A Certain Not-So-Bad Boy

{ten}

I walked in the front door at home after a long night of pizza, music, and gossip with Amber. Ah, today was Saturday. My lazy day. I ran up the stairs to my room, tossing my bag on my chair and immediately hopping over to my bookshelf. Because what else do you do on a weekend, right?

I plucked Divergent off the shelf and plopped down on my comforter, starting from the beginning. Not thirty seconds later, Noah came crashing into my room. "Help."

I sighed. "What?" He had on red shorts and a striped gray shirt.

"I have nothing to wear!" he wailed. "This shirt, or this one?" he asked me frantically, holding up a navy blue t-shirt. I had to hold back my laughter.

"The one you're wearing is fine," I said, trying to calm him down. "Do you have the food ready?" He was taking Lacey to a picnic in the park.

"Yeah, but I couldn't decide on what kind of jelly. I packed all four; strawberry, grape, raspberry, and mixed fruit. Wait--" Noah interrupted himself, "--Mixed fruit? What kind of doofus am I?"

He trudged out of my room, continuing to mumble about jelly. I rolled my eyes and went back to reading. But my phone buzzed and I groaned. Why was the universe keeping me from reading a book?

I picked up the device and glanced at the notification on the screen. It was a text.

Hey, Angel

I didn't need to see the contact name to know who was texting me. Only one person had ever called me that before.

M: My name is Maya.

C: Of course, Angel ;)

M: What do you need?

C: Do you have eleven protons?

M: What?

C: 'Cause you're sodium fine

M: That was horrible, Carson

C: You must be a banana because I find you a peeling

M: Carson

C: On a scale of one to ten, you're a nine and I'm the one you need

M: CARSON

C: Yes?

M: 1) No, actually, I'm a ten, and 2) What do you need?

C: Ooh feisty :) I'm bored and Grayson's at the doctor's.

I felt a pang in my heart remembering Grayson lying in the hospital bed that day. He didn't deserve what life was throwing at him, nobody that good did.

M: Come over? I hit send before I even contemplated what I was doing. Crap. I just invited him over to my house. And he'd obviously already read it. There was no undoing this.

C: Eager, Angel?

M: Take it or leave it Bennett

C: I'll be there in ten

And that was it. I turned off my phone and released a breath. Let me make this clear, I wasn't naive enough to believe I was off the hook for my impulsive text, that was apparent. But I was glad it wasn't dragged out in the moment.

I must look like a mess! I scrambled off my bed to my mirror. Who knows why I cared how I looked. I put my hair in a bun, frantically, before reminding myself it didn't matter what I looked like.

"I'm leaving!" I heard Noah yell from downstairs, followed by the slam of the front door. I scanned my body, which was clothed in plaid pajama pants and a black tank top.

"Hey, Angel."

I screamed and whipped my body around to see Carson leaning against the doorjamb of my room, and smirking, of course. "How'd you get in?" I wailed.

He laughed, making my mood just a little bit better. "Noah was leaving, so he let me in." He strolled over and laid down on my bed. "What do you want to do?"

"Umm... let's try making something."

"Like what?" he asked, looking around my room. I was a little self-conscious, that was, before he nodded in approval.

"Cookies?"

"Okay. What kind?"

"Chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, oatmeal raisin--"

"Not oatmeal raisin. Anything but oatmeal raisin," Carson cried dramatically.

His pouty expression was hilarious--and adorable. "Okay, okay," I laughed. "Chocolate chip then?"

He grinned and nodded before we headed downstairs. But being me, I tripped on the last step. With a squeal, I flailed and braced to hit the ground. But the impact never came.

Instead, when I opened my eyes, I saw Carson's face staring back at me, one hand on my waist, one on my bicep. My heart sped up our closeness, my cheeks heating up. "Uhm, thanks," I mumbled.

"Wow, Angel," Carson breathed. "Already falling for me?"

I laughed and stood up, the tension quickly diminishing (much to my relief). "You wish." I led him into the kitchen, where I began getting out ingredients. He simply sat down.

"How do you make cookies?" he asked.

"Well, this was my mom's recipe. It's about the only thing I can make other than toast," I replied. I showed him as I mixed the wet ingredients. "Here, let me get the milk." I poured it into the measuring cup and turned around. But again, clumsy me tripped over my own feet. The contents of the cup went soaring through the small amount of space and splashed on Carson's shirt. His mouth parted in shock.

My eyes widened. "Oh my God, I'm so clumsy! I'm so sorry, Carson! I'll wash your shirt, or buy you a new one or something. Really, I'm so--"

The mischievous look in his eye cut me off. I realized a little too late he was reaching for an egg. He slammed his hand containing the egg over my head, clear goo dripping down my forehead onto my nose.

I froze. "You. Are. Going. Down." I scrambled for the flour and struck him with a fistful. He coughed and a white cloud erupted from his mouth.

He ran to the fridge and pulled out a ketchup bottle, a devilish smirk playing on his lips. He popped open the cap and put pressure on the bottle. It squirted out in a stream of red gush, landing all over my torso. "Eww, you're gonna pay for that!"

"Can't wait to see what you come up with," he winked. I grabbed the maple syrup from the open fridge door, before running at Carson. I tackled him, getting him in a headlock before pouring the whole thing over his head and rubbing it over his face.

And that's what happened to the next ten minutes.

"Well, so much for cookies," I laughed. The batter was definitely ruined after ranch dressing, pickles, and who knows what else was accidentally added to the mix during our food fight. "You can go take a shower. I'll start cleaning up here."

"Are you sure?" I was surprised by the tinge of guilt on his features.

I gave him a soft smile and shoved him gently towards the stairs. "Second door on the right." He smirked and jogged up the stairs. "Wait, I'll get you some clothes!" I ran up to my dad's room and found some old gray sweatpants and a black t-shirt, placing them outside the bathroom door.

Going back downstairs, I turned to the mess in the kitchen and sighed, grabbing the whole paper towel roll from off its dispenser. 

{a/n}

Hello lovely humans of Wattpad! I am back!

I have finals for the next few days, so that sucks.

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-Seagull