His Sweet Sunflower

10. Maybe he is just an asshole

Nora couldn't believe what just happened. How humiliating this whole thing was. Why was James so cruel to her? She has been nothing but nice to him.

When they first met, she hardly spoke to him. She politely said hi when Sarah introduced them, and after that, they didn't talk much. All she could remember is catching him staring at her intensely every once in a while.

She desperately searched her memory to figure out whether she did something that made him so angry at her. She tried to ask Sarah several times in the past, but Sarah was just as confused about it as she was.

"Maybe he is just an asshole?" Sarah suggested when she asked her a few months back.

That's not true because she had witnessed him be indifferent if not nice to other girls. She wished he would just ignore her like the rest of the school.

Sarah pulled up at her driveway and motioned Nora to come with her. Nora hesitated,

"I'm just gonna go back to my house and sleep so I can forget tonight ever happened," Nora said grimly.

Sarah grimaced. "Well, I get it, but I was hoping we could talk about it?"

"Can we talk at my house then? What if he came home and bothered me some more? The less I see that jerk, the better." Nora said in a hoarse voice.

"I doubt he will be back so soon. Besides, he won't do anything while I'm with you, I promise," Sarah reassured Nora. James acted more indifferent when Sarah was around as if she was an invisible barrier between them.

Nora agreed as she didn't feel like arguing with her friend anymore. She headed towards Sarah's bedroom, took out her night t-shirt and pajamas from her bag, and quickly changed out of the dress.

"Alright...now tell me what happened," Sarah demanded.

Nora told Sarah about what went down at the party, starting from her encounter with Mason and all the way up to how it ended with James threatening her.

"Wait... Mason Brown? The Mason brown from the basketball team?" Sarah exclaimed.

"Yes?" Nora nodded. What was the big deal?

"He is totally hot. You should definitely text him." Sarah suggested.

Nora covered her face with her hands in frustration. "Can we get back to the discussion of your brother, and why does he love torturing me, please?"

"Oh yeah... sorry. So he actually said you couldn't talk to Mason?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, and then his exact words were, you are my plaything, and I won't let some pretty boy take you away from me." Nora flinched at the unpleasant memory.

"Wow... sounds like broseph has the hots for our little Nora." Sarah teased.

"SARAH! This isn't a joke, he had been making my life miserable since the day we met, and I want it to stop. Besides, what kind of person treats someone he likes this way? It makes zero sense to me." Nora said furiously. "I'm sick and tired of this!"

Sarah threw her arms up in surrender, "okay, okay, just calm down. Jeez. I will talk to him. For now, let's just relax and watch a movie or something." Sarah hugged her to comfort her some more.

"I'm calm. Thank you for taking me home, Sarah, even though I know you were having a great time. I'm sorry it was cut so short." Nora was grateful.

"Nonsense, you are like a sister to me. And I'm sorry for leaving you alone there. I didn't realize James would act that way, I swear." Sarah added. "He wasn't this horrible before. It's like he is getting worse and worse. I don't know what his problem is."

Nora reached over and hugged her. "You couldn't have known. I just need to learn to protect myself better."

"Well, enough of this sappiness, and let's get to the movie and popcorn!" Sarah chirped.

Nora had a smile on her face for the first time that night. Watching a movie with her friend always cheered her up. It'll be the perfect distraction from James.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about him. The incident at the party kept replaying in her brain. Why does James hate her this much? Was it because she wasn't as pretty as the other girls? But why should it bother him? Nothing made sense.