Tyler
3 Days Later
I watched movers carry Dad's things out of the house and onto a truck. Mom wasn't home. She couldn't handle all of this. Hunter was on the phone with Angel, like always. I had grown used to his constant phone calls and text messages with Angel. That's probably the only person he ever talked to lately, but I didn't mind. Amari was coming home Today and I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't know if she and Jake had made it official while they were away or if they had grown apart. I wasn't prepared for her, yet.
"I may be coming to the states soon." I heard Angel's voice through Hunter's phone.
"Really?" Hunter asked excitedly. "Where are you going?"
"Arkansas or Indiana." Angel said. "I haven't cleared it up yet."
"Cleared it up?" Hunter asked.
"It's for work related reasons." Angel explained.
Hunter was hanging onto his every word. He looked at his phone the way Amari looked at me when I first started to realize she may have had feelings for me. The way she looked at me right before I broke her heart at that stupid Anniversary party. If this isn't foreshadowing, I don't know what is.
"Boys..." Dad sighed walking into the living room and sitting on the coffee table in front of us. "A word please."
I glanced over at Hunter who was glaring at Dad. I didn't know if he was mad at Dad because of the divorce or because he had interrupted his conversation.
"I'll call you later." Hunter said before hanging up on Angel. "Yes?"
"Listen, just because we aren't going to be living in the same house anymore doesn't mean you have to distance yourselves from me." Dad said.
"Distance ourselves?" I scoffed. "We've never been close."
"You and I haven't, but me and Hunter have." Dad said glancing over at Hunter. "And Tyler, you're still my son even if we do bump heads a lot. There's always space for you at my house."
I rolled my eyes and leaned back. I wouldn't be visiting him anyway.
"Hunter, you know you can come over anytime you'd like." Dad said.
Hunter glanced at me before nodding.
"Okay." He mumbled biting the inside of his cheek.
That was a nervous tick he had when he was younger. It was so bad, Mom had to force him to stop so he'd be able to get braces. I didn't know he still did that.
"I was actually hoping you two would be able to come over next weekend." Dad cleared his throat. "Your grandfather and grandmother are coming to visit and would love to see you two again."
"We start school next week." I said. "No promises."
"Tyler..." I cut him off.
"What? Is our education not important?" I asked.
I was trying to push him. It wasn't something I did intentionally, I just always did it. All my life. I couldn't think of a time where I just blindly agreed with him. It was instinct.
"Fine." Dad said standing up. "If you find time in your busy schedule, please come for a visit."
"We'll see." Hunter said trying to play along.
"Great." Dad patted my shoulder and left.
"You're an asshole." Hunter said.
"You agreed with me apparently." I laughed.
"No. I'm just trying to be more supportive." Hunter said. "That was hard."
He sighed and trudged off to him room.
Amari
I flipped through channels boredly. I had been home for about three hours and I was waiting for my last load of laundry to get done drying so I could fold them and put them away.
"These are disgusting." Lana groaned passing me my bag of hot popcorn.
"I like them." I laughed popping one in my mouth. "With pickle juice..."
"Don't have an orgasm while I'm here." Lana said. "Wait until Jake comes over."
I hadn't told her about my argument with Jake. I didn't have any plans on telling her about that. I didn't plan on telling anyone except Tyler. Maybe. I wasn't sure. What would happen if I told him that the entire time I was with Jake, I was thinking about him? If I told him that I wanted him? Would he just reject me once more? I couldn't handle another rejection. The next time I have him my heart would be the last time I would give him the chance to hurt me. I was sure of that.
"So..." Lana smiled sitting so we were face to face. "How was your break?"
"Fine." I smiled.
"Anything happen between you and Tyler?" She asked.
"Why would something have happened between us?" I asked.
"Well, you like him." She said. "Or did."
"Nothing happened, but something is going to happen." I looked down at my hands.
"Are you going to tell him you like him again?" Lana asked. "What if he rejects you again?"
"Then I'll deal with that." I shrugged. "I'll get over it."
"I don't get you." Lana shook her head. "Here you have Jake, more than willing to be with you faithfully. Yet, you want Tyler, who has a girlfriend and has rejected you before. I don't see how we're friends."
"Naomi isn't his girlfriend." I shrugged. "I don't know. I just... I want to be sure. If we're going to be together, this is his chance. If we're not, then..."
"Then...." Lana edged me on. "Then you're done for good?"
"That's the plan." I shrugged.
"Do you think you can do that though?" She asked.
I didn't know. I didn't know if I was capable of cutting Tyler off. He was all I knew. All I thought about. He was everything to me even though I sometimes felt like nothing to him.
"I can." I lied shrugging. "I can definitely do that."
She stared at me. She didn't believe me.
"Whatever you say."
Next Day
I did the finishing touches on my wig before heading out the door. I hadn't made time to see Tyler yesterday, but I wanted to be ready for when I saw him Today.
At School
I walked into the building and said Hi to the few people who spoke to me. I made my way to my locker where Lana stood texting on her phone.
"Finally!" Lana said. "Your man isn't here yet..."
"My man?" I asked opening my locker.
"Tyler." She said. "I've been waiting for him to walk through the doors."
"For someone who doesn't want me to do this, you're being really supportive." I laughed.
"Simply because I want to be there for you regardless." Lana smiled. "And I want to be there so I can beat him up just in case it goes there."
"Thanks?" I mumbled grabbing my books. "You know, I..."
"Shh..." She covered my mouth staring at the door.
I looked over and saw Tyler walk into the building with Chase and Collin. He was stunning.
"That man is so..." Lana sighed.
"Which one?" I asked.
"Any one of them." She shrugged. "I'm not picky."
I rolled my eyes and closed my locker.
"Hey." I heard Tyler say.
I turned around and saw him smiling down at me.
"Hi." I smiled.
"Are you gonna do it now?" Lana whispered nudging me.
"No." I nudged her back.
"You changing for gym?" Tyler asked.
"We're not doing anything Today." I shook my head. "I'll be fine."
"Cool." Tyler nodded. "Walk with me?"
"Yeah." I smiled grabbing his hand.
We walked off together. I looked back and saw Lana giving me a big thumbs up as she watched us.
Tyler
"So..." I started. "How was your time with Jake?"
"Fine." Amari nodded. "Some interesting things happened."
"Like?" I asked as we walked out to the field.
"Like... We're taking a break from one another." She said.
"Really?" I pretended to be sad for her. "Sorry to hear that. Why?"
"Well, he thinks I have feelings for someone else...." Amari trailed off.
"Someone else?" I edged her on.
We stopped walking and she watched as Chase and Collin continued to walk over to everyone else.
"Yeah. Someone else." She nodded with a laugh.
"Who is someone else?" I asked although I had an idea.
"Chase." She nodded and I stared at her. "Joking."
"Not funny." I rolled my eyes.
"Tyler, you know." She sighed licking her lips. "Don't make me say it."
"I want to hear you say it, though." I laughed. "Go ahead."
She stared at me for a second before looking down at her shoes. My heart was bumping in my chest and my mouth was dry. My hands were sweating as I gripped my backpack straps tightly and stared down at her.
"Tyler, I don't want to do this." She shook her head. "I don't want to cause any problems."
"Problems?" I asked.
"Yeah. You're still technically seeing Naomi." Amari sighed. "And if there's going to be an issue that I want to kiss you or that I'll say I miss you, I'd rather not."
"Amari..." She cut me off.
"No. Tyler, I like you and you know that." She said. "If you want to be with me, then be with me. If you don't, let me know now. But this is the last time I'm doing this. I swear it is."
We stared at each other for a moment.
"I'm tired of being embarrassed." She added quietly.
"Don't be embarrassed." I shook my head.
Amari was who I wanted. Who I've always wanted and now I didn't care about anyone else's opinion on us. Mom and Dad couldn't judge me for my choices because they couldn't maintain their own marriage. Hunter was brave enough to chase after what he wanted no matter how untraditional it was. I should've been able to do this. I wanted to do this.
I looked up at the big clear blue sky before glancing over at our class. Amari was watching me closely. Waiting for my reply.
"You know, I was sure you'd choose Jake." I said finally looking at her again. "Sure that's what you were going to tell me Today. I was so prepared to come back to school and flirt with any girl that crossed my path."
"What does that mean?" She asked.
"That I'm done playing games." I said grabbing her hands and holding them to my chest. "I swear I am, Amari. I'm done with Naomi and listening to everyone else. Thinking about everyone's feelings. I want you."
Her face lit up and I leaned down and kissed her softly. She held onto my face and kissed me back. The feeling was unexplainable. It was different than any kiss I've ever had. Any kiss we've ever shared. Like it was what I was waiting for my entire life. It was the best feeling. Hands down.