Fourteen
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"Rise and shine," Tyler's seductive voice sang.

"Fuck off," I muttered, pulling the blanket over my head.

I had just started dozing off when I heard his voice through the blanket, dangerously close to my face. "Come on, I have to drive you to school, unless you wanna skip with me?"

I was seriously tempted...my mattress being so soft and warm was both a blessing and a curse. I also had only been going to this school for a few weeks now, so I guess it'd be bad if I didn't show up.

I groaned, sitting up and glaring at him, "Fine."

He looked me over, but grimaced when he got to my face, "You look like hell."

My dark hair was matted and full of tangles that were going to be a bitch to get through; thank god for conditioner.

I must've made a face at the insult because he gave me an almost sheepish grin as I got out of bed. "The prettiest embodiment of hell that could exist, mind you."

"You say the sweetest things." I rolled my eyes, but I wasn't entirely unaffected by his words.

As I stood up in front of him, I blushed when I realized that my tank-top had ridden up, exposing my stomach.

He was staring at my stomach with a funny look on his face. "When did you get that?"

I looked down to where he was pointing. My bellybutton was pierced with a sliver bead on top, and a fake diamond on the bottom.

I yanked my shirt down, "Um, my ex boyfriend dared me to get it done one night."

A strange look crossed over his face, but soon changed back to his signature smirk. "Didn't take you as a girl that would be into piercings," he shrugged. "That's hot."

I laughed, halfway embarrassed by what he said, "Okay, just go. I'll be ready soon."

He exited my bedroom and I sat on my bed, letting out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding.

I traced my bellybutton with my index finger, remembering the night my boyfriend had dared me to get that. Just thinking about Cameron made my heart ache; he had completely made me fall for him, then only used me for sex.

I shook it off, and took deep breaths. Shoving all my sad memories aside, I got up and began to get ready for school.

After taking a shower and brushing my teeth, I dressed in deep blue skinny jeans and the first shirt I could find, which happened to be gray and stretchy.

After getting dressed, I quickly slipped into my pair of black converse, brushed through my hair, and did my makeup. I chose to forgo eyeliner, sticking to mascara and some Chapstick.

I grabbed my bag and shuffled down the stairs, hurrying into the kitchen because we were running late.

A hint of loneliness crept upon me as i stood in the quiet kitchen; I definitely wasn't used to the silence. It felt very weird to not have Trent hogging all the cereal, and my mom yelling to hurry up.

I sighed but made myself snap out of it. They'd be back soon.

After eating a quick granola bar and chasing it down with a small glass of milk, I ran out front to where Tyler was already waiting.

I jumped into his already humming car and looked Tyler over. He was pulling out of the driveway, and his eyes were on the road, so he wouldn't notice me staring. He was wearing a black muscle tee with dark wash blue jeans. His brown hair was messy, yet sexy, and I had the urge to run my hands through it.

I mentally scolded myself for once again succumbing to his good looks. I chose to blame it on hormones.

Tyler cleared his throat and I froze, petrified that he might've caught me staring.

He was smirking as he looked at me, humor evident in his chocolate brown eyes, "You finished?"

I ignored him and looked out my window, my cheeks were probably flaming red.

He soon pulled into the schools parking lot, and parked right in front of the school. I grabbed my bag from the floor in front of me and slid out of the car.

I looked around, immediately taking in the people staring at me. There was a group of cheerleaders near the front of the school giving me death glares, which I found strange because I'd always thought cheerleaders were supposed to be...cheerful.

A group of geeks were gaping at me, and that's when I knew something weird was going on.

Why the he-oh.

I get it now; why is some plain, unpopular girl getting a ride from the Tyler Morris?

I sighed and glanced at Tyler. "Thanks for the ride", I mumbled and walked away, heading to the doors.

Afraid that Tyler's jealous fan girls might try to confront me again, I looked away from them and all but ran inside the school.

The bell rang seconds later, so I got the stuff from my locker and headed to English.

...

"You," Carly started, pointing at me with her salad fork, "Have so much to explain, right now."

I took my time chewing up the bite of my sandwich, before looking at my friends, "It's not a big deal really, my parents and brother are on vacation, and Tyler needed somewhere to stay, so my parents said he could stay with us."

"Wait a second!" Audrey's eyes narrowed, "Did you just say that your parents are on vacation? Does that mean that you and Tyler are living together, alone?"

"Yes and yes." I said calmly, taking another bite.

"What the fuck, you lucky bitch", Carly gaped, causing me to almost choke on my sandwich with laughter.

"You three should come over soon, so I don't have to be alone with him." They all nodded their heads eagerly--even Lily, who had been silent this whole time. "Also, could you guys keep quiet about this, I'd rather not have a bunch of sharply manicured bitches at my throat."

They sighed in disappointment, but nodded.

I smiled, "Thanks."

...

It was now PE and I, simply putting it, was dying.

Brandon patted me on the back sympathetically, as I stood there panting. We had just been forced to run a mile, and if we slowed down to a walk, our grade would be lowered.

"God. What," I paused to pant loudly, "is wrong with him?"

Him being Mr. Fisher, the monster who'd just forced us to run.

Brandon shrugged and bit his lip, which I admittedly found attractive. But not in the way that gave me butterflies, just in the way that I was admiring how hot my friend is.

I probably looked like hell right then. My face was flaming and I wanted nothing more than to dunk it in an ice bath, not to mention the fact that my hair was matted with sweat.

We had just finished running, and while some people were excitedly telling other people their running times, the rest of us were laying on the ground trying to cool off.

Brandon hardly looked fazed by the workout; his hair was a little ruffled, and his cheeks had a tinge of red to them, but other than that he was fine.

"How are you fine right now!?" I whined at him.

He chuckled and reached over to hand me his blue plastic water bottle. I chugged the whole thing, feeling a lot better afterwards.

After gaining enough of my energy back to stand up, I approached a really thin redhead who vaguely reminded me of Alyssa. I asked her if I could use a hairband, seeing at least three on her wrist.

She gave me one, and I tied my hair back in a high ponytail. Now that my hair looked halfway decent, I just needed my face to cool down.

I returned to my spot next to Brandon in the grass, my knees popping as I lowered myself back to the ground. I was actually surprised that things with him weren't awkward. I had explained to him that I only wanted to be friends, and he was cool with it.

"Hey," I started, remembering what I had been wanting to tell him.

"Hmm?" He asked, crossing one leg over the other as his blue eyes met mine.

"I know my parents asked yours to come to my house and...check on me while they're gone, but don't worry about it, okay?"

He frowned. "You sure? I mean, it is just you and Tyler, right?"

I laughed, nodding. "Yeah, it is. But, as long as I can keep from killing him, I should be fine."

...

The rest of the day flew by, but then came the hard part.

I crossed the parking lot, feeling lots of eyes on me as I headed to Tyler's car.

Because I didn't have keys, I just leaned on the hood of his car, wishing he would hurry up.

I could always just take the bus or walk, but walking takes way too long, and the bus is disgusting and unpleasant. Excuse me if I prefer a nice, air conditioned car, over a sweaty, slow moving bus, where I have to be harassed by kids yelling and throwing paper.

I noticed a girl walking up to the car. She was tall, with long brown hair, and glossy lips. She had on a short, black skirt with a red, low-cut top, and black heels (which I found very strange, not to mention impractical, to wear to school).

Panic came over me as she headed towards me. No, not this again!

"So like, are you and Tyler like dating?" She asked in a very nasally tone.

"Um, like no," I said, imitating her voice. I rolled my eyes at her taken-aback expression and went on. "You girls really have some issues with harassing me after school, can't I stand anywhere in peace?"

Her eyes widened. "Just remember you're the freak, and should stay away from Tyler!" she said, raising her voice.

"Listen, if I was interested in him, do you really think I would be okay with that?", I pointed to where Tyler was making out with some dark haired girl at the entrance of the school.

She huffed, and crossed her arms, "Whatever, just so you know, No one likes you, and you should disappear back to wherever you moved here from."

"Well you should fuck off, you dumb bitch!" I yelled, losing my temper.

Everybody in the parking lot, which was still full, was staring at us.

Anger flashed through the girls eyes, and she took a step closer to me, as I heard laughter behind her.

I looked around her just as she spun around, and we saw Tyler standing there laughing.

"No, please continue," he said between laughs.

"Whatever," the girl said, and stalked off.

"Damn, I really thought I was gonna see you fight a girl over me."

"It wasn't over you, she was getting in my face for no reason," I said, still angry.

He put his hand on the small of my back, causing a shiver to go down my spine.

He then patted me on the back, "You've got fire Lauren, I dig it."

I laughed, even though what he said caused happy butterflies to flutter throughout my stomach, "You dig it?"

"Yep."

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