Page 9 of How To Resist Mr. Wrong (Mr. Wrong Chronicles #1)

“I can’t believe I finally got you out of that dreary room of yours! I’m telling you there’s something messed up about the energy there,” Jason said, sipping his beer slowly.

Emily groaned internally. “I mean, we’re going to move after this semester, so it’s not going to be a problem for long,” she repeated for what felt like the hundredth time.

“That’s still too long,” Jason complained.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do, can we?

You’ll have to live with my bad energy for the rest of the semester,” Emily snapped.

She didn’t want to come to this random party full of so many people that it was difficult to breathe when she was drowning in assignments.

She definitely didn’t want to get into one of their ongoing arguments here.

“Whatever! I’m gonna go try the punch,” Jason said, walking away. Emily was glad he didn’t want to continue talking about the stupid energies again, but now she was all alone in a sea of people she didn’t have any desire to mingle with.

Emily rolled her eyes. She was pretty used to Jason’s unpredictability by now. Most days, the guy was a pretty decent boyfriend. Emily believed he was trying out different personalities until he found out who he wanted to be, like he was shopping for a new suit.

The result was his recent obsession with energies and everything woo-woo. The problem was this one has now lasted three months. Hopefully, he will grow out of it soon or at least become a little less annoying about it.

She looked around the room for familiar faces.

Most people were standing in groups around her with drinks, trying to hear each other over the music.

Some were dancing on the makeshift dance floor in the middle of the hall.

She spotted a group of girls she sometimes hung out with before and after her psychology class.

She walked over to them instead of waiting for Jason to decide he wanted to talk to her again.

“Hey, Em! You at a party? How drunk am I?” Vanessa said. But she hugged Emily, making her feel welcomed. "Shelly was just telling us about the guy from the football team she hooked up with last week,” she filled Emily in.

“It wasn’t just a hookup! We’ve gone on a date and everything,” Shelly argued.

“Sure you did,” Ashley said, sarcastically. “Didn’t that guy dump Olivia just last week?”

“And honey, sorry to burst your bubble, I hooked up with him last month. Guy’s a nice dude but a total player,” Emma said, sipping her drink.

“Well, I hope it won’t be awkward for you guys because I asked him to come here with me,” Shelly declared proudly.

“Then where is he?” Vanessa asked.

“Who are we talking about?” Emily whispered to Emma when she couldn’t find any context clues from the conversation.

“There he is,” Shelly announced loudly just as Emma whispered back, “Seb Raux.”

Emily’s breath hitched. As she watched Seb approach her group with a huge smile on his face, the world slowed down around her. He hadn’t noticed her yet, clearly, or she doubted he’d have the smile on.

He still looked the same, but distinctly older.

His face had hardened somewhat in the last two years.

His hair was longer too, a clear one-eighty from his buzz cut school days.

But Emily was one to talk. She had grown out her bangs, and now they framed her face neatly.

She’d also gone blonde for a semester, but we didn’t talk about that anymore.

He was interrupted multiple times along the way, because of course, he was. That’s just who he was. He had time and a smile for everyone. Well, except Emily now. Probably.

It had been two years since she had last talked to him.

Ray was constantly in her ears about it.

And honestly, Emily had no idea why she kept avoiding him.

She realized she had taken it too far after month three of her abrupt return from the trip, but she was just too embarrassed to contact him again after so long.

She didn’t pick up his calls, didn’t reply to his texts, and deliberately avoided all the spots she could run into him for the first two months. After a while, it just became a habit.

Yes, Emily was aware she had confrontation issues.

She did run into him a couple of times, but managed to run the other way before he could catch her. Seb got the message because after month two, he stopped contacting.

Emily wasn’t proud of her behavior now that enough time had passed and she could look at the incident objectively. But she did understand her reaction, however over the top it might have been.

They were never really friends because Seb was lying to her the entire time they’d known each other.

But that didn’t mean she had to hide from him.

As Emma had eloquently pointed out, he was a nice dude.

A dude who had helped her best friend feel safe when she didn’t.

And kept her secret even at an age when boys were wired to be mean and stupid.

Emily at least owed him human-like behavior for that.

Shelly jumped into Seb’s arms as soon as he came into the vicinity of their group. Emily had plenty of time to hide if she wanted to. But she was being an adult today, so she pushed the thought away.

Their eyes met over Shelly’s shoulder, and Seb’s expression completely transformed. His smile vanished, and his brows went up in surprise.

“Hi,” Emily waved awkwardly when Shelly finally let him go, just to plaster herself to his side.

“Hi,” he breathed out. His eyebrows relaxed a little, but now he just looked stoic.

And everyone else was looking at them with confusion.

“Oh, wow! You’ve slept with Emily, too?” Vanessa asked.

Emily almost dropped her beer. “Oh, god no!” she clarified quickly. “We were friends in high school.”

“Oh, were we?” Seb asked, tilting his head to one side.

“I don’t know anymore,” she admitted to him. “I mean, it was complicated,” she looked around and said with a smile.

“Oooh, this is juicier than Shelly’s hookup,” Emma said.

“Heyyy, I know you,” Seb said to Emma.

“Of course you do, stud,” Emma said, winking at him.

Seb’s smile was back.

Shelly slowly detangled herself from Seb. “You know what, you guys might have been right,” she said, taking a dramatic step away.

Emily laughed with everyone at Seb’s confused face.

Before she could plan her exit, Jason stumbled to their little group and almost fell into her. “Where did you go off to?” he asked Emily accusingly.

“Oh, yay, it’s Jason,” Vanessa said, sarcastically.

Emily was feeling the same, honestly, and she kinda hated herself for thinking that. “I’m guessing the punch was good?” she asked him.

“So good. You want to try some?” he asked earnestly.

Emily laughed. “That would be a no. Do you want to leave?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said, sinking further into Emily, dragging her down.

“I’ll help you,” Seb said and grabbed Jason from the other side.

Emily wanted to say no, but he had taken almost all the weight off of her, and she really didn’t want to carry too-drunk-to-walk-Jason all the way to his dorm alone. She could have, but she appreciated the help.

So, they walked away together to the sounds of goodbyes.

“Hey, I think I know you,” Jason said, tilting his head almost upside down and looking suspiciously at Seb.

“No, you don’t,” Emily said quickly.

“Oh, you’re that guy in the pictures in Emily’s room," he said. “I hate you,” he added, making no attempt to act on the hatred.

Wait. “Why?” Emily asked.

Seb looked at Emily and burst out laughing. “Ooh, we’re still maintaining the streak. Nothing has changed,” he said.

“Emily?” Jason said.

“Yes, Jason,” Emily asked, hoping he wouldn’t drop more truth bombs to embarrass Emily more.

“I don't think I believe in energy anymore,” he said earnestly.

“I hope there's some context to it, or it's just weird,” Seb commented.

Emily gave a withering look to Seb. “It's ok, maybe you should stop pretending that you do,” she said to Jason.

“You play football, right?” Jason looked at Seb.

“Yes, state champions, baby,” Seb said with all the excitement of a jock.

“Maybe I like football,” he said, looking at Emily.

“Sure, buddy,” she said. “It'll be better than the woo-woo, for sure,” she muttered.

Seb looked at her and Jason alternatively with a weird expression as they approached Jason's house in comfortable silence. They successfully deposited Jason in the care of his roommate.

When they walked out together, things were suddenly awkward again, as if Jason was single-handedly keeping all of it at bay.

“I'll walk you home,” Seb offered gallantly.

“No, you don't have to,” Emily hesitated. What was scarier, the walk alone or the sheer awkwardness threatening to suffocate them? Emily had mace, so she chose to walk alone.

“Em, it's okay. It's a long way. I'll walk you. Stop being weird,” Seb said, walking towards her apartment.

“You stop being weird,” she said, walking faster to catch up with him.

“How about we both stop being weird,” he offered.

“Okay, deal,” she said.

“Perfect,” he said.

Then, the awkward silence was back again. But Emily didn't let it take over this time. It was time she went back to being the mature, confronting person she was for a couple of minutes an hour ago.

"Seb, I'm sorry,” she said, breathing out.

Seb stopped in his tracks, so Emily stopped and faced him, too. "For what?' he asked.

"For avoiding you. I thought I'd text you after a couple of months, but then that date got postponed, and then I just never got around to doing it,” Emily mumbled.

"For two years?” Seb asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I mean, it's just been one year, nine months, so,” Emily said.

Suddenly, Seb turned and started walking again, a little faster than before, forcing Emily to quicken her steps to keep up.

"Well, I'm sorry too,” he said calmly. His tone did not match his speed.

"For what?” Emily asked, almost running now. She was glad she believed in comfortable shoes.