Page 17 of I Hate You More

“So…” I prompted.

“So, I was thinking about how your dad won’t let you date,” she started.

“A tragedy, I know, but it doesn’t really help with the whole Chase problem,” I replied.

“Except that it does!” Tessa’s brown eyes were sparkling with anticipation as she looked at me. “Your Dad would put a stop to it if he found you dating a boy, right?”

“Yep,” I agreed. “He’d pretty much kill them.”

“Exactly. So, can you imagine what he’d do if the boy in question lived in your house?”

Tessa was practically bouncing up and down on the bed as she spoke, her excitement getting the better of her. I frowned as I returned her stare, and my whole face scrunched up in repulsion as I started to realize what she was getting at. “You think I should date Chase?” I could barely keep my voice at a normal pitch.

“Yes. Isn’t it perfect?”

“Not even slightly.”

The enthusiasm in Tessa’s eyes was immediately dampened by my reaction. “But if your dad found out you were dating, he’d definitely kick Chase out. That’s what you want. Isn’t it?”

I nodded. “Of course, it is. But there are no guarantees my dad would even give him the boot. Knowing my luck, he’d ground me for the rest of the year and Chase wouldstillbe living with us. And I haven’t even begun to factor in the whole ‘having to date Chase’ aspect. We’d kill each other.”

“It’s not like you’d really be dating him,” Tessa said. “You’d be faking it.”

Miles chuckled. “She can’t fake it with him if she can’t get him to date her in the first place.”

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“What?” he said. “It’s a genuine flaw in the plan. You and Chase despise one another. He’s not exactly going to fall at your feet.”

“Miles has a point,” Mia agreed.

Tessa wouldn’t be derailed though. “He doesn’t have to fall at her feet,” she said. “Chase is a boy, and Ally is hot. I bet if she came onto him there’s no way he would resist. All she needs to do is have Mr. Lockwood catch the two of them in a compromising position. If what he sees is convincing enough, there’s no way he would let Chase stay in the house.”

My cheeks were flaming with heat by this point. Tessa was now suggesting I seduce Chase, which was simply crazy. Even if I wanted to go along with the plan, I shared Miles’ and Mia’s doubts. There was no way Chase would be even slightly tempted by me. He thought I was a total loser and hated my guts. I could have looked like a Victoria’s Secret angel and it wouldn’t have mattered—looks just didn’t come into it when you shared a hatred as strong as ours.

I’d held so much hope in Tessa’s brilliant plan, and it was completely deflating to realize she hadn’t come up with the miracle I was hoping for. I was officially stuck with Chase. I let out a long, sad sigh as I looked around at my friends. “It won’t work,” I said. “And I don’t think I could go through with it anyway. I couldn’t get close to someone as horrible as Chase even if I was just pretending.”

“So, you won’t even try?” Tessa asked, disappointment clouding her eyes.

“I can’t,” I replied. “Look, perhaps living with Chase won’t be so bad?”

“It’s been one day, Ally,” Tessa said. “You’ve only spent one night with him in the same house. You don’t know how bad it will be.”

“Exactly,” I said. “Maybe it will be better than I’m expecting. He suggested a truce, after all, so perhaps I can handle living with him for a year.”

Tessa frowned and got up from the bed. I could have sworn she muttered the word “delusional” under her breath as she turned away.

“Anyway, I should probably get home and start my homework,” I said, pushing myself up off the bed. The thought of returning to the house and finding Chase there set me on edge, but I couldn’t admit it out loud. Not when I’d just told my friends I thought I could handle living with him for a year. They were all giving me identical looks of concern though, and I knew they could see right through my façade.

“It’ll be fine,” I said. “You’ll see.”

5

Ally

Chase’s carwas already in the drive when I arrived home, and I hesitated on the sidewalk. Shane wasn’t back from practice yet, and my dad’s car was nowhere to be seen. It would just be the two of us in the house, and the thought had my eye twitching in agitation.

There wasn’t one reason that seemed good enough to lure me inside. Not even my Kindle felt worth the risk of seeing Chase. I wanted more than anything to turn around and go back to Tessa’s house, but I could hardly spend the rest of the year hiding out there. The only thing that persuaded me to start walking toward the front door was the fact I had homework to do. I really wished I wasn’t so committed to my study schedule.

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