Living With the Bad Boy

by Sharlay

  “Yeah, you really do need to get home. I’ll be round in about forty minutes,” I replied as I gave her a sympathetic look.

  “Ok, Cutie Pie, don’t leave me alone with the Buffet Kings for too long,” she said before walking towards her house while twirling her multi colored umbrella around.

  As I turned, to look at my house, my anger from earlier suddenly returned as I took in the sight of Caleb’s dumb truck. I took a deep breath, slipped my keys from out of my pocket and prepared myself for a war.

  “What on earth happened to you?” My dad asked as soon as I stepped through the door.

  “Well, hello to you too, Father,” I replied as I raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Sorry, Pumpkin but you look like you were just pulled out of the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and then thrown back onto my door step.”

  “Yeah, well that’s what happens when you have to walk all the way home from the movie theatres in the pouring rain,” I grunted as I watched the splashes of water leave my body and hit the wooden floor, underneath my feet.

  “Why did you have to walk? I thought that you were on a date?” My dad asked with a concerned expression on his face.

  “I was but he left me-”

  “He did what? Where does that boy live, I want to talk to his par-”

  “No, Dad, please. It wasn’t his fault; it was just a huge misunderstanding, ok?” I pleaded.

  “What kind of misunderstanding?”A ‘Caleb’ kind.

  “I don’t really want to talk about it, so-”

  Suddenly, I cut myself off as my eyes connected with the object on the coffee table.

  One thing that you should know about me is that I am the type of person that has a special place for everything. For example, when I am at home, I will leave my keys in one of two places: in the small black box inside of my closet or on top of my dresser. Which is why, as I was stood there, staring at my ‘lost’ cell phone, sat on top of the coffee table, I knew that I did not put it there.

  “Dad, did you put my cell phone there?” I asked, already knowing what his answer would be.

  “No, Caleb found it earlier and put it there-”

  “I’ve got to go,” I said as I grabbed my phone off the table and marched up the stairs in a fit of anger.

  As I reached Caleb’s room, I immediately entered, without an invitation. My anger increased as I realized that he wasn’t there. As I span around, I jumped as I came face to face with the delinquent of the year. I froze for a second as I took in the fact that Caleb was stood in front of me, wrapped in just a towel while using a smaller towel to dry his light brown hair. As I took in his toned chest, and rather well formed body, I mentally slapped myself as I struggled to focus on the task in hand.

  “Do you think that this is funny?” I finally shouted as I shook my cell phone in front of his face.

  “I’m not sure that I follow, Princess,” he said as he sported that pathetic smirk of his.

  “You have no idea who you are messing with, believe me,” I growled as our eyes locked.

  “Really, and who’s that?” He asked as he took a few steps towards me, never breaking eye contact.

  “Your worst nightmare, see, you messed with the wrong person, and if you think that this is anywhere near over, then you are very, very wrong,” I whispered as I allowed a slight smirk to appear on my face before walking past him. I came to a sudden stop as I felt his hand take hold of my wrist, and turn me around, so that I was facing him again.

  “I think that you’ll find that it’s you that has messed with the wrong person,” he said as he gently pulled me towards him, so that his mouth was right next to my ear. “One thing that you’ll find out about me is that I always get what I want, and right now I want one thing,” he whispered as I felt his lips gently brush past my cheek. My heart beat suddenly increased as a silence took over the entire room, and I felt Caleb’s hand gently brush past my hip before he began to talk again, “And that one thing,” he said before whipping his towel right off in front of me, with a huge smile on his face, “is to get ready. Now, if you don’t mind.”

  I actually screamed from the shock before slapping my hands across my eyes, and trying to make it out of the bedroom door.

  “I can’t believe that you did that! You jerk!” I screamed as I tried to rush into my own bedroom door. “Ouch,” I screamed as I walked into the door frame before finally making it into my room.

  “Bye, Princess,” I heard him chuckle from next door, as I growled to myself. Caleb definitely won that battle but I was not about to let him win the war.

  * * *

  After taking a whole thirty minutes in the shower, and twenty minutes to fix my hair, makeup and clothes, I was glad to finally be getting out of this place. Caleb had gone too far this time. I can’t believe that he- actually, I can’t even bring myself to relive that embarrassing moment again. Let’s just say that Caleb is the type of guy that has no shame.

  “I’m staying at Courtney’s tonight,” I told my dad as I headed towards the front door, ready to escape my house.

  “Ok, let me know when you get there and don’t be late for school tomorrow,” my dad replied as he sat, chatting to Bill about basketball and a whole bunch of other things that made absolutely no sense to me.

  “Bye, Bill,” I said as I waved innocently at him. I still don’t understand how such a nice guy, could have produced a monster like Caleb but I guess that the world is filled with many wonders.

  “Bye, Addy,” he said as he returned my wave and smiled at me.

  As I pulled up outside of Courtney’s house, I remembered that I had just left behind a shark, to enter a tank full of piranhas. Cale’s friends were like a bunch of cloned Calebs. Girls at our school seemed to like to throw themselves at them, whereas I was much more likely to throw myself off a cliff when I spotted one of them. Let’s just say, that I’ve never been a big fan of the Buffet Kings.

  After impatiently ringing the door bell for the second time, I was highly disappointed when I was greeted by Cale’s smiling face.

  “Well, well, well if it isn’t my baby sister’s feisty, little sidekick,” he said as he stood, leaning against the door frame with a smile on his face.

  “Cale,” I said as I forced a smile onto my face. My relationship with Cale was difficult. Mainly because I spent most of the time that I was around him, trying to convince myself not to physically attack him, since he was, sadly, related to my best friend. Not that he was always like this. He was actually a sweet kid. It was when he got to about fourteen that everything changed. Cale and Courtney are actually twins. I call him her older brother for two reasons: one, because he was born two minutes before her and two, because I just can’t believe that they are twins since they are nothing alike. It helps me to deal with it, a little better.

  “Addy,” he said as he allowed my name to roll off his tongue, almost making me gag.

  “Are you going to let me in or do you need ID?” I asked, sarcastically.

  “Oh no, trust me, I know how old you are,” he said as he winked at me. I rolled my eyes at his comment, and pushed past him as I made my way towards the stairs. I could hear the rest of his friends laughing about something in the living room, only causing me to move faster. I breathed a sigh of relief as I made it to Courtney’s door without having to face another encounter with one of Cale’s friends.

  “Oh, she finally shows up,” Courtney said as she kept her eyes glued to the screen of my laptop-wait, my laptop?

  “Erm, how did you get that?” I asked as I raised an eyebrow at her.

  “Oh, your dad let me borrow it earlier, when I came to see where you were,” she said without looking at me.

  “Oh, well, why don’t you just move in next time?” I asked, sarcastically as I jumped onto her bed, next to her.

  “I’ve been considering it actually,” she said as she smirked at me.

  “What are you doing?” I asked as I rested my head on her pillow.

  “I�
��m just finishing this essay. Mr annoying Jerrad decided that it would be a good idea to ‘exercise our minds, with extra work’.” She said in her ‘male’ voice.

  “Sounds fun,” I replied, sympathetically.

  “So, what happened to you today?” She asked as she gently closed the laptop and placed it at the bottom of her bed.

  “A lot,” I said as I began to yawn.

  “I take it that this ‘a lot’ has to do with Caleb, and that guy who - by the way – wasn’t James,” she said, with a smirk on her face.

  “Yeah, but can we please not talk about it right now, I’ve had enough Caleb to last me a lifetime. Tell me about your date with Jayden.”

  “Oh, that,” she said as she rolled her eyes.

  “I thought that you liked him,” I said as I turned onto my side, and rested my head on my hand.

  “I did, before tonight,” she mumbled.

  “Oh dear, so give me the verdict then,” I said as I stared at her.

  “Erm...thong, definite thong,” she replied as she threw herself back onto the bed, beside me.

  “Oh, yeah, not good,” I replied.

  Ok, so I’m aware that you are now sat there thinking, why did Courtney just refer to Jayden as a thong, let me explain. Courtney and I have come up with three categories that we put all men that we date into: the thong, the bra or the little black dress. Now, I know that you are probably thinking that we have gone crazy but just hear me out. You see, every guy that we have ever dated has always fit into one of those categories. Think about it like this; a bra looks good, gives you comfort and support but every now and then, you just need to get rid of it and be free. Then there’s the thong, it’s hot, sexy, and cute but eventually it becomes a complete and utter pain in the butt. Lastly, there’s the little black dress, the one that goes with everything, it’s hot, sexy, cute, makes you feel confident and no matter what, it’s the one that you always keep. Just try it, next time that you date a guy, see which one he fits into, I promise you, you will soon be able to form a whole list. Now, of course every girl should be aiming for the little black dress but in reality, they don’t seem to exist. Not in mine and Courtney’s world anyway but we continue to search. Jayden, being placed in the thong category is of course, not good.

  “Well, what happened then?” I asked as I rolled onto my back, so that I was facing the ceiling.

  “What happened was that the night was all about him. I mean, he is so full of himself, at one point, I nearly became as violent as you, it was awful,” she said in a concerned tone.

  “Yeah, thanks,” I replied, sarcastically.

  “It’s true, he was a moron, the guy is hot but his personality sucks, so I tried to create an escape plan,” she said as she began smiling to herself.

  “What was the escape plan?” I said as I looked at her suspiciously.

  “Well, I told him that I was having ladies problems.”

  “Yeah, no guy likes to deal with that-”

  “That’s what I thought,” she said as she cut me off, “but apparently Jayden has three sisters and is –in his own words – equip to deal with such problems,” she said as she rolled her eyes.

  “Oh, wow, I guess you didn’t see that pothole in your road to victory,” I said as I smiled at my rather witty metaphor. See, I can sound smart from time to time.

  “No, I didn’t, so I pulled out the big guns,” she said with a smirk on her face.

  “What did you do?”

  “I went for the crazy stalker approach and said that I was in love with him, and wanted to have his babies,” she said with a straight face.

  “That is highly disturbing, even for you,” I said as I stared at her.

  “Maybe, but what’s more disturbing is that he asked, when I wanted to start making the babies,” she said as she shivered in disgust.

  “Oh, he really is weird. You know, I’m starting to think that maybe we need to create a whole new category just for him. Like maybe ‘the sock’, or something,” I said as I chuckled.

  “Addison Taylor that is an insult to socks all around the world,” she said as we both burst out laughing. “Anyway, enough about my eventful date, what happened to you?”

  “Caleb happened, that’s what but don’t worry I’m not done with him yet,” I said as I smiled at the thought of my next plan.

  “Look, Addy, I get that this guy’s being a jerk to you but he doesn’t seem like the type to give up-”

  “And neither am I.”

  “Exactly, when you have two stubborn people that have to win, someone always gets hurt,” she said in a concerned voice.

  “Yes, and that will be him, so don’t worry, I know what I am doing,” I said as a smirk filled my face.

  “I hope that you’re right, I really do,” she said as she let out a deep sigh. I knew that she was worried but Caleb had no idea what I had in store for him. By this time tomorrow, he will be wishing that he had never stepped foot in my house. Caleb is going to get a high school welcome that he will never forget….

  CHAPTER 7

  The Plan

  As soon as the sound of my alarm clock hit my ears this morning, I began smiling. If there has been one good thing that has come out of having Jerk Face stay at my house, then it has definitely got to be my new found love for waking up early. It is, of course, down to the fact that it allows me to have more time to conduct my revenge plans. Sadly, Courtney doesn’t share my new enthusiasm, since she was also woken up this morning, which she hasn’t stopped talking about since I got back.

  “Remind me why we were awake at five am, again?” She said as she looked up at me, as though I were a psychopath.

  “I told you, I had to go home and get something,” I said with a huge smile on my face.

  “And what is this ‘something’?” She replied, sarcastically.

  “Now, that would be telling, wouldn’t it?” I said as I began to walk backwards, through her bedroom door.

  “I am not through with you yet, come back her-”

  Ahh peace at last, I thought as I shut in the door, drowning out the sound of Courtney’s interrogation. I knew that if I had discussed my plan with her, too early then she would have tried to convince me to re-think it, and I didn’t want to. That is why I got up so early this morning, I got dressed, snuck back into my house, put the beginning of my plan into action and then came back here. I had to come back, of course, missing Courtney’s mom’s cooking in the morning, was not an option.

  “Morning, honey, what are you doing?” Courtney’s mom asked me as I walked into the kitchen.

  “Morning, Aunt Mel. I’m just trying to avoid your daughter’s interrogation,” I said as I sat down at the island.

  “Why is she interrogating you?” She said as she chuckled to herself.

  “Did Court mention that I had a new ‘guest’ at my house?” I asked, bitterly, as I thought about Caleb.

  “Yeah, are we talking about the hot one?” She said as a smile filled her face.

  “Is that how she described him?” I asked with a look of disgust on my face.

  “Pretty much, yeah,” she said as we both began to laugh.

  “Yeah, well, that’s the one. He is the most annoying, obnoxious, self obsessed human being that I have ever met,” I said, all in one breath.

  “Wow, someone’s not his biggest fan then.”

  “No, I’m really not. Since he has arrived here, he has been doing everything that he can to humiliate me. Yesterday, he showed up at the movie theater, while I was on my date with James. Then he actually pretended to be my boyfriend – which worked – and scared off James, for good.”

  “He sounds...interesting,” she said as I watched her flipping over the pieces of bacon as they were sizzling away in the pan. I love bacon, in fact I love food, period. I’m starting to sound more and more like Courtney.

  “Yeah, well if he thinks that I’m through with him, then he is wrong.”

  “You remind me so much of your mother sometimes. S
he had that exact same spirit; she would never give up. Which can be both good, and bad, depending on the situation,” she said as she stared at me with love in her eyes.

  I liked hearing things about my mom, it was nice. My dad and I didn’t speak much about her anymore. I guess that we were both too scared to bring up feelings that we were trying so hard to hide. My mom and Courtney’s mom went to high school together. All of her memories of my mom were fun and happy ones; I liked hearing those. Aunt Mel never asked how I was feeling or watched what she said, she just spoke freely about her friend, and I liked that. She was the only person that I actually spoke about my mom to. She seemed to know so much, and the memories that she shared, made me feel like I was still connected to her in some way, almost as if she had never left.

  “So, I take it that you have a plan for this poor boy?” She said as she smirked at me.

  “Indeed I do, and please do not feel sorry for him,” I said as I began laughing to myself.

  “Will you be sharing this little mastermind plan with the rest of us?”

  “Erm, no,” I said as we both began to laugh again.

  “Well, just be careful with all of these games and pranks, ok?”

  “You’re starting to sound like Courtney now,” I said as I raised an eyebrow at her and smiled.

  “Well, if she said that, then she was right. Just don’t take it too far, ok?”

  “Ok.”

  “Good,” she said before handing me a plate of bacon, eggs, beans, sausage, toast and pancakes. Yes, this was definitely a breakfast that should never be missed.

  “Thank you,” I said as I took in the aroma of the food.

  “Morning, Mom,” Courtney said as she walked through the kitchen door, “morning, Sleepinator,” she continued as she turned to look at me.

  “You really need to stop making up these weird words, it’s embarrassing,” I said as I took another bite out of my first pancake.

  “When they make a dictionary, called Courtney’s and its outselling oxford, you’re going to have to take that back, just remember,” she said as she pulled a silly face at me.