Tyler's Gem: A Teen Romance

by Rua Hasan

  “He isn’t my boyfriend.” I mumbled feeling my cheeks heat up.

  Ethan scoffed.

  “Sure he isn’t. The last time I met him, he wanted to rip my head off for dragging you along with me. And he did mention something about being your boyfriend soon.”

  Ethan tried to lighten up the mood by teasing me and nudging me by the shoulder. “Yeahh, Yeahh, whatever. Just drive, old man.”

  “I’m not old,” he muttered under his breath.

  It wasn’t long before we were parked in front of the hospital. As Ethan turned off his truck, I jumped out immediately and ran towards the hospital doors. I sprinted towards the reception and asked the guy behind the desk where Tyler was being held. I heard Ethan try to keep up from behind me but I guess that man was too old to keep up with an 2eighteen-Yeahr-old runner. I would have slowed down to make him feel better but that was the last thing on my mind.

  My brain was nagging at my legs to move faster until I made it to his room door. I tried to calm myself but I was so afraid to open the door.

  What if something happened to him? I don’t think I can stand watching him lifeless.

  But I couldn’t stand here all day as my nerves would eat me up alive. Ethan stood behind me, nodded his head, and pointed at the door. I heard a beeping noise coming from the room and it got me paranoid. I swallowed the lump in my throat as Ethan spoke.

  “I’ll wait here in case you would need me,” he whispered.

  I looked at the doorknob. Having enough of my wimpy side, I mentally slapped myself and opened the door to Tyler’s hospital room. I entered further into the room and stopped when something struck me in shock.

  Tyler Grey was sitting upwards in his bed flirting with a nurse!

  What the hell is happening here? I thought Tyler was hurt?

  I saw his right leg wrapped in bandages and a pair of crutches rested next to him on the floor. He still didn’t notice me because his attention was on the brunette nurse who said something to make him laugh. I felt my hands form into a fist. I wasn’t jealous. No, of course not! I was just angry thinking that he was in great danger and yet the he was enjoying his time with a clown. She wasn’t even funny!

  I wanted to punch his face and watch his blood flowing freely, but I wasn’t that violent. I grabbed his crutches and swung it at him and that’s when he noticed me. I whacked him in the stomach and I heard him screaming as he stuttered for me to stop. But did I? Na! I went for his thighs! Lifting the crutches over my head and hitting him as if he was a rooster on thanksgiving.

  “Take that you piece of sh*t, mother f*cker!

  “Mam, what are you doing? You can’t hurt the patient!”

  She screeched but I ignored her. I shoved her away and began to whack Tyler once again.

  “Crystal, what the hell?”

  He yelled trying to get away from me but I just glared at him and smacked the back of his head with my fist.

  “This is for getting me all worried!” I yelled hitting his leg; not the broken one of course. Come on! I wasn’t that crazy.

  He hissed in pain as he rubbed the back of his head. He looked amused but I shoved the crutches in his stomach and hit him once again.

  “This is for making me think you were hurt!” I yelled as hit his hip.

  “Mam?”

  “Leave before I send you to your grave!”

  I glared at the nurse and slapped Tyler behind his neck.“This is for making your mother worry the hell for you!” I hissed and lifted the crutches to hit his lap.

  “God damn wo—”

  I lifted the crutches over my head, giving him a good whack in the stomach.

  “You as*hole!”

  “You bastard!”

  I whacked him on the head.

  “You’re going to give him a concussion!” The nurse yelled.

  I turned around and glared at her.

  “Why are you still here? Get out or you’ll end up having brain damage!”

  Her eyes widened in shock. I could tell he was trying so hard not to grin but his lips twitching upwards didn’t go unnoticed.

  “It’s okay. She’s someone special.”

  The nurse ran towards the door and left. She could be thinking I was crazy but I wasn’t!

  “Special my ass, you son of a b*tch!”

  The door opened once again and I turned around to yell at whoever just came in.

  “I heard someone yell…and saw…”

  I stopped when I realized it was Ethan looking at us.

  “Um… Never mind. I’ll just leave and you call me when you need a ride, “ he said quickly and dashed out the door.

  As the door closed, I turned around and smacked Tyler on the head.

  “Stop it, Crystal! You’re going to kill me!”

  “Great! Let me do the honor to bury you 6 feet below the ground!”

  I hissed and pulled on his hair.

  “You scared the hell out of me you moron!” I screeched.

  Whack!

  “How could you!”

  Whack!

  “You got me and your mom scared out of our minds!”

  Smack!

  “And I come all the way here to see you flirting with some clown! Do you know how hard it is to shove down two plates of lasagna and then run here like I’m in a freakin marathon?

  He shook his head slowly.

  “Exactly!” I yelled throwing my hands up in the air with one hand still holding his crutch.

  I was about to hit him again when grabbed the crutches and yanked it from my grip. He placed it aside and held my wrists.

  “Gem, please stop it.”

  I felt myself begin to calm down as he pulled me closer to his body. He kissed behind my ear, making shivers run down my spine.

  “I’m sorry, Gem,” he whispered.

  He pulled back and wrapped his hands around my waist, pulling me onto his lap carefully. I slowly wrapped my hands around his neck and pressed my chest against his.

  “You’re a moron,” I whispered as I laid my chin on his shoulder.

  “But I’m your moron.”

  “I was so scared I’d lose you.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  Tyler pulled away to look at me and kissed my forehead as he held e tighter.

  “I’m fine, I promise. It’s just a broken leg and a couple of bruises.”

  “Well, you deserved that! You got me scared imagining you attached with tubes and cables only to find you flirting with a nurse!” I shoved my finger at his chest.

  “You’re so hot when you’re jealous.” he cooed.

  “I’m not jealous!” I said punching his shoulder.

  “Sure, you aren’t.”

  “Shut up before I bruise you up even more.”

  I wrapped my arms around his torso and rested my head on his chest once again.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “You were taking so long so I drove over to pick you up and a car bumped into mine and crashed into a tree. The guy called the cops and took me to the hospital.

  “Why didn’t you call anyone?”

  “I didn’t want anyone to worry when I found out my injuries weren’t that bad. I wanted to tell you but I lost my phone. So, I ended up using the nurse’s phone you called a ‘clown’ and called my mom.”

  I understood why he told his mom first. I mean, I’m pretty sure I’d do the same if my mom was still alive. His mother deserved to know. But why didn’t he call me after that?

  “I wasn’t able to memorize your number. I only have my mom’s number stuck in my head.”

  I remembered calling his mom so I grabbed my phone from my pocket.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Emma. Tyler’s fine.”

  “Thank god.”

  “He got a broken bone.”

  “Let’s not forget the bruises!” Tyler joked.

  “Is that him? Can you please let me talk to him?”

  “Sure.”

  I handed my phone to Tyle
r and watched as he placed it near his ear.

  “Hi, Ma. I’m fine.”

  He paused as he listened to his mother ramble from the other end.

  “Mom, I’m not dead relax!”

  “Yeahh-okay-aha-alright… No, not really. Just a sting.”

  “I don’t know. It’ll take a couple of weeks, I guess. No, you don’t have t—what? You’re already on your way?”

  He huffed.

  “Fine. Alright I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  He paused and looked at me before whispering, “I love you, too. Have a safe trip home. Okay, bye.”

  “She was really worried, you know.”

  Yeah I can’t blame her after what happened.” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

  “After what happened?” I asked.

  Tyler closed his eyes. I then placed my hand on his shoulder comforting him.

  “My dad died in an accident. He was drunk when he was driving.”

  I gasped and cupped his face tilting it towards me.

  “I am so sorry, Tyler. But please, don’t blame yourself. It wasn’t your fault and nothing you would have done could have stopped it,” I said pulling him towards me. He gladly wrapped his arms around me and took in a deep breath.

  “Thank you, Gem.”

  “For what?”

  “For everything.”

  Chapter 35

  There was something about Tyler that drew me to him. I was surprised on Tyler’s revelation about her father. How could I be so selfish? All this time I only thought about myself when Tyler was going through the same thing. He only lost his father and still had his mother but there would always be something missing.

  Tyler never really did say anything about his father’s death until now. It made me feel so special. As I tightened my hold around him, I knew that he was wonderful person and he was no longer the same boy who I used to know. I could feel my feelings start to grow towards him.

  There were many things we didn’t know about each other but it’s not like everything could change overnight. It had to take time. We needed baby steps and that’s what we were doing at this very moment. Two months ago, I wouldn’t even dare to look at his annoying sexy face, but now I realized that I couldn’t go a day without him. So, I decided to do the one thing I’d never thought I’d do. That one painful story I had been holding on for so long and not telling anyone but Matt. I decided to take the pressure off my shoulders and share my story. Maybe not all.

  “You remember the last day of eighth grade when you attacked me with balloons full of paint?” I asked pulling away. I was still seated on his lap and surprisingly didn’t mind at all. I couldn’t resist sharing each other’s warmth as our bodies touched. I looked up to see Tyler’s face flash with confusion at first then turned into guilt. I guess he remembered that day clearly but his cheeky grin surprised me.

  “What? Pink looks good on you.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him which made the grin drop from his face.

  “Okay I’m sorry. That was very immature and mean of me. I didn’t know what I was thinking.”

  He gave my hand a tight squeeze as he looked back at me.

  “It’s okay. That’s all in the past now.”

  He nodded his head and urged me to continue.

  “When I came back, I found the house completely empty. It was strange because my parent’s loving smiles used to greet me at the door.”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

  “You don’t ha—”

  “No, I want to do this.”

  I looked at Tyler who seemed to be debating with himself whether he should let me continue or not.

  “I heard someone at the door. Thinking that it was them, I opened it to be greeted police officers. And you can pretty much guess what happened next. I found out that my parents were involved in a car accident too.”

  My voice crack and my tears started to flow. Tyler wiped the tears off of my face.

  “They’re gone.” I whispered placed my head on his shoulder. I was too embarrassed for him to see me like breakdown.

  “I was alone.”

  “You’re not alone,” Tyler whispered as he kissed my hair.

  I then pulled away and cleared my throat.

  “I just wanted to tell you my story since you told me yours,” I said fiddling with my fingers.

  He nodded his head.

  “It was one of the most horrible days of my life. I did not only lose a father, but a special person too.” He laid his forehead against mine as his warm minty breath fanned against my face. I closed my eyes relaxing against his hold and calming down. I didn’t really focus too much on what he said because my mind was getting fuzzy and dizzy. Did he just call me special?

  I then opened my eyes to see Tyler flickering his to my lips. I licked and bit mine nervously as his face got closer and closer by the second.

  “Crystal?” Tyler whispered.

  “Yeahh?”

  “I care about you a lot,” he said before crashing his lips onto mine. I held back the moan as the rush of electricity ran through me. I couldn’t help but shiver as Tyler’s hands ran all over my body bringing me impossibly closer. I know this is very cliché but I couldn’t help it. I might not have dated a lot of guys in the past but I knew one thing for sure–Tyler was definitely a good kisser Tyler. I then closed my eyes as Tyler began to get a bit rough. It wasn’t slow and simple like the last kiss. It was faster and possessive.

  I felt my cheeks turn red and my lips swollen as he kept moving against mine. I didn’t know what I was thinking—no, wait, scratch that. I wasn’t thinking at all! I could only focus and Tyler and his warmth. I held Tyler’s neck up to his hair and I heard Tyler groan.

  Tyler was rubbing circles against my thigh as his other hand held me against his hard chest. I was starting to feel hot and felt as if I was on cloud nine. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any more overwhelming, Tyler bit my bottom lip causing a slight moan to escape. I couldn’t believe what I was doing but I couldn’t lie to myself any further. I knew that I liked this.

  Tyler groaned as he bit on my lip once again. I crunched my eyebrows down at his aggressiveness but didn’t mind it. I opened my mouth before he could make my lips bleed, I felt him slip his tongue in. I stopped right there not knowing what to do. It was not like I didn’t like it, but it was very overwhelming and fast. I never actually went this far with any other guys and was afraid he would think I wasn’t a good kisser. He calmed down a bit and was taking things slow.

  A moan escaped my lips as Tyler moved his against mine. I felt myself become light headed, I almost forgot that I was sitting on his lap in a hospital room. Tyler was taking the lead and just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, the hospital door slammed open. I jumped off Tyler’s lap all of a sudden, moving us apart. My lips were puffy and red.

  I looked behind me to see the stupid nurse and a doctor. I lifted my eyebrow as Tyler stood up. I averted my attention away from Tyler but couldn’t help but notice the look of annoyance written all over his face. Just when my mind was clear enough to think, I noticed the syringe the doctor was holding.

  “Where’s the crazy person?” The doctor asked making me very confused.

  “That’s her! She was hitting the patient!” The nurse glared at me. I’m not crazy!

  “What the hell is going o—”

  The doctor took a step closer, but I was pulled back.

  “It’s fine. She’s perfectly normal…I think.”

  I punched Tyler’s shoulder making him groan slightly in pain.

  “Okay, okay, I’m sorry geez!”

  He glared at me then turned around to look at the guy in white and the clown next to him. She was glaring at me, and I couldn’t help but cross my arms under my chest and smirk back at her. For years of getting bullied, I learned that our enemies hated seeing us happy so to torture them, we have to let them know that their presence wouldn’t affect us. I stared at Tyler’s musc
ular back as I couldn’t help but blush. What? We were just making out right now and I’m pretty sure that was very obvious. Maybe that’s why that bimbo over there was trying to kill me with her eyes.

  Or maybe it was the fact I threatened to give her a concussion...

  “I was told that someone was beating up the patient and that I had to put them to sleep.” The doctor said looking very confused. I couldn’t help but laugh at what he said and Tyler did the same.

  “What? What’s so funny?” The nurse asked.

  “There’s no crazy person here besides you for thinking that.”

  The doctor then turned his head to look at the nurse.

  “You lied?”

  She shook her head.

  “No I swear! She was beating him up with his crutches.”

  Tyler crossed his arms under his chest.

  “You think she could beat me up?” he asked pointing at me then at himself.

  I kicked him in the leg, making him loose his balance since his other one was broken and fell to the ground.

  “You were saying?” I lifted an eyebrow.

  He rolled his eyes as he rubbed the spot where I hit him.

  “Violence much?” He muttered under his breath.

  After getting back up by the support of his crutches, he looked back at the confused doctor and wrapped an arm around my waist bringing me to his chest. I fiddled with my fingers as two pairs of eyes stared at us as if we were aliens from outer space. I looked up at Tyler to see him grinning down at me. I then rolled my eyes when he winked at me.

  “As you can see, there’s no crazy person here. You can leave now,” Tyler said in a serious tone. It surprised me to see how easily he could change from being silly with me to serious with others. I watched as the confused doctor walked out of the room with the nurse following right behind him like a lost puppy. Just as the door closed, I scoffed.

  “Why were you flirting with her anyways?”

  Tyler stared down at me for a moment without saying anything. I watched broke out in a fit of laughter.

  What was so funny?

  “Me? Flirting with her? You’ve got to be kidding with me, Gem.”

  I lifted an eyebrow.

  “You weren’t?”

  He shook his head.