by Rua Hasan
It was Tyler.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“What does it look like? I’m waiting for you. Come on let’s go!” Tyler answered then grabbed my hand and started to drag me into the parking lot.
“Huh? Wait, why were you waiting for me?” I asked as I tried to keep up with his fast feet.
“Why else would I be waiting for you? So that I can take you home of course,” he answered as we walked closer to his car. I decided not to argue with him since I really didn’t want to be walking home with the sun shining or should I say burning me when I was already sweaty and smelly. That reminded me, I really needed to take a shower.
“Okay fine by me,” I said as I got into his car.
Tyler then started his car and drove to the direction where we lived. It only took us a minute to get there. He then parked his car in his drive-through and got out with me following right behind him.
“Why’d you bring me here?” I asked as I walked to his front door right behind him. “I thought you were taking me home?”
“Relax, I’m not going to kidnap you. You live right next door. I just want to give you something really important.”
I lifted an eyebrow. What did he want to give me? And why is it so important?
“Um okay. What is it?”
He opened the front door and let me in then sent me a grin.
“You’ll see.”
Chapter 23
I paced around the given space I had. It wasn’t much but I needed to let my legs work out the nervousness in me so I wouldn’t faint in this very spot. The small bathroom made me wish I was upstairs in Tyler’s room because the bathroom there was much bigger.
Every now and then I’d sit down on the toilet and just listen to the barking dogs outside the bathroom door. It had been over two minutes but it felt like hours. Where the hell was Tyler when I needed him the most? I pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t in some kind of nightmare. This was the last thing I expected when I got here.
Of all the things that could have happened to me, why did I have to be stuck in Tyler’s guests’ bathroom?!
I clearly had enough of waiting so I grabbed my phone from the back pocket of my jeans and dialed Tyler’s number. Yes, I had him in my contacts which I didn’t really like in the beginning but it became useful at times like these. I then placed my phone at my ear and listened to it ring. Tyler answered after the second ring.
“Where the hell are you?” I asked as I tried to ignore the commotion going on outside.
“Uh, in the garage?” he stated it like it was a question.
“Why?” I asked.
“I told you I was going to grab something for you,” he answered but I could hear the confusion in his voice.
“Yea, well can you come back now because I think your dog is trying to eat me,” I told him. Now don’t get me wrong. I love dogs, in fact I believe they are the most wonderful creatures on earth but when you’re standing in a house with your childhood bully, nearly anyone would be terrified to see a huge brown dog running your way. Especially with its tongue dangling out from its mouth when he barked, revealing sharp canines for everyone to see. The sight just scared the living daylights out of me so I ran to the nearest bathroom and locked it.
What else could I do? I didn’t know the dog. He could probably be untrained and vicious. Consider he’s Tyler’s, I’m pretty sure he would have trained him to hunt down his enemies and rip them to shreds.
I was just hoping I wasn’t in his bad list.
“Did you just say my dog?”
“Yea! Why is that so hard to believe?”
“Maybe because I don’t have one in the first place.”
My mouth fell open just a little bit.
“What do you mean you don’t have one? Then can you explain the big scary yet fluffy adorable animal trying to barge into your bathroom?”
“Huh?”
“Oh look at that scratch on your door. I think he’s about to break it down. Well it was nice knowing you Tyler.”
I never thought I’d hear myself say that.
“Okay, okay, I got what I was looking for. Just wait, I’m coming.”
“Listen Tyler. If you don’t make it on time, then I want you to pay and organize my funeral ok?”
I could already see him rolling his eyes.
“You’re such a drama queen you know that, right?”
“Yes, I do. But let’s not forget about the fact that there’s an unknown dog in your house.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in a second,” he said before hanging up. I then turned off my phone and sat on the toilet as I waited for something to happen. The dog was still barking like crazy and I was afraid it would actually break in.
Oh please, oh please, be a cute fluffy dog who just wanted to play! I’d never have thought it would end up like this! I promise to the lords I’d never once thought anything bad about any animal! I swear! Just spare me the days so that I can see Matt finally running with me in the mornings.
I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard the door opening. I immediately got up and grabbed the roll of tissues which were sitting right next to me. What? I had to defend myself if I was going to get eaten up alive and this was the only thing I could use. Other than the toilet plunger but I wasn’t going to use that of course. I put the toilet roll back down as a sigh of relief escaped my lips when I saw Tyler standing in front of me with his arms crossed under his chest.
Okay this situation might seem confusing and will make you think that there was more to this story and I wish I could say the same thing, but there wan’t. I mean, did you know how embarrassing it was to get chased by a dog you didn’t even know and then lock yourself in your friend’s bathroom?
Wait, did I just call Tyler my friend?
Yes I did.
Wow, am I changing?
“You can come out now. The vicious animal who wanted to eat you is gone,” Tyler said sarcastically.
“Hey don’t put it that way. My instincts kicked in when I saw him running towards me.” I defended myself.
“You know you’re not supposed to run when a dog is chasing you right?”
I stood there in silence for a moment, thinking over what would be the best comeback.
“Oh shut up!”
Yup. Best comeback in the world!
Tyler rolled his eyes then opened the door even wider. I let a huff escape my lips as I walked out of the small space. Finally!
“So where is he now?” I asked as I looked around the empty room.
“I put him in the backyard. Come on,” he said as he placed his hand on my back and let me to a glass door with curtains hanging from it. Tyler then moved the curtains to the side and revealed a big fluffy dog chasing his tail. Once he stopped, he turned to look at us with his tongue hanged out of his mouth. He then started to bark as he walked towards the glass door. After that he sat down just looking at us as if he was admiring the stars.
Was this the same dog earlier?
“He doesn’t see a lot of people so when he does he gets a little bit too excited.”
This did explain why he was running towards me like a fan girl running after her celebrity crush, but this just brought the most obvious question to my mind.
I thought Tyler didn’t own a dog? Well that’s at least what he told me.
“Wait, you told me you don’t have a dog.”
“Because I don’t.”
I then narrowed my eyes and pointed at the brown dog in front of me. Now that he was sitting still and close enough, I could really see the cute collar around his neck. It was colored a light shade of blue with a dog chain tangling from it. On that chain, it had the name ‘Sky’ written on it.
“Oh, he’s my stupid cousin’s dog. He usually isn’t responsible enough to walk him which is why he gets so excited when he sees new people so his parents sometimes brought him over so I could do it for him. My mom probably forgot to tell me he was over.”
I nodded at what he said. What got me pissed was when he mentioned his stupid cousin not being responsible to walk his own dog! I mean if you’re going to keep him away from that, you should at least give him to someone else because that’s just torture!
“Your cousin sounds like a douchebag.”
“Because he truly is.”
“Why doesn’t he give Sky away? Wouldn’t that be for the best?”
“Trust me, he tried but my aunt won’t let him. She thinks maybe he might start trying.”
All this talking about Sky almost made me forget about the number first reason why I was here. I then whipped my head towards Tyler and tried to grab my attention away from the cute dog staring right at me in amazement.
Oh, his eyes. Focus, Crystal! Focus! I had to know why Tyler brought me here so that I could finally go home and take a cold shower because I definitely smelled. Still not sure why Tyler didn’t say anything because knowing him, he’d want to point out my weaknesses to piss me off but so far none of that was happening. And after my cold shower I needed some time to myself before Tyler came over to finish the project with me.
“What is it that you want to give me?” I asked. Tyler then seemed to remember because he started to reach his hand over to his pocket. That’s when I noticed his pocket seemed full. It was shaped into a cube as if a little box was in there.
And I was right because he pulled out a small wooden box which seemed pretty old because it was filled with scratches and dust. Tyler then opened it to reveal a mesmerizing chain which blew my breath away. It was a golden bracelet that had a golden little horse shoe dangling on the center.
“What’s that?” I asked.
Tyler then took it out of the box and held it to his face.
“It was my grandmother’s. She used to call it her good luck bracelet and passed it down to me two years ago when I won the competition before she died.”
“But why do you want to give it to me?” Tyler stood there in silence as he scratched his head as if he was trying to find a suitable answer.
“Because I don’t really use it and I think it would be better on you.”
“So you want me to take that bracelet so that I can win the race?” I asked as I took it in my hand and examined it.
“Not really. I know you will win without it. I just want you to have it.”
“Why?” I asked as I handed over the bracelet.
Tyler to let out a frustrated groan as he ran his hand over his face and through his hair.
“Just take the damn bracelet, woman!”
I threw my hands up in the air dramatically and took it back again in my hand.
“Okay fine,” I said as I wrapped it around my right wrist.
I grabbed my phone and checked the time then placed it back in my pocket. I turned around to look at Sky and smiled at him after giving him a little wave. I wondered if he understood what that means? And if he did, would he wave back if he had suitable hands? No that’s just plain stupid. Dogs could wave back using their paws. I also wonder why they―okay I was out of topic again!
“I had to get home. I’ll see you at five,” I said.
He nodded and walked me out the door. Once I got into my house and locked the door behind me, I placed all my things on the counter next to me and dashed upstairs to my room. I then took off my clothes as if they were on fire and started my cold shower. Like really cold. I’m pretty sure if I had the water running for a long time, my bathroom would start to snow and the next thing you know, I’ll be living with polar bears.
After getting in, I closed the curtain because even though I lived alone, I always feared someone would barge in and witness me butt naked. I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t be nice.
Once I got used to the cold water hitting my skin, I just stayed there staring at the wet tiles in front of me. I just spaced out for a while until I remembered I didn’t even add shampoo to my hair. Thankfully this time, I didn’t get any in my eyes. What a miracle! Once I was done, I added conditioner and started to scrub the dirt and sweat out of my body. I thought I might have over done it a bit because my skin started to turn pink. So I took that as a sign to finish up. After washing out everything from my hair, I stepped out of the shower, dried my body, and then got dressed into a pair of shorts and another shirt I stole from Matt.
I then crawled into bed as if I haven’t been here in years and wanted to treasure the moment. I pulled the covers over my head after grabbing my phone and scrolled through Instagram. Five minutes later, my phone started to ring so I had to put a hold onto stalking hot guys. Don’t blame me! That’s probably one of the best things I was good at. I then looked at the screen to see it was Jasmine calling so I answered her call and placed my phone at my ear.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey Crystal how are you?”
“I’m fine, and you?”
“I’m awesome. Anyway, I don’t want to take up much of your time. I’m just calling to ask if you’re free this Friday.”
“Yea, I am, why?”
“The girls and I are planning to have a day to ourselves so I was wondering if you’d like to come to the mall with us.”
“Just us girls?”
“Yup,” she said as she popped the p.
“Sure, I’d love to. As long as Matt isn’t there to embarrass us, it’s fine by me.”
To be honest, Matt was really fun to hang out with and could certainly give you a good time, But sometimes, he would get pretty annoying and start acting like a spoiled child whining about when we are going to leave. There was once before I moved away, I went to a mall with Matt and lost him. I then found him in the candy section which wasn’t the least bit surprising.
“Awesome!”
After that I turned off my phone and closed my eyes as I tried to get some sleep. Not much though, just a little so that I could wake up a bit. Half an hour would be good. Yea well all those thoughts went flying out the window when the doorbell rang but I just decided to ignore it. Maybe the person outside my door would finally give up if I wouldn’t answer it. I guess I was right because it went off once, then twice and five minutes later the person finally gave up. I then let myself get sunk into the comfortable mattress as the silence of my own home surrounded me.
I guess I spoke too soon because I heard footsteps running up the stairs and to my room door. In a much normal time, I would have freaked out and yelled ‘murderer’ but I was just too tired right and thought my mind was playing tricks on me. The door went flying and I felt a strong arm grip me and gave me a big shake. I was about to shriek when the covers were pulled away from my body and I faced the most person I hated at this very moment for disturbing my sleep.
Matt.
“Crystal, get up! I need your help!”
“How the hell did you get into my house you psychopath!”
“You gave me an extra key remember!”
“And why the hell did I do that?”
“I don’t know? Why don’t you ask yourself!”
“Why are we yelling?”
“I don’t know!”
I then jumped out of my bed and was about to say something when Matt interrupted me.
“Hey that’s my shirt!” he said as he pointed at his shirt I was wearing.
“Yea, I know that,” I said as I walked to the bathroom to wash my face. Once I was done, I came out and into my room to see Matt looking through my closet as he held another two shirts of his in his hands. He then turned to look at me and gave me an expression which yelled ‘what the hell’.
“So that’s where they went!”
I shrugged my shoulders helplessly and dragged Matt out of my closet then sat on my bed.
“Can you give me one good explanation to why you’re here disturbing my sleep?”
Matt then scratched the back of his head as he grabbed the backpack I just noticed which was lying on the ground.
“I need your help.”
“Yea you said that but what’s so important you ha
d to keep me from sleeping?” I asked as I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him.
“Tomorrow’s test.”
My eyes widened as I stared at him in shock.
“Test? What test? Nobody told me there will be a test tomorrow!”
“Relax, it’s my math class you’re not in.”
“Ew, math.”
Okay that just slipped out of my mouth. I couldn’t help it! It’s a reflex.
“Listen, there are some stuff I just don’t get and I’m falling behind. And you know I can’t fail math this year.” he said as he ran his hand through his hair.
“The same way you failed last year?”
“I didn’t fail! I got a C minus.”
“Okay, fine, you didn’t fail but why do you think I can help you? I hate math.”
“Yea, well at least you’re good in it,” he said then took out his notebook and textbook.
“Fine. I’ll help you but don’t take too long with your questions. I’m busy later.”
Matt nodded and took out a couple of worksheets to show me the problems he didn’t get. He opened his notebook and showed me his notes and compared it to the textbook. And trust me when I say this, it wasn’t easy teaching Matt. I mean I feel so sorry for the teachers who had to teach him because he didn’t get anything. Nothing I tell you! His skull was as thick as a brick! But no worries people. They don’t call me a skull crusher for nothing!
Except, they didn’t call me that.
An hour later, we were done with everything. Thank god! Now I could finally get some rest!
Yea, I should have held that thought because just as we walked out of my room, the doorbell rang. Did you know how I feel when I was finally able to shove Matt out of my room after spending twenty minutes fighting over who would keep his shirts I stole? I did steal them for a reason and Matt suddenly wanted them back.
Why did everyone decide to pay me a visit at this hour?
I then walked towards my front door while Matt followed behind me and opened it. There standing was none other than Tyler holding his backpack. Oh shit! I totally forgot about our project we had to finish! I cursed with colorful words when Matt appeared from behind me, catching Tyler’s attention. He narrowed his eyes but said nothing. I didn’t fail to notice his eyes rake over my body from head to toe. I then looked down at myself and remember I was only wearing shorts and Matt’s shirt.
