Hot Cream (732 views)

”Either way if we’re in the same house, we’re going to see each other.” Cliff snapped back, scowling at her jab that she had a life and he didn’t. What would she know about his life? He was in the house sometimes, but that was only because he liked his housemates. Well... until now. Now he grit his teeth in anger.

She was less of an open book than he was about herself and he noted that with irritation, too – no matter what he said to her, she wasn’t affected. And he hated that she affected him like this, too. She didn’t know anything! Her words were unfounded and he... he hated that they still bothered him. ”It’s not like I want to know anything about you, anyway! And you still don’t know me. It only bother me because I – because I had a bad day at work.”

That was only half right. He growled, again, at her last statement. Was she just trying to get on his nerves now? ”I’m not pissed!”

Cliff still wasn’t happy about this arrangement and folded his arms across his chest. He hated that she’d gotten under his skin so easily. He could avoid her all he wanted but she was still there, he’d see her every day when he was going in and out of the kitchen, or heading to his room, she’d be there, and he looked away angrily. It wasn’t fair. She made him think about things he’d rather not think about. At her comment about some poor person being chained to him he looked away and folded his arms over his chest. That didn’t matter right now! What did some flirty girl who couldn’t keep her date know about marriage? About love?

”That’s rich, coming from someone who can’t even get their date to show up! At least by that point, they’d know what they’re in for with me!” Besides, if he loved someone, he wouldn’t be like this. He wouldn’t be a short fuse with them. He’d be able to come home to them, unwind to them, relax. It would be the opposite of this. The anger would disappear when he saw the face, he was sure – just like his parents had been. No matter how bad one of their days was, they were happy. And that was what he’d have someday.

This was it. The dumb elevator wasn’t coming. He was a lair – he was getting more pissed off by the second. Cliff turned toward the stairs and started to ascend them, but she was, of course, in the way. He stopped a few steps below her. ”If you’re so determined for us to just avoid each other, then move,” he spat.

Why wouldn’t she leave him alone?! Cliff grit his teeth together at her retort. She was so much more composed than he was being and he hated it! Normally, Cliff was calm and collected about this stuff. But she’d said things that were unnerving – if he was an iceberg floating, she’d stabbed at what was underneath instead of what was above water. And he knew nothing about her. Not even her name, though that could be acquired without asking her. He could just look online, and find her name in his house. It listed all the housemates by name.

”I don’t care about you or your life! And you don’t know anything about me either! You think you know, but you don’t! You’re just sprouting a lot of crap you don’t understand.” He rolled his eyes when she said she was only going to move because she wanted to. Whatever. He wished she’d move herself out of the damn house. He followed her, and unfortunately, saw her go into the kitchen. There went his plans to make something for dinner! Whatever, it wasn’t like he cared. He rolled his eyes and entered his room, slamming the door behind him, ready to just lose himself in shows and scream into his pillow as he tried not to think about the reality of going back to Maine.

Cliff was perfectly content to just chill in his room. He expected that Logan would do the same, would want nothing to do with him. But when he slammed the door he heard her comment and groaned. Was she serious?! He wanted a drink! He didn’t have anything in his room, and he really hated that. She couldn’t... surely mean to be out there all night, right? She’d get tired eventually, and retire to her room, and when she did that, that was when Cliff was going to go to get something to drink!

But he listened, and didn’t hear any movements. Maybe... she closed the door silently? He didn’t know. He slowly got up from his desk, and glanced at his phone. It had been a half an hour... she had to have left, right? Right! He left his room with vigor, enthusiastic to get his hands on the drinks he’d left in the fridge.

When he entered the kitchen, he grit his teeth when he saw Logan there.

”Why are you hanging out in the kitchen like a hobo? You have a room.” He rolled his eyes and opened the fridge, pulling out a can of sweet tea. He popped it, and downed some of the drink. He felt better now, less erratic, less stressed after having relaxed for a few minutes. Still... didn’t mean he liked Logan. ”Trying to prove a point no one’s going to listen to?”

”it matters because I live here, too.” Cliff scowled at her request for a rule book. Seriously? Was she 5 years old? It was a matter of common decency. But she definitely wasn’t giving him any, no space, no nothing. He didn’t get why. Still didn’t.

”I came here for a drink.” Cliff replied going towards the fridge He opened it and pulled out the cup of tea left in it. He narrowed his eyes at the ice cream container in the fridge, he’d gotten it for the house to use when he’d closed one night at work, but it was partially gone... and he saw Logan eating some of the ice cream.

”You do know that was my ice cream, right?” He asked. He wasn’t really pissed about it, but he’d jump on any situation to make her feel villainized. He got his glass of tea and put the container in the fridge. ”You’re so confrontational.”

He rolled his eyes again, leaning against the back of the counter as he took a sip of his tea. He didn’t pay any attention to whatever Loganw as doing on the computer – not his business – and instead focused on the window leading outside. He was seriously debating the pros and cons fo going out for a late night walk to get out of the house for a few hours when she spoke up again. He narrowed his eyes.

”I don’t actually care if you take the ice cream. I brought it for the house. The extra ice cream we make gets to be taken home after so long. I can’t eat all of that myself.” He said. In all honesty the only person in this house he had issue with was Logan. But if he said that he knew she’d just get all confident and eat anything he ever put in the damn fridge. Especially at her last sentence! Cliff narrowed his eyes in irritation. ”I am not confrontational. In fact, I prefer to avoid my problems. You just like to bring problems up. Which is why you’re confrontational.”

”I’m not making a big deal out of it!” Cliff said though, by getting irritated, he was kind of making a big deal out of it. He just pointed it out because it was true, because he wanted to spite Logan and make her angry that she was eating his ice cream. He rolled his eyes and sipped on his tea, focusing on the table. He could see Logan’s phone resting beside her laptop.

”I’m not trying to make you into some bad girl! You’re doing that completely on your own.” Cliff retorted. As if he needed an excuse – as if that would work! Noah would no doubt be drooling over Logan the second he saw her, and Pippa was so friendly she’d be the type to befriend anyone, even Logan. He saw the phone vibrate and Logan look over the message. He expected her to smirk and text the person – probably some booty call or something he assumed – but she looked more somber than he’d thought she would have as she put the phone face down. Maybe it was the person who stood her up, maybe he was apologizing and she wasn’t buying it. ”our housemates aren’t going to hate you so this stupid thing we have between us isn’t going to become a war.” Yeah, they wouldn’t hate her unless she seriously did something hurtful – and Cliff wasn’t about to tell Pippa and Noah that she’d gotten under his skin. Neither of them even knew he wanted to go back to Maine after he graduated. ”...so... temporary truce?”

He just wanted to live. He didn’t want her to try to make his life miserable... maybe they could just... ignore one another. That’d be fine.

What the hell?! He was trying to be the bigger person here, he was trying to dispel the tension they obviously had between them just so that they could live together without wanting to kill each other. He rolled his eyes again and ran his fingers through his hair. Unbelievable. Her whole spiel about not caring what other people thought about her made him think the opposite about her. He narrowed his eyes.

”No, I’m doing this because I don’t want to be miserable in my dorm.” He was already miserable at home and she obviously figured out that much about him, and he hated it. ”There is something for me being polite to you! Not being driven crazy when I’m trying to relax. Seriously. I’m not telling you how they feel I’m just giving you an idea... everyone really hates you, doesn’t they?”

He took another drink of his tea as he regarded her war comment. Wars between people... was that what he and his mother had? Or, probably, a cold war if anything. And him and Johnathan... yeah, there had to be a war there. He didn’t have one with Logan... she just got on his nerves. ”No! I don’t want to hear your stupid sob stories. I just want you to stop being an all-knowing bitch for no reason. Apparently, that’s too much to ask.”

How could anyone on the face of the earth put up with this?! Cliff was a pessimist most of the time, but even he found Logan’s comments to be frustrating. Moving on was exactly, literally, what he’d been trying to do. He was just trying to make things realitively peaceful and she was just blah blah blah. He slummed his elbow on the counter and breathed out a sigh.

”You’re confrontational. I’m trying to make this work but apparently nothing ever works right for me.” Cliff glared at her comment about people. ”Are you trying to quote Taylor Swift? Because I don’t care about that haters gonna hate stuff. I don’t bother with people who hate me. I just ignore them until they go away. Which is kind of impossible with you because you’re just making more of a nuisance of yourself.”

He rolled his eyes. ”Maybe not to your face,” he mumbled, sure that he wasn’t the only person who’d come to the conclusion that she was a bitch. And a self-entitled one, too. She seemed to think she could figure him out at a glance when she really couldn’t. ”I wouldn’t have wanted to handle you physically, anyway. You’re not my type, I was just put on the spot because I couldn’t get out of your creepy advances. I don’t want to handle you. Period. I just want you and I to pretend one another doesn’t exist and continue to be miserable individually. Don’t try to tell me you’re not miserable. Obviously you are. But it doesn’t matter to me either way.”

Was she... a serious person? Cliff couldn’t believe she was getting annoyed at him for just wanting to put this past them! That meant that obviously she was confrontational, which just proved his point! He wasn’t playing the victim card either, and that comment really got under his skin. He wasn’t a victim! Or, well, he wasn’t trying to be one. He was just trying to exist and she was making that very difficult.

”You just keep confronting me! You’re proving my point!” He complained. He really didn’t get her. He rolled his eyes. ”Why the heck would I ever go to you for anything?! You’re not my friend! You’re not even nice, you’re definitely not someone worth confiding in! Ever! There’s a reason you probably don’t have many friends and that’s probably it.” he washed out his cup, finished with his tea, more irritated than before. He should have just taken the cup to his room and washed it later... he glared at the left ice cream on the table. ”Are you gonna clean that? Or are you trying to attract more flies than just you to this place?!”

Cliff rolled his eyes as she left, which left him alone in the kitchen. It was oddly peaceful, but he was conscious of how quiet it was. He needed to get some rest. He wanted to go hiking tomorrow and it was getting late. He wasn’t going to let that girl interfere with his sleep schedule.

He was about to head to his room when he heard a vibration and looked over to see the things she’d left – her laptop and phone. Who left that out here when they were mad at someone? He came to the conclusion she must have left them here. He didn’t have any interest in snooping through her things and was about to leave without bothering with her stuff – but then he got an idea. It was totally harmless! But it’d freak her out. He had to act fast, in case she came out here looking for her crap.

He grabbed a chair and quietly pulled it towards the counter. He stood up on it and picked up her closed laptop, sliding it on top of the shelves. He paid no attention to dust. Even with the chair Cliff had to stretch to get the laptop up there. He pushed it back so it wasn’t visible to the naked eye just scanning the kitchen and then got down from his chair, putting it back as though it’d never been touched. He then grabbed her phone. What to do with this... he looked around the room and saw a drawer that contained silverware and opened it quietly, picking up the little divider and hiding it behind it. He grinned childishly after his success and slid the drawer shut. She still hadn’t come out, so he took that moment and went back to his room, shutting the door, hoping it was audible to her from her room. Maybe she’d go out there to look for her stuff... he stayed behind his door, waiting to hear her reaction, the smirk not leaving his lips.

Cliff was listening from behind his door for her reaction. He was expecting her to start throwing a fit – he heard he leave her room – but she didn’t start screaming. If he concentrated hard enough he thought he could hear a vibration but then again it might have just been her walking around the room. He wondered if she’d found them yet. He wished he could see her face! It was probably hilarious! He stifled giggles behind his hand. He wondered if Noah was up, but assumed not – he’d have heard the commotion outside, and come out to see what was up. Oh man, Cliff couldn’t wait to tell him about how awesome his prank was!

He expected Logan to come crying to his door after a few minutes, assuming he took her stuff. Or, maybe screaming. Though the latter would risk waking up the rest of the house. Then again she didn’t seem like she’d scream for no good reason – she’d want to scream at him, not at the empty air! He heard footsteps approaching and quieted his giggles.

So she hadn’t found them yet? Lame. He was expecting for her to at least find the phone. Still, he didn’t care. He was going to play ignorant for a while and milk this for what he could.

”What the heck would I want your laptop for? Don’t tell me you’re dumb enough not to have a pass lock on it?” He turned around and opened the door, frowning at her. She looked annoyed. ”Learn how to take care of your own stuff already.”

He folded his arms across his chest, not moving from his spot in front of his room. He saw her look around him at the contents of his room but paid little mind to her curiosity. Of course she was probably just looking to see it the laptop was in there – which it wasn’t! Cliff wasn’t a liar when he said the laptop wasn’t in his room!

”I’m not joking. It’s not in my room.” He said. He glanced back towards the kitchen, nodding towards it with his head. Her words were definitely a challenge and didn’t intimidate him, because he knew this was coming. He’d started a battle here by hiding her crap. Even if it wasn’t in his room, if he didn’t relent and tell her where it was, she’d see this as a declaration of war. And he didn’t care if she did. He’d be more than willing to participate! The objects he couldn’t stand her getting to were hidden and it’s not like she’d know they mattered. His laptop was important, yeah, and he’d be annoyed if she got to it but he didn’t think she could destroy it. He could easily get on housing to fine her for it, if she intentionally destroyed it. Then he’d get an even better laptop! ”You don’t know me. You’ve made some lucky guesses and you’ve gotten under my skin. We both have family issues, but who doesn’t have issues? Your confidence is completely useless.”

He nudged, again, to the kitchen.

”I’m not lying. You’re making a big reach, assuming it’s in here.” He said, proud of himself for his little hint even though it probably just sounded like an odd choice of words to Logan.

And there she went calling him an open book again! He wasn’t. Sure, she knew that he had issues, but she could never understand. She could even know he hated Johnathan, and his mother, but she’d never know why. She’d never get to experience the memories he had with Rhett. She could never understand how much it hurt when his mother just packed up and moved, and then moved on, and had never mentioned Rhett once since they moved. Not once, not even on the anniversary of his funeral. She would never be able to picture how it stung, that the one person in the world who could share his memories of his father had erased her from her mind.

”You’ve read the table of contents, but you have no idea what’s happening in the chapters.” Cliff said. He didn’t believe that she was over her issues. She wouldn’t be if she was projecting her ill feelings onto him. But then she questioned his word choice and he couldn’t act any longer. His lips twisted up into a conniving smirk when she mentioned hiding it. He leaned against his doorframe, arms crossed over his chest. ”I didn’t lie to you. It’s in the kitchen, waiting for you to find it. It might be a little above you to find it, though.”

God. He was so good at this! He started to snicker to himself in victory.