Chapter 8

I didn't know why I asked Dallas out for coffee. Part of me felt guilty because I was being mean without meaning to. He was just being friendly, trying to get to know me. Although I didn't know why. Maybe I felt obligated to hang out with him after what he said to me-maybe a small part of me did want to talk to him. He-somehow, peaked my curiosity. Sort of. He sounded oddly sincere when he said he wanted to get to know me. Maybe he wasn't as bad as I thought. "Why did you chose red?" "Huh?" I looked up from my coffee mug I was staring at. "I mean-why did you chose to wear red to the ball?" Dallas asked, taking a moment to stop eating his muffin. "Because-it was the only decent dress." I looked at Dallas like he was an absolute idiot, baffled by the stupid question. I wasn't even sure how to answer that. "What if-the same dress was in purple?" He inquired, quirking his eyebrow. "Then it would be in purple." I blinked. His line of questioning was amusing, to say the least. However, I did not want to be here. This felt very forced and obligated. "So-we can establish that you are not good at making small talk." He nodded his head, looking out the window at the passing cars. He seemed much more distant than before-and that was my fault because of my attitude around him. I just-I didn't trust him or his intentions, nor was he the type of person I'd want to be friends with. The only reason we were sitting here was because we both needed to prove points by going to the dance together. I shrugged. "Your fault for asking me to come." "Technically, when I asked you refused-then you asked me." He smirked lightly. "Well, who's looking at the facts?" My random remarks will hopefully be enough to either get me through this, or preferably out of this. "So," he drawled, cocking his head to the side. "Tell me about yourself, Eliza." I blew air out in my cheeks. "What about me?" "Any siblings? What are your parents like?" I licked my lips, tapping my fingertips on my coffee mug. "I'm an only child. My parents are workaholics-mostly. We have Thursday night dinners, Sunday morning brunch-tennis occasionally." I stared at my hands as I spoke. Dallas nodded slowly, grinning like a child. "Do you like being an only child?" I thought about his question for a moment. Nobody had ever asked me anything like such so- I wasn't sure what the answer was. "It's-lonely at home sometimes when my parents are at work." I shrugged, still staring at my hands. "Uh-aside from that, I'm close to them so I don't feel like I'm missing anything. I guess." Dallas smiled, a genuine smile-not his usual grin or soul pestering smirk. "Sorry." I shook my head pathetically. Oh, God. I had just rambled about my life to him when he was just asking out of politeness. "No, don't apologize, sweets." His features softened, smiling lightly. "I asked. I wanted to know." "Really?" "Yes." He almost looked offended that I was surprised he was really interested. I nodded awkwardly. "Well-what about you? Siblings?" I didn't think I entirely cared. I think I was asking out of obligation. I already knew he had a brother. "An older brother." Dallas picked a piece off his muffin, popping it into his mouth. "Derek. He graduated last year." I nodded, slowly. "I think I remember him." I awkwardly shifted in my seat. "You do?" Dallas narrowed his eyes at me in a knowing way. "Actually, I could swear he's brought up a girl named Liza before." I shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess we were friends-sort of." I forced a cough. "Why is it so-awkward?" Dallas's eyebrows pulled together. He chuckled at my reaction. "It's not." I responded, maybe too quickly.I stared down at my coffee. "That's a lie." Dallas spoke firmly, smug because he was confident that he was right. When I looked at him again, his eyes were narrowed with suspicion. "It's nothing." I shook my head. Dallas stared at me, hard. "Eliza, you are lying." I squeezed my eyes shut tightly. "We-we hooked up." Dallas's grin slipped off his face, his lips forming a straight line. "You-you hooked up with my brother?" "Yes." I sipped on my coffee, slowly and for a long time. It was oddly-nice to see Dallas looked distressed. He got under my skin every opportunity he found. Now, I had one on him. "No." Dallas shook his head, laughing airily. "No-you didn't. You're just saying that." I smiled sheepishly. "Sal Burrows's New Years Eve party, last year." Dallas blinked. "How would you have gone to a seniors party?" He still thought I was messing with him. "Dallas-" "You're joking." I couldn't bite back my laughs. The look on his face-it was priceless. "Calm down." "You are being serious." I smiled innocently. "Well-sort of." "Did you-or did you not?" Dallas asked slowly, his gaze piercing holes through my skin. He was not amused anymore. "Well-we did but it stopped." I winced lightly, starting to confuse myself. "We were friends for a long time. We were drunk at the party and one thing led to another-" "I don't know if I want to hear the details." Dallas shifted in his seat, visibly looking uncomfortable. I leaned back, smiling faintly. "We started doing-stuff but we stopped." Dallas's eyes met mine. They narrowed. "Did he-hurt you?" His fists clenched tightly. "God, no." I shook my head frantically. "The countdown to the New Year started and your brother snapped back into reality-so, it stopped before it escalated." Dallas stared at me, his eyebrows furrowing. "What the hell does that mean?" "I don't know," I shook my head softly. "We were friends. He didn't want to hurt me-or take advantage because we were drunk. He stopped it from escalating." Thinking about it, it made sense. We were drunk, he was older than me-he didn't want to potentially hurt me. We distanced after he graduated. I never quite realized that Derek and Dallas were brothers-not until today. It never occurred to me. It was never relevant-because Dallas was never relevant to me. Dallas cringed. "Delightful."