"What was going on between you and Tyler today?" Kian asked me over our video call.
"Yes! I was meaning to ask you," Kyla chimed in.
"What do you mean?" I inquired with a frown. "We were just talking. He's a fun person to talk to."
"Is this your way of getting over Seth?" Kian questioned in accusatory tone, "Because Tyler isn't the best option in my opinion."
"I agree," Kyla said.
"Stop being so judgemental," I argued. "I had a good time talking to him today. Seth has done a pretty good job making me feel like shIt in the past few days, it was nice to have Tyler take my mind off of him."
"Aw, hun," Kian cooed, making me roll my eyes.
"Speaking of Seth, he was totally jealous today. I could see it," Kyla said with a smirk.
"Uh huh, I could see the fumes of jealousy radiating out of him," Kian agreed.
"Kian, chill," Kyla said, making me laugh.
As my laughter died, I sighed and sat up straight. "I just don't know. He's so confusing. First, he's all over me and then when I give him the attention and even let him kiss me, he just shuts me out and pretends that none of it happened. Why did he lead me on if he just wanted to end up being such a wimp?"
"It's quite amusing, honestly. It feels like a role reversal. It's usually the girl that's the confusing one," Kyla commented.
"Ava!" I heard my dad call from downstairs.
"I should go," I told them. "I'm grounded, remember?"
We said our goodbyes and I disconnected the video call to go find out what my dad wanted.
*
I was in the cafeteria, waiting in line to buy a bottle of water when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to meet Tyler's piercing blue eyes.
"Hey!" I exclaimed. "What's up?"
"Saw you standing here so I decided to come over and walk to detention together," he explained with a shrug.
"Aww, walk to detention together? That's the most romantic thing anyone's ever said to me," I said in a mocking tone.
He laughed in response while I purchased my bottle of water.
"Do you know what we're doing in detention today?" I asked as we walked together.
"We're cleaning the science labs right?" he questioned, unsure.
I groaned. "It seems more like we're the cleaning committee of the school than students attending detention."
"I know right," he agreed. "I miss the good old days when we sat in a classroom with a teacher who usually dozed off halfway through."
After I finished laughing, I said, "I'm new to this so I haven't had the chance to experience that. I must say it does sound interesting, though."
We neared the science lab and Tyler opened the door for me. Letting me walk in first, he followed suit.
Impressed, I said, "It's nice to know chivalry is not dead."
"I realised that being the perfect gentleman is the one way to a girl's heart," he commented with a shrug.
"Interesting," I said slowly and finally looked around to see if there was a teacher.
Ms. Elaine was standing at the front, waiting for everyone to arrive. I spotted Kyla and Kian so I made my way towards them followed by Tyler. Seth was standing a few feet away from them with his back facing me.
"Hey, you guys know Tyler right?" I said, pointing at him.
As soon as I said this, Seth turned around to look at us. I stared back at him while Kian, Tyler and Kyla engaged in small talk. His arms were crossed over his chest while his body was leaning against the table. Not going to lie, he does look good.
No, no, he doesn't, Ava.
His eyes were focused onto mine and it just brought back memories of the night we sat on the beach and how I refused to look at him. When I did, though, I just knew that I really did like him. That was something I was happy about until, you know, he decided to be a jerk.
"Ava, what do you think?" I heard Tyler ask.
I blinked and looked away from Seth, focusing on Tyler. "Pardon?"
"What'd you think about sappy, romantic movies?" he elaborated.
My eyebrows pulled in together. I zone for less than two minutes and somehow, the conversation has already escalated to romantic movies. I was about to answer but Ms. Elaine saved me.
"Alright everybody, supplies are on the tables next to me. The sinks are filled with the equipment that needs to be washed, please be careful with the equipment made out of glass. The rest of you can help organise the shelves and clean up the tables and windows," she instructed, being the complete opposite of Ms. Shay who was so very appreciative of our help.
"What do you want to?" Tyler asked as everyone gathered near the supplies table. I was aware of Seth's presence right behind us. "Clean the tables again?"
I shrugged. "We could. I don't mind cleaning the windows for a change."
Tyler agreed and we got the necessary supplies for cleaning the windows. We got to work while I tried my very best to ignore Seth and his constant gaze on us. As for Tyler, he didn't notice Seth's odd behaviour at all but then, why would he?
It was surprising to me that I managed to get so comfortable in such a short amount of time. I guess I just really enjoyed his company which didn't happen with me that often. Very few people manage to make it to my 'people I don't want to stab' list in the first try.
We were in the middle of an interesting conversation when a lady stepped into the room.
"Sorry to interrupt your class, Ms. Elaine but could I know if there's a Tyler Holt here?" she asked, waiting in the doorway.
"Um, yes, that's me," Tyler spoke up.
"Mr. Harvey would like to see you now," she said, making Tyler's eyebrows pull in together.
"Okay," he said slowly and unsure.
I raised an eyebrow at him, questioning what was wrong but he simply shrugged in response.
"I hope everything's okay," I mumbled as Tyler left his rag and spray bottle on the table nearby and made his way to the lady.
What could possibly make Mr. Harvey want to pull Tyler out of detention to talk to him? Shaking my head, I went over to the sink to wash the dirty rags. While I was washing them, someone stood next to me and used the other sink. I looked up to see none other Seth and tried my best not to groan out loud. All of a sudden, the rags in my hands became much more interesting than they were a few minutes ago.
"You seem to be enjoying detention so far," I heard Seth say next to me.
After a moment of silence, I looked up and realised he was talking to me. "Oh, I'm sorry; you're talking to me now?" I asked, ignoring the tiny voice in my head that said I sounded like a bItch.
Seth looked up from the washing and sighed. "I know I've been a jerk, okay? I even apologised for it. What more do you want?"
For you to kiss me and profess your undying love for me. That would be nice.
"I don't want anything," I said venomously. "Don't apologise to me because you think that's what I want to hear. Do it because you actually mean it, Seth."
"I do!" he exclaimed.
"What are you even apologising for Seth?" I asked, turning off the water.
"For...for..."
"Exactly," I concluded for him. Turning away from him, I walked away and continued wiping the windows till they were shining.
After what seemed like ages, Tyler finally returned and without addressing me, he continued where he left off.
"Hey, what happened?" I asked, nearing him.
"Nothing, just the usual," he said with a tight smile that looked fake.
Realising that he didn't want to talk about it, I decided to drop it and not push it. If he wants to tell me, he will. If he doesn't then I shouldn't be a nosy person and try to snoop.
I nodded in response and we resumed with the cleaning in silence.
When detention ended and we were leaving, I caught up with Tyler and asked him if he wanted to go out for coffee even though I was grounded but he looked like he needed someone to talk to so I was going to give it one last shot.
"I've got some stuff to do," Tyler tried to make an excuse.
"Come on," I insisted. "It shouldn't take too long. Just an hour."
"No-"
"Please," I interrupted him. "I'm grounded and yet I'm willing to go out for coffee with you. Don't leave me hanging here."
He sighed and nodded, "Fine."
I grinned at him and we walked to the coffee shop nearby. The walk was silent as Tyler seemed to be deep in thought and I didn't want to talk about it to him just yet.
Once we were in the coffee shop, I ordered a cappuccino while he got a latte. We got a table in the corner of the room and by the window.
"If the next detention involves us cleaning another room, I am going to skip the detentions after that," I attempted at a conversation.
He chuckled silently but it sounded like it was forced and fake.
Our beverages were brought to our table and we took our time cooling the drinks down.
"I know what you're trying to do, Ava," he said suddenly.
"What'd you mean?" I tried to play dumb.
"I know you're doing the whole 'let's cheer him up cause he's upset about something' thing. Thank you for putting in so much effort," he said with a genuine smile.
I smiled back. "You want to talk about it?"
He thought about it for a minute before sighing. "Mr. Harvey told me that I won't be able to graduate unless I give in every single one of my assignments and pass the exams the teachers are going to prepare specially for me with all Bs."
"Oh."
"Yeah," he said with a nod. "I just don't know how I'm going to manage to do all of this along with studying for those exams. He's such a sadist."
"I'm sure you'll do just fine," I encouraged him.
"I have to graduate. What if they hold me back and expect me to graduate next year? That'll be so embarrassing and a waste of my time," he explained.
"I can help you," I offered. "I can like tutor you if you want."
"Really?" he asked, surprised. "You would do that for me?"
"Sure, why not?" I responded with a shrug.
"What if they refuse to let me graduate?" he asked, a frown etched out on his face.
"Don't worry about it," I tried with a smile. I placed my hands on his hands and gave them a light, reassuring squeeze. "We're in this together now."
It was that exact moment that the door to the cafe opened and Seth stepped inside. He looked around and his gaze finally landed on Tyler and I sitting with our hands in each other's. He was looking at me before his eyes slowly travelled down to see our adjoined hands and then back up at me. Quickly, I jerked my hand away from Tyler's as if I was caught doing something hazardous by my parents.
"Thank you so much, Ava," Tyler said. "I really appreciate this."
I nodded absentmindedly at Tyler while my gaze was still focused on Seth. He shook his head and exited the cafe without even getting anything.
I looked back at Tyler and smiled, "You're welcome."
A/N- Hello! How are you guys doing?
So, Ava and Seth finally exchanged a few words. About time, right? Do you like Tyler's character? Who do you like more: Tyler or Seth? Leave a comment letting me know since I am genuinely interested!
If you enjoyed reading the chapter, don't forget to leave a vote as it does help me out a lot and it doesn't take too long to leave a note right?
Hope you have an amazing night/day! <3