Living With the Bad Boy

by Sharlay

  “Need I remind you about Carrie Mason? You wanted revenge because she purposely threw soda on your homework. I said to be discreet, you decided to cut her hair when she wasn't looking, resulting in you getting kicked out of school for two weeks,” she said as she mirrored my stance.

  “And your point is?”

  “We were in kindergarten, and you were the one that got in trouble, all because you refused to listen to me.”

  I smiled to myself as I remembered smuggling a pair of my dad’s scissors into school that day. I was pretty smart at that age but boy did I get into a lot of trouble.

  “Ok, so what do you suggest that I do smarty pants?” I asked in a frustrated tone.

  “I suggest that you go in there and act as though today never even happened,” she said.

  “Oh yeah, awesome plan, Court, I sure wish that I had thought of that,” I sniggered at her as I clapped my hands, sarcastically.

  “Oh shut up and listen. Then, you slowly, quietly, and sneakily plan your revenge,” she said with an evil smile on her face.

  “Ok, now I'm starting to like this plan. Continue?”

  “Well, I don't know what the actual plan is. Being evil and all that is your job; I'm the nice one,” she said as she made her way to my front door.

  “Funny,” I said as I walked up to her and rolled my eyes.

  “Every friendship needs balance. Now, smile,” she said as I unlocked the front door and walked inside.

  “Oh, Addison you're home. Hello, Courtney,” my dad said as we walked through the door. I had no idea why he was putting on that ridiculous voice. He never calls me by my full name. See, if they were real friends, he wouldn't need to put on an act.

  “Hey, Alan,” Courtney replied. Yes, you heard right, my best friend is on a first name basis with my dad. In fact, she’s the only one of my friends that had been given that privilege, probably because she’s the only one of my friends that he has ever liked.

  “You remember Bill, and Caleb, don't you honey?” My dad asked in a fake, sweet voice. Oh, how could I forget?

  “Yeah, vaguely,” I lied as I watched Caleb standing there with a smile plastered across his stupid face.

  “Haven't you grown into a stunning young lady? See, Caleb, this is the kind of girl that you should be bringing home,” Bill said. Yeah right, in his freaking dreams!

  “Hi,” I said as I forced a smile onto my face.

  “Right, now that you’re here, why don't you girls show Caleb to his room while me, and Bill go and do some man stuff,” my dad said as both he and Bill burst out laughing. Parents can be so weird sometimes. As I watched the smile on Caleb's face increase, I had to fight the urge to punch him in the eye. Yes, I meant the eye. I don’t know what it is but I have always imagined that punching someone in the eye would get a much better reaction then say, the nose. Oh dear, maybe Court’s right, I do need anger management.

  “This way,” I mumbled.

  “I'm just going to the restroom,” Courtney whispered as we began to walk up the stairs.

  “No, you're not leaving me alone with that jerk,” I whispered back as I gave her a death glare.

  “I can hear you, you know,” he said.

  “Good,” I replied as I turned to face the stupid smirk on his face.

  “Sorry but I'm desperate,” Courtney said before running off in the direction of the bathroom. Great, I was alone with the idiot.

  “Right, your room is there,” I said as I pointed towards the guest room.

  “That's a shame, that bed looks way more comfortable,” he said as he peered over my shoulder, into my room.

  “Like I said, over there,” I said as I slammed my bedroom door shut and pointed towards the guest room, again. Why couldn't Courtney just let me punch him, at least once?

  “Not a very good host, are you?” He said as he rested his hand on the wall, just above my head. Oh my gosh, he thought he was so hot, didn't he! Look at his stupid abs and hot chest, I mean muscular chest. “Take a picture, it'll last longer,” he said as he interrupted my trance.

  “What? Look, let's get one thing straight, shall we? This is my house and my rules. I may be acting all sweet in front of my dad but the reality is, I can't stand your guts. If you think that I'm going to make this easy for you then you are so wrong. You'll be begging to move out in a few days, trust me,” I replied with a smirk on my face.

  “Who said that I wanted to get along with you? Don't kid yourself sweetheart, you're hot and all but you’re not my type, and as for begging, that's not my style. Oh, and I’m not going anywhere for a long, long time, so those pretty little eyes better get used to seeing this face,” he said as he turned away and began walking towards the guest room, with a smirk on his face.

  “What? I'm not interested in you, you're a pathetic jerk!” I shout, whispered as I ran in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. Instead of replying, he just began laughing, which infuriated me even more. “What the hell is so funny?” I asked, angrily.

  “Sorry, I'm just picturing you, covered in melted chocolate," he replied.

  “Whatever, jerk!” I snapped as I walked back towards my room.

  “By the way, angry suits you way better than chocolate, it's sexy,” he said as he entered his room, laughing.

  “Sleep with one eye open,” I shouted through his door before entering my room, and slamming the door behind me. That stupid, arrogant, little-

  “Hey,” Courtney said as she slipped into my room.

  “Don't ‘hey’ me, Miss I'm going to go to the toilet and leaving my best friend, alone with the jerk,” I snapped.

  “I thought that I was doing you a favor. Giving you time to bond,” she said as she jumped onto my bed, opened up my laptop and started to turn it on, with a smirk on her face.

  “I don't want to bond!” I shrieked.

  “Ok, calm down,” she said. Don't tell me to freaking calm down.

  “Jar,” she said as she began to stare at me.

  “What?”

  “Addy, I have known you long enough to know what that face means. You are thinking the forbidden word,” she said as she raised an eyebrow at me.

  “So, you said that I can't say ‘freaking’, not think it,” I said, feeling rather smug.

  “Yeah, well you just said it, now, jar,” she said as she shook it in front of my face.

  “Fine!” I said before throwing the last quarter in my pocket at her, and then throwing myself down on my bed.

  “Such an angry person,” she said as she tapped my forehead and began to laugh.

  “Whatever,” I said as I tried to hide the smile on my face. This whole Caleb situation was going to be a lot harder than I thought it was but I wasn't one to back down from a challenge. He was going down, and he’d better be ready...

  CHAPTER 3

  Pet Names & Revenge Games

  After a full hour of talking about how much I can't stand Caleb, I finally felt calm again. I decided to start reading a book that I had been trying to get around to, for about a month. It was called Flowers in the attic, by Virginia Andrews. The truth was that I’d read it three times already but it never gets old.

  “Urgh!” Courtney moaned, as she interrupted my quiet and peaceful reading session.

  “If I pretend that you're not here, does that mean that you'll eventually stop making noises at my laptop, and not notice that I’m here?” I asked, hopefully. Instead of answering, she just gave me a long threatening glare. “And you say that I have anger management issues,” I mumbled under my breath. “Right, what's the problem?” I asked as I carefully folded the corner of the page that I had gotten to, and laid it gently down on my dresser.

  “Melissa,” she grumbled as she looked at me with a frustrated expression on her face.

  “Not this again. Court, I thought that you said that you were over this?” I asked in a soft tone.

  “I am but she just annoys the hell out of me,” she replied.

  “Ok, but you and Cory hav
e been over for like a month now.”

  “Yeah, but that doesn't mean that I want to read about her and him every time that I hit my newsfeed. He was still supposed to be in the mourning stage, not the bag a rebound and make her your girlfriend stage,” she moaned as she threw herself back on my bed.

  “I'm going to pretend as though that even made sense. Look, you are the one that broke up with him, remember?” I asked as I raised my eyebrows at her.

  “Yes, and I know that but he was supposed to come crawling back, and he would have, had she not have gotten in the way. She only did it to annoy me anyway,” she replied.

  “Yeah, I know she did, but you sitting there, reading her facebook statuses is hardly going to help, is it?” I asked, wondering how we had suddenly switched roles, since I was clearly the more rational one. See, I told my dad that I'm not always angry.

  “Yeah, I suppose you're right,” she mumbled.

  “Plus, you're going on a date with Jayden. I thought that you were happy?” I asked.

  “I am, he's hot but I just miss Cory sometimes,” she moaned.

  “Yeah, I get it but there's no point getting wrinkles over it, just go on your date; have fun. Who knows, you might just forget about Cory and Melissa,” I said, hopefully.

  “You're right, although it doesn't mean that I can't have a little fun though,” she said with a smirk on her face.

  “Oh no, I know that look. What are you doing?” I asked as I watched her smiling away at the laptop screen as she continued to type.

  “Just playing with Melissa, a little,” she said as she burst out laughing. As I got up and looked at the screen, I burst out laughing too.

  “You are so immature,” I said as we both continued to laugh.

  “I know but it was so funny though,” she said as she burst out laughing, again.

  “Ok, stop clicking like on all of her statuses now,” I said as she continued to scan down Melissa's facebook timeline, and like all of her statuses.

  “Addy, she needs to know the truth,” she said with an evil grin on her face.

  “And that is?”

  “That nobody likes her or her stupid statuses,” she replied.

  “Ok, so let me get this right, you've changed your facebook name to ‘nobody', just so that when you click ‘like’ on her statuses, it will say 'nobody likes this', just to teach her a lesson?” I asked as I raised my eyebrows at her.

  “Precisely,” she said without making eye contact with me.

  “And there I was, thinking that you were the mature one,” I snorted.

  “Whatever, Addy, don't act like you haven't done weirder things,” she said with a smirk on her face.

  “Don't you dare bring that up, you promised,” I said as I tried to keep a serious expression on my face.

  “Oh, but I-”

  Suddenly she was cut off as someone knocked at my door.

  “Come in,” I answered, thankful that the conversation was cut short.

  “Hey, girls.”

  “Hey, dad.”

  “Hi, Alan,” Courtney said as she continued typing away on the computer.

  “What's up? You and Bill finished being ‘manly’ now?” I asked, sarcastically.

  “Ha, ha, comedian, and yes we are. I just came to tell you that we’re going out, and I probably won't be back before you go to the party, so, I'm here to lay down some rules,?” He said with a serious expression on his face.

  “Dad, the rules never change, so is it really necessary to do this before every single party that we attend?” I asked in a frustrated tone.

  “Yes,” he answered, quickly. “No boys, drugs, drinking, sex-”

  “Dad, please stop, you're so embarrassing,” I yelped as I tried to hide my face from the shame, as Courtney chuckled away.

  “Look, I don't want either of you girls getting hurt or pregnant, ok?” He continued as he stared at us both.

  “Aww, is Alan not ready to be a grandpa?” Courtney asked, playfully.

  “Certainly not, and I'm talking about both of you. Now, as I was saying, I also want you in at a decent time,” he replied.

  “What's a decent time?” Courtney asked, curiously.

  “Twelve-”

  “Dad! We probably won't even get there till like nine,” I growled.

  “Well, you have three hours of fun then,” he said with a smile on his face, much to my dismay.

  “Oh come on Alan, are you seriously trying to make us the high school losers? At least give us until two, we'll be together, and safe,” she said as she fluttered her eyelashes at him. Courtney has always had a great way of getting my dad to see things her way but something tells me that this time, might be a little different.

  “Under one condition,” he said.

  “Anything,” she replied in excitement.

  “Hang on, what condition?” I asked, suspiciously.

  “Caleb goes with you,” he said, seriously.

  “No freaking way!” I shouted.

  “Addy!” My dad said in an angry tone while Courtney just held out the jar in front of me. I pushed the jar out of my face - since I had no money left - and then turned back around to face my dad.

  “Sorry, but are you serious?” I asked in frustration.

  “As a heart attack,” he replied as he kept my gaze.

  “That was a good one,” Courtney said as she began to laugh. She stopped laughing, the minute that my fist connected with her arm.

  “Ouch! You're so violent,” she growled. “So, if Caleb comes with us then our curfew changes to two, yeah?" She asked.

  “Correct,” he replied.

  “Then it's a deal,” she answered.

  “Courtney-”

  “Addy, get over it, do you want to leave at twelve or two?” She asked as she raised her eyebrows at me. She was right, I really did want to stay till two, and I knew that I could just avoid Jerk Face for the entire night.

  “Fine,” I mumbled as I let out a deep sigh.

  “Great!” Courtney said in an upbeat tone, as she clapped her hands together in excitement.

  “Ok, I'm going now. Courtney, I’m driving past your house, would you like a ride home?” My dad asked.

  “Yes please,” she said as she jumped to her feet.

  “Wait, where are you going?” I asked as thoughts of being alone with Caleb ran through my mind.

  “Home, I need to get ready,” she said as though I had just asked the craziest question in the world.

  “Can't you just get ready here, and wear something of mine?” I asked.

  “No, I bought my outfit weeks ago, and I intend on wearing it,” she said as she placed her hands on her hips and stared at me.

  “Fine, I'll pick you up later then,” I said in a disappointed voice.

  “You know that I love you, Addy,” she said as she gave me a mini hug, and a kiss on the cheek. “But, I love my clothes more,” she muttered with a smirk on her face.

  “I heard that,” I said as I began to laugh.

  “Whoopsy,” she replied, faking innocence. I raised my eyebrows at her before laughing to myself. “Later, Cutie Pie, and don't be late,” she said as she disappeared out of the door. "Oh, and you owe the jar a quarter,” she said as she popped her head back in the room. I threw my pillow at her head before she ducked and disappeared through the door again. “Missed,” I heard her shout back as she laughed to herself.

  “See you later, Pumpkin,” my dad said as he came over to me, placed my pillow back on the bed, and kissed my forehead.

  “Yeah, see you later,” I mumbled.

  “And please stay out of trouble,” he said with a look of concern on his face.

  “I will,” I said, a little too quickly, causing him to raise his eyebrows at me. “I promise,” I said, genuinely.

  “Good,” he said before leaving the room.

  “Door!” I shouted before turning back around, to read my book again. Everyone that really knows me understands how irritated I get when they leave my
bedroom door open. It makes my room cold and that disturbs me, since I am the one that has to get up and close it. I heard the door being shut, and smiled to myself as I got back into reading my book. As I read the words on the page, it was as if the image of the story, and surroundings were just playing like a movie in my head. If there was one thing that I loved; it was reading. The idea of getting lost in a world that has so many possibilities has always been so endearing to me. I have always loved reading writers' descriptions but still being able to make them into my own little fantasy world. I guess that it was my escape.

  “That's the most peaceful that I've seen you, since I arrived,” a husky voice said as I almost fell off the bed in shock.

  “What the hell? How did you get in here? Wait, have you been watching me this whole time? You creep!” I yelled as my eyes took in Caleb's annoyingly handsome face.

  “Woah, woah, I can only take in one question at a time,” he said with a smirk on his face as he leaned against the door, staring at me.

  “Ok, since you clearly lack the ability to take in several pieces of information at once, let’s start with a basic question. Why the hell are you in my room?” I screamed as I resisted the urge to punch him in the face.

  “You know, you really need to work on your hospitality skills. I feel so...unwanted,” he said as he placed his hand over his heart and pretended to be hurt.

  “Get out,” I said, simply.

  “Now, now Princess, no need to get so angry,” he said with a smile spread across his face.

  “One, don't call me that and two, get out.”

  “What girl doesn't like being called a Princess? Isn't that what you all dream of becoming when you're little; living in castles and stuff?” He asked in an amused tone.

  “No, now get out,” I said, angrily.

  “Look, if we are going to be living together then you really need to work on those manners of yours,” he replied.

  “Manners would have been you knocking the door and asking to come in, not creeping in like some serial killer at night! I already informed you that you will not be living here for much longer, so, if you don't mind,” I said as I stood to my feet, opened the door and pointed towards it.

  “Serial killer? Really? How many movies do you watch?” He asked, sarcastically. I stood, silently ignoring his question and waiting for him to leave.