Tyler's Gem: A Teen Romance

by Rua Hasan

  My mouth fell open as I rested my hand on my hip.

  “Really? You’re seriously doing this right now?”

  Dan just nodded quickly with a grin on his face.

  “Fine,” I muttered. “Oh, my hero! How may I ever repay you?”

  “Maybe, a kiss?” he said, as he tapped his finger on his lips. I laughed and hit his shoulder playfully, pushing him a few inches away.

  “Yea, in your dreams,” I said, as I moved away from the door so the students could pass through.

  “How do you know I dream about it every night?” Dan asked.

  I was about to answer when the warning bell rang. I looked into the class to see it almost filled.

  “You should get going now. Don’t want another detention, do you?” I asked, grinning.

  “Yea, you’re right. But before I go, you still owe me a kiss,” he said, pointing to his lips. I rolled my eyes at him and parted my lips so I could come up with some lame comeback, but was interrupted by a deep husky voice.

  “She doesn’t owe you anything.” Tyler’s voice echoed throughout the almost empty hall.

  Dan and I stood dumbfounded for a moment, not knowing what to say. Dan was about to say something when Tyler grabbed my arm, and dragged me into class as everyone stared. I rolled my eyes at him as I waved goodbye, shooing him away.

  I yanked my arm away from his hold and walked to our seats, and dropped my bag to the ground as I sat down. I averted my eyes away, trying not to make eye contact with anyone staring. After a couple of seconds, a muscular body sat next to mine.

  “What did he mean you owe him?” Tyler asked. His ocean blue eyes were looking into my soul, waiting for an answer.

  I glared at him, completely annoyed. Who was he to drag me into class as if he was a friend?

  “Really? That’s none of your business,” I said, looking away. I should have known it wasn’t going to be easy to shut him up because he started to poke my shoulder with a pencil. I turned my head slowly as I sent him a piercing look, wishing to bury him six feet underground with my eyes.

  “Will you stop that?”

  “Not until you tell me what he meant, Gem,” he said, calling me with that stupid nickname again.

  “How many times do I have to tell you, my name isn’t Gem?” I snapped.

  He simply ignored me and started to poke me once again.

  I groaned to myself as I ran my hands over my face and grabbed the pencil from his hand. Using all my force, I snapped it into two and smirked at him, as I returned the broken pencil but he seemed unaffected. He leaned over, took another pencil from his bag, and started poking me again.

  “You know what? This is harassment,” I said, as I swatted his pencil away from me but kept on returning.

  “It’s not harassment if you like it,” Tyler sang.

  I rolled my eyes for the hundredth time today as I pinched the bridge of my nose, having enough of his foolishness. There was nothing I liked about his stupid behavior.

  “Oh my god, you’re so annoying. Leave me alone!” I said quietly, trying to control my temper as the teacher walked into the classroom. He leaned his head closer to mine and whispered.

  “I will, when you answer me,” he said.

  “Sure, we both know that’s not true. You just love to piss me off don’t you.”

  “True, true. It’s my passion,” he said, as if we were talking about the weather. His pencil was an inch away from touching my shoulder when I snatched it from him.

  “We were just joking around. Now, will you stop acting so immature and mind your own business,” I said, dropping his pencil in front of him.

  “Okay class, today will be the last day of planning your project in class. Starting Monday, you shall meet with your partner outside the class to finish it. Make sure you don’t waste too much time and hand it over on the deadline,” he said.

  My mind went blank mid-sentence.

  Tyler and I, had to meet up after school! Why, oh why? My life was supposed to get better but at this very moment, it just came crashing down to the ground. I whipped my head to my right when I heard Tyler speak.

  “So, do you want to meet up after school today to get started?” he asked, as he rested his chin on his hand. I almost wanted to snort at him. We both knew that he wasn’t going to be much help. I was probably better off alone, knowing that he would only bug me, but I would never do it all by myself either, and let him take all the credit.

  “Nope. I’m busy today,” I said, and that was true. I wanted to go home and have a nap, or just a moment to be with myself before the twins and Jasmine break into my house and throw a bunch of makeup on me like grenades.

  “Busy with what?” he asked.

  “I’m going to a party.” The only reason why I answered him was to avoid getting my shoulder bruised like earlier. He probably held the world record of annoying me in a span less than the life of my old pet fish Carlo.

  “Really? And where is that?”

  I leaned a bit so that I was a couple inches from his face and tapped his nose.

  “That’s none of your beeswax,” I said, and leaned away as I shifted my attention to the class. I saw him rub his nose from the corner of my eye as he stared at me in disbelief.

  “Beeswax?”

  I glanced at him shortly.

  “Yup, you heard me. That ain’t your beeswax.”

  Chapter 12

  I turned to the third page as I let my mind get sucked into the amazing story I probably have read countless times. It never failed to surprise me how many tears I’ve cried while reading this book, but it was all worth it. I remember the first time I got my hands on it, I just couldn’t let go.

  The Fault in Our Stars was one of the most creative and heart-wrenching books I’ve ever read in my whole eighteen years of living. I wasn’t much of a person who reads a book more than once. But this book was the only one that got to me.

  I was so consumed by the story that I barely heard the doorbell ring. I figured that it was probably my imagination and that the girls weren’t here yet, but the bell rang for the second time, waking me up from my thoughts. I groaned to myself as I placed the bookmark on the page.

  The party would start tonight at around eight, and it was six so that gave us two hours to get ready. We all agreed for the girls to come over at my place and help me get dressed up.

  I went down the stairs to the front door. I looked through the peephole just in case, because come on, better safe than sorry. For all I knew, the Joker could be waiting outside for me when I least expected it. Making sure that it was only my friends, I yanked the door open to be greeted with three smiling faces.

  Eva, Sydney and Jasmine were each holding bags in their hands; which were probably filled with their dresses and makeup. I greeted them with hugs and stepped aside so that they could enter my house. We climbed upstairs to my room as Eva and Sydney recalled their plan to switch places.

  It was pretty simple. Eva would act as if she was Sydney and Sydney was to act as if she was Eva.

  Nick wouldn’t notice a single thing.

  “So, are you guys sure he won’t know the difference between you two?” Jasmine asked. I walked into my closet, and grabbed the bag on the floor, with my dress in it.

  “Darling, nobody does,” Sydney said.

  “Everything will go just fine,” Eva said.

  I walked toward my bed as I shuffled through the bag, taking out the dress I bought with the girls. Personally, I would have preferred jeans and a t-shirt more, but this red dress was fabulous. The top part was strapless and tight on my chest. As it went down to my waist, there were thick shaped diamonds all around my waist resembling a silver belt. The dress came all the way to my mid-thighs but it didn’t cling to my butt, making it easy to move around in.

  I looked up to see Jasmine and Sydney taking out a bag full of makeup. I walked into my bathroom, and grabbed a couple of things I liked to put on my face then returned to see Eva curling her hair.
r />   Well, here goes nothing.

  I went down the stairs, holding my gray and sliver heels in my hand. The girls were all behind me as I walked to the front door when the bell went off again, probably Matt and Troy. The party was going to start in a couple of minutes, and we were all ready, waiting for our ride.

  I let the girls do their magic on me but not too much to show off. I looked at myself through the mirror, and my jaw almost fell to the ground in shock. I looked like a different person. It wasn’t that I would look like a zombie without any makeup on, but the work they did on me gave off a whole new vibe.

  I looked and felt confident.

  The red lipstick stood out on my face, matching my dress color. The girls looked fabulous too, it was almost impossible for me to distinguish the difference between Sydney and Eva.

  I walked to the front door and looked through the peephole as the girls stood behind me. I pulled away a couple inches as I lifted my eyebrows up in confusion. I rubbed my eyes just in case, to make sure I wasn’t going blind before I looked again but saw nothing.

  No one, it was just blank as the color black filled the place meaning that something was covering the hole from the outside.

  I knew only two people who would be this immature and I was hoping that it was Matt and not my second guess.

  “Crystal, what’s wrong?” Eva asked.

  I wasn’t paying attention to her as I unlocked the door and opened it. I immediately closed it but wasn’t quite fast enough because Tyler stepped his foot in, preventing me from closing it all the way.

  I tried to kick it out but he wouldn’t budge. I looked up to see him smirking at me as I glared at him. He yanked the door open as the urge to slap that smirk off his face increased.

  “Well, hello neighbor,” he said, as I heard the girls from behind me gasp in surprise. I didn’t turn my head to look at their shocked yet excited faces. Maybe because the hottest and most adored guy in school was standing right outside my door clearly showing that he lived not too far away.

  Oh, how amazing!

  I noticed his eyes rake over my body from head to toe, and I crossed my arms under my chest.

  “Damn,” he said.

  I heard the girls whisper a couple of things from behind me. Something about how lucky I am and how hot he looked. I rolled my eyes as I tried to close the door once again but his muscular arms prevented me.

  “What do you want?” I hissed.

  “Oh come on. Can’t a guy check up on his neighbor?”

  “How did you know we’re neighbors?”

  “I saw you walking through the front door after school” he answered as he leaned against the wall.

  I could hear the girls swoon from behind me, making me glare at Jasmine, who had a boyfriend, and merely shrugged her shoulders upwards helplessly all while giving me a cheeky smile.

  I turned my attention back to Tyler with his eyes on me.

  “Oh, so you were stalking me then?” I asked.

  “Gem, I was walking home. You live right next to me,” he said.

  “I know, such an honor.”

  A car pulled up right in front of my house while Matt, who was riding his motorcycle parked not too far behind. Troy came out as he walked by Matt. They stopped for a second when they saw Tyler, and went over to us with confused expressions.

  “Ok, you can leave now,” I said.

  “But I haven’t told you what I’m here for,” he said, as he straightened himself.

  “Sorry, we ran out of sugar,” I said, as I pinched his hand, making him flinch away. I took this advantage to close the door but he managed to take a step forward, coming back into the house.

  “I’m not here for that,” he said.

  “The fridge doesn’t need repairing, now please, leave,” I said, as I pushed against his chest but he was as stiff as a board.

  “What’s he doing here?” Matt asked.

  “I’m coming with you guys to the party,” he explained, and my eyes widened in shock.

  “No, he’s not!” I said, raising my voice.

  Tyler averted his eyes from Matt to mine.

  “Oh, yes I am.”

  “No, you’re not!”

  “Yes, I am. Just give me the address, and I’ll be on my way,” he said, saying the last part to Matt. I tried to kill him with my eyes, but we don’t always get what we want in life, now do we? I grabbed Matt’s arm, yanking him toward me.

  “He’s not giving you anything,” I said.

  Tyler grabbed Matt’s other arm and scooted him toward him.

  “Oh, yes he is,” he said.

  “Oh, no I’m not,” Matt said, shaking his head.

  Tyler whipped his head to Matt, giving him an icy cold glare.

  “Oh, yes I am,” Matt corrected himself immediately.

  I groaned to myself as I muttered ‘traitor’ under my breath.

  “We can’t get rid of him now, can we?” Troy whispered to the girls from behind me. They shook their heads as if it was a good thing, while they stared at him dreamily.

  Matt rolled his eyes, and hesitantly wrote the address down on a piece of paper, avoiding my eyes. This day has quickly turned from a score of ten to a negative twenty.

  Once the paper was in his hands, Tyler shot me a quick smile and winked as my face turned red in anger. He stepped back and retreated back to his car.

  “See you at the party, neighbor.”

  “Neighbor my ass,” I whispered to myself.

  He turned around with his back toward me. I instinctively took a step forward but Matt’s arms wrapped themselves around my waist, preventing me from killing him right on the spot.

  “Let me kill him! I swear, I won’t leave any evidence for the police to find. There’s an abandoned building not too far away from here. We could hide his body in there,” I hissed as I tried to break free, watching Tyler get into his car and drive away.

  “I can’t tell you how much that sounds tempting but I don’t want my best friend behind bars,” Matt said.

  “I won’t be in jail if there was no proof,” I pointed out, finally calming myself down.

  Matt released me as he rolled his eyes while the girls were swooning as if they just saw Chris Hemsworth, half naked right before their eyes. Troy was snapping his finger at Jasmine while I wondered what has gotten into them.

  Once his car was out of sight, we all walked to Troy’s car. Jasmine sat in the passenger’s seat, while the twins and I, sat at the back. I would have preferred to ride on Matt’s motorcycle to the party, but it wasn’t an option when wearing a dress.

  I leaned against the chair as I fixed my curled hair. I crossed my fingers as I prayed to myself that Tyler would get drunk early, find himself a bimbo to bang and get the hell away from me. No matter much disgusting that sounded, it was way better than having his annoying face around mine.

  Chapter 13

  “I spy with my little eye something blue,” Jasmine said.

  “The sky?” I asked in a bored tone.

  “Oh, my god! Correct!” She squealed like a kid.

  I was sitting between the twins in the car as we drove to the party with my mood now lower than my ego. Now don’t get me wrong, I was so excited to get a change for once. You know, get drunk, dance like I own the place and make out with a complete stranger. It was just that I didn’t plan on have fun with Tyler around, and I felt myself shudder at the thought.

  I didn’t know that the house was going to be this far.

  It really wasn’t, and I was just exaggerating. We’ve only been in the car for about fifteen minutes with Jasmine playing I spy, and her choices were obvious. I wanted to hit my head on the window so I would black out, maybe get sent to the hospital, and blame it on Tyler, then wave goodbye as I watch him head to jail. I smiled wickedly at the thought.

  Maybe then, I wouldn’t have to see him ever again.

  “I spy, something red,” Jasmine repeated.

  “That zit on your face?”

 
“What?”

  “I said that stop sign,” I answered, pointing at the sign we just passed. Eva and Sydney were snickering beside me, as I saw Troy roll his eyes from the mirror.

  “Love, I know you like these games, but can you tone it down a bit?” Troy asked, as he did a U turn. That made me smile in relief as I leaned against the window, but Jasmine’s answer made my smile drop.

  “Sorry, babe. That’s not going to happen,” Jasmine replied, looking out the window for something to spy. When she couldn’t find any, she switched on annoying Troy.

  “Babe?”

  “Yea?”

  “Are you the type of person that eats to survive, or survives to eat?” she asked.

  “What’s the difference?” he asked in an annoyed tone.

  “Do you live so you can eat, or do you eat so you can live?”

  “I live so that I can eat, of course.”

  “Troy?”

  “What?”

  “Do you think if I stepped on a cereal, that makes me a serial killer?” she asked, as she twirled her hair with her fingers.

  “Of course not, love,” Troy said with a huff.

  “What if I sat on a baby? Will that make me a babysitter?”

  “No.”

  I glanced at the twins, trying to avert my attention to them, but they were both on their phones, not having a clue to what’s going on.

  “Crystal?” Jasmine asked.

  “Yes, I’m still a virgin.”

  “What?” she asked

  “What?” I repeated.

  Finally, two hundred questions and a confused brain later, we arrived in front of a house with loud music blasting inside. I could tell how this party was going to be like and for once in a long time, I actually liked it. All I wanted to do was let loose. Who knew? I might not bump into Tyler.

  Ugh! Was that all I could think about? Couldn’t I spend five minutes without seeing his annoying, yet sexy face in my head? He was physically and mentally haunting me 24-7.

  Troy parked the car in front of the house with Matt behind us. Eva and Sydney got out of the car, and as I stepped outside, the cold night air hit me like a brick in the face. It was so refreshing as I breathed it in. Matt then walked over to us, and dropped an arm on my shoulders as he leaned down to my ear.