A Difference in Politics Ch. 01

'What a crazy bitch,' he thought. He would be a happy man if he never saw her ass again.

Two mornings after his incident with Lauren, Ryan was sitting at his computer reading his school email in frustration. Ryan was frustrated at two particular emails; the first of his frustrations was from his professor notifying him that he had no choice but to remain Lauren's partner; the second was an arrogant email from Lauren who he was really starting to highly detest.

I regret the loss of my temper, but I stand by everything I said on Friday, and I feel that you owe me an apology. For our grades, we must work together, and so being the bigger person I step forward and will try, no matter how unpleasant it maybe, to work with you. Lauren

'What an arrogant bitch,' he thought as he read the letter over. He was positively steaming. Ryan felt as though he had never been madder at a single person in all of his life. Clenching his right hand tightly he clicked out of the email before he could email her a nasty response; after all, he had a grade to keep up.

If Ryan thought the next meet-up would go smoothly, he was sadly mistaken.

"Of course you think that," he heard himself saying, "You're a liberal," he snorted,

"What's wrong with being liberal?" Lauren asked hotly.

"Oh nothing, other than the fact that they haven't a thought in their head that wasn't placed in there by someone else."

He knew what he said was out of line, but he could not stop himself from saying it. This girl seemed to have made it her mission to piss him off, and if he was going to be angry he damn well was going to make sure she was too.

Deep down past the dislike and vengeance, Ryan wanted a reason to dislike her. What was it with him wanting to always piss this chick off? Ryan could not stop his need to always have to behave like an ass towards her. He watched her eyes darken.

"You know what? I know you're used to people kissing your ass," she said fiercely, "Big time future law student and all, but I am not an ass kissing person, so you certainly will not have to worry about me fawning over you because that's not my style, and frankly, you're not my type. With that said, I do hope we can get along and work this assignment out smoothly; though, that's not to say I expect the two of us to be bosom buddies."

Looking at him haughtily she added with sarcasm, "Not that I would ever expect that to happen."

Keeping his face controlled, something he had finally learned how to do in the last few days with working with her, Ryan looked at his watch, looked at her, and said evenly, "I see you still haven't changed much since our last meet up."

"Always a pleasure," she said stiffly.

Eyeing her closely he said to her what he knew would push her to the extreme, "No worries from me," he said indifferently, "in the last few days I've learned how to deal with people like yourself, that is to say, people who talk more than they should because they assume they know everything."

Pausing, he cleared his throat and found himself saying, "You're arrogant. The worst thing is you don't even realize your arrogance and condescending attitude because you're so busy condemning people for carrying the same characteristics that you carry yourself." Ryan watched her profile stiffen at his words but didn't stop, "You're so quick to judge me as the big bad wolf only because you're conscious of your own abilities, or lack of them. Perhaps if you had more confidence in yourself you'd be a more likeable person; certainly you have likeable characteristics, your mouth just ruins it."

For the second time since they met, Ryan thought Lauren was going to strike him, but to his surprise, she stared at him meekly before opening her mouth as if to say something then abruptly closing it. Seconds later, he watched her hand rise again, but this time her hand did not fall back down. She had slapped him.

He felt the sting of her hand hit his face and knew that right away there would be a red handprint where her hand hit his face. Lauren then reached her hand back as if to slap him again, but to his own surprise, he grabbed her hand, and yanked her causing her body to turn so that her back was against his body. Gripping her torso tightly, he whispered in her ear, "That was much uncalled for." Breathing heavily, he felt her struggling to get out of his grip, but he never loosened his hold.

"Are you going to let me go?" Lauren asked struggling against him.

"No," he replied calmly holding her tighter.

"Excuse me?" Lauren said, a little shocked.

"Excuse me; you just slapped me, why should I let you go so you can strike me again? I ought to call the police on your sorry ass for assault," Ryan said angrily.

"Assault?" she said shrilly, "All you've done is try you best to insult and degrade me!" She struggled against him but still not moving him a bit. He was much stronger than she was and he knew she would never get out of his lock.

"That gives you no right to put your hands on me," he said a little too loud.

"You're right; I should not have touched you," she said embarrassed.

"You need to check your temper," Ryan said while adjusting his hold. Why he thought it was safe to let her go still amazes him, but he flung her forward and stepped back. Moreover, before he could think anything she had rushed him and they were wrestling on the floor. She was trying to pin him to the ground and instead of being mad, he was amused, and could not help but laugh at her, which made her even madder. Lauren had finally got a grip on him and had her knee against his stomach.

As quick as lightning Ryan turned her around so that she was on her back and grabbed both of her wrists so that his knees were resting at either side of her struggling body. Lauren's face was flushed, and she had a hard look in her eyes. Ryan had never been this close to Lauren before, and oddly enough, he felt a little turned on by her boldness at attacking him, not to mention she smelled good and was soft to the touch.

"Okay, you win," she said breaking his thoughts. Lauren was out of breath and clearly, she even figured that she had gotten herself in a helpless situation.

"Oh I win," he said nastily, "of course I win, you can't move!"

Saying so only made her madder and the struggle began again, but still she could not get out of her restraint. Looking down at her was a sight to see. She was sprawled out on the floor, chest heaving, shirt ripped, and hair incredibility wild.

"I promise, I give up. I won't try and attack you again," she said in resignation.

"If you try to attack me again, I promise you I won't be as nice as I've been," he threatened before releasing her.

Was this the scene where they both got up from wrestling and passionately ran into each other's arms? Hell no, this was real life, not some fucked up dollar romance novel. He watched as Lauren got up, ran her fingers through her hair while patting it down, she adjusted her ripped shirt to cover her stomach and looked at him haughtily.

"You sure seem to be looking dignified to be thrown on the ground," he said sarcastically. Ryan's eyes traveled down to Lauren's ripped shirt where he caught quite a view of not only Lauren's lacy bra but also a heaving plump breast, which oddly gave a jolt to Ryan's stomach. Lauren, catching Ryan's lingering eyes looked down at her own ripped shirt and sneered at him before saying,

"Thanks for causing the destruction of one of my favorite shirts."

She said it so nastily that Ryan had half a mind to slap her, but instead, before Lauren had a chance to react he had grabbed her shirt in both hands and ripped it even further, causing it to be only held together by the seam. Looking her dead in the eye Ryan said with dripping disdain, "Sorry."

Ryan did not know why he did it; hell, he did not even realize that the sight of Lauren's full heaving breast would turn him on, all he knew was that it gave him immense satisfaction to rip Lauren's favorite shirt.

"You ignorant barbarian," Lauren hissed at him through gritted teeth, "You stupid, ignorant, cunt."

"Now wait just a minute," Ryan had had enough of the name-calling, and the word cunt was not a word he ever been called, yet alone a word he used loosely.

Eyes flashing, fished clenched, and teeth gritted Lauren said, "No you wait a minute, asshole. You just ruined a sixty dollar t-shirt."

"What a shame," Ryan said sarcastically, "Tell the owner what an idiot they are for spending sixty dollars on a t-shirt."

Stepping towards him Lauren waved her index finger wildly at him and said shrilly, "I suppose you think you're clever?" Thump, Lauren had poked him hard in the chest causing him to back up. Stepping forward, "I suppose you think that was a funny one liner?" Thump, she had poked him even harder in the chest causing him to back up more. Once again stepping towards him Lauren said, "I suppose you think you're just going to get away with ripping my shirt?" Thump, she poked him for the third time causing him to back into the wall.

He had had enough, not only that but he could not back up any more. Ryan was not about to let some half-naked chick push him around in his own house. Eyes flashing fist clenched Ryan stepped forward now causing Lauren to back up and said evenly, "I think it's about time you finished poking me."

"I think it's about time you apologized to me!" Lauren said stamping her foot.

"Apologized?" he asked outraged. This girl slaps him and expects him to apologize, not in his right state of mind.

"Yeah apologize for ripping my shirt," Lauren demanded, "and then you can try paying for my shirt, or I'll — —"

Stepping forward so that Lauren had to step back, Ryan said evenly, "You'll what? Try and throw me on the ground again?" One contemptuous look later and Lauren had stormed out the door.

A week had passed since their incident and still no word from Lauren. Ryan was starting to feel as though their project was never going to be launched, and the more he thought about Lauren, the worse he felt. Sure Ryan could be an ass, but he certainly still was an ass with a conscience, and he realized after a few days of thought, and discussion with his friend Jake, that it was practically his fault that the situation had ended the way it had. Lying on his couch, Ryan reflected on the conversation he had had with Jake a few days ago.

"Ryan my man," his friend Jake's surfer voice came from over the phone, "You've got to realize dude that you can't go insulting everyone that doesn't agree with you."

Ryan had already known that, but had a hard time concealing his thoughts and emotions as he heard his friend Jake say, "Dude, man there are going to be lots of chicks, I mean people, in your life that you may not agree with, but you're still going to be forced to work with them, and if you can't work with them because of your belief differences how are you going to manage anything in life, my man? Just think if you were in their shoes and someone insulted you based off your beliefs. Dude, you already told me you're not down with that."

"Yeah, I suppose." Ryan had said.

"So my man, what do her boobs look like?"

"Excuse me?" Ryan had asked as though the thought had never occurred to him, which of course it had not, much.

"What do her boobs look like, my man? You did rip her shirt, and so I'm sure you got a great view of those magnificent tits."

"Uh, I don't really recall," Ryan had lied. He did not want to tell his best friend that the girl who slapped him and called him a cunt rather turned him on at moments.

After hanging up with Jake, Ryan started to feel a little bad for the way he had treated Lauren, and for the first time in a long time regretted his infamous tongue. Moreover, here he was now thinking about how he was going to fail his political science class because it seemed as though he and Lauren were not going to work out their problem. Before he could dance any more in his own grief a soft knock came from his door. Jumping up, Ryan dashed to the door wondering who it could be. Swinging the door open before looking through the peephole, Ryan was thoroughly surprised to find Lauren standing before him.

"Look, I just want to say that I'm really sorry for losing my temper and attacking you. That was very unlike me, I rarely resort to violence," Lauren said with her head hung down in shame. Ryan could tell she was heartily sorry, and it felt odd to hear her apologize to him, making him feel incredibly awkward and uncomfortable.

Holding both hands up in a give-up fashion, he said, "Don't worry about it. I've had more than one female try to attack me."

She looked a little confused at his words and so he explained, "I have six sisters, two older and four younger, and we were always fighting growing up. I practically lived the better part of my life restraining at least one of my sisters from attacking me." Looking at her, he noticed that she still looked uncomfortable, and said trying to cheer her, "Don't worry about it, you gave a struggle but didn't cause me any damage, where I caused damage to your shirt that I should not have ripped."

To his happiness she chuckled and looked up at him, "It's like I couldn't move out your hold; no matter which way I turned, you had me pretty pinned."

"A word to the wise, never attempt to wrestle a former state wrestler."

Moreover, to his surprise she threw her head back and laughed. Her laugh was loud and jolly, hearing her laugh made him want to laugh as well.

"Dear god, I didn't realize I was taking on so much," she said when her laughter died.

"Hey why don't you come in and maybe we can try to figure out why I'm such a jerk," he heard himself saying. He saw the hesitation in her eyes, but before she could say no, he opened his door and grabbed her hand pulling her in. "I have to say if you refuse I'll have to restrain you again," he said, letting her go and closing the door once she was inside.

"Hey," she said holding up her hands, "I'm not sure if I'm down with being on the floor again, but I'd love to learn some of those wrestling moves," Lauren said with a smile, walking into the hallway and stopping.

"So long as you don't use them on me," he said leading her into the sitting room.

"Oh, trust me, I learned my lesson. You're a little too big for me," she said laughing. Sitting down on the love seat, Ryan patted the seat for her to sit next to him.

When she was sitting down, he turned to her and said, "You know what, Lauren; I think we ought to start over." Putting his hands in his pockets, he leaned into his sofa, and said, not looking into her eyes, "I was a total ass to you and I probably deserved to be slapped a few times, because I was an ass on purpose."

Lauren opened her mouth to say something but Ryan quickly silenced her with the hands up sign, "I thought I had you all figured out, and when you surprised me it kind of forced me to realize I was wrong, but instead of wanting to admit that, I became an asshole to you." Looking at her again, Ryan said with honesty, "I really am sorry, and I hope you can forgive me." Stealing a glance at her, Ryan saw something like acceptance in them.

"It's okay Ryan. It's partially my fault as well, mostly in the form of my temper." Brushing her side bang out her eyes Lauren continued, "I was a total bitch and I judged you from the very beginning which I shouldn't have." Picking some lint off her shirt, she eyed him warily and said, "I guess we have clashing personalities. Apparently, we both think we know everything and have flashing tempers."

"Well it's good to know that we can get past that," Ryan said awkwardly, "And I hope that we can work on this project in good spirits, but let's forget about the project today. Let's just chill out for a while and get to know one another since we have another solid two and a half weeks left on the project."

"That sounds good," Lauren said with a weak smile.

"So what do you want to do?" Ryan asked realizing that he had no idea what this chick liked to do and what they could do together.

"Beats me," Lauren said shrugging her shoulders.

"We could wrestle again?" Ryan smirked.

Lauren laughed at this, but turned to him and said, "How about we watch a movie?"

"That sounds good to me." Picking up the remote off the coffee table Ryan turned on the TV and said, "There are a bunch of good movies that come on AMC." He did not really think she would care for the old classic, but realized he did not have much of a DVD selection.

"Ohmygod!" screamed Lauren jumping up so that her knee hit the coffee table with a bang.

"Ouch," Lauren screamed sliding back into her seat gripping her knee. "Are you okay?" asked Ryan trying to stiff the laugh that was threatening to escape.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I've never met a clumsier broad than me," she muttered to herself, rubbing her knee. Looking up Lauren caught Ryan looking at her and she smiled weakly causing her light brown eyes to twinkle. "Excuse me, but I'm always tripping over something or banging into something," she said still gripping her knee.

"What got you so excited anyways?" Ryan asked failing to hold his laugher in any more,

"Nothing really," Lauren said letting go of her knee, "I just totally forgot there's a marathon of old Jimmy Stewart movies coming on in like ten minutes on AMC."

"You like James Stewart movies?" Ryan asked in surprise.

"I love James Stewart movies!" she said with excitement in her eyes, "He's like my all time favorite actor." Brushing the hair out of her face Lauren said, "I can remember as a teenager getting really into some of the Jimmy Stewart movies that they played on AMC."

"Oh yeah, what James Stewart movies are you interested in?" Ryan asked with complete interest. The fact that Lauren was into James Stewart was a total shook to him, but to go along with the shock was respect. He had to respect a chick who was into his all time favorite actor.

"So many, so many," Lauren said smiling, "Um, Rear Window is one of my favorites, Vertigo, Rope, Broken Arrow, Bend of the River, and the list just goes on." Cocking her head back as though she was deep in thought, Lauren said as excited as a child would be in a candy store, "But my all time favorite Jimmy Stewart movie is one of his earlier ones, I freaking love Destry Rides Again!"

"No shit!" Ryan said jumping up, "I fucking love that movie." Lauren loving that movie totally put him over the edge, how could he not get a long with a girl who shared his movie likes.

"What type of music do you like?" Ryan casually asked Lauren.

"I like all types of music," Lauren said scrunching up her eyes, "I'm particularly fond of older music. I love classic R&B and eighties rock."

"You like eighties rock?" he said getting excited.

"Yeah I love the classic songs like um, Pour Some Sugar on Me, You Shook Me All Night Long ... other than sixties R&B and eighties rock I like only a few current acts, Audioslave, Green Day, and a few other bands, but I mostly dig the classics of Prince, and Michael, and The Righteous Brothers, Jimmy Hendrix, um and all that jazz."

'Decent music choices', Ryan thought, 'Definitely not the teenybopper Britney fan I hate.' Leaning back in his seat, he turned to Lauren and said, "Well how about we watch that marathon?"

It had been a week since their make-up and Ryan was finding more excuses to hang out with Lauren. Not only did they work well together on their project, but also he genuinely liked her as a friend, and found that she was extremely funny to hang out with.

It was a particularly warm Monday that they were supposed to be working together on their project, when instead they were joking around outside on the steps that led to the grand main campus library.

"Dear god, I hope you don't wear any of those lame shirts," Ryan said pointing to a girl who wore a red shirt with pink rhinestones that read, 'I'm a hottie'.