Twelve

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"Is this some kind of sick joke?!" I shrieked at my mom in outrage. The couch and flickering TV surrounding me were fading away as my vision practically turned red.

My mom looked at me with sympathy. "Baby, I'm sorry, we'll do something special with only you as soon as we get back."

She was actually serious.

My mother was seriously going to take her, dad and Trent to Motherfucking Hawaii, without me. She thought this was a perfectly sane idea.

"Special? You mean more like once in a damn lifetime!?"

"Language!" She hissed.

I struggled not to roll my eyes as sarcasm dripped from my every word. "Sorry, Mom. I'm just a little confused as to why I can't go."

She looked down, fiddling with her hands, "You see, honey, we were originally planning to leave both you and Trent while we went. the only reason Trent gets to come with us is for his straight A's, you know this has never happened before."

I silently shrieked in frustration; I've been getting straight A's my whole damn life, but the best I've gotten is twenty bucks and a pat on the back.

I nodded at her, crossing my arms over my chest. "So?"

"So, we need you to stay home for the two weeks we will be gone, especially because Trent's friend, Tyler, needs a place to stay."

I tilted my head sideways in confusion, until it finally clicked. "You want me to stay and let Tyler live here, while you're in Hawaii?"

She nodded. "It would only be sensible. Do you really think we know Tyler well enough to leave him alone in our home?"

Sensible? Living alone? With him?

Had she lost her goddamn mind?

What kind of a mother does something like this?

I tried to stay calm. "And why does he need a place to stay, exactly?"

She looked at me, "He didn't say exactly why...just family problems. He could've stayed somewhere else, but your brother had told him about our trip and he explained how staying here while we're gone would make him less of a burden." I almost snorted at Tyler being anything but a burden, but my mom nodded as if she was making perfect sense. "He's being quite considerate in his time of need if you ask me. It would be extremely rude to say no, so I agreed to let him stay as long as he needs."

It wouldn't be extremely rude to say no. He would deserve it—the stupid, cocky, asshole. But of course, she would never say no. It wasn't that she was selfless; she wanted to appear selfless.

"Besides, your grandmother- my mother- has invited us to stay with her while we're there. You know I'm worried about her, she decides to move to Hawaii and now she's all alone out there. We need to go visit her."

"You mean you do. I have to stay here, remember?" I glared, giving her a pointed look.

"Oh, Lauren, stop acting like we're leaving you here to go on some vacation. We have to check on your grandmother. Stop being selfish."

"I just don't think it's fair," I said in a barely controlled tone.

She sighed, obviously tired of arguing, "Lauren, we are done discussing this. You're seventeen years old. You'll be fine, okay? And I'll call to check on you every day. "

When my glare turned into a pleading look of desperation, she sighed. "You won't be completely alone, honey. I've already had Dad call Mr. and Mrs. Ellison and tell them to come check on you every few days. Does that make you feel any better?"

No, not really. The thought of Brandon's parents coming to check up on me like I was a kid was embarrassing, to say the least. 

I mustered a small shrug for my mom, fixing her with one last glare before spinning around and marching up to my room.

...

"Be good, sweetie, and show Tyler to his temporary room when he gets here," my mom said, kissing my cheek.

Seeing Trent walking out the door with his bags packed, whistling merrily, had infuriated me all over again. Dad and Trent were both already waiting in the car with all their suitcases loaded, ready to go to Hawaii, without ME.

It was Friday night, and mom stood at the front door, prepping me one last time on how to do everything for the next two weeks. She even wrote out a painfully detailed meal routine, which I was already planning to ignore.

Mom kissed me one last time before scrambling out the door because they were running late.

I really, really hoped they would miss their flight so I didn't have to do this.

Normally I would be ecstatic about having the house to myself for two weeks, but that's just it: I have to live alone, with Tyler Morris.

My high schools biggest player, asshole...and guy I had recently made out with.

"Family issues" my ass, he probably did this to ruin my life and not let me go to Hawaii.

I sighed in defeat and flopped down on the couch. After flipping through a few channels, I settled on watching The Simpsons, only half paying attention as I scrolled through my phone.

It was already 10:00, and he still wasn't here. Just as I was about to say fuck it and go to bed, the doorbell rang.

After double checking my appearance, I ran a hand through my hair one last time. Walking up to the front door, I took a deep breath and opened it.

Tyler was standing there with a black backpack in his hand. I took a moment to admire his appearance; dark wash jeans, and a gray t-shirt that enhanced his already toned arms.

Before he could catch me staring, I looked up and met his eyes.

He had a smirk on his face, as he raised one eyebrow. Okay, maybe he did catch me staring.

Then, remembering he was the reason I wasn't touching down on a tropical island right then, I allowed my face to turn into a glare.

"Well? Come in," I said, spinning around and walking back inside.

I heard the front door close, and footsteps close behind me. An arm snaked around my waist and he forced me to face him.

"That kiss on Wednesday was hot, wanna continue from where we left off?" He whispered huskily, his mouth merely inches from mine.

For a moment I was frozen, but as he leaned closer, and my heart started thudding, I placed my hands on his chest and tried to push him away.

"I-it w-was a dare", I stuttered. Since when did I fucking stutter? It must be because he was so close to me and the smell of his ridiculously intoxicating cologne was affecting my brain.

He chuckled and pulled away, looking completely calm as he ran a hand through his hair.

I glared and stepped away from him, "Just come on, I'll show you your room." I sighed in frustration when I quickly realized the guest room where he would be staying was directly across from my bedroom.

I barely pointed to his room before moving into my bedroom, slamming the door behind me.
I turned my light off and threw myself onto my bed, sinking into my soft mattress.

This was going to be a long two weeks.

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