes lock, there’s a flicker of recognition, perhaps a hint of admission too. Either way, something in them changes and shifts his demeanor.

  “Are you done staring?” he snaps. I drop my eyes to the ground in embarrassment. Apparently, it didn’t shift his demeanor too much.

  “Next time, watch where you’re fucking going,” he snarls and turns on his heel, not giving me a second glance.

  “Asshole,” I call, loud enough for him to hear. He doesn’t turn around.

  I’m left dumbfounded and outraged. That’s precisely the kind of person I don’t want to deal with—a bad boy with a bad attitude. I make a mental note to stay away from him—that should prove to be effortless. I head into the chancellor’s office in a foul mood.

  The chancellor is a man in his low thirties; this surprises me, as I expected him to be older. He folds his hands, and his eyes, drooped down on his face, scan the file that rests on top of the desk.

  “Calla Maven, is it?” His voice is raspy, and he clears his throat.

  I nod.

  “Mr. Howley—take a seat.” He motions to the empty chair in front of his desk, coughing into his hand. I take the seat. “I see that you accepted our offer late. Were you considering other options?”

  “I had my mind on other matters,” I say carefully, trying not to get myself in deep waters where truth is required. The last thing I want to talk about is the events that led me in this direction.

  “Hmph,” he says, looking at the file like he’s waiting for words to appear or for me to say something. I don’t.

  “I looked over your file and noticed that you’re interested in a journalism major. We have some great programs that could boost you into that career, and we have partners all over the country—including New York, if that’s something you would be interested in.”

  It has always been a dream of mine to live in a big city and experience the world. My mom pushed me towards my goals, reminding me that there’s nothing I couldn’t achieve. If you yearn for it and work for it, there’s no reason why you won’t fulfill every dream. The words echo in my head, reminding me of the power they once held.

  “That would be something I’d be interested in.”

  The chancellor nods, his dull brown hair catching the sun through the window—with some grays already present. He continues, “However, I have also noticed that your grades from your last year at high school have dropped tremendously. I want to give you a chance; therefore, I have taken it upon myself to enroll you in English Sociology. It’s a class for students who may not have had the best grades—to gain extra credit.”

  In the class I had with Theo this morning, I recall him mentioning that he was required to take it if he wanted to keep his football scholarship.

  “Of course,” I say. If this university can allow me to work in one of the world’s biggest cities, then I’m prepared to study my ass off.

  “Great. I would suggest taking up some volunteer work at the university, perhaps something relatively similar to your major, such as writing a column in the school newspaper a few times a month,” the chancellor continues.

  I haven’t written anything in a long time, let alone shared my work with the whole school. But my mom’s words continue to repeat themselves over and over—I doubt many people read the university newspaper. “Sure.”

  For the remainder of the appointment, Mr. Howley discusses the different departments here and subtly gives me directions to the school therapist’s office. He provides me with an email for the person who deals with the newspaper—instructing me to send an article about what I feel is appropriate when I’m ready and they will consider it.

  On my way back to the house, I contemplate if I made the right decision coming here—to this university, to this town. Perhaps a gap year wouldn’t have been so bad. I could have enrolled into programs to gain extra credit, and that would boost my GPA. Yet, I sincerely doubt I would have done that. Instead, I would’ve made up an excuse and continued to mope. I made the right choice, I hope.

  “How was the rest of your day?” Liv beams at me as I walk inside the house. She’s sitting on the kitchen counter, popping grapes into her mouth—living the dream.

  I roll my eyes and sigh.

  “What happened?” she asks. The earlier incident outside the chancellor’s office is still sitting in my chest.

  “Ugh,” I groan. “Some wannabe bad boy, asshole—” I begin, but Liv’s attention isn’t on me anymore. I stop mid-sentence and slowly turn to follow Liv’s gaze.

  The wannabe bad boy, asshole, is standing in front of me. His glare bores into mine.

  “Ace,” Liv greets him.

  3

  Ace

  ACE TOWERS OVER me. “The fuck is she doing here?” he growls. I lift my head to meet his contemptuous stare and once again, I’m
drawn to his beautiful eyes. The rest of his face is firmly defined. His eyebrows are furrowed, his full lips are drawn into a line, and a dark stubble contours his jaw.

  Even though he’s fully clothed, his muscles ripple across every part of his body. Most guys here participate in sports, hence their toned bodies—such a shame that the looks in front of me went to waste on an asshole.

  “Ace, I told you we would be getting a housemate. You were fine with it,” Liv reminds him in a calming tone.

  “Not her,” he says. His eyes don’t leave mine—flames dance in them, the anger transparently present with no hint of mercy.

  “Excuse me?” I ask. I can’t comprehend what I did for him to detest me so much. Sure, today’s incident was unpleasant, but I barely said anything to him—apart from calling him an asshole. In my defense, I had every right, since he was behaving like one.

  “Calm down, you’re acting like a child,” Liv says unpretentiously to Ace. She turns her body to face him, swinging her legs around the counter.

  “She needs to go,” he says slowly. His hands ball up into fists at his side. I should be afraid of him, and I am, only a little. He’s intimidating, especially when his jaw is ticking like that. He fascinates me with the amount of anger he holds. Who spit in his breakfast today?

  “Um, I can go pack my bags,” I state. That’s obviously the only solution; coming here was a bad idea. I’m using this complication as an escape route, but I doubt anyone in my position would have a different outlook.

  “Oh no, definitely not. You’re not going,” Liv tells me, but she keeps her eyes on Ace. They stare at each other for a few moments, and surprisingly, Ace is the first to break eye contact.

  He storms to his room and slams the door so vigorously that I jump from the impact. Seconds later, there are troubling sounds coming from his direction. I stare at the closed door, not understanding what happened. Is he breaking things? That guy has some serious anger issues, but Liv acts like everything is fine—chewing her grape with pleasure. I assume this isn’t the first or second time this has happened.

  “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know he would act like this. He’s not usually this bad,” Liv tries to reassure me.

  “I might have pissed him off by bumping into him in the chancellor’s office,” I admit, even though I know it wasn’t my fault.

  “Oh,” she says and furrows her eyebrows. “Did Ace talk to De—I mean, the chancellor?” she corrects herself.

  “Uh, more like yelled,” I admit, and she nods.

  There’s silence between us as her eyes don’t leave Ace’s door like she’s considering going in there and putting some sense into him herself.

  “What’s going on?” Zach staggers down the stairs, stretching his arms over his head and stifling a yawn. His hair is tousled and swiped to the side, his eyes bloodshot.

  “Ace is here…and he’s in one of his moods,” Liv replies as if that explains everything. “Can you go make sure he doesn’t damage any walls? Otherwise, he’ll be paying to fix them.”

  Zach sighs and glances in the direction of Ace’s room. He gives Liv another look, but she urges him to go. He closes his eyes for a moment and rolls his neck from shoulder to shoulder. He then proceeds to shuffle to the door as if it’s a chore and closes it behind him.

  “Sorry, you must want to run for the hills after this,” Liv says. I do, but I consider my other housing options. The dorms are full—I can go online and see if there’s anything else available.

  “I can leave if it’s a problem,” I tell her. I don’t want to be where I’m not wanted.

  “No, you’re not leaving because of him. I like you, and so does everyone else,” Liv says. Except for Ace, but I keep my mouth shut.

  “Ace is just Ace,” she tells me as if reading my mind. I don’t know what that means. I nod slowly and go upstairs to my room. There are no destructive noises anymore, so I assume Zach tamed the wild animal.

  I shut my bedroom door and lay on my bed. Reaching for my laptop, I search for other accommodation around here. There isn’t much, unless I want to live at an actual sorority house.

  I refuse to give up after a little hiccup gets in the way. But Ace doesn’t seem like a minor hiccup—he’s a damn downpour, and I’m uncertain if I’ll be able to survive near someone like that. I plan to keep my distance. It may prove to be strenuous since we’re going to be living under the same roof—although not impossible.

  Staring at the ceiling, my chest is heavy with exasperation. For all I know, this may be the first obstacle the universe is throwing at me, something I’m required to overcome.

  Prevailing over the asshole.

  My classes start a little later today. When I wake up, the house is empty—thank god for that. Slipping my feet into my fluffy bunny slippers, I head towards the bathroom, turning the shower on and letting the water heat up before stepping inside.

  When it nears nine o’clock, I grab my laptop and two textbooks from my room and head downstairs towards my car.

  “Hey, Calla, over here!” Theo calls once I get to class. I turn in his direction only to discover the beautiful-eyed monster glaring at me. I may not have thought this through. Of course, Theo is friends with Ace; it makes sense since they’re all one group.

  Theo motions me to come and sit next to him, and I weigh the options in my head. If I sit next to Theo, Ace will most likely be furious. If I don’t, I will have to sit alone. I don’t have many friends here, and I’m not about to lose the only friends I’ve made because of some jerk who thinks he’s entitled.

  I make my way over to Theo, clutching my bag to my chest. My nails dig into my palms. “Hey.” I slide into the seat.

  “Have you met Ace?” Theo asks me, turning towards him. “Of course, you two met, you’re living together,” he realizes. Ace doesn’t pay attention to me anymore. Instead, his focus is the pencil that he’s twirling between his rough fingers. I’m unsure if that’s better or worse—what’s his problem?

  He’s been overly hostile, rude, and destructive since the moment we’ve met, for absolutely no reason—his behavior is unsettling, to say the least.

  After class, Theo informs me everyone is going to the café again this afternoon. A subtle invitation into their group. Will he be there? My eyes shift to Ace over Theo’s shoulder, but he doesn’t react; he’s still ignoring the fact that I exist.

  “Okay, I’ll meet you there,” I tell Theo. He sends me a boyish grin, showing a full row of pearly whites.

  After parking my car across the road from the café, I cross the quiet street. I’m reminded that I should get a job for after class and weekend work. The guilt of my dad paying for everything is gnawing at me from every direction.

  When I reach the large, blue door, my eyes shift to the flyer on the window and my breath hitches in my throat. It’s as though the universe knows I require a reason to stay.

  Tugging the flyer off the door, I head inside. Liv notices me immediately and begins to wave me down, the bangles on her wrist clanking together. I motion to her with one finger, saying ‘one second,’ and make my way to the counter.

  A curvy blond girl with pink bangs approaches me and pulls out her notepad. “What can I get you, babe?”

  She twirls the pen on the ends of her hair—she seems around my age, and I gather she attends Bridgevale University too.

  I place the flyer on the counter in front of her. “You’re hiring.” It isn’t a question, but the uncertainty in my voice hints for confirmation.

  “I’ll get my uncle,” she says and looks over me. A smile forms on her painted pink lips. She walks towards the back of the shop, and before she disappears behind the small green door, she turns back to me. “I’m Mia.”

  “Calla,” I reply, echoing her smile.

  I fiddle with my fingers as I wait for her uncle, picking at the dead skin. I glance over my shoulder at the group, and Theo catches my eye, flashing me a comforting smile. His expression quickly turns quizzical. Before I’m able
to silently explain the situation to him, my attention snaps back at the sound of footsteps approaching.

  The man in front of me is nothing like I expected. His long shabby hair and beard fill most of his face, but his dark blue eyes, blue enough that they seem as though they belong in the deepest part of the ocean, take the stage. I can’t pinpoint an age bracket for him. A part of him looks young enough to fit into university, and the other part, seems old enough to be my dad.

  “You’re looking for a job, aye?” he asks and runs his tongue over his front teeth, resulting in a sucking noise. His voice is filled with a thick Australian accent. What brought him here?

  “Yes.” I nod in agreement.

  “Perfect, you’re hired,” he says and makes his way back behind the green door without turning around. I stand frozen in place, perplexed by the ‘interview’.

  Mia gives me a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry, I should have warned you before getting him. He doesn’t say much and goes off his ‘vibes,’ as he likes to call them. I guess you ticked the box.”

  “Oh,” is all I can manage to say.

  “When can you start?” she asks me.

  “Tomorrow. I have class until two, but I can make it by two-thirty?” I take into account how long it will take me to drive home and change after class.

  “That’s no problem. I’ll see you tomorrow. We can talk about the rest then.” Mia smiles. I take that as my cue to leave—there are already a few people waiting to be served behind me.

  As I walk towards the group, I can’t help but notice how…simple it was to get a job, how easy it is to fall into a group of friends—everything is lining up for some unexplainable reason. The only contradiction is Ace.

  Theo and Josh are quarreling over who gets the last slice of pizza. “It’s mine. You already had your half,” Josh argues.

  “But you don’t even want it, man. You just said you’re full,” Theo reasons, reaching for the slice.

  Josh smacks his hand away. “I changed my mind.”