Like Rapunzel, but Not Really ✔

Chapter 11

"Yes, Dad, nothing happened... No... No. I'm fine. I'm fine... No, I – but... But... DAD! Seriously? Oh, my God. But – ugh – fine. Okay, fine. ... Love you, too."

I ended the call with a scowl on my face.

"Intense call, huh?" Tristan commented as he offered his hand to help me up from the ground. I could feel the side of my shin throbbing lightly. Great. Another bruise.

I purposely ignored the outstretched hand in front of me and made sure to deepen my scowl to make my discontent more obvious. "Why are you here, Caffarelli?"

Really. Why? Just why?

"So we're on last names basis now, are we?" He asked amusedly.

I pointedly ignored his question. He needed to see that we were not chummy with one another. I did not trust him. Not yet, at least.

"What? Did you get caught sneaking out of school this morning and got expelled?" I let the question hang in the air, motioning him to finish it.

He flashed that smile that gave me discomfort to the stomach and every nook and cranny of my body. "Just because," he shrugged. "Why? Does my presence bother you that much?" He teased.

"As a matter of fact, it does. What are you? Homeless? We are home alone together – a girl and a boy –" I motioned to the two of us, "and it is really making me uncomfortable," I said seriously. I was raised to conservative morals, despite the otherwise odd characters in my life.

Hunter was not back from firing his boss and I had managed to occupy myself all day with classes and even got to sneak in an evening nap, finally draining out all the stress that had accumulated all this while.

But what – and by that I mean, who – do I see sitting comfortably on my living room couch, reading a newspaper and making himself completely at home when I exited my bedroom?

I almost had a heart attack.

In fact, so shocked was I that I had keeled over and slammed my knee onto the marble floor with a bang. Clutching my poor faint heart, I stared at the boy who had looked up from his newspaper in surprise at the ruckus I had made.

Then my Dad called.

Naturally, my heart just gave up on me. There was no way all this shock could be good for my well-being.

But I managed to answer the phone, albeit still shaking from the scare. Which was simply peachy because then I had to explain to my Dad why I sounded so jumpy and edgy and tried hard not to slip that I was alone with a boy who was not Hunter.

And that was how I found myself on the floor with Tristan's hand outstretched in front of me.

Tristan burst into laughter, obviously finding my prudence very amusing. "I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to do, you know," he said, after recovering from his laugh.

"Good," I deadpanned. "Then I don't want you in my house." I ignored his outstretched hand and got myself up. Crossing my arms firmly, I took a step back after realizing how close we actually were.

"Well, anything but that, obviously," he took a step forward to make up for the distance that I put between us earlier.

I shook my head in disbelief.

"There's nothing obvious about this. I am really uncomfortable with you being here and I don't understand why you're even here – or how you came in for that matter," I narrowed my eyes at him.