Author's Note : Hey guys, so this is my first story that I've written. I hope you enjoy this and any advice and feedback is greatly appreciated. I have edited this a bit, making a few changes and added some more. So bare with me please haha.
Chapter 1
"You Imogen Taylor, look like shit". I grumbled to myself, looking at the state of my hair and face in my floor length mirror. Oh, sweet baby Jesus.... My long red hair was a wild mess with bits sticking up at different angles. I groaned and tried to run my hands through my hair, in an attempt to tame it. I'm sorry but no girl wakes up looking perfect, those that claim they dont have such problems are dirty little liars. Except maybe Beyonce...she's so good looking its not even funny.
Looking into my pale blue eyes I sighed at how tired they look from the loss of sleep during the holidays.I proceeded to look at the rest of my body in the mirror. I was still in my baby blue pyjama shorts and vest top, which hugged my slender frame and exposed my slightly tanned legs and arms. Yep, still in my pyjamas at about four in the afternoon. Never have been a morning person.... I can't run to save my life, but I love playing sports. Dance and cheeleading are what keeps my arms and legs toned and my stomach flat. I couldn't stick to a healthy diet even if I tried since chocolate seems to be my kryptonite... damn!
There's only one thing that could cure my mood. A hot shower. God I loved my showers... maybe a bit too much ....Anyway that's the solution to my bad mood. A hot shower it is!
After one more glance at the crazy looking hobo in my mirror, I shuffled my feet and made my way towards the bathroom.
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Entering my room, I looked at the silver clock on my wall. Man, I'd been in there for nearly an hour...But totally worth it. Smiling to myself and feeling refreshed, I decided to finally get dressed. I turned on my radio for some background noise while I got ready. I jumped over the pile of clothes on my rug, to get to my chest of draws. Deciding to go for a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and a simple tight white vest top.
I was in the middle of getting dressed when my favourite song, came on and I just couldn't resist the urge to sing along and dance.
"Girl let me love you and I will love you...Until you learn... to love yourself...."
Shaking my ass and belting out the chorus as loud as I could. That was until my door flew open and revealed my older brother. Parker. Who was also singing along, but in a high voice I assumed he thinks sounded like me. Catching me by surprise, I screamed and stumbled, causing me to topple over and fall on the floor.
Unfortunately, my brother found all of this completely hilarious and doubled over laughing, clutching the wooden door frame for support. I glared at him. Annoyed and totally embarrassed. Man, I so wish looks could kill right now...But, they don't. So instead I resorted to shouting at him.
"PARKER. ROBIN. TAYLOR! Get the fuck OUT OF MY ROOM!!Or God help me I will beat you to death with a midget and bury you in the back yard!!" Yeah, I think I got my point across...
Leaning over to my bed I grabbed a pillow and threw it across the room in his direction, but it failed to hit him since he shut the door before it could. Damn...After letting out a frustrated sigh, I got to my feet. Parker opened the door again and lent on the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest and a smug smirk plastered on his face "Thanks for the entertainment sis, much appreciated". His smirk grew as he continued "But I only came up here because mom told me to tell you dinner's ready".
He lifted himself off the door frame and turned to walk away, but before he did he looked over his shoulder and said "Oh and by the way Justin's coming over for dinner as well". After giving me one of his annoying cocky winks, he sauntered off.
Fuck.My.Life. "That's all I need right now." I grumbled to myself. Parker's equally annoying best friend coming for dinner. They'd been friends for so long now, that he was practically part of the family. They'd met in kindergarten and remained inseparable since. Parker, Justin, my best friend Keira and I had basically grown up with each other.
But Justin and Parker have hardly been around for the past two years since they've been at University. Parker had been studying for a degree in sports, hoping to have a career as some star football player in the NFL and I honestly can't remember what Justin was studying.
It'd been so peaceful not having the two of them around since they were only able to visit for a few days in the holidays. But sadly the blissful peace I had become used to, came to an end a few days ago when Parker came home after finishing University. And now I'd have to suffer a whole dinner with the both of them. Just great.
On the bright side...Keira should be back from her long holiday with her parents by now. I decided to send her a quick text and see if she might stop by later as well and save my sanity by keeping me company.
Hey stranger! The idiots are back and stayin for dinner, do me a favor and keep me sane by coming round later?
Im x.x.x
It was only minutes after I had sent that text to Keira that my phone beeped with a new message.
Hey babe! Just unpacking at the mo, but I'll be round in a bit kay? Got so much to tell ya!
K x.x.x
I smiled at her reply and slipped my phone in my pocket. The same was with her; she also was basically part of the family, a sister even. As we've been best friends for as long as I can remember. Man I've missed that girl! The summer hadn't been the same without her, but I can't blame her for going away for so long since they were going to the Caribbean for the whole holiday. I mean who in their right mind would say no to that?
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After drying my hair with a towel, I was finally able to attack it with a brush, smoothing it into their natural curls and leaving it down. Sitting at my dressing table, I started applying some mascara and some lip balm. Last, I put on a silver necklace with my name in cursive and a matching pair of hoop earrings. Getting up, I started to make my way downstairs. By the time I was at the bottom, I was just in time to witness Justin walk through the front door. Let the fun begin...
I walked over to the door way of the living room and lent on the door frame, folding my arms across my chest and watching as he closed the front door behind him. He called to my parents loudly with the widest grin possible "Lin, Steve guess who's back!"
Not wanting to interrupt the chaos I knew was about to go down I remained in my position at the door way. Almost immediately after Justin had spoken, my mom came running towards him with the most radiant smile I have ever seen and her arms open wide ready to envelope him in a warm embrace.
"Aww my little Justin's back!!" she cooed excitedly whilst still holding him in her death grip of a hug.
She finally released him and took a step back to examine him carefully. "My God! You look so grown up! And so tall now! Who are you and what have you done with my little Justin?" He chuckled as his cheeks reddened and scratched the back of his neck. A frown made its way onto my mom's face as the interrogation began "Look at you young man!! You look so skinny! Are you sure you've been eating well? I bet you haven't, have you? Boys! What are you like? Too busy partying to worry about having a proper diet! I bet you barely even cooked and just relied on takeout! Typical-"
Justin burst out laughing, successfully putting a stop to my mother's tirade while I tried to smother a laugh trying to escape at my mom's fussing. He placed his hands on my mother's shoulders and looked into her eyes.
"Lin I assure you I'm perfectly fine and have kept myself alive and well, so there's definitely no need to worry! After all I'm a man and can look after myself." Justin said grinning as he flexed his biceps. Which were actually impressive...Oh God gross! This is Justin! What the hell is going on with my brain? Must be the lack of sleep I decided.
Shaking my head to clear it of the sudden odd thoughts, my dad walked in and immediately his face lit up with a smile the moment his eyes laid on Justin. He quickened his pace, with his right arm stretched out ready to receive a hand shake and then did that manly hug thing that guys do and patted him on the back. I smiled and rolled my eyes at my dad's 'manly' actions.
"Justin my boy! How are you? And how was it at University?" My dad exclaimed with a wide grin. "Great thanks and yeah it was an experience that's for sure." He replied with a smile. "You must tell us more about it later over dinner!" dad said and Justin nodded "Sure".
Distractedly, Parker walked in the living room from the kitchen, looking at his phone "Hey mom, the cooker's making that weird beeping noise again...." When he looked up the same smirk from earlier made its way onto his face as he said "J-myster! Dude long time no see!" and jogged over to Justin. "P-ster my man!" Justin replied with a grin and open arms. When Parker made his way over to him they began their lame fist bumping handshake, they did every time they greeted each other.
I rolled my eyes. Seriously? These guys are twenty two years old, went to University and yet they still greet each other with the same handshake they made up as kids. I sighed, shaking my head out of embarrassment for them. How they managed to get girls while being so lame, I'll never know. Hearing my sigh, my brother turned around and finally noticed me standing in the door way, which also caused everyone else to notice my presence. Great...
Smirking at me, Parker crossed his arms and said "Look who managed to finally crawl out of her pit!". I narrowed my eyes to glare at Parker, while Justin had turned around to see what Parker was talking about. The instant his piercing blue eyes met mine they went wide with shock before he began raking his gaze down my body.
Parker glanced at him with an odd look before elbowing him and causing Justin to plaster his trademark smirk in place while he sauntered over to stand just in front of me. "Well hello there Imogen. Looks like little Immy isn't so little anymore." He said in a low gruff voice before clearing his throat. The strange glint in his blue eyes was back as we continued to look at each other and time seemed to stop.
I found myself agreeing with what my mom said earlier. He had definitely gotten taller since I'd last seen him, he now practically towered over me that I had to look up to him to maintain this strange stare down we had going on. His face was a lot leaner than before. His hair was tousled in that effortless just got out of bed kinda way, which I have to admit was kinda sexy and his jaw more defined than the last time I saw him and now covered with the beginnings of a blond scruff forming. Yum.. Looking over the rest of him I noticed the worn black leather jacket he was wearing and an almost too tight white t-shirt hinted at the six pack underneath and the teasingly low riding jeans on his hips.
With him standing this close to me I couldn't help but breath in the woodsy musk of his aftershave and something citrusy like lemon, which I'm assuming must be his shampoo. Damn...but did the man smell good. Raking my eyes back up to his face, I discovered that he'd just been witness to my perusal of him judging by the cocky smirk firmly planted on his face and the wink he gave me. Fuck. My stomach clenched at the sight of him winking and I started to grow incredibly warm with the flush of embarrassment I could feel travelling up my chest and neck at being caught. This so wasn't good! What the hell has gotten into me? This is Justin for fuck sake! The annoying, cocky, incredible smelling, hot....
Well shit. So okay, he's hot. That's fact and there's no point trying to lie to myself that he isn't. I mean he clearly started working out since the proof was in the muscles for sure as he's beefed up a bit. He definitely knows himself that he's good looking and exactly what effect he probably has on women. But that doesn't change the fact that he's probably still the gross and annoying best friend of my idiot brother who abides by the "Five second rule" of food on the floor like it's law and is definitely still the cocky ass that he was before if that smirk is anything to go by. And then he had to go and open his mouth, ruining whatever it was that was going on here between us.
"You might even pass for woman now." he declared loudly, patronizingly and tilted his head to the side with a wide grin. Yep, it's confirmed. Nothing's really changed much with him on the inside. He's still the asshole that I know and never liked.
"Fuck you" I grunted as I barged past him to go and sit down on the sofa. Huffing, I crossed my arms and looking around the room noticed that it was just me and Justin left, mom and dad must have left at some point during the intense stare off between me and Justin, while Parker was just standing in the corner of the room glaring at his phone deep in concentration and not paying us any attention.
Just then the doorbell rang, bringing me out of my thoughts. I found myself leaping off the sofa and racing towards the front door shouting "I'll get it!". When I got to the door I yanked it open to find a Keira grinning from ear to ear. "IMOGEN!" she screeched with wide eyes and pounced on me. Resulting with both of us on the floor giggling uncontrollably. When we finally got up off the floor, I found myself immediately trapped in Keira's death grip she calls a hug.
"OH MY GOD! I missed you so much Im ! It feels like I haven't seen you for years! How are you? How was your summer? I hope it was awesome. I'm so sorry I couldn't be here. Meet any cute guys? " Keira gushed and said the last part with a cheeky wink. I burst out laughing when she finally stopped for a breath and noticed that Parker and Justin where now standing next to each other looking at us also laughing at her little outburst.
When I finally composed myself, I put my hands on her shoulders and looked in her eyes with a huge smile of my own and slowly said "Breath! Okay first of all yes I missed you a hell of a lot too and I'm great thanks and summer was awesome, but it would have been SO much better if you were here. And don't worry about it! How was your holiday? Oh and I'll tell you about the last bit later" \i said with a wink of my own.
"OH.MY.GOSH Im! It was the most beautiful place I have ever been! The weather was A-MA-ZING!" She sighed with a dreamy look. "Can you believe we'll be seniors this year?" Kiera screeched doing a happy dance spinning with her hands flailing in the air and stomping her feet. "And next thing you know we'll be at college...surrounded by all the hot college guys..." she said finishing her dance and got that dreamy look in her eyes again. At this I just laughed and rolled my eyes. Yep my best friend is totally psycho. But I can't help but love her.
Looking back over at the guys I saw Justin had his gaze on me, while I couldn't help but notice the strange look on Parker's face since he was practically glaring a hole in the floor. What the..?
Frowning, I tilted my head to the side in confusion "Hey, Parker are you okay?" His head snapped up, immediately ending his glaring match with the floor "Huh?... oh yeah. I'm...um... fine. I think dinner's almost ready so... we should go and sit down" He replied rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
What's wrong with him? That's not the usual cocky, smart ass Parker I know and sometimes love... However Keira didn't give me a second to think about it since she was already dragging me towards our dining room. "Good, because I'm starving! And nothing beats your mom's Sunday dinners!" Keira said.
Entering the dinning room we found that the table had already been set with my father sitting at the head of the table while my mom was busy bringing in plates filled high with vegetables, potatoes and other trimmings. We sat down at the table with Keira and I sitting on one side while Justin sat across from me with Parker next to him.
Pouring myself a glass of water from the jug on the table, my mom finally came in holding a platter which I can only describe looking like heaven. The giant roast chicken that sat in the center of it nearly had my mouth watering and looked over to Keira, giving her a mutual grin of appreciation we had for my mother's cooking.
"Dig in everyone!" my mom exclaimed with a wide grin before sitting down. At this only the sound of food being slopped onto plates and the clanking of cutlery could be heard for a solid few minutes. Not a word of "Can you pass the.." was uttered since everyone knew the drill with mom's dinners that no one was fussy and always wanted a piece of everything.
Finally satisfied with my plate piled up with food as high as possible, I smiled to myself before unceremoniously digging in with abandon. I'm not proud of the brutish way I was shoveling the food in my mouth but it couldn't be helped, especially my groan of appreciation. Well, that was until I made the mistake of looking up from my food mid chew, only to find Justin's gaze firmly locked on me, our eyes connecting before giving me a wide smirk and going back to eating his own dinner.
Great. So he'd just first hand witnessed my savagery. I don't know why I suddenly feel a bit self conscious about him seeing that since I was never bothered before when we were younger, but I could already feel my face heating up from embarrassment. Clearing my throat I decided to tone down my pace a bit.
Looking up from his food, my father smiled kindly at Justin and asked "So Justin, how are the job prospects looking? Found anywhere yet?" Justin smirked down at his plate after the question, causing me to tilt my head while I looked at him confused. Why was he so amused by such a trivial question?
With a quick glance in my direction he cleared his throat and sat further up looking back at my father with a smile, "Well as a matter of fact I have found a place willing to take me on immediately. It's only a trial period so far and depending on how well it goes will decide whether I stay on permanently or not. I don't want to say too much about it since I don't wanna jinx it. But tomorrow will definitely make for an interesting day." Justin said the last part looking at me and winking.
Frowning I looked down at my plate and carried on eating. Well that was definitely weird. I'm so confused right now I don't even know what to really think. Justin was acting so odd and I didn't have a clue why, which really annoyed me. The way he said it was almost like he knew something I didn't and was too smug about that fact for my liking. This caused me to frown even harder, but it would be too weird to challenge him about what he meant. And besides, I wasn't supposed to have any interest in what he's doing anyway. Dammit Justin!
After that the rest of dinner was filled with mindless chitchat and my mom asking Keira all about her holiday and when she got on to talking about some hot waiter that served her at a restaurant and even asked her for her number, I noticed Parker seemed to exclude him self from the conversation and proceeded to scowl at his empty plate. Both the guys were acting weird today and I didn't like it one bit.