Chapter 10

( Stand-off )

Jimin’s Point of view

It was the perfect opportunity. When we first met Jackson, Mark, and Eva, I had no idea how things would turn out. I was worried about keeping Hollyn and Yoongi safe, and keeping us all out of trouble. We hadn't seen another human outside our little group for so long, I found it really hard to trust that they wouldn't kill us once we lowered our guard. But I trusted Hollyn, and she seemed to think they were safe enough. Little did I know just how helpful the other group could be-- namely Eva. I could make Hollyn jealous, and she would finally have to admit her feelings for me. It seemed pretty fool proof. But I was banking on the fact that Eva wasn’t a psychotic axe murderer, which seemed debatable. No one sane giggles that much. It freaked me out a bit, to be honest.

And while I wasn't proud of my plan, I was getting desperate. Never in my life have I been this attracted to a girl. Yeah, I admit I was a bit of a flirt, but normally I was too shy to take it anywhere, and most of the girls I flirted with were shallow and self-absorbed. They all seemed the same-- ridiculously girly, and obsessed with the latest fashion trends or getting a new boyfriend. Fun to flirt with, but not necessarily fun to hang around for more than five minutes. Not my type at all.

And then there was Hollyn. Out of everyone Yoongi and I could have been paired with, we got paired with her. I didn’t know if it was dumb luck, or fate. I used to scoff at the idea of love at first sight, but after I met her, I was having second thoughts. I liked her right away. Her subtle beauty, her laugh, the curve of her smile, her sarcastic, kick- attitude. Her personality went so much deeper than any other girl I'd met, and it drew me in. I really liked this girl.

From day one I did everything in my power to make her blush, so I could see her pretty face flush pink in embarrassment. It wasn't hard to do. And after awhile, she started fighting back. I made suggestive comments, she made threats, and we fell into an easy banter, which helped form our initial friendship. She was fun to talk to, and tease, and she made me forget about how awful things really were out here. Our constant cat and mouse game pushed me to wake up every morning and continue on.

Everything was perfect... except that she kept denying her feelings for me. She thought I was just teasing, and would just shake her head at me whenever I confessed my feelings for her, or called her beautiful. I could tell she felt something. She had to. I could see it on her face whenever she thought I wasn't looking, and in the way she took care of me and watched out for me. But she kept running away. She hid behind half-hearted threats and dull protests, or changed the subject. It was frustrating. Every day I tried to push her to finally admit it, but she wouldn’t. She was too stubborn. Which I equally loved, and hated.

Then came Eva. Honestly, I never liked girls like her. They squeal, and giggle, and bat their eyelashes to get whatever they want, and they can't do anything for themselves. I guess some guys fall for that, but they just annoyed me. Sure, they might be nice to look at, but there wasn't much going on upstairs, if you catch my drift.

As soon as I had lowered my gun, she launched herself at me and clug onto my arm. Talk about dangerous. I could have shot her on accident! But she didn't seem to care. She pressed herself tight against me, cooing and purring her thanks for not shooting her. I felt violated, and my first instinct was to shake her off right away, but then I saw Hollyn’s face, and I hesitated.

She was livid. tilted down in a frown, and her eyes were dark. I could practically feel her jealousy electrifying the air between us. I blinked at her in shock. Was she jealous of this girl? The annoying, crying mess clinging to my shirt? Could it really be that easy?

An idea popped into my head. Maybe I could make her jealous enough to admit her feelings for me. If I made her mad enough, she'd have to! Again, I’m not proud of it, but I really was desperate.

I couldn't help but smirk as i turned back to the tiny, flirtatious mess in my arms. The looks in her eyes made my skin crawl, but it was too late to back out now. I flashed her a smile, and tried not to vomit in my mouth as I went along with her flirting. I wasn't sure if my plan would work, but it was worth a shot. I could see her getting angry, but she wasn’t confronting me about it at all. I had to stick with the plan. She'd break eventually.

Night fell quickly, and we all took a while to set up our sleeping bags and stuff before reconvening in the back of the store. There we huddled around small plastic lanterns that flickered and cast everything in a yellowish light that almost made it feel like we were sitting around around campfire. Jackson and Mark were locked in quiet conversation, ignoring the rest of us. The two seemed pretty cool, even though we didn't get much of a chance to talk. It was a shame they'd been stuck with someone like Eva.

Yoongi and Hollyn sat against the far wall, close together and not really talking, but just enjoying each other’s grumpy company. Neither of them looked like they were in a good mood, but I still felt like I should have been sitting over there with them. I should have been trying to make Hollyn smile, and making fun of Yoongi and the wrinkles his constant scowls were giving him. I felt guilty, and a little lonely sitting with Eva, who had practically welded her arm to mine. I was starting to lose feeling in it from her tight grip.

She was having a very one-sided conversation with me, but everything she said went in one ear and out the other. It was all petty, shallow stuff anyway, like clothes and makeup, and the occasional suggestive comment that would make my skin crawl. And then there were her hands-- roaming my arms, and chest, and knees. It took everything I had not to push her away and run over to seek the protection of my friends. But every time I felt like giving up, I would look at Hollyn.

There she was, glaring at me. She barely bothered to hide it. Every time I looked at her it sent a jolt through me, and I remembered why I was doing this. I had to get her to admit her feelings for me, even if I had to torture myself to do it. That glare pushed me to continue. She and I were dancing on a fine line, and with enough pushing, someone would eventually give.

I quickly snapped my attention back to Eva, but couldn't bring myself to really focus on what she was saying. I wanted to look back at Hollyn. I wanted to make her say something, to make her run over and snatch me away from Eva, but she remained stubbornly still, and it was driving me insane. I didn't understand why she refused to do something, even though it was obvious she was angry.

Eva continued to talk my ear off, going on about the time she broke her nail in a catfight over a pair of shoes. I was growing more miserable by the second. In fact, I was already close to giving up. I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to get away from that girl.

I glanced back at Hollyn, bracing myself for the scalding glare I was about to be met with. What I saw instead shocked me, as if someone had thrown a bucket or ice water over my head. It took a moment to comprehend what was going on, but once I did, a fire lit inside my chest. My surprise gave way to anger, and my blood started to boil.

Yoongi wrapped an arm around Hollyn and pulled her close to his side as he whispered in her ear. She leaned her head against his shoulder and reached up to grab his wrist. I expected her to push him away, to pull away from him, but she didn't. Instead, she cuddled closer to him, smiling and giggling along with whatever he was saying. A flash of hurt and jealousy ripped through me, and I couldn't bring myself to look away. I couldn't believe she was doing this. After all the time she spent pushing me away… Had I been wrong about her feelings for me?

Just as I began to feel a rising sense of horror, Yoongi looked up and met my eyes with a smirk. He leaned his head against Hollyn’s, and wound his fingers in her hair. He gave me a wink, and a jolt of realization shot through me.

That little .

He was doing this on purpose. He and Hollyn were playing my game, and they were winning. I was livid-- consumed by jealousy. I had completely stopped paying attention to whatever Eva was saying and gave my full undivided attention to Hollyn. I stared at her in disbelief, watching the lantern light flicker across the shadowy planes of her face, and gleam off the curve of her smile. She was playing me. She had to be.

As if she sensed that I was staring (glaring) at her, Hollyn finally looked up at me. My heart stuttered in my chest. I was angry, but I was nervous, too. I could only hope that this was part of some plan; one that was working all too well.

Her smile fell from her face, and I could see her expression turn wary. She was nervous. She should have been.

Yoongi leaned back in and said something else to her, brushing her hair out of her face as he did so. His fingers twirled in the strands of her hair, and she giggled again. That was the last straw.

My body reacted on its own. I sprang up and pulled free of Eva’s grip. She pouted up at me and began to complain, but I ignored her. I stepped out of her reach, and stalked over to Yoongi and Hollyn. They stared up at me, Hollyn with wariness and Yoongi with a smirk. I reached down and pried the two apart, pushing Yoongi to the side. He chuckled but leaned away, putting some distance between himself and Hollyn.

Without waiting another second, I grabbed Hollyn by the hand and pulled her up to my height. Once we stood face to face, our eyes locked. I felt my anger sputter under her gaze, but I forced myself to keep it going. I wasn't going to let her get away with this.

“Hollyn and I are going to bed now,” I said, loudly enough to address the whole group. No one replied, but I could feel them all staring. I didn't care. Without waiting for a response, I turned and stormed toward the far corner of the store, pulling Hollyn along with me. I didn’t need to look at Eva to know she was probably offended, and confused. Not that it mattered. Normally I might have felt and a little bad, but I had more important things to focus on.

We reached our sleeping bags in a matter of seconds as the glow from the lanterns faded into darkness behind us. My face was flushed and my heart was pounding as I plopped down onto the makeshift beds and pulled Hollyn down with me. I quickly wrapped an arm around her and pulled her toward me, until her back was pressed against my chest. I was sure she could feel my heart pounding, but I couldn't help it. I felt like a nervous kid, confessing to his grade-school crush. It didn't help to have her so close all of a sudden, with her smell and warmth invading my senses. She was driving me crazy.

We were silent for a moment, and I struggled to find something to say to her. My thoughts were jumbled, and my nerves were shot. There was so much I wanted to tell her, to ask her, but I couldn't bring myse