“Thanks officer,” I said as me and Tyler got out of the cops’ car. A towing truck had brought Hercules' corpse along.
Help had finally come when it was around five in the morning. Someone in the neighborhood had informed them. We two had to hear an earful from the cops about safe driving and how high teenagers form 58.71% of the total people who are behind the wheel in road accident cases.
Seriously, they sounded more like teachers than cops! Might as well had made me write ‘I won’t sleep while driving’ a hundred times!
“Thank you, sir,” dad called out as the cops pulled out of our driveway. The cops had told dad what all had happened and that he should be grateful that we weren’t hurt.
The temperature suddenly dropped. The rising sun had never looked this gloomy. Funny, how dad's mood was affecting the air so much. He was on full-on mourning mode by now.
Dad moved to the now dead Hercules. He got down on his knees and started sobbing. “My car…my baby…Why did you do this Hazel? How could you do this?!”
Mom patted his shoulder sympathetically. “Honey, it’s okay. It was too old! You had to let it go someday!” Mom consoled him but dad continued his wailing.
Oh boy! If this goes on for a while more, I might have to attend Hercules’ funeral soon.
Gotta get a black dress!
Mom made him stand up and started walking him to the door. But before leaving dad turned around to face us. “Tyler I think you should go home,” he muttered and looked at Tyler seriously. Dad’s eyes then fell on me and he gave me a cold glare. “You owe me some serious explanation young lady.”
Tyler looked at me with apprehension clear on his face. I looked at my dad and then back at Tyler.
That was it. I finally flipped.
I grabbed Tyler’s hand and got down on my knees as I started begging him, “PLEASE DON’T GO! YOU SAID YOU’LL STAY! YOU CAN’T LEAVE-“
Dad grabbed my arm and pulled me up while he started dragging me inside the house. “Tyler you liar! How could you?! Dad-“
Dad clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. "Can you cut the drama?"
Ha! Look who's talking!!
The door was closed shut and I had to go through an hour of strenuous scolding. I was looking at mum again and again when dad would get nostalgic about his late lovely car and look at a distance.
“You know,” he said slowly, “I was seventeen when your grandpa gave it to me. Your mom used to love it and we’d go on long drives. Remember, hun?” He looked at her with a faint smile.
“Of course, Keith,” she said softly and patted his shoulder again while shaking her head vigorously and grimacing at me. Dad had of course already looked away. I cracked up on seeing that.
Well, as you can tell, except for dad, no one in our family was a big Hercules fan. Not even Grandpa! He had told me once, that the only reason he had given it to dad was that that he himself wanted to get rid of it! But dad didn’t know.
“Hazel Justice! Stop laughing! It’s not funny!” he said sternly as he glared at me. “To your room. Right now! You have school in an hour!”
What! School? NO!
“But dad, I’m sleep-“
“Ta ta ta ta ta!” he said as he cut me off and motioned me to move upstairs.
I looked at mum out of irritation and she gave me a helpless expression. I sighed and slumped my shoulders as I started climbing the stairs.
“And Hazel?”
“Yes, dad?” I said dejectedly without turning.
“You’re grounded!”
I was kinda expecting that. But it was okay. I could manage a day without stepping out of the house after school.
"For a week!"
WHAT?! He'd never grounded me for this long!
"DAD...."
"No, Miss Justice. Not this time!"
I raised my hands in the air dramatically and chirped with fake enthusiasm, “IT’S SUCH A LOVELY MORNING!”
Boy, this is gonna be a loooooong week!!
***
I seriously don’t get it! I don't get him at all!!
There were 982748664746746549643289652836387592578546856453168902763562339006134336 and some more hundreds of troubles in my life, but this HUGE trouble, known as Tyler Knight to the seemingly less troubled world, never failed to turn my sunny-side-up mood to a sour and rotten one!
He had been ignoring me for the last five days and eleven hours! The whole bloody five days and eleven hours!
I don't get this guy! I just don't get him!
On Tuesday, he came up to me at the end of math hour.
“Hazel?” he said nervously and took a deep breath.
“Yeah?” I said while stuffing my books into my bag.
“Umm..” he thought about something and smirked. “Okay, I know it sucks, but..”
“What sucks?”
“See I know no one has asked you to the homecoming dance. But I can take you if you-“
His smirk vanished as soon as I cut him, “Whoa! What?! Who said that? I’m going to the dance!” I said in a huff and looked at him with condemn. “And FYI-“
“Chase?” He furrowed his brows and said in a low growl.
“Huh?”
“You’re going with Chase?”
“Yeah?”
He sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. “Of course!”
I don’t know but for some reason, I was suddenly sad. And some sorta regret had started building up inside me. He did ask me to the dance. Ash was right! She knew this was gonna happen.
Maybe she does have that magical crystal ball which shows the future once you insert fifty cents in it!!
Wowieee!
I gotta steal it!!
I think, I should have waited before accepting Chase’s invitation.
“Tyler, I’m sor-“ But before I could say anything more, Tyler turned his back to me and called out for Bree who was leaving the room.
I watched with my mouth agape like a puffer fish.
No! No!
I watched with my head blowing up like a puffer fish with utmost angst and shock, as Tyler said to Bree, “I’ll meet you at yours after the game. We’re going to the dance together.”
“Awww!! Yay!” Bree squealed like the witch she is and Tyler looked at me as she threw herself onto him like he was a cuddly teddy bear! Tyler smiled at me and waved awkwardly as he left the room with Bree bouncing in his arms.
That was when I heard Ashley sniggering behind me. “I told you! I told you!” she said in a sing song voice while I scowled and left the room while stomping my feet so hard that the floor could have easily cracked if I were as heavy as my Uncle Branny.
That was the last I had heard from him. And I hate to admit it, but I’m kinda…sorta…missing him?
I mean, I dunno! That could be me PMSing but I didn’t like it when he didn’t make those horrible jokes or tried to pull my leg.
I missed him. He was no longer bothered if I meddled with his stuff. He didn’t respond when I teased him.
And he had just replied with a simple 'Hazel grow up!' when I'd texted him, 'We've kidnapped Hazel and we're starving her! *devil's face*'
I mean what if the kidnappers had actually texted him with my own phone? Didn't he care for me at all?
He was just so silent all the time. He just smiles and disheveled my hair when I cracked a PJ (deliberately) or simply ignored me. I'd not even heard him curse me, even once! I think I was missing him.
Oh wait…I’m just talking in circles!
I’m such a mess right now! A hot, sexy mess, but a mess whatsoever!
I looked at my reflection once more in the mirror. I had applied a herbal face pack on my face, just to calm my sucky self. My hair was pulled away from my face with a hair band and I was wearing my Monsters Inc. shorts and a pink sports bra. I walked out of my ensuite bathroom and lied down on my recliner after I put on my headphones and played the first song on my playlist, You need me, I don’t need you by Ed Sheeran.
Yeah! I don’t need you Tyler! Don't you get it?!
Dammit! Why don't you just talk to me sucker?!
Half way through the song, I heard some sorta thud. I ignored it and continued singing along the music when I heard the same thud again. I removed the cucumber slices from my eyes and put them on a plate lying next to me.
I waited for that sound for a minute and heard it coming from outside my room, but away from the door.
Surely, the window then.
But what could it be?
I tiptoed to the window and moved the curtains slowly.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" I hissed as I saw Tyler hanging by my window.
Is he mental? Doesn't he have any sense at all?!
Oh my flappin' flappechino!! He's here! He's here!
Why is he here?
If he was here to apologise, then why couldn't I see any teddy bear or a big 'YOU'RE THE BEST...I'M THE WORST' balloon in his hands?
Dang! I think I need glasses!!
He looked up at me and started screaming, “AAAAAAAAAAAAHH!”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” I could not help a scream leave my mouth too.
What's so scary? What's so scary! I wanna SCREAM AND SHOUT AND LET IT ALL OUT AND SCREAM AND SHOUT AND LET IT OUT- too!
“AAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
“AAAAAAAAAAH……WHY ARE WE SHOUTING?” I asked him as I stared at him with disbelief.
“AAAAAAAAAAH……WHAT IS THIS?” he screeched again and pointed at my face.
HAWWWWW!! I'M SCARY?! I'M SCARY! STUPID PRICK!
“THIS A FACE PACK, YOU IDIOT! AAAAAAA- oh screw it!” I said as I realized how stupid we were probably sounding.
“Oh!”
“What are you doing here?” I asked him again while laughing at our stupidity and his form hanging by my window.
“Will you help me up first?” he said and lifted his hand for me to grab it.
“Oh, yeah!”
I grabbed his hand and pulled him up the window. Once he was finally in my room we stopped to catch our breaths. I was hunched and holding my knees while looking down. He was quite heavy. But it’d have been easier for me to lift him if he were a shopping bag! Those never tire me….EVER!!
I looked back at him and found him staring intently at me. “What?” I barked at him.
He moved his eyes away from me and started mumbling, “Uh..um..nothing!” He coughed uneasily but I could see a smirk forming on his face.
My mouth dropped to the floor, once I realized what it was.
Stupid! Stupid Hazel!
“DON’T LOOK AT ME!” I yelled as I saw him staring at me again and covered myself with my arms. I turned around and grabbed a top from my bed on my way to the bathroom but before I could get out of his sight, I banged my head on the wall.
Awesome! Now my own walls are against me!
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I mumbled as I rushed into the bathroom and locked the door. I put the top on and washed my face and after combing my hair with my fingers, I decided to leave to my room.
He was sitting on my bed and was on his phone. “So, what are you doing here?” I asked for the....one, two, three....yeah, third time, as I crossed my arms and waited for his reply.
“I know you’re grounded so I thought maybe we could watch some movie together. Here, in your room,” he said. “Look, I’ve got The Amazing Spiderman, The Avengers, Home Alone, Paranormal Activity and Turbo,” he said and smiled stupidly.
I furrowed my brows and nodded slowly.
“What?”
“So now you’re talking to me?” I asked.
“I never stopped talking to you Hazel,” he said as a matter of fact. At that my brows shot up.
“Oh really?”
“Yeah! Now shut up and pick one!” he said as he urged me to decide which movie we were gonna watch.
It was weird! How one moment he was not talking to me and the other he was!
YOU'RE HOT THEN YOU'RE COLD....YOU'RE YES THEN YOU'RE NO....YOU'RE- SHUT UP, KATY!!
Where was I? Yeah, how one moment I was so restless and the other I was laughing with him. Things had turned quite confusing for me over the days.
But what was more important right now was - Dammit! What movie should we watch?
It was a tough choice really, especially, after ruling out Spidey and Paranormal Activity.
“The Avengers it is!” I said and smiled widely. How could I resist a movie that had Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth and Jeremy Renner, ALL IN ONE! That movie was like a KILLING MACHINE, ya know!!
"Okay then," he said as he put the DVD in the player next to my TV and walked back to me. He started surfing through the movies, while his hand reached out for the cucumber slices lying next to him.
"Oh no, wait!" I said but....too late! He had already taken a bite.
"What?"
I started chuckling and shaking my head. "Nothing...nothing!"
Once the movie was over, I looked at Tyler who was sitting on my floor, while I was lying on my bed just above him. His eyes were still glued to the now blank screen. I could’ve thought that he was asleep if he hadn’t sighed.
“Tyler?” I asked in a low voice.
“Yeah?” he said and moved his head back to look at me while he kept sitting on the floor. His look was so sincere as if I had got something really serious to talk about.
I started laughing on his face. His lips twitched into a lopsided grin and confusion flashed in his eyes. “What’s so funny?” he asked as he ran a hand through his hair out of embarrassment.
“Why did you come through the window? We’ve got a door downstairs and a stairway to my room you know?” I asked and chuckled.
“Umm…I thought your dad would be home and….”
“And?” I asked as I kept giggling at his expression and unease.
“He….he kinda scares me?” He said with an uncertain tone and looked up at me with squinted eyes and a sheepish grin.
I burst out into laughter on hearing that.
Dad scared him?
Before you think my dad's a big bulky man with a mohawk and piercings and looks like he has escaped from a WWE ring....let me tell you, he hasn't!
He was kicked out, ya know?
Nah! I'm just kidding!
My dad's a charming man in his early forties. He had a light stubble and was super tall and he was just fit...you know!
But dad could not even scare Whiskey if he wanted! He was just so peace loving!
Also dad was self-proclaimed Homer Simpson! He always said he could relate to him.
Do I need to say more?
“Wow! That’s a first!” I said as I kept chuckling.
“I dunno….I’m just very intimidated by him!” he said and shrugged while smiling awkwardly.
“Good to know guys are scared of my dad!” I said and smirked at him.
“Hey that doesn’t mean I’m scared of you!” he said as he lifted a pillow lying next him and tossed it at me.
“Hey!” I said and grabbed my pillow to hit him back. He was still on the floor but was now standing while I was on my knees on my bed.
“Take that sucker!” I yelled as I hit him square on the face with my big fluffy pillow. He dodged and climbed onto the bed, while doing which he pushed me and my flaying hand hit the bedside lampshade. It fell down and made a loud crashing noise.
“Hazel? What’re you doing up there?” I heard my dad yell and me and Tyler froze as we looked at each other.
“Hazel, are you alright bubbles?” I heard my mom calling from somewhere near my room.
I looked at Tyler frantically and whisper-shouted, “GO HOME! NOW!”
He nodded and moved to the window. He held the windowpane carefully and hung his legs out of the window.
“Hazel?” mom’s voice rang through my ears and I heard my door knob being twisted.
My eyes widened and I whispered, “Hurry!”
“I’m trying!” Tyler said with urgency and irritation lacing his voice.
“Haze, open the door!” I turned to look at the door.
“Whoa!”
I snapped my eyes back to the window and saw Tyler....MID-AIR!
He fell off?!
OMIGOSH!!! HE FELL OFF?!
The door opened and I turned back to face my mum, “Why were you not an-“
“Owww…ooooooh…ow!”
Shit! That had to be him!
“What was that?” mom asked as she started walking closer to me.
“NOTHING!....Ju…Just….cats! Yeah, stray cats! Psshh!” I said as I tried to shoo her away.
“Okay. Come down. We’ve got something for you!” she said as she smiled widely.
“Oh yeah? Alright! Be there in a minute,” I chuckled nervously.
“Alright sweetie,” she smiled sweetly and left my room. Just as she did I pivoted immediately and looked down my window. Tyler was standing up from the ground.
“Are you okay?” I asked not so loudly.
He just gave me a thumbs-up and started walking away from my house slowly. “See you in school?” I said as I bit my bottom lip. He nodded and waved without looking at me.
Oops! He must be hurt!
___________________________________
A/N: You just gotta know one thing--- I LOVE YA'LL, OKAY?
Thank you so much for the 11K reads and 1.6K votes!! :') :')
You've got me all emotional now!!
See ya again soon :)
- Aastha <3