The guy in the picture is Hunter.
++++++
I froze.
I then turn around to see a very pissed off Hunter. I knew I had to face Hunter sometime today. The way he looked, terrified me.
His eyes darkened, jaw and fist clenched, and face was red.
"What were you doing with Blake?" He furiously asked.
"Nothing!" I answered.
"Don't lie to me Carolina!" He yelled at me.
"I'm not lying!" I yelled back. "If you would just listen to me-"
"Why would I listen to you? You've lied to me plenty of times." Hunter hissed.
"I've had to since you never let me talk to someone that is not related to me. Except for Shane and Elliot. But it's getting boring talking to the same people." I complained.
"I don't care! You know I'm only doing this to keep you safe," Hunter argued.
"I can disagree with that," I glared at him. "It was two years ago Hunter. Let. It. Go. I'm an adult now. I don't need you as my personal bodyguard to make sure guys stay away from me and to control my life."
"You are far from being an adult Carolina, and you know that. I don't want your heart to be broken by a player like Blake."
"For the last time Hunter, I didn't spend the day with Blake!" I argued.
Hunter let out a fake laugh.
"Yeah right. Then who did you leave with today? I know you skipped school. If it wasn't with Blake, then who?" Hunter asked, crossing his arms.
Speechless.
That's how I was. What was I supposed to say? 'You know the new guy, Andrew Parker? Yeah, I skipped with him'.
Yeah right, Hunter would get even furious that A, I was with a guy, and B, I skipped school with him.
"Exactly." He replied.
"I was out with someone that is none of your business, and it wasn't Blake so leave him alone," I told him before my phone vibrated from a text message.
"Let me guess, it's Blake," Hunter sneered.
I glared at him.
"No, it's blackmail."
Hunter looked at me confused.
"Oh, you didn't think I would show up to you without having a back up plan because you wouldn't listen to me?"
"What are you talking about?"
I unlocked my phone and saw that Parker had sent me the picture of Hunter and Alice hugging each other.
It was in great quality because you could really tell that it was Hunter and Alice.
"Well...since you won't believe me, I decided to come prepared in case you didn't listen."
Hunter frowned.
"You know Hunter, I'm really hurt. I didn't know how you could believe Alice instead of me. Yes Blake was talking to me on the first day of school, but it was only to help me find my locker where you conveniently put it near the main office. Blake, however refuses to help me because he didn't want to get in trouble with you."
"At least he knew the consequences," Hunter stated.
I looked at him.
"Of course he knew he consequences! Why else would he want to refuse! However, I pleaded and he agreed. So now we're here, fighting because you don't trust me-"
"And why is that," he sarcastically said.
"Don't interrupt me Hunter!" I angrily shouted.
The situation with Hunter just riled me up, making me angrier by the minute.
"So, like I was saying, I over heard Alice talking to Cathy about setting me and you up. Blake was at Cathy's house the whole day, so clearly Alice lied to your face making my statement correct. If Blake was at Cathy's, then how would I be with Blake?"
Hunter looked at me with a blank face.
Then with a low voice, he said," I don't believe a single word you just said."
Right then and there, I just exploded.
"YOU ARE SO INFURIATING!"
"You give me no choice than to make me blackmail you because you are going to do something to someone who is innocent in this whole situation," I told him.
"Exactly my reason for not trusting you. You have to blackmail me to make me not kill Blake," he glared at me.
"BECAUSE YOU WON'T BELIEVE ME!"
I know we are probably catching everyone's attention in the neighborhood, but I just didn't care.
"But you know who will believe me?"
Hesitantly, Hunter replied,"Who?"
"Cara," I smirked.
"What lies are you going to tell her?" Hunter glared.
"I don't tell her lies. But I know for sure that she'll believe me when I show her a picture," I declared.
"What picture?"
"You know...I was there when you met Alice. I saw how you two talked and hugged affectionately at the end when saying your farewells."
"It wasn't like that," Hunter said, his fist clenching even more.
"But she doesn't know that. You see Hunter, as long as I show her proof that you two were together, it doesn't matter what lie I tell Cara. I could just tell her that you were cheating on her with Alice, or that you two were secretly dating. It doesn't matter because either way, she would believe me," I smiled, crossing my arms.
"I didn't know you would stoop this low Carolina," Hunter said in a low voice.
"The things I do to get some freedom. Anyway, I was just going to tell Cara the truth and say you two met up, talked about me, then hugged each other. Doesn't matter if I tell the truth or not Hunter, Cara hates Alice no matter what."
"Let me get this straight. I don't kill Blake and you don't show that picture to Cara."
"Yes. And don't you think about kicking Blake off the team or showing any sign of anger towards him. He didn't do anything, so back off," I warned.
"Can I at least see the picture?" Hunter asked.
"Sure, and if you were planning on deleting it, don't even try. My source has it and I can ask for as many as I want. I can even make a collage of it," I told him.
Hunter just ran his fingers through his hair as a sign of frustrations I had him where I wanted him to be.
I showed him the picture for about 5 seconds, then turned my phone off and put it in my pocket.
"May this be the last time you blackmail me Carolina," Hunter warned.
"I don't know, will this be the last time you scare guys away?"
"Not a chance," Hunter glared.
"Then there's your answer," I retorted, my arms crossed.
"What's going on out here?" A voice interrupted us.
We both turned to see Seth James, also know as my dad.
He was rarely at home since he had work. But today, I'm guessing he decided to stay. My dad kind of looked like Hunter. He had the blonde hair, but not the brown eyes. His eyes were blue.
Anyways, I gave a warning look at Hunter to keep his mouth shut, and he kind of listened.
"Carolina skipped school today," Hunter told him.
"Let's talk about his inside, shall we? We don't want to disturb the neighbors anymore," my dad reasoned.
Once we were inside, we all went to the living room.
"So what is this I hear about you skipping school Carolina?"
"I was feeling sick," I lied.
"The school didn't tell me that," my dad said.
"You called the school!" I blurted.
"More like the school called me," my dad replied. "What were you doing skipping school?"
"I told you, I was out sick," I lied once again.
"No you weren't. If you were feeling sick, you would of came home right away," Hunter interrupted.
"I agree. And you know what I also heard, you have two weeks of detention already. Two weeks! And you just started school yesterday," my dad said.
"Woah little sis, I didn't know you were capable of getting the two weeks of detentions in one day," Xavier added from the entrance of the living room.
I glared at Xavier and he put his hands up in surrender.
"It was for something very small Dad. Mrs. Jane really can't tell the difference between someone paying attention in class and someone who is," I argued.
"Mrs. Jane is your teacher and you must respect her either way. You know that if you get good grades in school-"
"You will get into a good college," I finished for him. "I know, you tell me that everyday. But daddy-"
"Don't you 'daddy' me Carolina. Until further notice, you are grounded. You can't leave the house except for emergencies or school. Understood?"
"Understood," I mumbled.
"Okay then. Now that we cleared that up, dinners in 30 minutes and I expect you all to be there. Hunter tell Jake about dinner, and for now do your homework if you have any."
And with that, he left.
My dad isn't as strict as he sounds. Yes he gets strict at time, but he's mostly fun. As long as it doesn't relate to school, he's fine. I'm mostly he one to get away with anything, except school related things.
People say I'm a daddy's girl, which I am, and I don't care. I love my dad no matter what. Since my mom's not with us anymore, my dad's been doing a great job at taking care of the only girl in the house.
Although it was awkward when he had to talk about things that guys are mostly awkward about, everything was okay.
++++++
After dinner, I went up to my room and laid down on my bed.
It was already 10:00 pm and almost everyone was sleeping. I was not. I was still mad about being grounded.
Ugh. I hate Hunter when he helps my dad get angry at me. Hunter absolutely irritates me.
Since I was bored, I just started to read some books to help me with my boredom. And just as I was about to, something hit my window.
First, I though it was just a random sound. I dismissed the though of going towards my window to check what it was. But once it happened again, I knew it wasn't just a random sound.
Getting up from my bed, I slowly walked towards the window. As soon as I got there, I was surprised at what I saw.
Parker.
I pulled up there window and shouted softly at him.
"Parker! What are you doing here!"
Parker gave me his famous smirk, while standing against a tree.
My room used to be downstairs. But after the incident sophomore year, I was moved upstairs. If I wanted to sneak out, I couldn't because then they would catch me sneaking out.
You're probably thinking why couldn't I sneak out the window, well the window was very high and no where near the ground.
"Well...I thought you might need a break from your room," he replied, looking at me through he window.
"I'm grounded Parker. I can't just leave the house. They'll catch me before I leave," I responded, sighing.
"Just come through the window."
My eyes widened.
"Are you crazy!" I whisper shouted. "I'll be ten feet down the ground before I can sneak out for the first time in two years."
Parker grinned.
"Stop being a coward. Just come down slowly and once you start to reach the ground, jump and I'll catch you. Simple."
Did he just call me a coward?
I looked at how far I was from the ground. I might as well just jump off and die now. There is no way I will come down without injuring myself.
Parker whistled, instantly catching my attention.
"What?!"
"Look sweetheart, I don't have all day. You want to get out your room, or not."
Hesitantly, I looked out the window, then replied.
"Fine. But if you drop me," I warned.
"Really sweetheart? Such faith you have in me. Do you see these muscles? I don't work out for nothing," Parker responded, flexing his biceps.
I almost swooned, but I remember he was just adding to his ego.
"Really? I didn't noticed," I sarcastically said.
Parker stopped flexing and smirked at me.
"I'm sure you've noticed. Especially everything you check me out."
My face turned bright red at his comment.
"I-I do not check you out," I protested.
"Mhm."
I rolled my eyes.
Just before I climbed down, I put my hair in a pony tail. It wasn't that cold, so I didn't need to bring a jacket. I was wearing a long sleeve shirt anyways.
Waking towards my room door, I locked the door. Then, I turned off the lights.
"I'm coming down," I told Parker.
Slowly, I climbed down the house. Once I reached the part where I had to jump off, I held my breath and looked at Parker.
"You better not let me die," I warned once again.
"I won't."
I took a deep breath, and jumped.
Expecting to hit the ground, surprisingly, I didn't.
I opened my eyes and found myself in the arms of the one and only Andrew Parker.
Parker was staring at me and I was staring back at him. We held our gaze for quite a long time, neither one of us daring to look away.
Then...he started to lean forward.
Was he going to kiss me?
Instead of panicking, I found myself leaning in too.
Once I could feel his breath on my lips, I closed my eyes. And before I could feel his lips on mine...
A dog decided to bark, causing us to snap out of the moment.
Suddenly, being in his arms started to get uncomfortable.
Parker let go of me, allowing me to stand on my own. Since he wasn't looking my way, I decided to change the topic.
Clearing my throat, I spoke,"So...Where exactly are we going?"
++++++
I feel very ashamed, leaving you guys in suspense. But...
Now you guys can comment and tell me what you're thinking! We are almost reaching 1k viewers and I am very excited!
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I really want to now what you guys think! It helps me know if you are liking the book. Then, I can try to update more.
Thank you for reading, voting, and commenting!
~leslymm
++++++
Sneak Peek of the Next Chapter:
"Parker," I whispered in his ear.
"Hm."
"You should really let me go," I whispered, nibbling on his ear.
That really got his attention because he was now wide awake.
"Um," Parker said, the words stuck in his throat.
I then started to press little kisses on the side of his neck, to his cheek, just to tease him even more.
Parker was now squirming under me.
Just as he was loosening his hold on my waist, I quickly got up.
"Thanks!" I told him in a chirpy voice.