Living With the Bad Boy

by Sharlay

  “Whatever,” I replied before jumping out of the car with my bag in my hand.

  “See you later, Princess,” he replied before driving away, leaving me stood there, staring at his dark blue, truck driving off into the distance. I can’t stand that arrogant jerk!

  “What was all that about?”

  “Oh, look, I’ve finally found Wally,” I grunted as I opened up my front door.

  “Ha, ha! You’re not really mad at me, are you? As soon as I saw your calls, I came straight over but clearly Mr bad boy fixed whatever problem that you were having-”

  “Shut up,” I growled as I stared at my red headed friend.

  “So, what are we eating?” Courtney asked as she lay down on the couch, watching me take off my jacket and shoes.

  “We? Didn’t Keeley feed you while you were at her house?” I asked as I raised my eyebrows at her.

  “Yeah, but her and her mom are crazy. They only eat salad!”

  “Why didn’t you just have some, then you wouldn’t have been so hungry-”

  “I did, I had four bowls with all their special sauces and vambamboosals-”

  “Vambam what?”

  “Boosals, it means all their little extra dressings and stuff,” she replied with a serious expression on her face.

  “Court, there is no such word as vambam...whatever you said,” I replied as I looked at her as though she was a crazy person.

  “Oh, come on, it’s a cool word. It’s my new word anyway, so get used to it.”

  “So weird,” I mumbled under my breath.

  “So, what are you cooking, good looking?” She said as she watched me sit on the couch.

  “I’m not cooking anything, for you,” I replied with a smirk on my face as I reached for the controller.

  “But I’m a guest,” she said as she pouted her lips.

  “You stopped being a guest, the day that you started coming over here, uninvited,” I said as I ignored her constant pleas.

  “Fine, I’ll do my own food,” she said as she stomped into the kitchen, leaving me laughing to myself.

  “Good luck with that.”

  This should be good.

  * * *

  I was half way through watching a film, when I heard a high pitched scream coming from the kitchen. I immediately jumped up and ran towards the sound.

  “Oh my gosh, what did you do?” I said as I stood with my mouth hung open, staring at the scene in front of me.

  “Don’t just stand there! Help me!” Courtney screamed in a panicked tone.

  I really should have been panicking, based on the current state that the kitchen was in but for some reason, I chose to just burst out laughing instead.

  “Addy, it’s not funny, help me!”

  I ran towards the blender which was currently break dancing on the counter, and pulled the plug out of the wall. I took a deep breath and turned towards my best friend, who like me was covered in a thick, golden mixture, and without saying a word we both started to howl with laughter.

  “What did you do?” I managed to get out between laughs.

  “I was trying to make pancakes-”

  “In the blender, without the lid?” I replied.

  “This would have never happened, if you had just treated me like a guest,” she said as she stared at me as I continued to laugh at her. Of course, I knew that Courtney was no good, when it came to making food but I assumed that she was just going to try and make a sandwich which was dangerous enough for someone with her kitchen, skill level.

  “And miss out on this? I think not,” I replied as I wiped the dough from around my eyes so that I could see clearly.

  “Wow, you never cease to amaze me,” a voice said, making us both jump.

  “Oh, you,” I replied as I looked at Caleb’s amused face as he leaned against the door frame.

  “Yes, me. Miss me?” He asked with a smirk on his face.

  “Every day,” I replied, sarcastically.

  “I knew it. You’re Courtney right?” He asked, turning towards her.

  “Yes, that’s me, I’m Courtney, the one and only. The only one, Courtney, yeah, me I am, I mean, I am me,” she stuttered as she tried to wipe the dough off her face. I couldn’t believe that she was trying to flirt with him. Number one, he was a jerk and number two the moron was covered in dough.

  “Well, I would shake your hand ‘the one and only Courtney’ but err-”

  “Yeah, I know. We had a little cooking explosion,” she said in an embarrassed tone.

  “We?” I asked as I raised my eyebrows at her. She probably couldn’t actually see my eyebrows, since they were covered in dough but I’m sure that she still picked up on my sarcastic tone.

  “It’s a shame that I missed the party. Anyway, your car’s sorted, I’ve left the keys on the coffee table,” he said in a more serious tone as he turned to face me.

  “Really?” I replied in excitement.

  “No, I just like saying things for the fun of it-”

  He was suddenly cut off, as I took some dough off my face and aimed right for his mouth. Did I mention that I have good aim?

  “Mmm, not bad,” he said as he licked his lips, winked at us and then walked out of the room.

  “He is so hot, how can you stand to live with him?” Courtney whispered as she squeezed my arm.

  “Number one, get off and number two, get over him, he’s a jerk,” I replied as I rolled my eyes at her.

  “Oh, come on, didn’t I hear him say that he fixed your car earlier,” she said as she stood staring at me with her hands on her hips.

  “Yeah, after he left me stranded-”

  “But he came back?”

  “Your point?”

  “Maybe he’s not as bad as you think-”

  “Whatever, I don’t want to talk about Minty-”

  “Who?”

  “Nothing, let’s just get in here cleaned up before my dad, and Bill get home.”

  * * *

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

  It took us two whole hours to completely clean the kitchen, so that there was no evidence of dough anywhere. It took me an hour to get every last bit of dough off my body. Court had spent more than two hours in the shower.

  “I’m surprised that you actually have skin left,” I chuckled as I looked at her red face.

  “Who knew that dough was so hard to get rid of,” she said as she jumped onto my bed, next to me.

  “What are you doing?” She asked as she turned onto her side, so that she could look at me.

  “Just looking at this,” I said as I tilted the picture of my mom towards her.

  “She was so beautiful,” she said as she smiled at the picture and traced her face with her finger.

  “I know, I wonder what she would have thought about our dough explosion today,” I said as we both began laughing.

  “The way that Mom always describes her, she would have probably said ‘no fair, I missed all the fun’,” she said as we both started laughing again.

  “Yeah, she sounded pretty great,” I replied in a sad voice.

  “Yeah, she sounds just like you, Addy.” I nodded my head as I felt the conversation getting a little deeper than I had anticipated. “Mom said that she talks to her all the time, you know.”

  “Ok.” I whispered.

  “Do you?” She asked in a gentle tone.

  “I used to, when I thought that she was coming back. I thought that if I kept talking to her that one day she would be real again. I guess I grew out of it,” I said as I tried not to allow any tears to fall. Thinking about my mom was hard, it made me feel...guilty. I knew that she would be here, if I wasn’t, and I couldn’t forgive myself for that. My dad never blamed me but sometimes I wish that he would. I just wish that he would get angry and just scream at me but he never has, he’s a good guy.

  “She’s still here you know,” Courtney said, interrupting my thoughts.

  “Huh?” I asked in confusion.


  “In here,” she said as she placed her hand where my heart is positioned. “Never, forget that, ok?”

  “Ok,” I said as I smiled at her. “Thanks, Court,” I said as I watched a tear roll down her cheek. “Don’t cry,” I whispered as I wiped her tear.

  “I can’t help it, you’re my best friend. Your pain is mine,” she said as she gave me a weak smile.

  “Time for bed,” I said as I stood to my feet. I loved Courtney, and trusted her more than anybody but this was one subject, that I couldn’t talk about, not even with her.

  “Where are you going?” She asked as I turned off the light, and opened the door.

  “Bathroom, night, night Court,” I said as I slipped out of the door.

  “Night, Addy,” I heard her say before escaping to the bathroom and locking the door behind me. As I stared at the picture that I still held in my hand, I did the one thing that people thought that I never did...I cried.

  CHAPTER 10

  Cops & Robbers

  One thing that I had noticed, since Jerk Face had moved in was that I had been waking up much earlier, and much happier than usual. Unfortunately, that pattern was broken, this morning when I opened my eyes, to see Caleb staring at me.

  “What are you doing in here?” I growled as I looked at his smiling face.

  “Good morning to you too,” he said with a smirk on his face.

  “I repeat, what are you doing in here?” I said, sarcastically.

  “Well, there was no way that I was going to miss this moment, so I thought that I’d sit here and wait until you were awake,” he said with an even bigger grin on his stupid face.

  As I went to lift myself up, so that I could throw him out of my room, I finally understood why he was sat there smiling.

  “Get it off me, now!” I screamed as I looked at the handcuffs that were keeping one of my arms, attached to my bed.

  “Ahh, and the moment of realisation has finally arrived,” he chuckled as he stood to his feet.

  “Caleb, this is not funny, get them off me, now.”

  “No, no I don’t think that I can do that-”

  “Caleb!”

  “You know, as nice as it is to hear a girl screaming my name, that’s really not going to get you very far right now.”

  “You are so crazy! Yesterday you help me with my car and now you’ve got me tied to my bed, like an animal. What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “Oh, Princess you really do underestimate me, don’t you? Did you really think that I was going to forget what you did to me yesterday?” He asked as he began smiling again.

  “I thought that we had passed that. Everyone thinks that I have a crush on you, you already got your stupid payback, now open these things, so that I can get ready!”

  “Ok, here’s the deal, you apologize for everything that you’ve ever done, and promise not to do any more pranks, and I’ll take them off,” he replied.

  Giving in was not something that I did; however, I knew that I had my test today, and if I didn’t get to school on time, I wouldn’t get a second chance.

  “The clock’s ticking-”

  “Fine, I’m sorry,” I mumbled after a long pause.

  “Erm, you call that an apology, and what about the promise to never prank me again?”

  “You’re pushing it-”

  “So are you. Remember who has who, tied to a bed right now,” he said with a huge smirk on his face.

  “Fine! Caleb, I am sorry for all of the stupid pranks that I have played on you, even though you did deserve them, and despite the fact that you are a complete and utter jerk, I promise not to do anything else. Happy?”

  “Ecstatic,” he said before turning around and heading towards my bedroom door.

  “Err, are you forgetting something?” I asked in a frustrated voice.

  “Nope.”

  “Caleb, you said that you’d take these off, if I apologized-”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t say when. Sound familiar?” He said before winking and then walking out of the door. “Oh, and say hi to Johnny for me,” he chuckled as I heard his voice become more distant. I can’t stand that boy, I thought to myself as I screamed!

  “Just you wait till I get out of here; you have no idea who you are messing with!” I screamed before I heard the sound of the front door being shut, and a car driving away.

  I cannot believe that he left me, I cannot believe it, actually you know what, I can because that’s something that he seems to be doing a lot of lately! This is just typical of him! He simply can’t be trusted. He’s like two different people, stuck in one body, one minute he’s helping you and the next he’s planning some evil revenge plan. Who does that? Ok, so maybe I do that but my motives are completely different, and justified.

  Just as I was about to continue my angry rant, I realized that something was missing...Courtney. I stretched my free arm towards the dresser next to my bed and grabbed my cell. I scrolled down to her name and pressed the call button.

  “Hey Cutie Pie-”

  “Where the hell are you?”

  “Erm, that was rude-”

  “I don’t have time to mess around! Where are you?”

  “Calm down, I just went home to get ready, I didn’t have any clothes that I wanted to wear at yours,” she said as I listened to her devouring some form of food with her mouth, typical.

  “I need you to come over, now,” I said in frustration.

  “Is everything ok?”

  “I’ll explain when you get here, just hurry,” I replied.

  “Ok-”

  “And do not stop to eat first.”

  “Aww, but its pancakes and syrup-”

  “Walk with the plate!”

  “Ok, ok, see you in five minutes,” she said before hanging up the phone.

  * * *

  It felt like I had had been waiting forever for Courtney to arrive, when I finally heard her footsteps heading towards my house. I could hear a few noises by the front door before my phone started to ring.

  “Hi,” I said.

  “Hey, listen, your door is locked, you need to come and open it-”

  “I can’t,” I interrupted as I let out a huge breathe of frustration.

  Caleb really did have this all planned out.

  “I don’t understand-”

  “I’m tied to my bed-”

  “Why?” She said as she began to chuckle.

  “It’s a long story but I need to get out of here, we can’t be late, remember Mrs Connerlay said that we had a test this morning.”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” Of course you did.

  “Ok, listen, my dad usually leaves the kitchen window open in the morning, go and check it,” I said as I listened to the sound of her feet walking around the outside of my house.

  “Yeah, it’s open,” she replied, causing a smile to find its way onto my face.

  “Great, now climb through it-”

  “No way, have you seen my hips? I cannot climb through that tiny little window-”

  “Court, you have to, otherwise my dad is going to come home and find me handcuffed to my bed!”

  “Handcuffed? Caleb?”

  “Of course, who else would do this to me-”

  “Wow, have you been reading fifty shades of grey-”

  “This is not the time for jokes!”

  “Sorry, Ana,” she said as she burst out laughing.

  “Just stop, and get in here, now,” I growled as I attempted to try and free my hand from the handcuffs.

  “Ok, wait there,” she replied as I lay there staring at the ceiling, and thinking about how I was going to make Caleb pay, when I finally got free. This time he had taken things way too far. He knew that I had a test today and still he left me there, without even a hint as to where the key was. From now on, my barrier is one hundred percent up when it comes to that freaking jerk, I thought to myself, angrily.

  “Uh, oh,” was the words that interrupted my thoughts.

  “Uh, o
h, what?”

  “I’m...stuck,” Courtney mumbled down the phone.

  “What do you mean, you’re stuck?”

  “Exactly what I said, I’m stuck! I told you that my hips couldn’t fit through this stupid window, didn’t I!”

  “Well, this is just freaking great isn’t it?”

  “Jar-”

  “Shut up! Try moving backwards, and see if you can get back out that way,” I said as I listened to her moving around.

  “Not working, I’m completely stuck.”

  “What are we going to do now? Not only are we both stuck but we are also going to miss the test!”

  “Well, at least we’ve got good excuses,” Courtney chuckled as I gave her a threatening look through the phone and remained silent.

  “Too early for jokes?” She asked, nervously.

  “Way too early,” I growled as I tried to think about what to do next. There was no way that I could call my dad. If I had, then I would have had to explain why I was handcuffed to a bed, in the first place. Courtney’s mom was at work which meant that the chances of getting in contact with her were near impossible, and everyone else was already at school. I scanned the room to see if Caleb had left the keys anywhere but there was no sign of keys at all.

  “Are you still there?” I heard Courtney ask.

  “Yeah, I was just thinking.”

  “Come up with any ideas yet?”

  “Nope, you?”

  “No, but I’m hungry. I can see the cookie jar from here, I was trying to work out if I could reach it but I can’t.”

  “Only you could think about food at a time like this,” I said as we both began laughing.

  “There is always time to think about food,” she replied. I could even hear the smile in her voice as she spoke.

  “So, since we’re going to be stuck here for a while - until we can come up with a plan - let’s play a game,” I replied as I turned onto my side.

  “Ok, what shall we play?”

  “What about that word game that we used to play when we were little-”

  “The one where all the words have to match?” She asked, excitedly.

  “Yeah,” I said as a smile slipped onto my face.