Tyler's Gem: A Teen Romance

by Rua Hasan

  “No luck?” Matt asked.

  “Nope.” Tyler shook his head.

  “It’s okay babe, you can sit here with me.” Jasmine said as she got up and pulled Troy down, getting on his lap. That made Tyler the only person standing up.

  “Oh poor Tyler! I wonder who will give him somewhere to sit?” Eva said as she flickered her eyes between me and him. He stuck his hands into his pocket, looking down at me with a playful smirk.

  “Oh who will be that generous person?” he said.

  “Hey Crystal! Why don’t you help the poor boy in need?” Sydney winked at me while smirking. I lifted an eyebrow and crossed my arms under my chest.

  “Nope, not happening. Why don’t you lend him your chair?” I asked her.

  “Because I don’t want to.” Sydney shot back.

  “Neither do I,” I said then looked up at Tyler.

  “Sorry buddy but you’re standing,” I said as I gave him a fake small smile and took another bite from my frozen yogurt. I almost spitted it out in surprise when I felt his hands lift me up by the hip. Letting out a small shriek, I looked up at Tyler to see him placing me on his lap.

  Like really? Was this necessary in public?

  “Let go of me you cave man!” I said making everyone roll their eyes and chuckle.

  “Relax, I’m not man handling you. All I need is a seat,” Tyler said as he wrapped his arms around my waist, keeping me in place which was completely unnecessary. I turned my head a little so that I was staring at him and glared.

  “If we weren’t in public, I would have smacked you in the face so hard, you’d forget your own name,” I threatened.

  “Hey that’s my line!” Jasmine said.

  Ignoring what she said, Tyler leaned into my ear and tightened his hold. I mean why? He was acting like he didn’t want me falling from his lap. I mean it’s not like I was hanging from the top of Mount Everest!

  “Oh, but it would be all worth it,” he whispered in my ear. I couldn’t help the groan of frustration because of the position I was in. I took the cup of frozen yogurt in my hands and shoved a spoonful into my mouth forcefully because if my mouth wasn’t distracted with eating then it would have done something I would have regretted later on.

  Oh, wait that didn’t sound quite innocent when I think about it! No that’s not what I meant! I wasn’t thinking about kissing Tyler! No, I didn’t mean that. I meant cursing at him!

  Yea that’s more like it.

  Me kissing Tyler? That day will come when pigs start to fly!

  Chapter 27

  Everyone could have peace. Whether it be with a soft blanket or heavenly music to distract you from the world to sleep at night, I could honestly say that I’ve never found mine. Yes, I had amazing friends and that my life wasn’t a complete living hell. I did lose the most important people in my life but others have it worse yet I’ve never actually found my peace.

  But why did I feel so relaxed at this moment? Why did I feel like I could stay here forever? What would I usually think of when I wake up in the morning? The fact that I’m living another day without my parents.

  What would I usually do when my eyes opened and are met with sunlight?

  Acceptance. Just push it back and be grateful for waking up. Not everyone would be able to.

  My eyelids were closed so I didn’t really know what the warmth was wrapping around me. I had no idea what was going on but I did know one thing. I was very comfortable at the moment and didn’t want to let go of the thing giving me peace. I snuggled closer and let out a satisfying moan as I felt my body float in heaven as if I was flying in thin air.

  I then moved my head to the side, accidentally hitting something. At first I thought it was a pillow but then realized that it was too hard to actually be one. I was about to open my eyes to inspect it but changed my mind. It wasn’t worth the effort because I was still feeling very tired and really lazy. Especially with the rare moment; I didn’t want it to leave so soon so I savored it.

  I felt the warm thing tighten around my waist and pulling me to a chest which was moving upwards in a slow motion. Yea, that was enough to send the red flags in my brain. It was also enough to bring me out of my own state of peace and into reality. Surprisingly, this reality wasn’t that bad when I opened my eyes. I was met with the sunlight which shone into the room. Once my eyes adjusted to the light, I was able to see a chest which kind of freaked me out. I was about to go all ninja on the person who broke into my room and break their neck but when I looked up my fast beating heart slowed down in relief.

  Why did it slow down? I mean, if you told me a month ago, I’d wake up all relaxed in Tyler’s arm and not freak out, then I’d call you crazy and shove you down an endless pit. But now, I’d probably just call you crazy without doing all the killing.

  My eyes shot wide as I observed his sleeping face. I bit my lips nervously as I realized I was almost on top of him, half of my body against his chest while his arms were wrapped around me, caging me in his embrace. My head was laying on his chest and I listened to his beating heart and steady breathing. I would have almost had a panic attack right there and fell off of the bed if it wasn’t for Tyler’s hold.

  I blinked once then twice. How on earth did he get in my room? How did we end up in this situation? I examined his face and noted that he was still asleep. His face was right above mine as our legs tangled with each other. I tried to steady the nerves inside me as I looked around and thought to myself how I was going to get myself out of Tyler’s arms when I stopped.

  I felt my breath clog in my throat as I looked around my surroundings. Or should I say Tyler’s room!

  I probably looked like a confused, constipated fish on drugs because I was whipping my head from side to side trying to remember or figure out how I got here.

  And that’s when everything came crashing back to my mind.

  Last Night

  I stretched down, touching my toes and stretched my arms and body in general before starting my early night run. It was probably eight o’clock on a Friday night. A whole week had passed since I went to the mall with my friends and surprisingly had a very good time, even though I was sitting in Tyler’s lap for the whole time. I mean even when he was able to get an extra chair, he didn’t even release me! I couldn’t even move without him hissing no and tightening his arms around me. I was in the public park next to my house so that I could do my daily run because I wasn’t able to do it before school.

  Apparently Tyler thought it was a good idea to show up in front of my door step half an hour before school started so that we could get breakfast together and drive me to school . . .

  Yes I know, how very generous of him.

  Rolling my eyes at the thought, I began to jog. I wasn’t so into my daily jogs anymore. It was because I spent most of my energy and time on the hour after school to train for the big event so running was already done, just not on my own but in school. Every once in a while I tried to keep up with my routine. I started to run on the trail road made for the runners which lead deep into the small forestlike area of the park. It was filled with trees that reached out for the sky with leaves covering the ground.

  It didn’t take long before I was out of it and into the public area where the children played. The place wasn’t that full because of the time of day but there were a couple of children playing on the swing sets. I ran a lap around it then returned once again to the trail road. By the time I was out of the forest for the second time, I was panting so hard that I needed rest. I stopped and nestled under a tree as I placed my hand over my beating heart.

  Taking a sip out of my water bottle, I slowly got up and walked back to the public area but stopped dead in my tracks when I heard to male voice shouting over one another. The first voice shouted something I couldn’t quite figure out because I was so far away so I started to speed walk to where the commotion was coming from.

  Once I was near enough to make out the words, one of the voices shouted which was ‘f*ck o
ff!’ making my breath stop in my throat. I felt my heartbeat quicken but not because of the running but because it sounded like Tyler. I ran to where his voice was coming from and hid behind a tree. As I peeked my head out I as a guy with a hoodie turn around and stomp away in anger while a muscular back was faced towards me as it moved up and down in anger.

  Right away I knew that it was Tyler’s back.

  Something told me not to come out and show myself, telling me that it was better to stay hidden in the dark but I refused to listen. I didn’t know why but a surge of protectiveness came over me when I saw Tyler looking so hurt and angry for the first time. He was always so playful and teasing but never once have I’ve seen him look so serious. I didn’t know what came over me when I walked out from behind the tree to comfort him and make sure he was okay but I didn’t care.

  I took a step towards him but stopped when I stepped on a branch. Tyler’s shoulder became even more tense as he whipped his head to look behind him. I heard a snarl escape his lips as he turned to glare at me but immediately stopped when he noticed it was me.

  A look of shock and surprise took over his face as he stared at me. His shoulders relaxed as he ran his hand through his hair, letting out a frustrated groan. I rubbed my hands up and down my arms, getting rid of the chills as I walked up to him, leaving some space between us. I looked up and stared into his eyes nervously.

  “Are you okay?” I asked noticing from this angle that he had a scratch near his eye and a bloody, swollen lip. My mouth opened in shock. Did someone hit him?

  “How long have you been here?” he asked.

  “Not too long. I just got here,” I answered.

  He nodded as I inspected his small injuries. Thankfully they didn’t look like anything major but they had to be treated or else they’d get infected. I couldn’t help but smile to myself at the thought. A week ago, Tyler was persistent in getting my injury looked at but now I was doing the same thing when I clearly was annoyed from it. My hands moved on their own record up to his face and traced the scratch up near his eye gently. I was expecting him to flinch back in pain but he did no such thing. Instead he looked like he enjoyed my touch and moved closer.

  “You’re hurt,” I whispered as I traced my fingers down to his bloody lips and took some of the blood on my finger. Why did I care so much about him? Why did I feel pain in my heart when I saw him so furious? Tyler took me by surprise when he took a hold of my hand and rested it on his cheek as he closed his eyes and let out a sigh of satisfaction. I was expecting him to lash out on me, ask me why I was here and demand that I go back home and mind my own business. But he did none of that.

  “I’m fine,” he grumbled.

  I shook my head and pulled my hand away not because I wanted to be far away from Tyler but because I took his other hand in mine and pulled him towards me, dragging him out from behind all the trees.

  “No, you’re not,” I said stubbornly causing him to chuckle.

  “Where are we going?” he asked from behind me.

  “Do you have a first aid kit at your house?” I asked before stopping to look at him.

  “Uh-yea I do . . . ”

  “Great because I don’t have one in my place,” I said as I turned around and led him out of the park. My fingers were still wrapped around his and I’m pretty sure he didn’t mind it at all because one, he wasn’t complaining and two, I’m pretty sure I felt his hand tighten the grip.

  “This really is unnecessary,” he mumbled the same exact things I said a week ago.

  “It’s funny how I said that exact same sentence but you still didn’t stop right?” I said.

  Tyler rolled his eyes.

  “Yea but it’s no big deal,” he argued.

  “You just got in a fight with someone and it’s no big deal?” I asked getting kind of pissed off. I stopped walking and turned around to glare at him.

  “Aren’t you going to ask who I was fighting with?” he asked.

  I shook my head.

  “No I’m not,” I said.

  “Why?” he whispered.

  I stood silent as I bit my lips and looked down to our intertwined hands. I glared at it as if I was trying to find an answer then looked back up at him and took a deep breath.

  “Because it’s really none of my business,” I said then turned around and walked down the road to where Tyler lived. Once we were standing outside of his door, I waited for him to take out his keys and unlock the door. Getting inside I let go of his hand and walked into the living room while Tyler went to get the first aid kit. I looked around and saw it empty―as empty as my house.

  I then paced back and forth, waiting for Tyler to return and let out a sigh of relief when I saw the kit in his hands. I grabbed his arm and pulled him to the couch forcefully, earning a chuckle from him.

  “Damn, so violent woman. I thought you were supposed to take care of me, not hurt me,” he said as he added a ‘tsk’ and shook his head. I rolled my eyes and ignored his comment as I opened the kit and added some alcohol to a piece of cotton then shoved it on the scratch near his eye. He hissed in pain and glared at me as I sent him an innocent smile.

  “Oops,” I said as I shrugged my shoulders.

  I then dabbed the cotton one last time on the scratch but this time gently, trying to avoid eye contact because of the awkward silence that took over. My hands moved slowly to his swollen lips and flickered my eyes up to Tyler. I looked back down to his lips when I saw the intense stare he was giving me. I took most of the blood off when he spoke.

  “He was my cousin.”

  “Huh?” I asked looking up at him.

  “The guy you saw walking away was my cousin.”

  “The same cousin who owns Sky?” I asked remembering Tyler mentioning something about his cousin owning that dog.

  He nodded.

  “Yea we couldn’t get along,” he said.

  “I can tell,” I said, tracing the cotton on his lips. I removed my hand when I noticed that the blood was gone but I wasn’t able to bring it away from Tyler’s face because he grabbed a hold of it.

  “What were you doing out all alone at a time like this?”

  “I was doing my daily run.”

  “Well don’t stay out for too long.”

  “But what if I need to run? You know that’s important for me.”

  “Can’t you do it in the day? Why does it have to be late at night?”

  “Why does it matter?”

  “Because it’s dangerous!” he answered dropping my hand and using that same hand to pull a strand of my hair behind my ears.

  “I can take care of myself,” I mumbled, getting up to smooth out my shirt. Tyler got us as well

  “I don’t doubt that.”

  I threw the cotton away.

  “I run at night to feel the cold night breeze hit my skin. It feels amazing and very refreshing. Maybe you should try it too sometime,” I said and walked toward the door, getting ready to go home.

  I came here to make sure Tyler was okay. And maybe he wasn’t because he fought with his cousin but I did what I can do and I had no other option. I couldn’t just pry into his business, that wasn’t right. Since his injuries weren’t that bad I was going to go home and watch some lame movie and eat Nutella. My thoughts were interrupted when I felt a hold on my wrist, turning me around to face a muscular chest.

  “Stay,” he said.

  “Huh?”

  “Stay. You tried to help me so let me give you something in return.”

  “Like what?”

  It looked like he was thinking because he paused for a bit then nodded his as if he just figured something out. He then moved his hands to hold mine and pulled me into the living room. I started to notice that we were holding hands a lot these past few days and I really wasn’t doing anything about it. It wasn’t really bothering me like I thought it would. Tyler then pushed me down so that I was sitting in his couch and walked over to the drawers next to his TV.

  “What ar
e you doing?” I asked.

  He didn’t answer. Instead he took out a big stack of CDs and placed them on my lap.

  “Uh . . . you see my mom made her famous cheesecake and kind off threatened me to give you some so I’ll go take it out while you choose a movie,” he said as he scratched the back of his neck nervously, his cheeks went slightly pink.

  Why was he embarrassed? Did he think I’d reject his offer on spending some time with him?

  “Okay,” I muttered under my breath then looked down to the stacks of movies.

  So, this is how he wanted to repay me huh? By hanging out and watching a movie. I couldn’t help but think of it as cute. I mean who would have thought Tyler had a spot like that? Shaking my head as I tried to hide the small smile, I began looking through the stack as Tyler walked into his kitchen.

  “Wait, where’s your mom anyways?” I asked, knowing that Tyler could hear me.

  “At work!” he shouted back from the kitchen. I threw a couple of CD boxes of some movies I was no way going to watch with Tyler like The Notebook and Twilight. Not that I hated them or anything because I actually do enjoy watching them but with Tyler, it would be just plain awkward.

  Why did he even have Twilight anyway? Just imagining Tyler cuddling with a bunch of blankets and a pillow as he cried his eyes out because he was watching The Notebook was unimaginable. I looked through the movies and decided on a Marvel movie, nothing too cheesy which was Thor two.

  Oh, and he’s super hot and I liked to stare at his bare chest but that wasn’t the point.

  I pushed myself deeper into the comfortable couch and crossed my legs as Tyler walked into the living room holding two plates and a big bag of chips. He placed them on the coffee table and picked up the movie I chose in my hand.

  “Thor?” he asked.

  “Yup.” I said, popping the ‘p.’

  “Of all movies! Why Thor?”