Chapter 35:

Feelings

Ana's heart skipped a beat when Seto smiled. It was so sweet she felt she could taste cotton candy in her mouth. What? What the heck? When did he learn to smile like that? Ana looked around at the guests and noticed a few other teen girls that had come with their parents staring at Seto mesmerized. Frickin' idiot. Ana turned and walked away from Seto, her heart beating a mile a minute. For some reason, it bothered her they were staring at him. No, no, no.

She ducked into a side hallway she'd discovered last time her parents forced her to come.

"Ana-chan, wait." Seto gently grabbed her wrist.

Where his hand touched grew warm much too quickly and her heart skipped a beat. She jerked her wrist out of his hand. He seemed a little hurt, but said nothing.

"I… need some fresh air," she said and headed for a door that led out into the garden behind the mansion.

They'd lit up the garden with fairy lights, giving it a magical glow. The night air was warm, but not as hot as the day. She hurried to the middle of the garden and plopped down on the edge of a fountain with a baby cupid in the middle spitting out water. It was only then she realized how badly her feet hurt. Whoever invented high heels was a total masochist. Ana took off her midnight blue heels and rubbed her foot. There was a red spot around her toes and the skin was peeling on her heel. Crud. Blisters. I really shouldn't have danced.

Seto looked down at her, concerned. Ana ignored him, put her feet down, and leaned back, looking up at the night sky. It was a clear night and she could see some stars. Click. Ana froze and looked forward. Seto had taken out his phone, and pointed it at her.

"Did you just take my picture without permission?" Ana growled.

"Oh, would you have given me permission?" Seto chuckled.

She stood up. Her sore feet felt good against the stone pavement. "Of course not. Delete that!"

"I don't wanna." Seto smirked at her.

"That's an invasion of my privacy." Ana growled.

Seto turned away and pouted. "I don't want to."

"You ass. Wait, now that I think about it, this is the second time you've taken my picture without permission. You were supposed to delete the other one after our contract was fulfilled. Did you?" Ana's eyes narrowed.

Seto flinched and looked guilty.

"Amin-chan!" Ana snapped. "You promised to delete it."

"Do I have to?" He looked at her like she'd struck his puppy. "It's a cute picture… You sleeping on my shoulder…"

Ana's face grew warm at the way he phrased it. "No! You promised to delete it. You signed a contract saying you would."

He sighed. "Fine. I'll delete it when I get home."

"Great, now delete that other one too." Ana pointed at his phone.

This time Seto smiled mischievously. "No."

Ah, I'm feeling déjà vu'. Ana tried to grab at his phone, but he held it above her head. This time the smile he gave her wasn't manipulative or evil but boyish and playful. She resisted smacking him this time.

"Amin-chan, please delete it?" Ana did her best to contain her irritation.

Apparently, her plea was more effective this time because he looked a little sad.

"I don't want to." He restated and looked at his phone, conflicted.

"Why not? You'd rather piss me off than delete that picture?" Ana glared at him.

He frowned. "But you look really pretty tonight and I want to remember it."

Ana was taken aback by his bluntness and her face grew warm. However, her irritation was stronger than her embarrassment. She'd spent hours on her hair and makeup, but his straight-faced reaction and bland response when she'd asked him how she looked had seriously been disappointing.

"You said earlier that I just looked fine." She glared up at him, and he seemed taken aback.

"Oh, um…" His ears and cheeks turned red as he looked away from her. "I actually thought you looked so pretty that my mind went blank right before you asked me."

Ana felt a weird butterfly sensation in her stomach. This jerk!

"That… That still doesn't give you permission to take my picture," she finally said despite the intense pounding of her heart.

Seto ticked his tongue in irritation. Don't think I don't see what you're doing. I'm not going to let you keep the picture. They were silent for a moment while Seto avoided her eyes and Ana glared at him. He finally sighed and turned back to her.

"I mean that, though. You're beautiful." Seto's sincerity felt like someone poured honey in her mouth.

"You still can't keep the picture." Ana turned her head away from him. Her heart was racing a mile a minute.

"Then… I'll delete it if you take a picture with me."

Ana looked back at him and found him giving her that boyish, playful smile again. She didn't like that smile. It made it hard to think straight. "Why?"

"Are you really so opposed to taking a picture together?" Seto raised an eyebrow, pushing the question back on her.

She opened her mouth but couldn't think of a reason to give him. "Fine. But you have to delete the picture and no backing up other copies."

"Alright." Seto strode over to her and stood next to her before turning his phone on both of them.

Ana tensed up and tried to take a step sideways, but Seto placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back.

"If you're that far away, you won't be in the shot." Seto complained.

Wait, why did I agree to this? All I had to do was say I didn't want to.

"Smile," Seto said, and she reflexively smiled.

He took the picture. His hand was still resting on her arm as he pulled the phone down to look at it. She couldn't breathe. Instinctively she shoved him away, but unfortunately, she shoved him too hard. He fell over the edge of the fountain and landed in the water with a loud splash. The fountain wasn't deep, and he'd held up his phone so that it wouldn't go in the water. Ana stopped breathing as she felt the heat drain from her face. She braced for some sort of angry response or retaliation, but Seto calmly climbed out of the fountain. He stood there silently. His pants and bottom half of his suit were dripping wet.

"I… I'm really sorry." Ana apologized, then laughed nervously. "I'm surprised you didn't pull me in as payback."

Seto's gaze was so icy as he stared down at her she shrunk under the pressure. "I thought about it."

"I'm sorry…" She looked at the ground, feeling awful.

"Why did you shove me in?" Seto asked.

Ana didn't know how to explain that him being close had made her so nervous that she couldn't think straight. I can't say that. It will sound like I like him… Oh, frick'. I like him. The sudden realization made her mind go blank.

"Ana-chan?" Seto growled at her.

"I don't know. I just did." She quickly came up with something. "On the bright side, we can leave early now."

He didn't seem happy about that at all. Grumbling, he headed back to the mansion. Ana grabbed her shoes and followed him while having a mental crisis. I can't like him. I just can't. He's an ass who's manipulative… Well, I can be too and no one's perfect. Damn it! No, no, no. I can't… Well, he did save my life and seems to genuinely like me. No! Just because someone likes you doesn't mean you should date them. That's horrible. You're giving them false hope. Wait, he hasn't asked me to date him… Why does that kind of piss me off if I don't like him? Ugh. No! I can't like him. He's a jerk! Though he's really not as jerky as I thought. He's actually pretty nice to me, and it's fun to mess with him when he's being an Amin-chan. Frick'! Frick'! No, I don't like him! I'm not the least bit attracted to him.

"Ana-chan!"

Ana looked up and found Seto was a little close for comfort.

"I've been calling you. Which way to the bathroom?" Seto raised an eyebrow at her.

He really has a pleasant face and pretty eyes. "D-down the hall to the left!"

He looked at her, perplexed. "Are you alright if I leave you alone for a bit?"

Ana nodded. "For a little while."

He headed to the bathroom. Why the heck is he so considerate of me? Yet, it doesn't feel like he's judging me while being considerate… Frick' I like him. Seto came back a little dryer than before, but still not appropriate to hang out at a party, so they quietly slipped out. Ana couldn't think of anything to say as he drove them back. When they got to her house, she looked at him apologetically.

"Sorry I pushed you into the fountain," Ana apologized again.

Seto smirked at her. "How are you going to make it up to me?"

She looked at him, and her heart nearly stopped. Quickly, she unbuckled herself and threw open the door. She nearly fell out of the car, but Seto caught her arm and pulled her upright. Her breathing was fast as she tried to calm down from the sudden fall.

Seto looked at her, concerned. "Greif, calm down. I was just teasing you."

Ana pulled herself out of his grasp, and this time got out of the car without falling. She didn't say goodbye as she hurried on into the house. Hikari was in the hallway pacing when he saw her. He snapped out of his trance surprised.

"You're back early, what happen—"

"Nothing!" She shouted, practically ran up to her room, and locked herself in. She slid to the ground and leaned against her door. Crud. I like him.