Cliché (Player Next Door Spinoff)

| 12 | Pay Attention

A little tension rises in this one... enjoy

Chapter 12: Pay Attention

There's a giant zebra sculpture in our hallway that tends to scare guests at night. But when I came home after Gavin's party, I didn't expect any guests to be in the house.

Almost all the lights were off, except for a soft glow emitting from the living room.

I heard the familiar sound of the TV. Mom was watching a rerun of an old TV show, like she usually does before bed. There was nothing suspicious about that, until I heard a giggle. And a male voice.

A definitely-not-my-father male voice.

I cracked open the living room door to peer inside. The voices on TV weren't Buffy. It looked like Dallas maybe?

Lara, pay attention.

A familiar crop of brown hair was sitting on one side of the couch, my mother and her messy ponytail on the other. I froze.

I'm going to kill him.

Our living room felt like a den. The lights were off, and the only real light was emitting from the TV. I saw a puff of smoke expand like a cloud from around the crop of dark hair.

My mom's long, slender hand reached out over the couch, "Can you pass the ting?"

He laughed, "Where'd you learn to say ting?!"

Did I say kill him? I mean absolutely destroy him and any future offspring he has.

Mom started to cackle and I saw his hand extend to give her a-

"Are you getting high with my mom?!" I yelled out.

I slammed the lights on and saw them both squirm like vampires.

"What if Lola comes down and sees this, this, whatever this is?!" I marched over and pointed my finger at Austin, "So irresponsible of you!"

He raised his hand over his eyes to shield himself from the sudden brightness and used his other hand to lower my pointed finger out of his face.

"Me?!" he asked incredulously, wondering why I wasn't pointing at the adult in the room.

"You've been here one day!" I reminded him.

He stared at me with his innocent, large, brown eyes. "It's been more than one."

"And you're already corrupting my mom!"

"Am I?"

He was high.

No sense even dealing with them right now. If my father found out about this...

I grabbed the blunt between his fingers and stormed off to get rid of it.

In the background, I overheard Austin ask my mom, "She had a bad night?"

"Ugh!" I slammed the kitchen door shut to not hear any more of them.

I put my head in my hands and tried to ignore the smell of weed. I tried to think calming, meditative thoughts and not how Austin Taylor was getting my mom high tonight.

After a minute, I grabbed some kitchen paper, wrapped the blunt around it and discarded it, immediately washing my hands. I lathered my hands in soap and was rubbing my palms, not realizing how aggressively I was doing it.

The door gently opened. 

Austin appeared at the doorway, "Can we talk?"

I looked up, the sound of water rushing over my hands and, other than that, silence. 

Austin's hair was dishevelled, and he looked relaxed in a pair of gray sweatpants and a loose white t-shirt that wasn't loose enough to hide his muscular physique underneath.

In the absence of my response, he flicked a switch and a light turned on, casting a warm glow inside the room. I hadn't realized I had been standing here in darkness. The garden lights and full moon had provided some light through the windows.

I shut off the running tap, "Now you want to talk?"

"Yes."

Why did he look so handsome, standing at the entryway like he was a model off-duty?  He was just Austin.

"I wish you just talked with my mom instead of rolling blunts-"

"She's a grown woman Lara."

I turned my back to him to wipe my hands dry in a kitchen towel. In reality, I wanted to get away from his gaze. Something about Austin's eyes when he's actually being serious makes it impossible to think for myself.

After a second, I turned back to face him and crossed my hands over my chest. Anything to create more distance between us.

"Why don't you let her let loose once in a while?" he asked, "She's your mom. That doesn't mean she needs to be in a prison for eighteen years."

"Didn't you just arrive yesterday?" I replied, "Normally, guests are grateful and polite. Who made you the judge of our family dynamics?"

Austin smirked, "Funny, I was wondering who made you the police around here?"

"You heard my dad. No drugs."

"Yeah, and for some reason, I got the sense he was looking at you."

I opened the fridge and pulled out some milk before walking to the cupboard for cereal. Maybe Austin will just leave. Maybe my dad will find weed on him and kick him out.

"Sounds like your evening didn't go to plan," Austin mused, leaning his shoulder against the kitchen door, "Did you confess your crush on Will and he rejected you?"

I turned back to him. Will is my best friend. Can't a boy and a girl be friends?

I stared at Austin as cold as I could. "What are you on?"

Austin's lips curled into a smirk, "You know what I'm on."

Ugh.  

A/N: Next one's up! Please vote before you click next :) ->